Chapter 13: Business Rivals
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In order to earn enough gold coins, Lin Qi was quite hardworking. He set up his stall early in the morning to sell breakfast.
As expected, his stall was very popular. There was almost no need to beckon others to come as a large number of people would visit his stall.
That was because the price of his Magic Sweet Potato was unbelievably cheap. Those magic artifact shops demanded at least ten gold coins to purchase a mana-recovering artifact, which could be bought in his stall for only three silver coins.
For as long as Lin Qi’s stall was up and running, the nearby magic shops were akin to ghost towns.
Some of the magic shop owners had come out to see what was going on.
According to their inquiries, they found out that Lin Qi had opened a stall in the nearby area. That stall was said to specialize in selling some Magic Sweet Potatoes that could replenish mana.
At first, those merchants refused to believe it. They thought that mana-recovering artifacts could only be obtained by archmages and that the Magic Sweet Potatoes were just a hoax.
Mort was the president of the Magic Trading Firm. After he learned of that matter, he decided to settle it personally in the interest of the trading firm.
Then, he hired a few mages to go over and expose Lin Qi’s deception to the public.
As for Lin Qi, he was living a good life. Seeing as the money continued to fill his pockets, he felt very happy.
Just as he was excitedly selling his food, he suddenly heard a voice.
“Hey, you need to stop!”
Lin Qi was stunned. He realized that there were a few people who dressed differently compared to commoners in front of him, and the one directly before him was dressed in a dignified manner, while the two behind him were dressed in mage attires.
From the looks of it, they were here to attack him. Lin Qi was on alert as he asked, “You people are here to buy food from me, right?”
“In your dreams! Don’t you know that it’s illegal to cheat people of their money?”
“What? When have I ever deceived people? I’m a legitimate merchant!” Lin Qi retorted.
However, Mort sneered and said, “Kid, you have to know that there’s a specialized trading company here. If you want to register as a merchant, you have to get my approval!”
“Uhm...” Lin Qi felt lost and scratched his head. Even so, he replied very conspicuously. “Wait, you’re punishing me for being a peddler but how many peddlers do you see around you? Instead of targeting them, you’re targeting me?”
“They are only selling trivial items, but your case is different. You’re selling those so-called Magic Sweet Potatoes, aren’t you? It’s complete and utter nonsense!”
Mort said sarcastically with his teeth bared, “Who do you think you are? Even a high-quality mana-recovering artifact made by an archmage takes an hour to refine, but you can bake it within a few minutes?”
Lin Qi sighed in relief. He thought that he had seriously done something wrong, but it turned out to be just another skeptic.
“Okay, I get it now. You’re worried that I’m fake, right?”
Lin Qi immediately grabbed a sweet potato and handed it to Mort.
“Then try it. See If I’m lying.”
Mort looked at the sweet potato suspiciously and sneered, “This is just an ordinary sweet potato. Who are you trying to fool?”
“You’ll understand after you try it!”
Mort shook his head in annoyance and ordered the mage behind him to come over and have a taste.
Although the mage was reluctant to eat that kind of junk food, he was hired by Mort so he had no choice but to try it.
“Huh?”
After taking a small bite, the mage’s expression suddenly changed, and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
“What... What is this? It’s so delicious, and it’s full of magic energy!”
“What?”
Mort was stunned. He looked at the sweet potato in Lin Qi’s hand with eyes full of doubt.
“Look!”
Lin Qi immediately said, “I told you I wasn’t lying, right? Look at him一his mana is almost overflowing.”
The mage’s eyes flashed, and he immediately asked Lin Qi, “How much is a sweet potato?”
“Three silver coins!”
The three of them froze on the spot. The mage knew very well that a mana-recovering artifact cost at least ten gold coins. Now, he could buy it for three silver coins. If he bought all of it... He would make a fortune.
Mort had already thought of that idea. He immediately smiled at Lin Qi and stole the chance before the mage could.
“Haha, I’m really sorry to have misunderstood you earlier!”
“It’s good that you understand now!” Lin Qi said good-naturedly.
Mort gently put his hand on Lin Qi’s shoulder and said in a soft voice, “Young man, your sweet potatoes seem to be very delicious. I would like to try some too.”
Seeing as that man was the president of the trading firm, Lin Qi picked up a sweet potato for him.
“Since this is our first time meeting, I’ll treat it as a gift for you!”
“Thank you!”
Mort took the sweet potato and tasted it. As the mage mentioned, the sweet potato indeed had a mana-recovering property.
In an instant, he had a plan that could make him a fortune.
“Young man, you won’t be able to fill my stomach with just one sweet potato.”
“Ah, really? Then I’ll give you another one...”
“No, no, I can’t eat it for free. How about this, I notice that you have quite a lot of sweet potatoes. How about... I buy all of them from you.”
After hearing Mort’s words, Lin Qi immediately understood his intention and smirked. “President Mort, I have a rule in my stall.”
“What rule?”
“I can only sell five sweet potatoes per person per day. You can’t buy more than five of them.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Mort was petrified on the spot. He asked, “Aren’t you being foolish? Don’t you want to earn money?”
Lin Qi was actually quite desperate to gain money, but he knew that if he sold all the sweet potatoes to a man like him, he would definitely raise the price for his own profit. If that occurred, then the common people would not be able to even taste the sweet potatoes.
Although that deal would have been beneficial to him, he still rejected Mort.
“It’s not that I don’t want to earn a lot of money but it’s because this is the rule I’ve set. I can’t break my own rule, right?”
Then, Lin Qi continued to sell sweet potatoes as if nothing had happened. Mort was so furious that he almost flew into a rage.
Since his plan failed, he could not let Lin Qi hinder the trading firm’s business here. With him around, the trading firm’s mana-recovering artifacts would not be sold.
Mort’s eyes became dark. He slammed one hand on the table, his face arrogant and domineering. He said coldly, “Kid, if you don’t want to sell me the goods, then shut up and get out of the city!”
His words were laced with malicious intent, which was detected by Lin Qi.
However, Lin Qi had been scared before and that situation was way worse. Moreover, he knew he was in the right so he naturally refused to give in. He said, “President Mort, right? You’re worried that my sweet potatoes will steal your trading firm’s business, correct?”
“Hmph, it’s about time you figured it out!”
“It can’t be helped! The weak are prey to the strong, and the strongest survive. My product is better than yours. This is the harsh truth. You have to learn to accept it, or... You can always lower the price a little!”
Hearing that, Mort became even more enraged.
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