Starting Cultivation in Wasteland-Chapter 479 - 351: Looking for a Bargain

Qu Jianlei was eyeing a stall focused primarily on adventure elements.

The stall owner was a rotund middle-aged man, who looked quite down-and-out.

There’s nothing wrong with this statement, indeed, Sofia had already mentioned that being fat implies a low standard of living.

Unlike the Garbage Star and Zarif Star, Hope No.2 Star is genuinely abundant in resources.

Here, being fat doesn’t signify wealth; nearly everyone has enough to eat, even if law and order aren’t particularly great.

In other words, those who don’t know how to manage their body shape are the real paupers—perhaps they aren’t ignorant, just lack the means to manage it.

Lacking the means includes only eating junk food, having obesity risks that can’t be treated, lousy work environments, not having money for fitness, etc...

In this incredibly resource-rich society, not every fat person has potential, but essentially... they’re all junk stocks!

However, the curious and strange items the fat man had displayed were quite interesting.

Qu Jianlei squatted down, touched this and picked up that to take a look, and the fat man didn’t stop him, just watched him with a smile.

One look at this posture, and it was obvious he was an old hand; having confidence or not really makes a difference, something novices can hardly learn.

Seeing this situation, Qu Jianlei decided to test a little first to see how the other person would react.

As for what kind of reaction is the most normal? He wasn’t really sure either—this wasn’t his area of expertise at all.

If Flower Scorpion were here, leaving such matters to her would be most suitable.

Qu Jianlei wasn’t skilled at haggling, let alone finding hidden gems.

But now he had to push forward like a duck driven onto the shelves, so there was no choice; whether he understood or not, he had to gamble.

The stall he faced focused on adventure elements, most of them being alien items.

Many items looked bizarre, and few could recognize them, and even the items’ origins might not be from habitable planets.

Some of these items were obscure and might have no record at all.

Qu Jianlei used his Spiritual Power to sense briefly, able to ascertain some things here, even originating from different planets.

However, just as he suspected, not many are honest in the black market business, and there are quite a few man-made items.

Qu Jianlei stood looking for half a minute before trying to strike up a conversation, "Are you acquainted with adventurers?"

The craziness of adventurers surpasses even Pioneers, with their professionalism being stronger too.

They not only explore potentially inhabitable planets to make money but also explore unknown cosmic phenomena.

The middle-aged fat man naturally smiled, "You have a good eye, spotted a few alien items?"

This statement has an exploratory intention, and there’s also a possibility of wanting to use the other’s eye to identify items.

Of course, Qu Jianlei wouldn’t answer outright, "Anyway, there are plenty of offbeat things too."

This had a hint of undercutting, but the middle-aged fat man didn’t care, as he probed first; he was the one who crossed the line first.

So he didn’t deny it but replied very candidly.

"Offbeat things are for offbeat people; I need to make a little money... you can’t fool an expert like you, can you?"

You have thicker skin than I thought, Qu Jianlei pointed at another pile of items, "These medals, passed down from your family?"

There were also quite a few medals on the stall, mainly issued by the military, besides there were also memorabilia of various battles.

Apart from military medals, there were also ten or so issued by other departments.

There was even a "Hope No.2 Star Annual Top Ten Influential Figures" medal.

On this planet, selling such medals, if fake, would easily be traced.

In fact, Qu Jianlei felt these medals were genuine since he could somewhat sense a heavy atmosphere.

The fat man noticed him looking at the medals, and a hint of loss flashed through his mind, but his face showed no change, instead smiling as he replied.

"Certainly not just family heirlooms, but it’s inconvenient to say where they came from... see any you like?"

Qu Jianlei stroked his chin and spoke in a deep voice, "What’s the packaged price for all these medals?"

The middle-aged fat man hesitated for a moment, a strange glimmer in his eyes but laughed as he replied, "A packaged price won’t be cheap."

Sofia couldn’t help but give Qu Jianlei a push, "There’s a book that lists medal prices, no rush to buy."

Qu Jianlei wasn’t surprised, as it was the same in Blue Star’s collectors’ circles; there are books to help estimate value, not always accurate but close enough.

However, this time the middle-aged fat man couldn’t hold back, earnestly stating.

"Those books aren’t very helpful, and the prices aren’t accurate, besides, I went through the trouble of setting up a stall, you gotta let me earn a bit, right?"

"Alright," Qu Jianlei nodded, "Quote me a price for these medals."

The middle-aged fat man replied without hesitation, "Forty silver coins for the package, I’ve given a pretty good discount."

For just these dozens of medals, you think they’re worth the price of two square meters in a downtown area? Qu Jianlei was speechless.

Moreover, based on the detected Spiritual Power fluctuations, he also understood that the other was outrageously overpricing.

So he calmly stated, "You’re not genuinely selling."

The middle-aged fat man replied with a smile, "Then you can counter offer."

Qu Jianlei shook his head and looked at the pile of quirky items instead, "What’s the package price for these things?"

The middle-aged man’s eyes rotated as he tentatively asked, "What about those peculiar items?"

Qu Jianlei originally intended to say he wanted the peculiar ones too, but wouldn’t that just reveal to the other party that he had to have them?

Once he showed a clear intention to buy, it was equivalent to handing the knife to the other party for them to exploit.

So he clearly stated, "I’ll return the peculiar ones to you."

"Alright," the middle-aged man nodded with a smile, "excluding the peculiar ones, the package price for these items is 20,000!"

In the downtown area, ten square meters? Qu Jianlei’s expression turned strange.

"These are what’s left after you’ve filtered them, and you’ve tested them with equipment before setting up the stall!"

He really didn’t want to mention this point, but the other party’s offer was just shameless.

Is there a magical effect in the extraterrestrial items? That possibility does exist, but the probability is almost negligible.

Thus, the value of these unknown objects mainly lies in whether they can benefit the Superpower Warriors.

Of course, even without benefits, it’s not impossible to buy them, considering rare items also have collection value.

But Qu Jianlei would never consider collecting them; he hasn’t even achieved financial freedom yet, so why would he waste money on this?

He had already perceived all these items; none had even a hint of energy fluctuation.

However, would these hundreds of painstakingly collected things truly have nothing to do with any energy?

Qu Jianlei didn’t really believe that—there can’t be so many coincidences in the world.

Hence, he was certain that the other party must have used various testing methods to prevent others from finding treasure.

The items that could be brought out were basically deemed useless.

But then again, there was one item Qu Jianlei was very interested in—not because the other party misjudged it, but because it held significance for him.

If not for this, why would he waste so much time talking to this man?

The middle-aged man wasn’t surprised by Qu Jianlei’s words—acquiring unknown items and picking them over first was quite normal, wasn’t it?

So he just gave a slight smile, "In the end, it’s still a matter of price. Go ahead and make a counteroffer."

Qu Jianlei raised his hand, pointing twice, "I want both these piles of items, but I can only give you 2,400!"

Apart from these two piles, the man’s stall still had some light weapons and a few items that seemed like antiques.

Anyway, Qu Jianlei bargained hard, dropping the other party’s total asking price of 24,000 to 2,400.

The man’s smile finally disappeared upon hearing this, replaced by a wry smile.

"Nobody bargains like that. How about this, if you’re sincere about buying, I’ll round it off...20,000 is the lowest I can go."

Qu Jianlei really wasn’t good at bargaining; he just stubbornly stuck to 2,400, not budging until he was forced to go higher in increments.

Eventually, the price both parties settled on was 6,000 silver coins—equivalent to three square meters in the downtown area.

When Qu Jianlei saw the other party nod in agreement, he felt as if he might have lost out again.

But that didn’t matter; his total assets were nearly four million, and spending 6,000 silver coins to acquire something meaningful was still worth it.

After reaching an agreement, the middle-aged man waved his hand with a smile, saying, "Let’s see how many peculiar ones you can pick out!"

There were over fifty man-made items, but Qu Jianlei didn’t intend to select them all, as keeping some mystery was necessary.

So he picked out over twenty, mostly those obviously fake at first glance.

As for those that looked somewhat convincing, he just accepted that he might have been fooled.

The man’s flabby cheeks quivered slightly as he watched Qu Jianlei pick them out one by one.

Once Qu Jianlei stopped, the man tentatively asked, "Is this all you’ve identified?"

Qu Jianlei responded blandly, "There are a few I can’t be certain of, but since the total price is set, I don’t feel like fussing anymore."

In fact, with the total price settled, he could take all the peculiar items, and the other party couldn’t stop him.

Even if they’re worthless, they’re still objects, not worth specifically picking out.

However, Qu Jianlei didn’t want to draw too much attention and had promised the man to pick out the peculiar ones in advance.

As for the fakes he didn’t pick out, he would just admit he had a poor eye, not caring how others viewed him.

But in the next moment, the middle-aged man reached out and picked up a palm-sized object.

He smiled at Qu Jianlei, in a very kindly manner, "Your eyesight is still a bit off... this one is peculiar too."

Qu Jianlei’s face turned dark instantly because what the man took was precisely the item he was interested in.

He remained silent for a moment before speaking coldly, "Weren’t you supposed to let me choose? How come you acted?"

The man smiled gently again, "I never said I wouldn’t act, right?"

I’ve been fooled! Qu Jianlei suddenly realized that the man never intended to sell this item at all.

But since the man had already figured out what he wanted, he straightforwardly expressed himself.

"If that one isn’t included, I’ll only give you 240 silver coins for everything here!"

(To be continued, requesting monthly tickets, subscriptions, and recommendation votes.)