Chapter Five: A Bountiful Harvest
“Hiss, this thing…” Qin Jing held a massive crimson diamond necklace in his hands, unable to contain his excitement as he kept taking sharp breaths. This was the spatial artifact Jessica had tossed to him before she left.
Well, that was what it seemed on the surface, but a glance in the mirror revealed a different story:
Tio Gemstone
Year of Production: Year 220 of the Mythic World Common Era
Years in Use: 1,798 years
Materials: 38.5-carat raw diamond, various synthetic metals, and magical metals
Material Value: Approximately 1.2 billion USD
General Function: This is the symbol of the Tio family. Anyone outside the Tio family who wears this can contact a Tio family member once per calendar month. Beyond that, it also possesses a storage space of roughly ten cubic meters.
Earth-Specific Function: The Tio family used this to transmit the mysteries of witches to Earth. Among those of the Earth’s Witch School, this is regarded as the emblem of witches. The mystical power it contains can instantly control any practitioner on Earth who possesses the power of a witch.
Instructions for Use: Stare into the gemstone, focus your mind, and recite the incantation: “Gemstone, gemstone, open the door for the most beautiful me.” To close: “Gemstone, gemstone, close the door for the most beautiful me.”
Looking for a buyer (600g)
1.2 billion USD!
Qin Jing swore that upon seeing these statistics, his first thought was to sell this thing off as an ordinary diamond and pay off his debts!
He knew this would be a foolish and shortsighted thing to do, but all his assets combined didn’t amount to even ten thousand dollars—and he had just spent fifty thousand buying Chen Hua’s Chanel.
Then Qin Jing glanced at the “main item,” tossed into a pile of dirty socks: the Tio Gemstone, merely a throw-in for the deal. As for the principal object of the transaction…
Three minutes later, with a sour look, Qin Jing stuffed the supermodel crystal into a cloth bag, then buried it deep in a pile of old clothes. Perhaps the item’s grade was too high; he couldn’t store it inside the Tio Gemstone.
Of course, the truth was that Qin Jing hadn’t even appraised the supermodel crystal, as it would cost 1,000g to do so, while identifying the Tio Gemstone had only cost him 12g. Judging by the appraisal cost, this thing was worth tens of billions.
Still, even a fool could tell that no one on Earth could afford something like this. Simply put, it was far too expensive—if word got out, it would bring nothing but trouble for him.
However, Qin Jing’s gains weren’t limited to that.
Within the Tio Gemstone’s ten cubic meters of space, there were various odds and ends. Qin Jing spent 10g in one go to appraise most of them.
The total: five pounds of spirit rice, a barrel of spirit spring water, a bottle of magic potion, and five doses of beauty elixir.
There were also several books, all cultivation manuals. Since some would cost too much to appraise, Qin Jing set them aside for now.
Sitting in his small storefront on the outskirts of Lenghai, Qin Jing wore a bitter expression as he hung out his “Open for Business” sign. The two treasures he’d just obtained were untouchable, and even Jessica’s odds and ends stored in the spatial artifact were all supernatural items—not something he could sell lightly.
Yet, his cash was entirely gone after buying the Chanel bag—he had only 7g left as well. At this moment, Qin Jing was desperate for “replenishment.”
“Hey, Jingjing, you’re open? Where have you been lately? Not doing business anymore?”
Old Song from next door was seated at the entrance. Spotting Qin Jing, he struck up a conversation.
Old Song was in his forties, a local of Lenghai, running a small antique shop. In fact, this entire street was filled with similar pawn and secondhand businesses.
“Ah, don’t mention it. The price of scrap paper was rising, so I went out of town to buy some. But just after I bought a truckload, the price dropped. Now I’m stuck with all of it.”
At this, Qin Jing’s face soured. He’d been in business for a year. Though Chen Hua had been his “big client,” he’d managed to save up a bit. But over the past month, betting on the scrap paper trade, he’d rented several warehouses out of town to buy up stock. Then, just in the past few days, the price plunged. By his calculations, if he sold now, not only would he make nothing, but he’d actually lose several thousand yuan.
Still, thinking about it, Qin Jing realized his sales skill had advanced to “proficient”—he might as well try to offload the scrap paper.
“Haha, that’s business—sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. You young folks are bold; I wouldn’t dare play like that. But a loss is a lesson—take it as buying some experience…”
Old Song rambled on, but Qin Jing, ever decisive, went inside, grabbed a bundle of waste paper, and set it at the door. He took out his phone and snapped a photo.
Qin Jing had already tested it: a phone screen counted as a kind of “mirror,” so by taking a photo, he could display the item’s information.
Ordinary Scrap Paper
Market Price: 1 yuan/kg
Quantity: 38,901.6 kg
Looking for buyer (2g)
Nearly forty tons of scrap paper were piled up in five warehouses he’d rented outside the city. His average purchase price was already 1.1 per kilo, so he was losing ten cents on each kilogram—he’d worked a whole month for nothing, and was down nearly four thousand yuan.
“What are you doing with all that scrap paper? Listen, even though we’re in recycling, it’s not the same as collecting junk. You should focus on buying luxury goods, like I deal in antiques—once every few years we strike it big, and that keeps us going. Life isn’t so bad…”
“Hey, junk collector! Got any scrap paper for sale?”
Before Old Song could finish, a shiny black Mercedes stopped in front of the shop. The window rolled down and a middle-aged man leaned out, directly addressing Qin Jing.
“What the… business?!” Old Song was stunned. Everyone in the trade knew scrap paper prices had collapsed—buyers preferred new paper now, so who’d come to buy waste?
While chatting with Old Song, Qin Jing kept his phone in hand. He’d been worried about selling the scrap, but with his sales skill now upgraded, he had to give it a try. He’d just spent 2g to activate the skill.
Looking up and seeing the middle-aged man, Qin Jing frowned.
Wang Keng
Purchase target: Large quantities of scrap paper
Psychological price: Under 100,000 yuan, willing to buy all at once, upfront payment.
Customer rating: Poor
Chance encounter: 1g
“I didn’t even choose him—how did he show up?” Qin Jing wondered. Wang Keng was one of the potential clients listed by his sales skill.
Through his short video feed, Qin Jing overheard the man texting: “Don’t worry, I’m buying up all the scrap paper in Lenghai—won’t leave a single piece for that little vixen. I’ll deliver everything to you when the time comes…”
Even with just that, Qin Jing could guess: this man was likely a middleman, hoarding stock, probably with a buyer already lined up. He was buying scrap just to resell.
Why would a man driving a Mercedes be flipping waste paper? He didn’t know. But the system rated Wang Keng as a “poor” client, so Qin Jing had already chosen another buyer.
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The book is now signed—rest assured, I’ll write this one with patience and won’t drop it. My record’s solid! Please add to your library and vote for recommendations.