Chapter Seven: A Bit Expensive

Zheng Qiuying’s tone dripped with disdain, as if to say: Have you ever even seen a woman before?

Qin Jing was not pleased and frowned at her. “What’s with you, woman? I’m just trying to help you find an insider traitor, and this is how you talk to me?”

Zheng Qiuying was taken aback, feeling a little wronged. You’ve been staring for so long—am I not even allowed a word about it?

But on second thought, she realized she did owe him a favor today. Torn between pride and practicality, she decided to change the topic. “Are you still selling paper? I’ll take all your scrap paper at the price you just mentioned. How much do you have? I’ll buy it all.”

“That’s more like it. Since you’re a big customer, come in and let’s talk.”

Qin Jing said this as he opened the door beside him.

Zheng Qiuying stepped in, but the moment she looked around, her eyebrows drew together again. What kind of place was this? From what she could see, it was a tiny shop, probably no more than a few dozen square meters. Directly ahead was an old counter with a few obviously secondhand bags and other items on display. Off to the side sat a plain fabric sofa that looked as low-end as low-end could get.

“To be frank, do you have fifty tons of scrap paper? Deliver it to the Songtao Villas—I’ll pay you two hundred thousand as promised.”

Seeing Zheng Qiuying standing there as if she’d rather not set foot inside, Qin Jing was speechless. He hadn’t noticed such a picky streak when dealing with Chen Hua before. Was this just how privileged beauties behaved? Beautiful, yes. Rich, certainly. But the attitude left much to be desired.

“In that case, pay me half up front as a deposit, and I’ll have it delivered within three days.”

“What, you want a deposit?”

“Of course! We don’t know each other—do you think I’d move fifty tons of goods just on your pretty face? What if you back out? Who covers the shipping?”

“I wouldn’t back out…”

“…”

Qin Jing was coming to realize this girl was utterly naive. She’d clearly never dealt with the real world and didn’t understand the basics.

Still, this was a big transaction—two hundred thousand yuan. He’d never handled that much money at once before. Suppressing his impatience, he carefully explained the crucial points of a major deal to Zheng Qiuying: the need for deposits, extra charges for urgent orders, that buyers paid for shipping, and that they’d even need to consider storage after delivery.

Songtao Villas was a famous luxury neighborhood in Lenghai. Fifty tons of waste paper was no small matter—a single villa couldn’t possibly hold it all.

At first, Zheng Qiuying didn’t pay much attention, thinking Qin Jing was just nagging. But the more she listened, the more sense it made.

She was innocent, yes, but she was sharp enough. As Qin Jing spoke, she even raised a few questions, her attitude open and willing to learn.

Her attitude was good, so Qin Jing’s own mood improved—she was, after all, quite pleasant to look at.

But in the end, Zheng Qiuying didn’t follow the “rules.” She simply took out her phone and transferred the money to Qin Jing.

“A hundred thousand deposit is such a hassle. Here, let me just pay you the full amount now.”

Two hundred thousand yuan—transferred in the blink of an eye.

Qin Jing raised his brow and smiled. “Aren’t you worried I won’t be able to get that much paper together?”

But Zheng Qiuying replied calmly, “You saw for yourself what happened with Wang Keng. You’re a smart man, Qin. You know I’m not one to be trifled with.”

Qin Jing paused, then realized—she wasn’t stupid at all. She was just too lazy for the back-and-forth, so she transferred the full amount at once. Her meaning was clear: if I can handle a traitor like Wang Keng, I can handle you, too.

But a veiled threat like that didn’t sit well with Qin Jing. In the past, he might have swallowed it, but after meeting Jessica, he’d started to feel a new sense of self-confidence.

He grinned. “Hey, I was just making conversation. Don’t take it personally.”

He softened his tone, but slipped a small bottle from his pocket and set it on the counter.

“What’s this?” Zheng Qiuying glanced at the bottle with curiosity. A moment later, she couldn’t help but lean forward for a closer look.

“Uh, nothing much. You wouldn’t recognize it,” Qin Jing said casually.

“No, I think I do recognize it.” Zheng Qiuying leaned in even closer, visibly excited, nearly reaching for the bottle.

She really does recognize it? Qin Jing was surprised. The only things he had that could surprise Zheng Qiuying were the little items from Jessica’s storage gem. This time, he’d taken out a bottle of beauty elixir.

Beauty Elixir

Year of Production: Mythic World, 2018

Shelf Life: One year

Material Value: Equivalent to one hundred thousand yuan

General Description: A magical beauty potion from the Tio family, suitable for both men and women. It deeply cleanses skin, and its mystical energy can repair damaged tissue, increasing attractiveness by one point within a week.

Find a buyer (2g)

Qin Jing understood his current situation: after upgrading his sales skill, he had plenty of potential buyers. What he lacked now was a large influx of capital.

The Tio Gem and Supermodel Crystal were out of the question—too valuable and likely to attract unwanted attention. But a beauty elixir was perfect: an extraordinary item, but not glaringly so. Even better, he already had a buyer.

Even without spending g-points to “find a buyer,” he could see that Zheng Qiuying was acting “unusual.”

Her face flushed with excitement, her large eyes fixed on the beauty elixir. After a long moment, she finally asked, “Is this for sale? I want it.”

Only after speaking did Zheng Qiuying realize she’d let her composure slip. She looked up at Qin Jing and said, “Sorry, I just found the liquid in that little bottle fascinating. Where did you get it?”

Qin Jing replied, “It’s a beauty essence, a secret formula. Very expensive.”

If Zheng Qiuying truly recognized the beauty elixir, she wouldn’t balk at the price. By his estimation, items like this couldn’t be bought with money alone.

Sure enough, Zheng Qiuying looked unimpressed by the price, her eyes shining. “How expensive could it be? Name your price.”

“One million per bottle. No bargaining,” Qin Jing declared, gritting his teeth at the outrageous figure. He immediately regretted it, because Zheng Qiuying merely muttered, “That’s a bit pricey.”

Seriously? One million is just “a bit pricey”? I really am a nobody—poverty has limited my imagination. Qin Jing covered his face in disbelief.

“But if I use it sparingly, it’ll last three months. It’s worth it. I’ll take it!”

Without hesitation, Zheng Qiuying made her decision. Then she glanced at him again and said, “Let’s go to the bank. I can’t transfer that much from my phone.”