e-booksonline Chapter 1283 - 1282:
Chapter 1283 - 1282:
The uncle buys his goods in bulk, all very cheap, with an average cost of only about thirty to forty yuan, and even some inferior ones are about ten yuan.But when customers come to support, the uncle will sell them at ten times the price. After all, the customers supporting him are definitely not locals. Local residents are well aware of the prices, while tourists are like lambs to the slaughter: naive and wealthy, so the uncle will fleece them as much as he can.
Lin Fan found it amusing. The uncle likely never dreamed that the true value of this Jade Token far exceeded 300 yuan, or even ten times that amount...
Seeing Lin Fan stay silent, the uncle feared Lin Fan might find it too expensive and leave. It was rare to have a customer drop by at night. Recently, the uncle felt that business from tourists had become difficult because many tourists had grown wise and wouldn’t easily be deceived.
"Little brother, name your price if you think it’s expensive. You can haggle!" the uncle said with a smile, seeing Lin Fan dressed plainly and not looking like a rich person. Maybe 300 was really too high; of course, a slightly higher price leaves room for bargaining.
The uncle’s psychological price was anything above 100 yuan, which was acceptable. The minimum couldn’t be less than 100, giving a wide bargaining space enough for a lengthy negotiation with Lin Fan.
"No need, 300 is fine. I’ll transfer it to you," Lin Fan said with a smile, swiftly taking out his phone and scanning to pay the 300 yuan, then pocketing the Jade Token.
If the uncle had been a bit more honest, not only would Lin Fan not haggle, he might even help the uncle raise the price to the quality it deserved. Lin Fan didn’t know the exact value of the jade stone, but if he raised it by a 100 times and gave the uncle 30,000 yuan, the uncle would probably laugh even in his dreams.
But, unfortunately, this uncle wasn’t honest. Lin Fan wouldn’t be polite to a vendor who specifically targeted tourists.
Not bargaining was already the greatest mercy.
This move puzzled the uncle. What? He had proactively offered the option to bargain, yet Lin Fan didn’t?
What was going on?
Could Lin Fan be a fool?
The uncle was perplexed, feeling as if he’d suffered a significant loss.
He regretted it, knowing that if Lin Fan was a fool, he shouldn’t have quoted 300 yuan. Why not ask for 1000 yuan?
Huge loss, huge loss.
Just as he planned to go back, trying to see if he could squeeze out a bit more, he realized Lin Fan had already disappeared into the night, making further regrets useless.
Thus, Lin Fan obtained a great bargain at an extremely low price; a green Jade Token was now in his possession.
While finding bargains might be human nature, Lin Fan’s main reason for purchasing the Jade Token wasn’t to get a deal. It was because he accidentally discovered some strange patterns on it, and Lin Fan planned to research them.
Later, Lin Fan found a restaurant and went in to dine.
"Sir, how many people?" the waiter at the restaurant entrance asked warmly.
Lin Fan said with a smile, "Just one."
"All right, sir, please come this way. I’ll find you a table," said the waiter.
The waiter led Lin Fan into the restaurant to an empty table. Lin Fan thanked him and sat down.
"Sir, what would you like to eat?" the waiter brought Lin Fan a menu.
Lin Fan said, "No need to look, just bring me two of your specialty dishes."
After sending the waiter away, Lin Fan waited for his meal while taking out the green Jade Token and examining it.
The restaurant was bustling because it was in a tourist area, and most diners were tourists. This restaurant was an established local brand, attracting many customers. Tourists usually have high spirits, making the restaurant noisy.
This lively atmosphere highlighted Lin Fan’s quietness; he was almost instantly captivated, drawn to the green Jade Token in his hand.
"What exactly is this?" Lin Fan wondered, noticing irregular patterns on the Jade Token, with no apparent order and not recognizable as any specific thing.
However, Lin Fan quickly confirmed that the patterns on the Jade Token were manmade carvings, rather than being part of the Token itself.
This made it even more intriguing. What was the carving supposed to be?
Lin Fan subsequently discovered that the Jade Token was meticulously crafted, with excellent workmanship, and was very old, probably an antique. In ancient times, it was common for wealthy families to wear jade; this might have belonged to such a family.
Unfortunately, the Jade Token didn’t have more useful information to provide further judgments.
Lin Fan’s attention returned to the manmade patterns: were they random carvings or did they carry meaning?
Lin Fan couldn’t determine it for now.
"Ah, sister, what’s wrong!"
Suddenly, a terrified scream erupted in the restaurant.
This scream attracted the attention of all diners and interrupted Lin Fan’s thoughts.
Lin Fan looked over.
He saw a ten-year-old girl suddenly fall to the ground, along with another woman holding the girl, who was the one screaming.
Beside them was a man and an elderly couple. They seemed like a family of tourists.
The girl didn’t appear well, her face darkened, she was foaming at the mouth, and her body was continuously convulsing.
Seeing the situation, Lin Fan exclaimed in surprise, frowning. The girl was poisoned. What happened here? How could someone get poisoned while eating in a restaurant?
"Why are you just standing there? Call the ambulance!" the woman said, raising her head to the panicking man opposite her.
The man quickly picked up his phone, dialed the emergency number.
After finishing the call, he said, "The ambulance will come soon."
The elderly woman looked at the man, asking, "What happened? We just left for a moment, and the girl ended up like this?"
The man replied, "I don’t know. She just drank a bowl of soup and ended up this way."
The woman exclaimed in surprise, "Soup? Could the soup be poisoned?"
On their table, there indeed was a large bowl of chicken soup, a signature dish of the restaurant, made from locally raised old hens, with a secret formula to make it look irresistible. How could it be poisonous?
The man said, "How would I know? We should ask the restaurant staff!"
Hearing the commotion, a restaurant manager in a suit promptly reached the scene.
"May I ask what happened here?" asked the restaurant manager.
The man’s face darkened, and he said, "You’re just in time. My sister drank a bowl of chicken soup and ended up like this. What’s wrong with your chicken soup?"
The restaurant manager paled upon hearing this. The girl’s current state was obviously alarming. If she became like this from their chicken soup, the restaurant would face huge trouble; shutting down temporarily would be minor. The person in charge might end up imprisoned.
"Impossible, my chicken soup has never harmed anyone before!" said the restaurant manager shakily, facing such an unexpected, severe incident was unnerving.
Rumors about the potential issue with the chicken soup made the restaurant customers lose their appetite, fearing they might become like the girl.
"I say let’s call the police, quickly!" someone suggested.