Chapter 198 Business Experience

Pan Yun immediately felt that this lapis lazuli of three hundred coins was not expensive. She took out a ten-liang silver note and handed it to him, saying, "Change."

Shopkeeper Chen smiled and gave her change. "Do you suddenly feel that you are better than the emperor? At least you didn't get cheated that much."

Seeing his happy look, Pan Yun couldn't help but said, "What are you so proud of? The taxes paid by the gold and silver mines should be paid into the national treasury. Do you think it's the emperor's money? That's the money of the people of the world, it's our money!"

The smile on Shopkeeper Chen's face gradually disappeared.

Pan Yun: "Even if it is handed over to the emperor's private treasury, it is closely related to us. If the little emperor has no money, do you think he will wrong himself or let us take money from the national treasury?"

Shopkeeper Chen had never thought about these things before, and it was the first time he heard Pan Yun's remarks. He was so shocked that he was speechless.

Pan Yun took the change and the box containing the lapis lazuli and stuffed them into his sleeves. Seeing that he looked very unhappy, he comforted him, "Why don't you just forget what I said just now and pretend you didn't hear it. Then mock the emperor again, and maybe you will feel better."

Shopkeeper Chen said gloomily, "Now that I know that I also had a share of the money those people stole, how can I gloat over their misfortune?"

Pan Jun shook his head and said, "It's painful when a knife falls on you. Do you know how I feel when the price of lapis lazuli suddenly skyrocketed? It's as painful as having my money stolen. Shopkeeper Chen, since I feel the same way, how about giving me a discount and giving me half an ounce of lapis lazuli?"

Shopkeeper Chen waved his hand at her and said, "Go away, go away. It's fine if someone can't see me stealing my money, but you still come here to steal. I would like to sell it to you at the original price, but my purchase price is too high. If I sell it to you at the original price, I still have to pay for it."

He said, "If I could give you a discount, I would have given it to you long ago. After all, you are a regular customer of our grocery store."

"I don't believe it. You're just saying it nicely. I'm new here and lack experience. You're the seller. How could you not know that the price of cultivation resources like Longhu Mountain September Lapis Lazuli will skyrocket?"

Shopkeeper Chen said with a bitter face: "Little Immortal, my shop opened this year, and I really have no experience."

He was so sincere and genuine, his expression was so real, Pan Yun was a little nervous, no way, no way? He really wasn't prepared?
Pan Yun's heart tightened, and she felt so painful that she couldn't breathe. She pressed her chest and said in pain, "You, you, how could you not prepare in advance?"

A customer nearby heard some of the conversation and said, "Little Immortal, you are a very nice person. You are more distressed than him to hear that the store owner did not make any money because of the lack of preparation."

Another person laughed and said happily, "Is this because the little fairy can't find an excuse to bargain, so he's heartbroken?"

Only Shopkeeper Chen knew that she was truly heartbroken, because she actually had a share of the money earned by this store, hahahahaha…

Pan Yun returned to the mountain, holding his aching chest.

The first thing he did after returning to the mountain was to write a letter to his master's nephew in the capital, teaching him a lesson for not giving good instructions to Manager Chen.

"Since you have studied in the academy, you should know when and what is most expensive to sell. You should have told Shopkeeper Chen to stock up early. How can you leave everything to Shopkeeper Chen to figure out?"

Pan Yun urged him, "Write back quickly and tell me what other things are necessary for our students but will increase in price. I'll ask Shopkeeper Chen to prepare them early, and Miaozhen and Miaohe and I should also prepare some in advance."

After Pan Yun finished writing the letter, he sent it through the post station of the academy.

It takes a long time to get from here to the capital. When Wang Cong received it, the certificate of ordination from the court had just come down, and he had already packed up his things to return to the mountain.

After opening the letter and taking a look at it, Wang Cong couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Yin Qingjun turned to look at him and asked, "What are you laughing at, Senior Brother?"

Wang Cong handed him the letter and said, "Little Master spent extra money and is unhappy. She must want to stock up and sell the goods herself. She is a student at the academy now, and it is much more convenient for her to do business with students than for us."

Yin Qingjun shook his head. "Is everyone like you, thinking about making money from everything? I think she is really asking on behalf of Shopkeeper Chen. At most, she is just hoarding some for herself and Miaozhen Miaohe for personal use."

Wang Cong: "Miao Zhen Miao He might only stockpile for her own use, but Junior Master is like me, she will definitely stockpile some for trading, don't disbelieve me."

"Then you write back and tell her what you're going to stock up on next, and see if she'll stock up more?"

Wang Cong frowned and said, "But it's already the end of September. It won't be long before the academy is closed for exams. Why would we need to stock up? If we must have some..."

Wang Cong raised his eyes and said, "That is the elixir used for cultivation."

The imperial academy is different from other official and private schools.

Those official and private schools taught the Four Books and Five Classics. They had very few holidays each year and not many activities. Their holidays were only a few days longer than those of officials in the court. It can be said that they were the students with the least holidays throughout all dynasties.

But the academy is not like that.

They are cultivators, and the skills they teach in the academy are not profound. After all, the students who come here have their own heritage. They teach the basics, as well as various techniques, talismans, and rituals.

Therefore, they will leave some time for students to learn and gain experience with their own masters.

For those who practice Taoism, experience is an essential course.

Confucian study tours are optional, but Taoist training is not. Every year, students in every academic year have compulsory travel time.

The travel time for first and second grade students must not be less than fifteen days, and the travel time for third and fourth grade students must not be less than twenty days.

Fifth-grade students graduate after September every year, and they have a training requirement of about half a year before graduation.

This shows how much importance and strictness the academy places on students' travel requirements.

Therefore, the academy usually has exams in early October and has holidays in mid-October. The following month is the time for students to choose to travel.

Given a month of flexible time and required to write a diary every day, first graders have to deal with three matters related to metaphysics, no matter how big or small, even if it means telling people's fortunes.

Sophomores get five pieces, juniors get seven pieces, and seniors get nine pieces.

According to Wang Cong's experience, most of the training for students in the academy is to hang banners and tell fortunes for people. Only the fourth-grade students would intentionally go to dangerous places and do dangerous things in order to earn credits.

"Pills are the best sellers. After all, from mid-October to the end of March next year, they all practice with their sect masters or on their own. They don't have enough resources, so they have to collect them themselves." Wang Cong said, "But there are not many students who can afford it, so the pills have to be ordinary and cheap."

Although the price is cheap, it will still rise slightly due to changes in supply and demand.

Wang Cong wrote a letter and had it delivered to the academy as quickly as possible, hoping that his junior masters could catch up with the shopping spree before the holiday.

Where can I get it?
It was too late when he received the letter. By the time the letter was sent back, they had already finished the exam and were waiting for the results.

However, Pan Jun did not need his reminder. After realizing that the prices of lapis lazuli and other cultivation resources had skyrocketed in September, she began to pay attention to the new things in the shops at the foot of the mountain and asked Zhou Wangdao again.

"Brother Zhou, what do the students want to buy the most in the next ten months?" "What do they want to buy the most?" Zhou Wangdao thought for a moment and said, "Medicine, magic tools? Don't people always want to buy these things?"

"If you want to buy it all the time, that means you can buy it at any time. Is there anything that everyone will definitely buy in October?"

"Spirit-Enriching Pills?" Zhou Wang said, "It's almost holiday time. Some places don't have as much spiritual energy as Longhu Mountain. Plus, students have to go out to travel after the holiday, so many students will prepare some more Spirit-Enriching Pills for themselves. Oh, and also some Bigu Pills."

Pan Jun looked disgusted, "The fasting pills are so bad, and the food doesn't cost much, why should I eat fasting pills?"

"Because when traveling, there will always be some unexpected things. You may not have food, or you may not be able to eat, so everyone will prepare some fasting pills."

Pan Jun seemed to be thinking, "So, next month, cultivation pills like Yunling Pill and Bigu Pill will be the best sellers?"

Zhou Wangdao nodded.

Pan Yun understood and said to Miao He, "Here's your chance to save some money!"

As for Yunling Pills and Bigu Pills, they are cheap and easy to make. Miaohe can make three pots of them a day.

Miaozhen and Pan Yun work slowly, and it would be considered good if they could finish one pot a day.

But they were not very interested in alchemy. They became impatient after two days of practicing it. In the end, they gave all the herbs they bought to Miaohe. One of them patted her butt and continued to work on her washing machine, while the other went to practice and watch the stars.

As for the half-month training required by the academy, they were not worried.

The three of them had already discussed it. "We will go south from Longhu Mountain and head straight to Changzhou Prefecture. After finding Third Senior Brother and Fourth Senior Sister in Changzhou Prefecture, we will follow them back to Sanqing Mountain. It will take more than half a month to go back and forth."

Miaozhen and Miaohe had never been far away, especially without an elder accompanying them, Pan Yun not included, so the two were both excited and worried, "Should I write a letter back to let them know? I need the master uncle's consent."

Pan Yun was also a good kid, and he agreed directly, "Okay, I'll write a letter to Senior Brother to report it."

It was quite close to send the letter to Sanqing Mountain from here, so Wang Feiyin quickly replied and told them to do as they pleased, but only reminded them to carry the statue of Pan Gong with them and burn three incense sticks every morning and evening without fail.

When Pan Yun heard this, he was shocked and asked, "How long has it been since I last offered incense to Master?"

Miao Zhen said: "Don't worry, little master, you just forgot to burn the morning incense. The evening incense has always been burned."

Pan Yun exhaled, "Yes, yes, yes, I forgot about it when I was so excited. No, I have to burn incense in the morning starting tomorrow."

The intention of cramming at the last minute is clearly revealed.

Miaohe went to make medicine and made a lot of money before the holiday. Shopkeeper Chen, who had prepared in advance, also made some money for the grocery store.

Pan Jun was very pleased with what she saw. She also made some money by drawing and selling talismans. This time, she did not use Xuanmiao's name, but directly stamped her own seal on the talismans and sold them. The price was a little cheaper, only five taels per piece.

But... never mind. Just think of it as a good deed. Everyone can make money anyway. They are all poor students. They are happy to buy and Pan Jun is happy to sell.

Although the money earned was less than that of a twenty-tael note, the happiness was just as great.

After making money, Pan Yun only kept about 300 taels of silver on him, and lent the rest to Miaozhen and Miaohe.

She was particularly afraid that they wouldn't be able to handle the money properly and would lose it later, so she planned to give them some space in her sleeves.

The formation in the space in her sleeves was not difficult for Pan Jun, but the difficulty lay in her lack of cultivation.

Fortunately, her cultivation has reached a higher level during this period. Although she has not yet broken through to the first level, she is very close.

After the exam, she went to the Siguo Cliff to sit and practice. She compressed the energy in her Dantian and practiced more delicate control of her energy. Then she felt that she should be able to carve a space array, so she excitedly took Miao Zhenmiao and went down the mountain to select jade materials.

Jade is the only thing in the world that can store spiritual energy. Other objects can also store spiritual energy, but they are not as common as jade.

Jade, whether good quality or poor quality, can store a certain amount of spiritual energy, and it is very stable.

Therefore, in the 26th century, humans liked to use jade to make space devices. In addition to pure jade, other alloy objects would also be added with jade, so that the opened space could be more stable and solid.

But now is not the 26th century when jade is in short supply. Here, as long as they are willing to spend money, they can buy a good piece of jade for carving.

Of course, they are not willing to spend money.

"Although I am very confident in myself, my current cultivation level is not high after all, so we need to leave enough space for the future. Let's buy a piece of ordinary jade first. When my cultivation level improves in the future, we will buy a better one and I will carve it for you then."

Miao Zhen Miao and were still excited about their upcoming world. They followed Pan Jun's instructions without hesitation and nodded repeatedly, saying, "We will listen to Junior Master!"

Unfortunately, all the jades found under Mount Longhu have been processed. Jade plaques, jade carvings, jade pendants, jade rings, etc. all have things on them.

After seeing it, Pan Yun frowned and asked the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, do you have any jade materials that have not been carved before?"

Shopkeeper: "Do you want the raw stone?"

"No, no, no, I want the jade material that has been mined, but not carved."

Shopkeeper: "Yes, but those are the raw materials of our shop, we don't sell them."

Pan Yun gritted his teeth and said, "We are willing to pay a higher price."

The shopkeeper asked, "What do you want to carve, young Taoist priest? If you buy something from our shop, it must be carved by our master."

Pan Yun: "I don't want to carve. I just want two smooth jade plates. Don't worry, I won't ruin your reputation. I'll say it's yours to carve."

The shopkeeper hesitated, "This is not impossible, I wonder how much you offer?"

"This jade has different qualities and prices. You must let us see the jade, right?"

The shopkeeper turned around and said to his waiter, "Bring over the best plate of raw jade."

Pan Yun widened his eyes and wanted to stop him, saying that it was not necessary and that the ordinary one would be fine. But looking at the excited shopkeeper, Pan Yun could only swallow his words.

(End of this chapter)