Chapter 771 - 462: A Hesitant and Confusing Look

Chapter 771: Chapter 462: A Hesitant and Confusing Look

Soon, he had piled a full one hundred sparkling, pigeon-egg-sized Spirit Stones onto the counter.

"You want to exchange this many?" The two Money Shop employees looked at the huge pile of Spirit Stones on the counter and muttered to themselves in disbelief.

’Exchanging these hundred Spirit Stones for cash should be enough to last me for a good long while...’ Lin Li thought, looking at the hundred Spirit Stones he had produced. Then, he returned the large burlap sack holding the rest of his Spirit Stones to the Mysterious Small Island.

"I have other things I need to get to. Could you please hurry and exchange these Spirit Stones for cash?" Lin Li prompted the young man handling his transaction, who had yet to move.

"Of course, sir. Please wait a moment. I’ll go get my colleagues to help verify these Spirit Stones..." The young man in the window snapped out of his daze and replied quickly. He then stood up to get his coworkers.

The young woman, who reminded him of a bank’s lobby manager on Blue Star, watched Lin Li with gleaming eyes. She turned and left, only to return a moment later with a cup of hot tea.

"Sir, please have some tea."

"Thank you." Lin Li took the teacup and thanked her before casually setting it aside, as he wasn’t thirsty.

"Sir, may I ask for your surname?" the young woman asked enthusiastically.

"My surname is Lin."

"Hello, Mr. Lin. My surname is Wang, but you can just call me Xiaowang. Let me tell you a bit about our Money Shop..."

The young woman began to speak eloquently about her Money Shop’s long history and wide range of services. As she went on, she eventually started pitching financial products to Lin Li.

"Huh?!!!" Lin Li had been listening casually, since he had nothing better to do. But as she neared the end of her speech, a familiar feeling washed over him.

Back on Blue Star, ever since his bank account had grown to tens of millions, sales representatives from his bank would call him every few days to enthusiastically and sincerely pitch him financial products.

’What the hell! Don’t tell me the Money Shops in this world have this kind of business too?’ Lin Li groused internally as he watched the incredibly enthusiastic and silver-tongued young woman. The moment she started going on about rates of return, he quickly cut her off.

"Miss Wang, I have other uses for this money, so..."

"Ah..." Hearing Lin Li’s tactful refusal, the young woman didn’t press the issue. Instead, she perceptively fell silent.

’With a major client like this, the first rule is not to make him feel annoyed. Since he has no intention of investing right now, I’ll just give him my business card later. He can always contact me if he changes his mind.’

Lin Li breathed a silent sigh of relief when the young woman fell quiet after his tactful refusal.

He couldn’t stand salespeople who kept prattling on even after being turned down.

The young man who had left the window returned with several colleagues. They began to use a device that, to Lin Li, looked like a flashlight, quickly inspecting his one hundred Spirit Stones one by one.

A moment later, all one hundred Spirit Stones had been inspected and confirmed to meet the exchange requirements.

"Sir, would you like to exchange all these Spirit Stones for Gold Coins?" the young man at the window asked, gathering up the approved stones.

"Yes, please exchange them all for one-Gold-Coin banknotes," Lin Li requested. He then watched as the man started to prepare the cash.

One Spirit Stone was worth five Gold Coins. After a short while, stacks of banknotes totaling five hundred Gold Coins were placed in front of Lin Li.

Lin Li did a quick count. The amount was correct. He then stored all the exchanged banknotes in his Mysterious Small Island.

The two Money Shop employees watched with envy as Lin Li once again used his Storage Space Superpower.

With the cash exchange settled, Lin Li wasted no more time. He stood up and strode quickly toward the Money Shop’s exit.

Just then, the young woman who had first assisted Lin Li hurried after him, reaching out to stop him.

"Can I help you?"

The young woman pulled a business card from her pocket and offered it to Lin Li. "Mr. Lin, please contact me if you need anything in the future. I can help you secure the best possible interest rate on your deposits."

Although Lin Li had no intention of depositing money in this Money Shop, it would have been rude to refuse the card she was offering him.

"Thank you."

Lin Li took the business card and left the Money Shop.

Bright sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled white light onto the bluestone-paved road.

After leaving the Money Shop, Lin Li stood under a tree lining the street.

The sunlight filtering through the leaves shone on his face and clothes, making him feel a little hot.

"Tsk... The skies in Dongwu City might be clear, but this sun is really intense!

I’ll put on some sunscreen in the carriage later to keep from getting sunburned to the point of peeling."

An empty carriage approached from the distance. Seeing someone waving from the roadside, the driver immediately pulled the carriage to a stop in front of his prospective fare.

"Where to, sir?"

"To the north city gate."

"That’s a bit far!"

"How much will it be to get there?"

"Fifty Copper Coins."

Lin Li heard the driver’s price and didn’t haggle. He simply nodded and climbed into the carriage.

"HYAH..." The driver flicked the reins, and the horse immediately set off, pulling the carriage at a quick pace toward the north city gate.

Inside the carriage, Lin Li took a bottle of sunscreen from his Mysterious Small Island and applied some to his face and neck.

’This sunscreen Su Yue recommended works great. This bottle’s almost empty. When I get back, I’ll need to go online and order a few more bottles to keep in stock on the Mysterious Small Island...’

......

The villa’s courtyard was quiet, save for a few colorful butterflies flitting and dancing among the flower bushes.

Suddenly, a sound came from the villa’s entrance. With a CLICK, the solid wood door, carved with exquisite patterns, swung open.

A woman with a plain face but a graceful figure emerged from the villa, carrying a large basin in her hands.

Qin Muqing carried the basin, which was full of clothes, into the courtyard. She set it down on the grass and began taking the freshly washed garments out one by one to hang on the clothesline.

"CHIRP CHIRP..."

Some small birds perched on the branches of a large, leafy tree in the courtyard, letting out a series of crisp chirps as they curiously watched the human hang up her clothes.

"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK."

Just as Qin Muqing finished hanging all the laundry and was about to carry the empty basin back into the villa, someone knocked on the large iron gate at the main entrance.

STEP, STEP, STEP...

Qin Muqing left the inner courtyard and walked along the cobblestone path to the main gate.

Since she was home alone, she was on high alert. She didn’t immediately open the gate just because someone knocked.

"Who is it?" Qin Muqing called out to the person on the other side of the gate.

"Miss Qin, it’s me."

A familiar voice answered from beyond the gate, and Qin Muqing opened it.

Ms. Zhang, the woman who sold boxed lunches, immediately stepped inside after Qin Muqing opened the large iron gate.

’Normally, Ms. Zhang only came here around noon to teach me how to cook,’ Qin Muqing thought. ’It’s still far from noon. How strange for her to arrive so early.’

"Ms. Zhang, did something happen?" Qin Muqing asked as she closed the iron gate, noticing the panicked expression on the other woman’s face.

"Miss Qin... I..." Ms. Zhang stammered, hesitating as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t. Her behavior only made Qin Muqing more confused.

......