Chapter 3829 — It Is Impolite Not to Return a Courtesy
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
Though they dared not cause trouble inside the Hong Merchant Guild, shouting abuse out in the open street was something no one could stop them from doing.
"A throat-slitting salute? It seems this Yu Jiang bears you a deep grudge, Young Hero Lin!" Hong Zhong could not help but laugh at the sight. It had been many a year since this money-minded merchant of peaceful dealings had last seen such a gesture of implacable provocation.
Wei Zhao answered only with a faint smile and said nothing, yet Hong Zhong could clearly sense that this Lin Er before him did not truly take Yu Jiang to heart. The only reason he now showed any caution toward the man's throat-slitting salute was Nan Tianyong, who stood at Yu Jiang's side.
Could this young man truly be so unfathomable as that?
For all his years of reading men, Hong Zhong had never once had such an experience. Here was plainly nothing more than a peak early-stage Foundation Establishment expert of no particular distinction, yet every moment he spent in this Lin Er's company, he could not help but feel from the bottom of his heart that the man was unfathomable. In the past, such a thing would have been utterly inconceivable!
A peak early-stage Foundation Establishment expert whom one could not see through at all—by Hong Zhong's judgment, that was an utterly absurd thing, and yet he had truly encountered it. And the reason he treated Wei Zhao so generously was, apart from the wish to cast a long line to hook a big fish, very much this as well.
He wanted to see just where the limits of this young man who called himself Lin Er might lie!
A short while later, the attendants of the Hong Merchant Guild had prepared every spirit-herb material listed on the sheet Wei Zhao had given them, packed it all up, and delivered it before him.
"Young Hero Lin, three hundred spirit jades in all. Thank you for your patronage," Hong Zhong said with a chuckle as he set the whole bag of spirit-herb materials before Wei Zhao and took his spirit-jade card.
"Not at all, not at all. Steward Hong is far too kind—it is I who should be thanking you," Wei Zhao said with a nod to Hong Zhong.
The list he had given them enumerated no fewer than several dozen kinds of spirit-herb materials. Most were common spirit herbs, with nothing so exceedingly rare as the Heart-Devouring Linglong Grass; even choosing only the finest quality, the price of a single plant would not be outlandishly high. But the sheer quantity was another matter.
Several dozen kinds of spirit-herb materials, five sets of each, and if calculated strictly by the Hong Merchant Guild's marked prices, the total would come to at least three hundred and fifty spirit jades or more. Even with the ten-percent discount on Wei Zhao's spirit-jade card, it would still cost him at least three hundred and twenty spirit jades.
Yet Hong Zhong had charged him only three hundred—a price that was practically the treatment of a VIP-grade spirit-jade card. Another favor done on the side.
Still, Wei Zhao did not affect any false modesty and try to refuse the outcome. Since the man was willing to grant him such a discount, it meant he intended to draw him in.
To be valued and courted by a figure like Hong Zhong, a giant of commerce, was by no means a bad thing. If he were to refuse the man's goodwill out of a misplaced sense of propriety, then with such a preconceived impression left behind, it would be very difficult to build any deep friendship in the future.
Wei Zhao did not have three hundred spirit jades on hand, but he did have them in his card. After all, last time Hong Zhong had given him four hundred spirit jades along with the spirit-jade card. Strictly speaking, even the spirit-herb materials he was buying now had been gifts from Hong Zhong—the man had laid out no small capital to win over this promising prospect.