Chapter 22 Striking It Rich_1
"Young brother, where are you planning to sell that? I know several places in the city that buy animal hides are really shady, they really drive a hard bargain. Do you want me to tell you secretly? To avoid stepping into a trap!"
The middle-aged man had switched to a kind-hearted face this time.
Qin Niu still said nothing, his head down as he hurried on his way.
His destination was clear, the garment market.
In his first three visits to the city, he had made a point of observing the garment market in Black Tiger City, where they sold various kinds of clothes, shoes, armors, protective gear, hats, cushions, and leather mats.
Within the market, multiple shops selling high-end clothing and leather mats had signs in conspicuous places, offering to buy various kinds of animal skins at high prices.
The words "high prices" were directly ignored by Qin Niu as a routine trick.
His idea was simple, just to find a reasonably fair shop and sell it at a fair price.
As long as he was not being cheated, even if he sold it for a few hundred wen less, it wouldn't matter.
"Young brother, since we are fated to meet, let me tell you about two places that offer a particularly fair purchase price. Their prices are at least one tael of silver higher than others," said the middle-aged man, obviously not ready to let his prey go so easily, lest he'd have trouble explaining to his higher-ups.
At this moment, Qin Niu made a move.
His right hand 'quietly' reached to his waist and drew out a dagger, holding it reversed and hidden in his sleeve.
This movement seemed 'secretive', but in fact, the middle-aged man saw it clearly. His pupils shrank, and he subconsciously kept a little more distance from Qin Niu.
Country folk mostly did manual labor and were considered strong and sturdy.
They inherently stuck to their guns.
This youth seemed young but definitely wasn't simple if he could hunt a black bear.
The middle-aged man usually engaged in swindling and deceiving, with no more strength than an average citizen. Seeing the youth silently drawing his dagger and hiding it in his sleeve, he instantly lost his nerve.
This young man clearly wasn't easy to communicate with.
Such people tended to act drastically, and what if he stabbed him out of the blue, wouldn't that be a terrible injustice?
"Young brother, young brother..."
The middle-aged man called him from a distance.
Without looking back, Qin Niu continued to walk forward, but his right hand, holding the dagger, was clearly straining, and his tricep bulged. His left hand, meanwhile, tightened its grip on the basket on his back.
The middle-aged man who had been pestering him narrowed his eyes and didn't dare to follow any longer.
With a weapon in hand, murderous intent arose.
Facing someone who might kill at the slightest disagreement, he couldn't help but be afraid.
There were always prey every day, and he wouldn't miss just one. Worried about risking his life, the middle-aged man decisively gave up.
Noticing that the middle-aged man had stopped following him, the corners of Qin Niu's mouth lifted in a hardly perceivable smile as he silently slid the dagger back into its sheath at his waist.
He was just putting on a show.
After he shook off that man, no one else came to bother him.
He quickened his pace and reached the garment market, where groups of city folk were seen ordering clothes.
In this world, the vast majority of common people would only buy one or two sets of clothes a year, which was considered a big deal, especially when it came to winter clothes, which often coincided with the New Year.
It was only near the end of the year that one would purchase new clothes to welcome the New Year.
For families with poor financial conditions, it was common to buy a new set of clothes only every few years.
A set of clothes was usually not cheap, even the coarse cloth or linen, a single most ordinary garment would cost at least four hundred wen and up.
These days, clothes were all handmade, without the possibility of machine mass production.
So the cost of labor wasn't cheap either.
Some high-end tailors even charged a manual labor fee of three to seven taels of silver for one piece.
Of course, these were exorbitant fees.
Equivalent to 'expert' level tailors.
There's a saying that a good saddle goes with a good horse, and the same goes for tailor-made clothes. Good fabrics would never be wasted on ordinary tailors.
Gorgeous clothes are often crafted by tailors of high skill who hold a certain reputation in the trade.
It's said that even for a single coat of the Gang Leader of the Black Tiger Gang, the materials and labor cost would amount to thousands of taels of silver.
That was a vast fortune many common people would not earn in a lifetime.
The annual total income of a long-term worker in a landlord's family is less than four taels, with the official wage being around three taels, plus various benefits adding up to six tenths of a tael. That makes the actual annual income three taels and six tenths of a tael.
Before the age of sixteen, workers are considered child labor, receiving only half the wage.
Some landlords even deliberately exploit workers; many people who are clearly over sixteen are still only paid the wage of child labor, using excuses such as their inadequate farming skills or small stature.
Many people have to wait until they are eighteen or nineteen before they can possibly earn an adult's wage.
For ordinary people, living to sixty years old is considered a long life.
Take Qin Niu, for instance, who only had a lifespan of fifty-one years.
Considering this, an ordinary citizen would only be able to earn an adult's wage for thirty-three years. In reality, after the age of forty-five, as physical strength declines and the likelihood of illness increases, the risk of being dismissed greatly rises.
Most people, in fact, can only work for around twenty-seven years in their lifetime.
At a rate of 3.6 taels per year, a lifetime's total income would only amount to about 97.2 taels.
In this world, if one cannot practice cultivation to become stronger, without a particular skill, life is truly like that of a mayfly—ephemeral and meaningless.
It takes the lifetime income of almost ten ordinary citizens just to afford a single outfit for the Black Tiger Gang Leader.
This is the temptation for everyone to become a strong person.
As a strong person, not only can life expectancy greatly increase, but one can also have control over the life and death of others and possess the most elite resources.
For an ordinary person, marrying a slightly beautiful wife is a result that comes only if ancestors bless them.
The Black Tiger Gang Leader can switch out for ten beautiful eighteen-year-old girls in one night without any trouble.
An ordinary person can't eat meat three times in a year, but the Black Tiger Gang Leader indulges in delicacies from the land and sea, including various spiritual medicines.
Qin Niu has no desire for lavish clothing or grand houses; in his heart, there are only three words: seeking immortality.
He believes that the longer one lives, the stronger one's cultivation will surely become.
Eventually, that would naturally make one a top-level strong person.
If one's lifespan comes to an end, no matter how glorious or powerful one is in the moment, in the end, they can only die and their path fades away.
After visiting three purchasing points to ask for prices, he had a good idea of their rates.
Comparing the goods at three stores was a technique he had cleverly employed to his advantage.
After asking at two more stores, he ultimately decided to sell the bear skin to the one that offered the highest price.
He had thought that he could at most sell it for ten taels of silver, but unexpectedly, he secured a high price of twenty-five taels.
The owner appraised it and confirmed that it was from a mature male bear that had lived for at least fifteen years.
Moreover, the owner informed Qin Niu that there was definitely at least one female bear nearby.
One couldn't help but admire their professional expertise.
Each trade has its master, and that wasn't just an empty saying.
To be able to determine the bear's age and gender just from its hide is an impressive skill.
The owner also told him that if he hunted another Black Bear next time, he could bring the bear gallbladder to sell to him for five hundred coins.
Qin Niu had long heard that bear gallbladder was beneficial to the body, and he had swallowed it raw on the spot.
He didn't feel any significant change in his body, though.
If he had known that bear gallbladder was so valuable, he should have kept it to sell.
Having earned twenty-five taels of silver, he was overjoyed, as this meant he had secured means for practicing cultivation techniques and could also afford to buy weapons.
He was considering buying two to three low-grade Contract Charms to carry with him, to be prepared to subdue any insects he took a liking to in the future.
Passing by an Armor Shop, he stopped at the door to take a look.
The shop assistant gave him a cursory glance and then went back to dusting the armor, paying him no heed.
Having dealt with various customers, the assistants knew which ones could afford their armors.
A country person wrapped in clothes patched all over, barely managing to get enough to eat—how could they afford expensive armor?
This time, the assistant really misjudged the situation.
Qin Niu, with twenty-five taels of silver on him, could easily afford a set of ordinary leather armor.
Qin Niu was indifferent to the shop assistant's cold attitude.
He walked into the shop and fixed his gaze on a set of black armor.
From the look of it, it was nearly identical to the armor worn by the soldiers at the city gates.