The cunning merchant

After a tiring day, Selena lay on the bed and quickly fell into a drowsy sleep. When she woke up again, it was already completely dark outside, and there was no sound of Jake in the living room.

Selena opened the door and entered the living room. Sure enough, Jake was gone, and the ingredients he had organized earlier had also disappeared, but there was a note on the dining table. It read, "The food is in the refrigerator. Heat it up yourself." Although it was not signed, Selena knew it must have been left by her "roommate."

"I didn't expect him to be so considerate," Selena thought to herself. Although she hadn't completely let go of her guard against Jake, her impression of him had improved slightly.

At this time, Jake had already started doing business at his stall. His business was doing fairly well today, perhaps because the start of the school year was approaching and many students had returned early, resulting in increased foot traffic. Of course, compared to the nearby barbecue stalls, his business was still much worse. However, Jake didn't have any other thoughts besides envy. After all, his cooking skills were rusty, and his stall was too small.

When Jake returned to his place, it was already late at night. Selena, who had just arrived in the new place, was still lying on the bed, not asleep yet. She was startled when she heard the sound of the door opening, and her expression became tense. Being two strangers of the opposite sex sharing the same room, it was inevitable for Selena to feel nervous.

Fortunately, Jake quickly entered his bedroom, and when Selena heard the sound of the door closing, she breathed a sigh of relief. Jake had no intention of worrying about what Selena was thinking. After returning to his room, he freshened up and entered the game world.

In the other dimension, Jake was still standing in front of the village chief's house. Thinking about what he had planned during the day, he decided to go directly to the village chief.

"I heard you became Clark's apprentice? Not bad, stick with him and you'll benefit for life," the village chief said as he saw Jake, taking the initiative to speak.

"I will," Jake nodded. Meeting a grandmaster as his mentor was an excellent opportunity that he wouldn't miss.

"That's good," the village chief said satisfactorily. "What brings you here? I don't have any tasks for you."

"I'm not here for a task," Jake said. "I noticed that there are many vacant plots of land in the mountains behind our village. Grandfather Village Chief, what do you think about letting me cultivate them?"

Jake looked at the old village chief with anticipation. The empty land in the mountains was not small in size, and if the old village chief agreed to let him cultivate it, he would have his own farming base for vegetables used in his barbecue.

"Why do you want those vacant lands? What do you want to cultivate?" the village chief asked, puzzled.

"Just some vegetables and fruits," Jake replied.

"Well, it's not impossible. After all, there aren't many people in our village, and most of them are elderly. Taking care of the front and back yards is enough work; we don't have much energy to tend to the vacant lands in the mountains," the village chief said.

Jake's face brightened upon hearing this. There was hope for this plan! However, just at that moment, the village chief's tone changed as he said, "However..."

"What's ?" Jake quickly asked. This was related to his real-life plan to make money. If he could get his hands on those vacant plots of land, not only would he have a portion of the ingredients for his barbecue, but he could also directly sell them and potentially earn a good amount of money. He couldn't help but be concerned.

"However, do you have money?" the old village chief asked, his face filled with teasing.

"Money?" Jake's face froze for a moment, then he quickly tried to please the old village chief, saying, "Village Chief, we're so familiar with each other now. How about I owe you? I promise to pay you back when I earn some money."

"That won't do," the old village chief shook his head. "I don't allow credit here."

"You're so heartless?" Jake said. "But this village is so small, where can I go to earn money?" The matter of money had been on Jake's mind. He had killed so many monsters and even looted equipment, but he hadn't seen a single copper coin. It was quite frustrating.

"Want to earn money? It's easy!" the old village chief said.

"How?" Jake quickly asked. Having money would not only solve the issue of leasing the vacant land but would also make other things much more convenient.

"You can go outside the village and kill those demons or beasts, then sell their fur, claws, or even teeth to those in need, especially to Mason at the general store. He loves collecting those things," the old village chief pointed out a way for Jake to make money.

Upon hearing this, Jake immediately thought of the two corpses in his backpack—the demon fox and the colorful fierce tiger. In his haste yesterday, he had forgotten to deal with them. He didn't expect that they could help him make money.

Thinking that he could earn money soon, Jake quickly exclaimed, "I'll be right back!" Then he rushed out of the village chief's house and headed straight for the general store. Jake was already familiar with the households in the village, so it wasn't difficult for him to find the general store.

"Mason, I have something to sell!" Jake stood at the entrance of the general store, took out the corpses of the demon fox and the colorful fierce tiger, and placed them on the doorstep.

"Coming, coming!" The door of the general store quickly opened, and an old man walked out. When the old man saw the corpses of the demon fox and the colorful fierce tiger on the ground, he was first surprised, then overjoyed.

"Treasures!" The owner of the general store couldn't even bother to talk to Jake. His attention was completely focused on the two corpses, and the gleam in his eyes was clearly visible to Jake.

"Mason, do you want these two things?" Jake asked.

"Yes, yes, definitely!" Mason replied without hesitation. "Nina mentioned you before, and I know you're a good young man. These two things are good, and I can't let you suffer. I'll take both of these corpses, and as for the money, I'll give you two gold coins. How does that sound?"

Two gold coins? To be honest, Jake didn't understand the monetary system of this world very well, so he didn't know if two gold coins were a lot or a little. However, gold coins were gold coins after all, and seeing the sincere look on the other person's face, plus the fact that the price was given considering Nina's praise for him, Jake believed he wouldn't be shortchanged. So he thought for a moment and agreed.

However, as Jake thought about having money in his pocket and being in the general store where he could look for something suitable for himself, his smile instantly disappeared from his face.

"That cunning merchant!" Jake muttered to himself as he walked out of the general store with a gloomy expression.