Chapter 38: Scammed

“What, thirty gold coins?” Rod stared in disbelief, eyes wide and mouth agape, at the woman across from him.
That’s right—just moments earlier, after searching around, his attention had quickly been drawn to the two sets of clothes in his hands. After trying them on and confirming they fit, he thought about the fact that he hadn’t brought anything with him on this trip—empty-handed. At the very least, he needed clothes that could serve as a replacement! So, excitedly, he went to the counter to pay.
But good times are always short-lived. Just like now—his excitement was instantly damped by the price quoted by the shop owner.
What did thirty gold coins even mean? Rod knew all too well—it was enough for a family of three to live a comfortable life for a year, or enough for Rod to live comfortably on his own for at least two years.
“That’s right!” Seeing Rod’s exaggerated expression, the woman smiled faintly and spoke slowly, seemingly unimpressed by his reaction.
“A swindling shop!” Those were the first words that came to Rod’s mind.
“Come on, boss, is it really that expensive? Can’t you give me a discount? It’s just two sets of clothes—why such a high price?” With a grim face, Rod glanced around. Fortunately, there was no one nearby. He lowered his voice and whispered to the woman.
“I’ve already given you a discount. Your taste is excellent—these two sets are among the best in our store. They’re the latest style, made from top-quality materials. Ten gold coins per set is already a discount. I wouldn’t sell them for fifteen even if someone else asked—I guarantee that!”
The woman laughed at Rod and continued, “Ten gold coins per piece. Hmm… so why are you charging me thirty for two pieces? Never mind, I don’t want them anymore!” Rod refused to accept this. She had clearly said ten gold coins per set—how could it suddenly become thirty for two? He planned to drop the clothes and leave. Such things were beyond his means. At least not yet.
“Don’t want them? Heh, fine. I won’t argue with you. Just leave the ten gold coins and go!”
As if she had expected Rod to say that, the woman gave a slight smile and replied indifferently.

“Why? Is this place a scam, right? Why do you want me to pay ten gold coins? I didn’t buy anything, and you’re even charging an entrance fee?” He suddenly jumped up, leaned forward slightly, and shouted loudly. His roar immediately caught everyone’s attention. Upon seeing who was making the noise, the customers there showed a look of disdain. That guy had already caused trouble earlier, and now he was shouting loudly, seriously ruining everyone’s mood. “A scam? We’re not. It’s just that that lady took a piece of jewelry with her when she left. Well, she bought it from the jewelry shop inside. It’s been added to your bill—consider it as an apology to her sister!” After a pause, seeing Rod about to speak, the woman gestured for him to wait and continued, “Yes, although I said everything they bought today would be free, they insisted on paying for that item, saying it had to be you who paid. So, I had no choice but to agree to their request. After all, customers are king! Weren’t you in agreement with that just now? Besides, you forced your way in and caused trouble here today. I’m not holding it against you. I’ve agreed to let you return the clothes. What more do you want?” The woman’s half-smile now appeared like a demonic face in Rod’s eyes. Wasn’t that smile the smile of a demon? “What? No money? It’s okay. I trust your character. Come and pay me back when you get the chance. I won’t mind!” Looking at Rod’s troubled expression, the woman waved her hand generously and said cheerfully. Rod immediately felt defeated. He was completely speechless, especially after hearing her last words, which made his face turn red. It seemed he had insisted on coming in no matter what, and now facing this situation was extremely embarrassing, especially with some of the customers already giving him disdainful looks. “Buy it, damn it! Thirty gold coins, right? I’ll buy it. Hmph!” Gritting his teeth, he secretly felt through his money bag and, with determination, Rod spoke in a low voice. Rod’s words seemed to surprise the woman. After a moment of hesitation, as if she had guessed something, she wore an even more playful and suggestive smile. Feeling as if his heart was bleeding, Rod slowly took out the money bag that Kiro had left for him, opened it carefully, and saw the gleaming gold coins inside, causing his heart to ache.

These things don’t seem to have warmed up in my pocket yet. I guess I’m just unlucky. All I can pray now is that there’s enough money in here; otherwise, I’m likely to face even greater embarrassment. I poured out more than half of it and carefully lit it in my hands. After calculating, Rod finally breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, that guy Kiro is quite generous, giving me quite a few gold coins at once. Just pouring out a little over half already amounted to thirty gold coins. Enduring the pain, with his expression slightly changing, he took a deep breath before handing it to the smiling woman across from him.

“Mm, hehe, welcome! I hope you have a pleasant shopping experience here. Oh, by the way, since we’re fated to meet, I’ll give you this as a gift. If you shop here in the future, you can get a discount! I’m sure you’ll find it useful!” the woman said with a smile as she handed over the shiny gold coins.

“A fox, definitely a fox. Damn it, I’m really stupid to come here and shop. Hmph, wasn’t it bad enough to get ripped off once? Why would I be so foolish as to come here and let you rip me off again?” Rod muttered inwardly, sticking out his lip and tossing the oddly shaped card into his arms.

Taking the items he bought, he went to the changing room, quickly changed into fresh clothes, threw away his old, tattered clothes, and left that exploitative shop immediately, heading outside. He didn’t want to stay any longer and be exploited under various pretexts. Besides, having wasted so much time here, he was still worried about matters at the blacksmith shop. Filled with resentment and anger, Rod rushed toward the blacksmith shop in the upper left corner.

After Rod’s figure disappeared, the smile on the woman’s face gradually faded, replaced by a serious expression. A moment later, she suddenly stood up, gave instructions to one of the women beside her, and then left with the other person.

“Miss… why did you give him that thing?”

After leaving the clothing store, the young woman following the miss asked in confusion, noticing that the miss seemed a bit different from before. Just now, when the woman gave that card to Rod, she and the other person who remained in the store had changed expressions drastically. Perhaps no one in this world, except the miss herself, understood what that card meant better than them.

“Ask less about things you shouldn’t! You’ll naturally know about this matter when the time comes, but it’s not yet the right time to tell you! Perhaps our plans need to change!” The woman said solemnly, her brows tightly furrowed.
…
With extreme dissatisfaction, Rod quickly made his way to the blacksmith shop: “Hmph, I’ll remember you! Qingfeng City—I refuse to be deceived again!”
His experience at the clothing store was deeply etched in his memory. He glared fiercely at the small shop and narrowed his eyes at Reid, who had been staring at him since he left the store. He cursed inwardly.
Turning to look at the small blacksmith shop beside him, he saw that despite it being night, the place was still bustling. Inside the tiny shop were only a middle-aged man and an old man. Though it was cold at night, the two of them had no time to idle away!
As he approached, he heard an increasingly loud clanging sound. The furnace at the front was burning fiercely, with constant crackling noises. The intense flames caused the charcoal inside to burst loudly.
Even in such cold weather, the old man and the middle-aged man were still bare-chested, working hard to shape the red-hot metal in their hands.
When they saw Rod enter the shop, they merely raised their heads slightly, nodded, and then fell silent. There was no warm welcome, no special treatment—just continued focus on the weapons in their hands.
The small shop was neatly stocked with a variety of weapons, tools, and armor—so diverse that it could be said, though small, it had everything.
Staring at the array of weapons in the shop, Rod felt momentarily overwhelmed.
“What kind of weapon do you need?” A sudden hoarse voice came from behind him, almost startingleing Rod.
The hoarse voice carried a distinct tone. Turning around, Rod saw a middle-aged man standing behind him and forced a smile. “A sword!”
His reply was quick and decisive, without hesitation. He looked at the middle-aged man in confusion. His bare chest was covered in countless burn marks from years of working by the furnace, and his face bore a prominent burn scar. For some reason, Rod felt this guy was a bit strange.

“Follow me!” After staring at Rod seriously for a moment, the middle-aged man fell silent for a while before speaking in a deep voice. He then turned and headed inside. Seeing this, Rod hurriedly followed him, not daring to fall behind. The shop gave off a gloomy atmosphere.