Chapter 68: Fur Trade and New Driver

Today was the day to set off.

To avoid being watched, Mali deliberately drove the truck away from the city gate and parked it on the side of the road before starting the inspection before the long journey.

He first looked at the eight tires to ensure the tire pressure was normal.

The batch of fur goods had already been moved onto the truck last night, including one thousand sheepskins, four hundred wolf skins, two thousand squirrel skins, two thousand rabbit skins, one hundred fox skins, plus forty-two mink skins.

It cost Mali a total of one hundred and seventy-nine Gold Eagles.

Among them, mink skin was the most expensive, with the purchase price of each piece approaching one Gold Eagle. This was because mink skin was the most popular among nobles, especially white mink skin, which was everyone's favorite.

It was said that Lady Amanda had a robe made of eighty-five white mink skins, without a single speck of impurity. When she appeared at the banquet wearing that garment, no one could look away.

Following white mink was black mink, which was more favored by male nobles. The cloak worn by the King at the Bountiful Festival was made of one hundred black mink skins.

However, both colors were relatively rare and were basically bought at high prices by local nobles or merchants as soon as they appeared. As for the gray mink and brown mink on Mali's truck, they belonged to the more common ones.

But those who could afford them were also wealthy nobles who didn't lack money. Lesser nobles would choose fox skin, the price of which was only half that of mink skin.

Although squirrel skin had the lowest unit price, because of its small area, it was actually not cheap if used to make clothes, even more expensive than fox skin.

The remaining wolf skins, sheepskins, and rabbit skins were consumer goods for the ordinary wealthy class.

In modern society, many people called for rejecting fur, but that was a byproduct of civilization after productivity had developed to a certain stage. On the current Leiwateleisi Continent, human life was not worth much, so even fewer people had the leisure to care about animals.

Mali himself didn't wear fur, but as a merchant, he didn't refuse the fur trade.

The weight of these things added together was about five tons, pressing the tires slightly down, but this was a normal phenomenon.

Afterward, Mali opened the hood, pulled out the dipstick, and took a look. Before leaving the Red Mist, he had already changed the engine oil for the whole vehicle once, and currently, the oil quantity and color were still normal.

Then he checked the water tank and gearbox, oil-water separator, clutch and brake fluid, power steering fluid... After confirming that there were no problems, he wiped off the oil stains on his hands.

The driver's door was pushed open from the inside, revealing Xia'er's head.

"Is it ready?"

"Hmm, we can hit the road," Mali said.

The half-elf girl had previously shown a strong interest in driving, asking questions all the way and wanting Mali to teach her how to drive.

But at that time, Mali was busy running the Wealth Trial and didn't have much time.

During the few days of resting in Yingzui City, he had a little time, so he taught Xia'er basic operations like starting, turning off the engine, the accelerator, shifting gears, and braking.

Mainly because he really needed a co-pilot so he wouldn't be so tired when taking turns driving on long trips.

Additionally, if any unexpected situation occurred that made him unable to drive and required rapid evacuation, the co-pilot could step up.

So, during this time, besides daily practice, Xia'er also had the job of learning to drive.

It was just that it was her first time on the road, and Mali didn't dare to let her drive casually, so he finally adopted the half-elf girl's previous suggestion, and the two sat in the driver's seat together.

Mali closed the door and fastened his seatbelt. "Do you still remember how to start?"

Xia'er nodded and recited the formula: "First turn the key, step on the clutch, shift to 1st gear, slowly release the clutch, and step on the accelerator at the same time."

However, she still made the mistake that novices easily make: lifting her foot too fast, causing the truck to stall.

"Ah..."

"It's okay, try again," Mali said.

The half-elf girl nodded and ignited again. This time she successfully added the accelerator, but the truck still didn't move.

Xia'er scratched her head, not knowing where the problem was.

"Handbrake," Mali pointed to the handbrake beside her.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh." The half-elf girl pressed the handbrake, and this time the truck finally started to move.

Xia'er hurriedly hugged the steering wheel with both hands. She held it very tightly, her shoulders were stiff, and her knuckles were white.

"Relax," Mali comforted. "Just drive normally; if there's any problem, I'll take over in time."

The half-elf girl's driving practice made the other five people in the passenger cabin suffer, especially Leini, who was a bit carsick. Although she had taken carsickness medicine in advance, she couldn't stand the truck stopping and starting.

The jerky gear shifting and frequent stalling soon made her vomit her breakfast.

Fortunately, after practicing for a while, Xia'er found the feeling and drove more smoothly, but by then, Leini's stomach was already empty.

"Okay, let's take a break," Mali looked at the time; it was already noon, and there happened to be a small stream ahead, so he let the half-elf girl park the car on the side of the road.

It was not far from the next town, Shuiquan Town, and Mali estimated that they would arrive in another hour or so.

Since the two cities were adjacent, fur couldn't be sold at a high price here, and if the goods entered the city, they would have to pay taxes, so Mali didn't intend to sell goods here.

However, the honey wine he traded in the Wealth Trial came from Shuiquan Town, and it just so happened that there was still space on the truck, and the weather was good, so he planned to buy some more honey wine to take with him later.

Although the Winter Festival was almost over for the Dwarves, honey wine was also very popular in other towns and could be considered a signature product of Shuiquan Town. Even if it couldn't be sold at a high price without the festival, because Mali himself had no transportation costs, he could still make a good profit selling it normally.

Anyway, it was still half the capacity away from the ten-ton load limit he had set, and it was a waste to leave it empty.

Because they were very close to the town and were beside a normal trade route, they could even see the outline of a farm in the distance, so everyone's spirits were relatively relaxed.

After parking, Mali explained the turning radius and blind spots to Xia'er, while the Weier siblings took the cabbage and carrots purchased from the market last night to the stream to wash them clean, preparing to chop them up later and heat them in the microwave with the meat jerky.

Considering the need for cooking on the road, the microwave was one of the few electrical appliances Mali chose to keep during the modification.

As long as you don't care too much about the subtle differences in taste, it is more practical and energy-efficient than an oven, heats up quickly, and the electricity consumed can be supplemented by the solar panels on the roof.

It is simply one of the greatest inventions of mankind.

As for the alchemist master and apprentice, Liweier also got out of the car to stretch his muscles. As for Leini, she was vomiting in the grass again.

Everything around looked calm and peaceful, only Huodun, who had set up a small table and was preparing to chop vegetables, suddenly raised his head and twitched his nostrils twice. ===== CHAPTER 69 =====