Chapter 55: Rounding Off

The sunset gradually sank, twilight staining a halo.

Lin Dao walked through the storage room where valuable goods were kept, searching for a piece that caught his fancy.

"Fo-ti, this one isn't worth money~"

"Tianshan snow lotus, not worth money either~"

"Musk, this thing can't be bought or sold~"

"Ambergris, this one's good."

Gazing at a stone before him that was slightly ivory-white, Lin Dao nodded in satisfaction. "I know this is worth money, sold by the gram."

This piece of ambergris before him, shaped like an egg yolk, weighed no less than several catties.

Drawing closer, the rich fragrance of flowers and wood was thick and did not dissipate.

He took a piece of silk, wrapped this lump of ambergris, and took it away.

Returning to Hai Gang Cheng in the Modern World, Lin Dao hailed a car and headed straight for Xin Sheng Tang.

"Mr. Lin."

The beaming Manager swept his eyes over Lin Dao's backpack and welcomed him enthusiastically. "We opened this morning, and the shop's flowers bloomed — surely a distinguished guest has arrived."

"Truly learned." Lin Dao's face showed a smile. "Your words sound truly pleasant."

Arriving at the Ke Shi, they served top-grade tea costing tens of thousands per catty right away.

After a few sentences of idle chat, the Manager got down to business.

"Mr. Lin, this time you've come~"

Lin Dao didn't waste words either; he took off his backpack and placed it on the solid wood table.

He opened the backpack, reached out with both hands, and took out a big fellow wrapped in silk.

The Manager's eyes gleamed.

By their trade's experience, the bigger the item, the higher the value.

When the silk was undone, the Manager's breath caught for a moment.

"This is~" He examined it carefully, leaned in close, and took a deep breath.

"Ambergris~"

Before long, the resident Old Doctor arrived at the Ke Shi.

No nonsense; he stepped forward and first observed the color.

The highest quality ambergris is golden, amber-colored, ivory-yellow.

Lin Dao's piece of ambergris is ivory-white — not top-grade, but certainly not bad either.

Next is checking water content; dry ones are inevitably superior to fresh ones with high water content.

Then comes looking at the shape.

The best shape resembles an egg yolk; second best is a whole piece with layers.

Ambergris bears 'fragrance' in its name, so scent is naturally extremely important.

Inferior grade smells rotten with a fishy stench.

Medium grade smells earthy with saltiness.

Superior grade smells of fruit, wood, and floral fragrance.

If it is top-grade, then medicinal fragrance, wine fragrance, amber sweet fragrance.

The Old Doctor leaned close to the ambergris, drew a deep breath, closed his eyes, and wore an intoxicated expression.

"Fruit-wood fragrance~~~"

Seeing this scene, Lin Dao sitting on the sofa couldn't help but want to laugh.

Ambergris is essentially the intestinal wax of the sperm whale, a secretion.

One could even broadly say it is excrement.

The Old Doctor's intoxicated expression — he's smelling shit~~~

After examining carefully for a long while, the Old Doctor nodded forcefully at the Manager.

"It's genuine."

"Medium grade or above."

In this era, counterfeiting technology has reached its peak; anything can be faked.

Distinguishing real from fake has become the most important thing.

The Manager knew the score, beaming. "Mr. Lin~"

"A chance find." Lin Dao lifted his tea bowl. "For sale."

The Manager didn't waste words either; he stood and went out the door.

He returned quickly, holding an electronic scale in his arms.

He carefully placed the ambergris on the electronic scale, and the data soon displayed.

"Four thousand nine hundred fifty-two grams."

Close to ten catties in weight.

Ambergris is priced and sold by the gram.

"Mr. Lin." The Manager adjusted his glasses. "Our shop can offer nine hundred fifty per gram."

He added, "Mr. Lin rest assured, the price our shop offers is absolutely the industry standard."

"If you don't believe it, you can go ask other peers for quotes."

"Round it off."

Lin Dao spoke calmly. "Count it as five thousand grams."

The Manager calmed his breath, thinking to himself, "Why didn't you just give up the fourth one?"

"A difference of several dozen grams means several hundred thousand more."

Lin Dao said again, "Nine hundred and fifty, round it up, count it as one thousand per gram."

This rounding up directly added several hundred thousand to the price.

"Master Lin," the Manager's face grew tense, "I can't make this decision myself; I have to ask the boss."

Lin Dao neither agreed nor refused, leisurely sipping his tea.

He was not in a hurry.

Ambergris is extremely difficult to obtain; among the four great fragrances, it is the only one that cannot be artificially synthesized.

Without question, this is a standard seller's market.

There are plenty of shops willing to pay for it.

The Manager, who went out to make a phone call, soon returned: "Master Lin, the boss has agreed."

"The boss wants to make friends with Master Lin."

"Inviting Master Lin to have tea and play a round when he has time."

For those in the traditional Chinese medicine trade, Lin Dao, who could produce century-old wild ginseng and large chunks of ambergris in succession, is a Noble.

After all, the bulk of their earnings actually comes from those wealthy tycoons.

When providing medicine for tycoons, it must naturally be as precious as possible.

Lin Dao, who could obtain precious medicinal herbs, would no longer be questioned about the source of the herbs at this time; they only hoped to continue obtaining them.

"Alright, if I have time," Lin Dao agreed readily.

"Master Lin," the Manager said again, "check, public account, or cash?"

"Cash."

Back in the hotel room, Lin Dao looked at the dozens of stacks of Gold Cows in his backpack.

"One piece of precious medicine, and I've hit the jackpot once."

"Enough to buy several thousand tons of feed, able to feed even more people."

He thought of the several more chunks of ambergris still in the Xiangguo City warehouse.

"Sell slowly, don't drive the price down."

The next day, Lin Dao emerged from the Precious Goods Warehouse.

Liu Hu and the others waiting outside were long since used to this.

"Let's go."

Looking back at the treasures in the warehouse, Lin Dao, in high spirits, called out, "Let's go eat."

Back in the Jian De Rear Hall, Jin Lian had already prepared breakfast and served it, inviting the Lord to enjoy.

Liu Hu and the others went to eat at the side kitchen.

Lin Dao ate with relish, while Jin Lian beside him looked and looked, then wiped the corner of her eye.

"What's wrong?" Lin Dao was puzzled. "Why cry for no reason?"

"My Lord~"

Jin Lian explained softly, "My Lord is clearly the richest man under heaven, yet cares for the common people."

"To ensure everyone can eat, you are willing to eat simple meals yourself."

"Clearly there is luncheon meat and such delicacies, yet My Lord is reluctant to eat them, leaving them for the Jiang Jun defending the city."

"This Slave is deeply moved~~~"

Hearing this, Lin Dao could only laugh and cry at the same time.

He looked down at the boiled eggs, corn porridge, corn cakes, and fermented black bean pickled vegetables on the table.

This is clearly the health-preserving diet advocated in the Modern World.

As for luncheon meat, it contains preservatives and various additives; given a choice, of course he wouldn't eat it.

Thinking he had nothing to do, teasing the little girl was also quite interesting.

"Sigh~~~"

Lin Dao put down his chopsticks and sighed, "Thinking of how many people under heaven are still going hungry makes my heart ache."

"Me eating a little less doesn't matter."

"I only hope that one day, everyone under heaven can eat their fill."

"Then it wouldn't be in vain that I came this way."

Jin Lian, here, was so moved she wanted to throw herself into the Lord's arms.

The Lord cares for the common people of the world; he is simply a sage~~~

Lin Dao, in high spirits, went to patrol the City Interior after eating.

He first went to the Zhiyi Chang.

Hundreds and thousands of female workers were bowing their heads, treading sewing machines.

Clothes were bundled and packed, waiting to be sent to the warehouse.

Lin Dao would transport these clothes back to the Modern World, selling them at ultra-low prices to customers snatched from the clutches of domineering CEOs.

His costs here were almost just the money for the cloth.

As for labor costs, they were low enough that just giving food was enough.

A garment factory using machines on a large scale still needs profit margins.

Lin Dao doesn't need that here; as long as he can snatch the domineering CEO's customers, that's enough.

He wants to make him go bankrupt.

Leaving the Zhiyi Chang, he arrived at the Gongjiang Ying.

Recently, the main work of the Gongjiang Ying was threading iron rings.

Lin Dao had ordered a large quantity of small iron rings from a processing factory in the Modern World.

After they were transported over, he handed them to the craftsmen to thread together.

Layer upon layer of iron rings threaded together became Chain Mail Armor.

Wearing Silk Lining inside, Chain Mail Armor and Cotton Armor outside, and adding a set of simple Plate Armor on the outermost layer, a Jia Shi's Equipment was complete.

Lin Dao picked up a finished set of Chain Mail Armor, stroking and Surveying it.

Quality-wise, there was naturally nothing to criticize.

Modern World steel products, brought to the Yonghe Spacetime, were existences even stronger than meteoric iron.

As for those local products full of various impurities, there was even less need for any Comparison.

"Lang Zhu~"

A craftsman with a weathered look, holding a set of Chain Mail Armor, approached.

"Slave has forged a new set of armor here, please Invite Lang Zhu to inspect it~"

Lin Dao didn't mind, Reaching Out to take it.

Before he could receive the Chain Mail Armor, a tall figure suddenly flashed past his side.

Liu Hu lunged over, tackling that craftsman to the ground.

Before Lin Dao could react, the Bodyguards had already rushed out, piling on like a human pyramid to pin the craftsman down.

Beside him, Bodyguards also instantly surrounded him.

After a short while, Liu Hu's furious roar was heard: "No one is allowed to move!"

"Anyone who moves dies without mercy!"

The surrounding craftsmen were all trembling in fear.

Seeing the Dagger in Liu Hu's hand, Lin Dao finally came to his senses.

So this was... an assassination attempt?

"Bring the person over."

Lin Dao Signaled the Bodyguards in front of him to make way.

Looking at the assassin with broken limbs and one cheek caved in.

He frowned slightly: "Who instructed you?"

If it was someone from the City Interior who instructed it, this matter wouldn't end here.

The craftsman with a mouth full of blood made a sound from his Throat: "Only begging for a quick death~~~"

On this side, Liu Hu was already dragging the trembling Gongjiang Ying Tou over.

The Expressionless Lin Dao Instructed: "Go search his residence."

"This matter must be investigated clearly."

As the news spread, many people hurried over.

The first to arrive was Wang Meng.

As soon as he arrived, he pleaded guilty.

Lin Dao had entrusted him with all military and civil affairs, yet such a shocking incident occurred.

Theoretically speaking, if something happened to Lin Dao, the one most likely to take over power would be him, Wang Meng.

Precisely because he knew this, Wang Meng came over and said nothing, only pleading guilty repeatedly.

Lin Dao did not fully believe the records in the History Books.

Nor would he give unreserved trust to the people of this Spacetime.

He merely Signaled Wang Meng to wait on the side.

Soon, Qin Lang, Jin Lian, Sun Dalang and his sister, and a group of Colonels all arrived one after another.

Lin Dao waved his hand and remained Silent, only letting everyone wait.

Liu Hu returned, still clutching a pigeon in his hand.

"Lang Zhu."

Liu Hu stepped forward and Saluted: "No letters were found, only a pigeon that had been hidden away."

Wang Meng stepped forward two steps, Surveyed it: "It's a Carrier Pigeon."

Quite a few Smart people secretly Relieved.

Using a Carrier Pigeon, it most likely meant contact with the City Exterior.

Lin Dao was Silent.

This was probably, aside from when he was a child after school, ignorant, and ran onto Ma Lu nearly getting hit, the most dangerous time.

His gaze turned to the craftsman firmly locked down by the Bodyguards.

"Pry open his Mouth!"

(End of Chapter)