Volume One: Another World Chapter Fifteen: Delivering Ginseng by the Basketful

Fearing that the young man might not understand, Li Yu took out a piece of rock sugar, popped it into his mouth, and demonstrated how to eat it. The young man behind the cloth mat imitated him, took a piece, and put it in his mouth. His eyes immediately flashed with surprise, and then, excitedly, he bit down, crunching it up in a few seconds. He looked at Li Yu eagerly.

Li Yu couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, "Can we trade for this?"

The foot traders’ transactions were less about money and more akin to barter, circulating among villages to exchange what each lacked.

The young man glanced down at his cloth mat, then at the half-bag in Li Yu’s hand, nodding vigorously. "Trade, trade! You can have everything here, and I’ll take all of yours."

Is this how business is done here?

Li Yu was dumbfounded. He realized that the bundles of ginseng on the mat were included in the deal. But then he considered: ginseng only fetched a high price on Blue Star; in this other world, ginseng wasn’t even more valuable than meat—since hunting in the wild was so dangerous.

As for rock sugar, it was worth little on Blue Star, but here, it could truly be called a rare and precious good.

So, neither side could be said to have a clear advantage in this trade.

Thus, the deal was made hand-to-hand: sugar for goods. The young man, as soon as he got the sugar, darted off, leaving Li Yu at a loss for words.

Is this really how people do business here?

Soon, Li Yu had browsed all the stalls. With his hands full of his spoils wrapped in the cloth mat, he found it inconvenient to continue. Er Gou, also wandering among the stalls, noticed and immediately insisted on carrying everything for him.

In the end, Er Gou even helped Li Yu bring everything to his doorstep.

"Take all this; I have no use for it," Li Yu said to Er Gou.

He picked out the ginseng, the colorful stones, oddly shaped pieces of wood, and a few other peculiar items, leaving the rest for Er Gou.

"I can’t, I can’t! These are too valuable!" Er Gou protested.

What Li Yu had set aside was only a small portion, and the least valuable at that.

For Er Gou, things like ginseng were worthless. He could gather a basketful just by running out to the mountains. But tools, knives, and farm implements were precious—in fact, within the cloth mat, there was even half a suit of armor!

To Er Gou, such things were beyond his means; he might not be able to afford them even after a year of frugal living. He didn’t dare accept.

"Take it. These are useless to me," Li Yu said, frowning.

He truly had no use for these things—was he supposed to farm or hunt on Blue Star? He knew nothing about such things, nor did he need to. On Blue Star, he had enough money to buy anything he wanted.

After much back and forth, Er Gou finally accepted the cloth mat with gratitude, leaving behind a hasty, "Brother Yu, wait for me," before running off.

"This kid…" Li Yu shook his head and turned back inside.

What he didn’t realize was that, compared to the other villagers, he was seen as a "wealthy magnate." Just the rock sugar and salt he had were considered treasures of the highest value. Others visiting the foot traders didn’t just buy whatever they fancied, let alone purchase an entire stall’s worth of goods.

Most families, when they found something they needed, would haggle back and forth for ages. Some would even spend a whole day weighing whether to buy or give up.

Having seen all the stalls and even lingered by the exotic beasts, Li Yu’s curiosity was satisfied. He checked the time—enough to return to Blue Star for dinner—so, with a thought, he returned home.

"System, check in," he remembered as soon as he got home; he still had a freebie to claim.

[Ding! Check-in successful. You have received double experience points for three hours.]

Double experience points?

Li Yu’s mind raced as he read through the explanation that came with the reward. When he finished, a look of delight spread across his face.

[Double experience points: For the duration, the user's learning ability is doubled.]

The explanation was brief, but this was incredibly useful—especially when combined with proficiency; it became an unbeatable advantage!

Through his research, Li Yu had discovered that proficiency allowed him to deepen what he already knew. For example, military boxing: proficiency couldn’t create skills out of thin air, but if he had some knowledge of it, then with basic proficiency, he could fully master the basics.

Double experience, on the other hand, accelerated his learning process! In the same amount of time, with double experience, his learning was twice as effective.

Most importantly, these effects didn’t conflict! One was for acquiring new skills—from nothing to something—while the other expanded knowledge, turning a beginner into an expert.

It took Li Yu a while to suppress his excitement. He didn’t use the double experience at once; he had better plans for it.

After dinner with Huang Xiu, he had intended to help her with her homework, but Er Gou’s words came back to him. After a moment’s thought, he feigned tiredness, told Huang Xiu he needed a nap, locked his door, and returned to the other world.

"What are you doing here?" Li Yu asked as he opened the door to see Er Gou standing outside. Glancing down, he saw three baskets on the ground. "What’s this?"

"Ginseng. I saw you seemed to like it, Brother Yu, so I went around the village and gathered some for you," Er Gou replied with a sheepish smile, scratching his head.

Is ginseng now delivered by the basketful?

Li Yu was speechless, but said nothing more, instead urging Er Gou to go eat.

"Ah, Brother Yu, I’ve already eaten. Don’t worry," Er Gou said, waving his hand and pretending to burp.

"You think I’m blind?" Li Yu pointed at the baskets. "Look, there’s still dirt on these! No one’s gone to dig for ginseng lately, so the leftovers in the village are all clean. You haven’t eaten yet!"

With his lie exposed, Er Gou scratched his head and went off to eat.

"Was he waiting outside for me all this time?" Li Yu watched Er Gou’s broad back and curled his lip. "The people here really are honest."

Carrying the baskets inside with a touch of worry, Li Yu was troubled: what was he supposed to do with all this?

If he took it all back to Blue Star and was seen, there would be no end of questions. Worse, if the outside world found out, it might cause a sensation.

"Ah, the troubles of having too much ginseng," he sighed.

…

On the village street.

Mu Yinhua saw Er Gou running past and called, "Er Gou, where are you going? Come eat at the main house!"

"Ah? I’ll just cook something at home," Er Gou said, scratching his head, a bit embarrassed. But Mu Yinhua dragged him along insistently.

"It’s too much trouble for you to cook alone. There’ll be plenty of food at the main house—the foot traders are joining us, too," Mu Yinhua said.

Meanwhile, in the house where the foot traders were staying.

"What do you think a slave with Thunder Vein bloodline would fetch on the market?" Lin Sanjin asked with a sly smile, patting his stomach.