Ouchi Taming the Cat, starting with the Ten Tiger Forms!

Chapter 477 It’s Hard to Make Money
Under the guidance of Xiao Cui, the three little ones quickly arrived at the area where the Taobao stalls were located.

Compared to the street where Xiao Cui and her grandfather set up their stall, this place is really inconspicuous, just like an ordinary alley.

But there are quite a lot of people here. The alleys are crowded with simple stalls, on which are placed quaint objects still stained with a little mud.

Although the products don't look very good, the combination of the taciturn stall owners and the Taobao customers who quietly ask about prices makes this place full of a mysterious atmosphere.

These so-called Taobao customers are a mixed bag, and they seem to be doing all kinds of things.

Fortunately, with Xu Lang and others protecting them, Princess Ankang and the others were saved a lot of trouble.

Perhaps because they looked unfamiliar, they attracted a lot of people's attention as soon as they arrived here, and many people were secretly looking at them.

Neither Xiao Cui nor Princess Ankang nor the others took these looks to heart.

With confidence in their hearts, they would not show the slightest sign of cowardice even when facing such gazes.

Their reactions and the postures of Xu Lang and others made those gazes retract, and they no longer dared to look in the direction of Princess Ankang and the others.

Princess Ankang held Li Xuan in her arms and looked at the roadside stalls curiously.

There were price signs on the stalls, divided into areas of five taels, ten taels, twenty taels and fifty taels.

Different price areas are also covered with cloth of different colors to make it easier to distinguish them.

Even though it was Sanxiao's first time here, he quickly understood how to play here.

Depending on the display areas, the prices and appearance of these antiques are also significantly differentiated.

The area for five taels of silver is basically gray and it is difficult to see what is inside. It is obvious that there is no treasure here.

However, the area where the stalls selling five taels of silver occupy the largest area in the alley and is also the place where most buyers visit.

As for other areas, especially the area where fifty taels of silver were awarded, they were sparsely populated.

Every stall owner has at least two or three antiques at different price ranges for people to choose from, and no one stall only has antiques at one price range.

There wasn't much bargaining between the stall owners and the buyers. They just exchanged a few words occasionally before completing the transaction, making this place seem out of place compared to other places in the West Market.

The three little ones and Xiao Cui picked and chose here and looked for a long time, but they couldn't figure out anything.

They are not experts in antiques and do not have the ability to identify treasures from garbage.

"Ah Xuan, can you see if there is any treasure in here?"

When Li Xuan heard this, his face immediately fell into a cat-like state.

He asked why Princess Ankang was so interested in visiting the Taobao stall, and it turned out that she was referring to him.

Li Xuan rolled his eyes at Princess Ankang, who just laughed heartlessly.

But now that it has come to this, Li Xuan can only give it a try.

He magnified his perception and explored the antiques on the stalls, but for a moment he did not get any useful feedback.

After all, these are dead things. Even if Li Xuan possesses the Yin-Yang Qi, he cannot detect anything.

These antiques are not like living creatures, with their own unique auras. Even if Li Xuan uses Yin-Yang Qi to explore them, he cannot tell whether they are new or old.

Li Xuan opened his eyes and couldn't help but sigh. Just when he was about to shake his head to Princess Ankang to express that he was helpless, the expression on his face suddenly changed and he turned to look in a certain direction.

"Go ahead and act casual."

Li Xuan quietly wrote on the back of Princess Ankang's hand with his tail.

Princess Ankang was delighted, knowing that Li Xuan had discovered something, but she still remembered Li Xuan's instructions and did not show any flaws on the surface.

Princess Ankang walked forward slowly, occasionally casting curious glances at the stalls on both sides, and occasionally stopping to ask the price.

But there seemed to be a rule in this alley. There was no room for bargaining. The price was what it was.

But there are quite a lot of people coming to Taobao, and some stalls have very busy business. I heard that some stalls have a higher explosion rate.

Not to mention a "big prize" of several hundred or a thousand taels at a time, but it is common for the prize to be several times, or even dozens or twenty times.

Of course, more people spent money to buy worthless junk.

"This model is a bit like a scratch-off lottery ticket."

"And the process of redeeming the prize is not transparent or safe."

Anyone who can afford to play this kind of game here is considered to be wealthy.

After all, five taels of silver for a draw is definitely not cheap.

Under Li Xuan's instructions, Princess Ankang came to a stall at the end of the alley.

The stall owner was a strange man, wearing a large linen cloak, with only his hands and chin exposed, covering himself tightly.

Princess Ankang stopped in front of his stall, but the strange man didn't greet her. He just sat behind the stall blankly, and no one knew whether he was asleep or not.

His stall was not big, and there were only areas for selling items worth five taels of silver and ten taels of silver. Compared to other stall owners, his items were obviously much less, and they all looked ordinary.

Following Li Xuan's suggestion, Princess Ankang picked up a black stone from the five-liang silver area and asked the stall owner:
"Stadium owner, what is this?"

"A meteorite from outer space." The stall owner replied coldly.

As a result, Princess Ankang and Li Xuan both looked speechless.

They had looked around before, and although they couldn't bargain here, they could ask about the origins of the items.

In order to make it easier to sell, stall owners will naturally make up a story with a gimmick, and what they say is half true and half false.

But people on Taobao will use the stall owner's words to confirm their own speculations and make the final judgment.

They had also heard on the road how several stall owners were trying to cheat people.

But the stall owner in front of me was obviously too careless in his deception.

Meteorites from outer space are extremely rare materials and can be used in both forging and arranging formations.

If the black stone in front of me was really a meteorite from outer space, why would the stall owner sell it for only five taels of silver?

If the stall owner really relied on these four simple words to trick Princess Ankang, it would seem that he was underestimating Princess Ankang's intelligence.

"If you want to make up a lie, don't be too serious about it..."

Li Xuan and Princess Ankang said this in tacit understanding.

But then the man and the cat looked around and understood why the business here was not good.

Li Xuan cared about this inconspicuous stone because he vaguely felt that there was a fluctuation of the fire-attributed elemental energy of heaven and earth inside the stone.

He couldn't be sure that the stone was a valuable antique or treasure, but the fluctuation of the elemental energy of heaven and earth was obviously abnormal.

According to Li Xuan's previous experience, he had only felt a similar aura in rare treasures.

Of course, the fluctuations of the elemental energy of heaven and earth in this stone are much weaker than those of natural treasures.

But if it was only five taels of silver, Li Xuan felt that it would not be too much of a loss, so he wanted Princess Ankang to buy it and try it, and then go back to appraise it.

If this method of judgment is feasible, they will have found a reliable way to shop on Taobao.

In this way, their chances of winning this month's competition will be greatly increased.

Seeing that the stall owner was silent, Princess Ankang was too lazy to waste any more effort, so she asked Yu'er to pay five taels of silver and took the black stone away herself.

The stall owner took the silver from Yu'er's hand, then maintained his original posture and guarded his stall.

The deal was done, and Princess Ankang breathed a sigh of relief.

She stood up and hugged Li Xuan, and turned around a few more times here. As a result, Li Xuan never sensed a similar breath again.

From this point of view, Li Xuan also understood that the Taobao stall was not a long-term solution.

There are few valuable things here, and no one knows how long it will take for a "big prize" to appear.

Not to mention whether they can win the jackpot, they can’t afford to wait.

The competition only lasts for twenty days, and no one can tell whether there will be treasures on the Taobao stall and how many treasures there will be in these twenty days.

After walking around in the alley, Princess Ankang did not receive any more hints from Li Xuan, so she walked out with her men.

"Ah Xuan, is this the only stone worth buying?"

After leaving the alley, Princess Ankang asked Li Xuan, "This is the only special thing I can sense."

Li Xuan wrote honestly on the back of Princess Ankang's hand.

Princess Ankang couldn't help but reveal a hint of regret.

She originally thought it was a good way to make a fortune, but now it seems that nothing is that simple in this world.

"Xiao Cui, are there any other Taobao stalls?"

"Let's take a walk today."

Xiao Cui nodded: "Okay, Your Highness, I will take you to other places now."

In the following time, the few of them visited all the Taobao stalls in Xishi.

During this period, Princess Ankang also made several purchases under Li Xuan's suggestion and bought a total of five small items.

These things are not big in size, and the prices are all between five and ten taels, so the cost is not too high.

I just don’t know how much the actual price of these things is, and I don’t know whether they made a loss or a profit on their first Taobao purchase.

At noon, after shopping for treasures, the group found a roadside stall in Xishi to fill their stomachs.

While eating, they were also discussing what to do next.

"We have to find a place to identify these things this afternoon."

"Xiao Cui, do you know a reliable place?"

Princess Ankang asked Xiao Cui.

"There are several antique shops with good reputations in the West Market. You can go there and ask. If you want to sell these things, they should be able to appraise them for free."

It is indeed much more convenient to have Xiao Cui, a local, around.

Otherwise, if they encounter a black-hearted store, the three little ones will definitely suffer.

After all, this was their first time dealing with antique business and they had no idea how to avoid these pitfalls.

"After you identify the antiques, let's think of other ways, right?"

“It seems that Taobao is not as easy to do business as I thought at first.”

After strolling around for a morning, Princess Ankang also understood the reality.

Yu'er saw what Princess Ankang was thinking and immediately asked:
"Want to go to the gambling house and take a look?"

Xiao Cui was shocked when she heard this and hurriedly advised:

"Your Highness, gambling houses are not places where you can make money."

"It's fine if you lose money, but if you make money, especially a lot of money, the people in the gambling house will not let you go."

"Although they can't do anything to Your Highness, the end result will be a bitter end at best. It's better not to waste time on this."

Hearing this, Princess Ankang was surprised and asked, "Ah? Are you all so unwilling to lose?"

"Is it okay if I just win a few tens of thousands of taels of silver and then not win?"

Xiao Cui blinked, wondering if she had heard it wrong.

In the past, Yu'er was the only one responsible for the expenses of Jingyang Palace. Princess Ankang had little concept of money. In addition, she had just counted the deeds of houses worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, which made her feel that a few tens of thousands of taels of silver was not a big loss for the gambling house.

Seeing that Princess Ankang was genuinely confused, Xiao Cui immediately explained:

"Your Highness, let alone tens of thousands of taels, even a few thousand taels would cost the gambling houses their lives."

"They open gambling houses to make money. They are not really gambling with you, but, but..."

Xiao Cui thought for a long time before finally coming up with a more appropriate statement:

“It’s providing an entertainment service.”

"From what I know, it's difficult to win against a gambling house. The dealers are all experts in gambling who have been trained by themselves."

"If a customer wins money unexpectedly, they will invite you up for tea and force you to be friends with them, whether you like it or not."

"Anyway, if you want to make money from gambling, this is even less reliable than Taobao."

"The gambling houses only offer Pixiu, which only brings in money but never leaves."

After hearing these words, Princess Ankang's face immediately became long with displeasure.

"Ah, why is that?"

“It’s really not easy to make some money.”

Princess Ankang rested her chin on the dining table, looking listless.

Yu'er smiled and comforted him, "Don't be too anxious, Your Highness. It's only the first day. You will come up with a good idea."

"Well, I hope so."

After eating and drinking, they went to the antique shop to identify the treasures they had found in the morning.

But after visiting several stores, the appraisal results were all that showed that all five items were worthless.

At first Li Xuan was a little skeptical, but it turned out that the antique shops recommended by Xiao Cui all said the same thing.

"Ah Xuan, it seems that it's not working?"

Princess Ankang glanced at Li Xuan with her eyes, which made Li Xuan angry and embarrassed. He swept his tail towards her palm and put all the five things he had picked into the Dihong Bone Ring.

"There are fluctuations of various attributes of heaven and earth energy on it. It is definitely not an ordinary object."

"These antique shop owners don't even have this much foresight, and they still dare to open their doors to do business!"

Seeing that Li Xuan was angry, Princess Ankang nodded repeatedly and said:

"That's right, they are all blind."

Then, Princess Ankang instructed Li Xuan:
"Ah Xuan, you should keep these treasures well for now, but don't throw them away. We will find someone who will appreciate them later and sell them to him at a high price."

"This is our first time doing business, we absolutely cannot lose money!"

"We'll hold on to it first. As long as we sell it at a price not lower than the purchase price, we won't lose money."

Princess Ankang obviously has a good understanding of business.

Li Xuan also echoed and nodded repeatedly.

Yu'er and Xiao Cui looked at each other, pursed their lips silently, and tried to hold back their laughter.

Xiao Cui was originally worried that Princess Ankang would be angry.

After all, it was her grandfather who came up with this unreliable Taobao idea.

But seeing Princess Ankang and Li Xuan discussing business matters, Xiao Cui felt that she was worrying too much.

Princess Ankang's stable mood made Xiao Cui more determined to follow her.

"Who wouldn't want a master who is so emotionally stable?"

But at this moment, Yu'er suddenly pointed forward:
"Your Highness, look."

Everyone looked in the direction Yu'er pointed, and saw a familiar figure.

"Hey, isn't that the Fourth Brother?"

Not far away, the Fourth Prince walked into a store with two attendants. It looked like they were here to do business.

Princess Ankang's eyes suddenly lit up.

She knew that the Fourth Prince was a smart man, and they were just worrying about what business to start right now, so why not take some advice from him?
Princess Ankang looked silently at Li Xuan in her arms, and Li Xuan happened to look up at her.

The man and the cat looked at each other and smiled wickedly at the same time, obviously thinking the same thing.

"Hey~"

(End of this chapter)