The Little Life of a Big Landlord

Chapter 241 Trade

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"Hahaha……"

Yang Ming laughed and bowed to the old man, "Senior, you flatter me. I dare not accept such praise. To be honest, we brothers are rather uncouth. Having just arrived in your esteemed place, we brothers dare not let our guard down. We are naturally careful while drinking tea, so that if there is anything amiss with the tea, we can remedy it in time..."

Yang Ming's meaning was clear: we were worried that the tea was poisonous, so we didn't dare to drink it all at once. Instead, we savored it slowly and began to appreciate its flavor, which is how we ended up being called "refined people."

In fact, the two of them really did have this idea in mind. As soon as they felt that the old man had ulterior motives, they would immediately stop being polite to him. Respecting the elderly and caring for the young also depends on the occasion.

"Hehe, you are truly a refined person, senior. Compared to you, we brothers are worlds apart..." Zheng Dongfang chuckled as he stood up and bowed deeply to the old man with great courtesy.

"Hahahaha..." The old man shook his head and chuckled, "You two needn't be like that. Do you know how sought-after this Guiyun tea is? It's truly a tea that only refined people can appreciate. You two, on your first sip, have already discerned its subtleties, which certainly earns you the title of 'elegant'..."

"You flatter me, senior..." Yang Ming smiled calmly, no longer bothering to be modest. To be modest would be hypocritical and would only earn him contempt.

"You two come from the sacred tree, I wonder if you have any intention of exchanging places?" The old man said calmly, but he pronounced the last two words with unusual force.

"Exchange???" Yang Ming's heart skipped a beat. "Does the old man mean... trade???"

"Not bad..." The old man's face flushed slightly. "The Central Plains is a vast and resource-rich land, abundant in all kinds of rare treasures. Every year, the Holy Envoy brings some exquisite items to exchange with my Holy Tree Manor. This has been going on for three thousand years, and today happens to be the day of the annual exchange..."

"Holy Envoy?? An alien???" The two were taken aback by the old man's words. It turned out that the old man was a merchant who did business with aliens. No wonder the old man was waiting alone by the World Tree and was not flustered when they appeared strangely. It turned out that their strange appearance was nothing unusual in the old man's eyes.

"This old man doesn't know..." The old man pondered for a long time, "The Holy Envoy also said that they are from such-and-such planet, but this old man is too dull to understand..."

"You mean three thousand years? Three thousand years? 365 days a year???" Yang Ming and Zheng Dongfang exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

If the timekeeping system here is the same as on Earth, then this Sacred Tree Manor must be a super family with a three-thousand-year history of interstellar trade, truly possessing profound heritage.

"Not bad..." The old man nodded. "Since my ancestors established the clan rules, we have guarded the sacred tree for generations, and now it has been three thousand years..." The old man's gaze was infinitely distant, as if he were wandering in the glorious history of his family.

"Old man..." Yang Ming hesitated for a long time, then clasped his hands in a fist and said, "We can't imitate your way of speaking. How about this, just tell us directly what you need..."

"Food, I need food, lots of food..." The old man stood up from his armchair. "In recent years, my Central Plains has suffered many disasters. First, there were three years of severe floods, then three years of severe drought. Six years have passed, and in all parts of the Central Plains, there has been no harvest. People are even resorting to cannibalism. Their suffering is indescribable..."

As the old man spoke, tears welled up in his eyes, and he slumped back into his armchair.

"That can't be right???" Zheng Dongfang's eyes were filled with doubt. "Old man, you're a businessman who trades with aliens, and you can do it once a year. Buying food from those alien merchants should be easy for you, right???"

"In the exchange catalog established by the Holy Envoy, grain is a forbidden item and cannot be introduced into my Central Plains..." the old man sighed helplessly.

"Then..." Yang Ming hesitated for a moment, "What exactly did the Holy Envoy you mentioned use to make a deal with you?" Asking about someone's business secrets made Yang Ming a little uneasy, wondering if he had touched on someone's taboo.

"This is it..." The old man showed no hesitation in answering Yang Ming's question, directly pulling out a cylindrical object ten centimeters long and as thick as a thumb from his sleeve. "If this object is placed under sunlight for half an hour, it can provide illumination for ten days. This treasure was obtained by me after much pleading and begging, using a three-pound piece of white jade. Unfortunately, it's merely a strange and ingenious trick, unable to save the people from their suffering..."

As the old man spoke, he shook his head and sighed slightly. He then pointed one end of the cylinder at the floor and gently pushed it with his thumb. A pure white circular beam of light shone down.

"This..." Zheng Dongfang stared in disbelief, then cursed, "These bastards are really ruthless! It's just a solar-powered flashlight, isn't it???"

"Oh???" The old man's eyes lit up. "You two recognize this item???"

"This is just something for nighttime illumination, we naturally recognize it. Speaking of which, we do have things like flashlights, but we didn't bring them..." Yang Ming said.

Flashlights are by no means rare items on Earth. In the 1950s and 60s, they had already entered the homes of ordinary Chinese people as "household appliances".

"Old man, they've cheated you! Do you know how many flashlights you could buy with a three-pound piece of jade???" Zheng Dongfang was furious for the old man. "Even the worst quality jade could be exchanged for hundreds of flashlights..."

"This..." The old man was stunned. "So, the Holy Envoy is..." The word "profiteer" rolled on the old man's lips, but he didn't say it. The awe accumulated over three thousand years was not just empty talk.

"You just said that what you need is food, is that right?" Yang Ming asked seriously, looking into the old man's somewhat dazed eyes.

"Yes..." The old man's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing Yang Ming's words. "You mean..."

"What I have no shortage of is food. If that holy envoy won't sell it to you, I will..." Yang Ming said firmly and decisively.

"Really???" The old man trembled all over as he stood up from his chair. "You're not lying to me???" He was so excited that he no longer cared about his composure...

"Of course..." Yang Ming also stood up from his chair, his expression extremely serious. "Since the people of the world have become so impoverished that they are resorting to cannibalism, then every person with a conscience will not stand idly by..."

"My benefactor..." The old man knelt down with a thud. "I, Fu Cangsheng, on behalf of the 300 million people of Zhongzhou, kowtow to you..." As he spoke, he kowtowed three times with a loud bang.

"Grandpa, please get up quickly..." Yang Ming quickly helped the old man up.

"snort……"

A cold snort rang out from outside the guest hall, and then a blond, blue-eyed man walked in on his own. His eyes were sinister as he glared fiercely at Yang Ming and Zheng Dongfang before looking at the old man and saying, "Old man Fu, you should know what the consequences will be for betraying the Holy Envoy..." A murderous glint flashed in his eyes.

"What kind of holy envoy are you? You think you can act like a god just because you own a World Tree???" Zheng Dongfang stood up, utterly indignant. "An interstellar merchant like you, whose conscience has been eaten by dogs, is simply tarnishing the reputation of the interstellar merchant..."

"Damn it..." The blond, blue-eyed man glared angrily, raised his arm, and revealed his hand hidden in his sleeve. In his hand, he was holding a tubular object.

call out……

A whooshing sound came, and a dazzling white beam of light shot out from the hole in the tube, striking Zheng Dongfang squarely in the chest.

"Ah... a divine artifact..." Fu Cangsheng's face turned deathly pale, and he knelt down with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly.

"Hmph..." After the white light, the blond-haired, blue-eyed man disdainfully withdrew his weapon and put his hands back into his sleeves. He didn't even look at the person who dared to disrespect him, because in his memory, no one had ever been able to withstand a light-energy weapon without wearing protective armor.

He turned around and coldly stared at Fu Cangsheng, who was kowtowing on the ground. He was weighing in his mind whether to change the trading partner. As for Yang Ming, he had already ignored him.

When the solar weapon struck him squarely in the chest, Zheng Dongfang thought he was doomed. At that moment, he thought of his mother, his father, his grandparents, his three best friends, and his beloved little sweetheart. He sadly bid them farewell, quietly awaiting death. At that moment, he began to fantasize about the legendary underworld: was the King of Hell kind? Did the judges accept bribes? Was there an internet? Were there online games? Were there YY novels? He thought about so many things. However, reality cruelly ravaged his emotions. Even the legendary solar weapon had defects. The beam that struck his chest, besides being hot and destroying his clothes, was like a gentle scratch from a kitten—not a single chest hair was knocked out…

"Hiss..." Zheng Dongfang gasped, rubbing his chest vigorously with both hands, grimacing. "Damn it, it's so hot..."

"What???" The blond, blue-eyed man was utterly shocked. The person he thought was surely dead was still alive and kicking right in front of him, seemingly unharmed.

"Damn it..." Taking advantage of the blond, blue-eyed man's surprise, Yang Ming kicked him directly in the neck.

With a snap, the blond, blue-eyed man's neck broke.

thump……

His powerful body crashed to the ground, twitched once, and then fell silent instantly.

"You..." Zheng Dongfang was shocked when he saw Yang Ming kill someone. "You killed him???" He no longer cared about rubbing his chest.

"Nonsense..." Yang Ming's gaze turned icy as he stared at the corpse on the ground. "He wanted to kill you, so why would I spare his life???"

"Uh..." Zheng Dongfang immediately realized what was happening, gave an awkward smile, and said, "I forgot we're not on Earth anymore..." But he was deeply moved. His brother, because the other party wanted to kill him, had acted without hesitation and killed the other party. How touching was that? Everyone knows that unless someone is a serial killer, anyone who kills someone will have a shadow in their heart.

He truly is my best friend; even on my deathbed, I was still thinking of him. He really didn't waste my feelings...

"Well……"

Fu Cangsheng was stunned by the sudden change in the situation. He never expected that a person's flesh and blood body would be completely unharmed after being hit by a "divine weapon". He had personally witnessed the power of the divine weapon, which could even penetrate a huge rock. Then, seeing the Holy Envoy lying on the ground with his neck twisted abnormally, he was immediately filled with fear and shouted, "Oh no! You actually killed the Holy Envoy! You will anger the gods! You must leave! You must leave! If you are too late, you won't be able to leave..." As he spoke, he got up and shoved the two of them away.

"Don't worry, old man, we'll be fine, and you won't be retaliated against..." Yang Ming grabbed Fu Cangsheng's arm to calm him down and said with a smile.

"Oh dear, how could you kill the Holy Envoy???" Fu Cangsheng's long-held awe of the Holy Envoy made him completely disbelieve Yang Ming's words. "You don't know, the Holy Envoy isn't just one person; they're a vast family, with many powerful members who are like immortals capable of flying and escaping..."

"Don't worry, don't worry..." Yang Ming reassured the old man with a smile, "As long as I take action, no Holy Envoy family will be able to enter the Central Plains. You can rest assured..." As he spoke, he strode towards the garden where the World Tree was planted, amidst the old man's astonished gaze.

"Old man, don't worry. When my buddy makes a move, even gods and demons will have to give way..." Zheng Dongfang walked over with a big laugh, patted the old man on the shoulder, making the old man grimace.

"Uh..." Fu Cangsheng grimaced, enduring the pain in his shoulder, "This old man knows that gods are incredibly powerful, so please don't make fun of me..."

"Oh..." Zheng Dongfang smiled sheepishly, "I'm so sorry, so sorry..." He then put his arm around the old man's shoulder, acting very intimately, and said, "I have something I want to talk to you about, I wonder if you'd be interested?"

"Huh???" Fu Cangsheng was taken aback by Zheng Dongfang's words at first, but the old man was shrewd and quick-witted, and he immediately understood. His eyes gleamed. "You mean..."

"You're a smart man, so I won't beat around the bush with you. From now on, let me handle interstellar trade with you. What do you think?" Zheng Dongfang stated directly and bluntly.

"This???" The old man was very excited when he heard this. His eyes were really big and darting around, obviously thinking about the possibility of forming a trade partnership with Zheng Dongfang.

"For supplies like food, you can have as much as you want, and I'll supply you as much as you need..." Zheng Dongfang unleashed a trump card.

"Deal made..." Once the grain trade was announced, the old man nodded without hesitation.

Boom...

With a loud bang, like the sound of the ground collapsing, Fu Cangsheng was startled. He looked out through the door of the guest hall and saw that the once majestic sacred tree had disappeared.

"Oh dear..." Fu Cangsheng was shocked, as if the sky had fallen, and he was completely dumbfounded.

The sacred tree was the foundation of their Sacred Tree Manor, and now that it has disappeared, the decline of their Sacred Tree Manor is not far off, and the trade relationship that was just established has become a complete joke.

Rumble...

Before he could lose all hope, another loud noise rang out, and a sacred tree, even taller and thicker than the original one, suddenly appeared.

"This is..." The old man was overjoyed. "The sacred tree???" He swayed and almost fell over. He was overwhelmed with grief and then overjoyed. The huge difference in his mood almost made him collapse to the ground, keeping the holy envoy company.

"Sir, be careful, be careful. You're so old, don't be so passionate... Be careful of high blood pressure and cerebral hemorrhage..." Zheng Dongfang quickly helped the old man up.

"Divine men, divine men..." the old man murmured, a tear sliding down his cheek. He broke free from Zheng Dongfang's grasp and knelt before him with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly. He cried, "Divine men, if you can save the people of Zhongzhou from this calamity, I swear by the spirits of my ancestors, my Fu family will serve you two divine men as our masters for generations to come, and will never betray you..."

"..." Zheng Dongfang blinked, unable to speak. He simply didn't know what to say, so he turned his body to the side, refusing to accept the old man's kneeling.

"Huh???" Yang Ming's surprised voice came from outside the reception hall, "Does this mean that after we saved your people, the Fu family is going to try and blame us???"

"Yeah, yeah, so we're not going to save him then???" Zheng Dongfang and Yang Ming agreed immediately, showing a tacit understanding.

"You two have misunderstood..." The old man immediately became flustered and jumped up from the ground, more nimbly than an eighteen or nineteen-year-old lad.

"Hehe, old man, to tell you the truth..." Seeing that the old man was about to say something more, Yang Ming waved his hand and laughed, "According to the laws of the Interstellar Alliance, we cannot interfere with the progress of your civilization here, otherwise we will be severely punished. So, old man, please don't make things difficult for us..."

"This, this..." The old man was so anxious that he scratched his head, but he didn't know what to say. He didn't understand what Yang Ming meant by the interstellar alliance law, and he was afraid that he would say something wrong and upset them.

"Don't worry, we can sell you grain. Of course, since it's a transaction, you'll have to exchange it for something. It can be gold or silver, or jade, coral, pearls, or even your collection of books..." Yang Ming said with a smile.

"No problem..." The old man jumped three feet high, "I'll go and collect gold and silver for you right away..." With that, he disappeared in a flash.

"Hehe..." Zheng Dongfang was stunned for a moment, then chuckled, "Aren't we two really naughty??? We've managed to turn a refined scholar into a monkey show..."

"Hahaha..." Yang Ming laughed, sat down in the chair, picked up the teacup he had just finished drinking, and happily drank the remaining tea.

"Sigh..." Zheng Dongfang sat down next to Yang Ming. "You're not angry with me???"

"What's it to you???" Yang Ming glanced at Zheng Dongfang.

"It's my fault for changing my mind at the last minute..." Zheng Dongfang scratched his head sheepishly. "I've realized that I actually prefer being an interstellar merchant..."

"Actually..." Yang Ming held his teacup, pondered for a while, and then sighed softly, "The reason I made you work for me is because you accidentally drank a gene-repairing potion meant for a hundred people. Your genetic code has been completely cracked, and you will soon gain supernatural powers. If you continue to live on Earth, where everyone is an ordinary person, you will easily lose yourself in the supernatural power and do some heinous things. In that case, even though we are brothers, I have no choice but to take action..."

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(End of this chapter)