Chapter 51: Doing Business 1 (1/2)

Chapter 51: Doing Business (1)

Upon hearing Li Shu’s words, Su Chen understood.

In a large forest, all kinds of birds were bound to exist.

There were those who relied on luck to feed themselves, those who relied on looting others to get rich, those who bitterly labored to earn a living. Naturally, there were also quite many who relied on their intelligence and quick wits to climb higher.

Naturally, Li Shu was such a person.

This person was not a martial artist and possessed no martial strength. He had paid money to be able to come to the Halcyon Gorge, and had mixed himself in with a group of martial artists in order to safely arrive.

Although he didn’t have any martial strength, his brain was quite versatile. Upon hearing the rumors that the Halcyon Gorge had starsilver ore, he had decided to do some business here. However, he didn’t plan on excavating starsilver. He did not have the strength, so he would only be able to excavate a tiny amount. He also wouldn’t be able to fight others for better pieces of land. Even if he were to find some scattered starsilver, perhaps it would still be stolen by others.

Thus, he had chosen to serve as an assistant. Since he had entered the gorge, he had begun to look for someone to rely on.

However, his luck was not very good. Although he had asked around in various groups of people, none of them had taken a fancy to him.

The main reason for this was because his asking price was too high.

One Origin Stone for five days.

An Origin Stone’s value was roughly equivalent to a tael of gold, and an assistant would probably only earn a tael of gold for a month of work.

To put it another way, this guy wanted a price six times that of normal people. No wonder people didn’t want him.

However, Li Shu continued to push for his asking price. He believed that he could definitely find someone who had money and who could also see his true value.

Upon talking with Li Shu for a bit, Su Chen also smiled.

“You are pretty bold with your asking price. Aren’t you worried that I’ll kill you on the spot out of anger?”

Li Shu hurriedly said, “That’s not what I meant, Sir. It’s not that this little one is asking for an exorbitant price. However, the people here are generally worth three times as much as people outside.”

“Oh?” Su Chen was startled.

Li Shu continued, “Sir, think for a moment. The Halcyon Gorge is deep in the Scarlet Mountain Range, and the path is lined with many vicious, savage beasts. The road itself is also treacherous, and it’s hard to enter and exit. Arriving here is no easy feat in the first place. The work is also manual work; who would come to this kind of place?”

That was true. If they didn’t harbor thoughts of striking it rich, what kind of person would brave such dangers to get there?

“Thus, this little one’s true value is not six times that of other people, but only twice,” Li Shu laughed, raising two of his fingers.

“Twice the value of others? You really know how to make these calculations,” Su Chen couldn’t help but laugh at what Li Shu had said. “So why are you worth twice as much as other people?”

“Based on the fact that I, Li Shu, can read and do math, as well as identify various kinds of minerals,” Li Shu proudly replied.

In this time period, where strength was emphasized and culture was looked down on, it was very expensive to print books and manufacture them, and books were also difficult to disseminate. Bringing about an advance in the dissemination of culture was very difficult. Even many mid- to high-class individuals were uneducated and did not know how to read, let alone the lower-class masses.

For Li Shu to know how to read and do math were skills that were truly quite rare.

Su Chen looked at him with some surprise, then looked around and said, “But your abilities don’t seem that useful in this kind of place.”

Li Shu’s face reddened.

That was correct. So what if he could read and do math? So what if his brain was agile?