Bargain

Qin Ran ate some food beautifully, then went with Elder Sun to the place where elixirs were stored.

The words yesterday were just idle chatter without discussing the real issues. Today, however, they were going to formally discuss purchasing elixirs.

Qin Ran and Elder Sun walked side by side. As they walked, he suddenly sighed, "Now that Feiyan is gone, it really feels unfamiliar."

"Yeah, such a pretty girl," Elder Sun followed along.

Elder Sun knew that Feng Feiyan was the one killed by Qin Ran. So Qin Ran was just making up his "unfamiliar" feelings. He knew that Qin Ran was just bringing it up for fun. What really mattered were the words he was about to say next.

"In the past, the purchasing lists and accounts were done by Feiyan. Now I have to do them myself..." said Qin Ran. "Only by getting my hands on it myself did I realize the difficulties involved."

Although he knew that with this kind of occasion, not even half a word from this kind of person like Qin Ran could be believed, when Elder Sun heard Qin Ran say this, he still felt a little happy inside. Because knowing that accounting was difficult meant that Qin Ran might not be good at these things, which also meant that there would still be room for maneuvering afterwards...

"This matter is indeed difficult..." Elder Sun nodded, but he still pretended to ask Qin Ran, "But don't you have this Yan Yi friend? Doesn't he know either?"

"Alas!" Qin Ran shook his head and sighed, "Don't mention him, he understands even less than me, he has to learn everything from scratch."

Hearing this, Yan Yi bowed his head in shame.

Elder Sun was delighted and laughed, "It's difficult, but you can still get the hang of it slowly. Fortunately, since you guys come to us for procurement, our two families have been on good terms for hundreds of years, and there are precedents that won't shortchange you. The accounts will also be easy to do."

"I naturally trust Elder Sun," Qin Ran nodded. But then he wrinkled his eyebrows, "But some things are really tricky. As a novice, I always make mistakes. For example, some medicines have four or even twelve different price ranges depending on the season of maturity, which is different in each of the four seasons. This will lead to different prices for elixirs of the same quality. I just can't handle it."

Hearing this, Elder Sun slowly figured out that Qin Ran was not an easy character to deal with after all.

Without saying more, just take this heavenly heart grass that he mentioned. In hundreds of years of supplying elixirs to the Dao Sword Sect, there has never been a mention of any elixir having four price ranges in a year... Qin Ran had hidden daggers in his words.

But he was also an old fox himself, knowing that he couldn't take this remark straight on. He only said, "On this point, Elder Qin doesn't need to worry. Our Zhican Valley has a large reserve of medicinal materials that can ensure stable prices for each elixir without fluctuating with external changes. What we give to your Dao Sword Sect has always been the most conscientious price."

However, Elder Sun didn't know that Qin Ran had felt heartache for years about the Dao Sword Sect's annual spending on elixirs in Zhican Valley, and had already made up his mind to suppress prices today no matter what.

So before Elder Sun could finish speaking, he had already taken out the account books, insisting on talking things through. He opened the account books and pointed to a certain medicinal herb, saying to Elder Sun:

"For example, this Heavenly Heart Grass, although it is a second-grade spiritual medicine, it still follows the seasons, growing in spring and withering in autumn. So in spring and summer, the price is four spirit stones per tael, but in winter, the price of Heavenly Heart Grass soars to seven spirit stones per tael.

"Heavenly Heart Grass is an essential herb for refining Gathering Qi Pills, so Gathering Qi Pills also show winter and summer price differences. In summer it's only eighteen spirit stones, but in winter it has already gone up to twenty-one spirit stones."

Qin Ran's words left Elder Sun's disciples puzzled. One of them couldn't help asking, "But isn't it winter now? You guys sell Gathering Qi Pills to us at a flat rate of twenty spirit stones, so you're still making a profit!"

His interjection made Qin Ran and the others nod repeatedly with a laugh. Qin Ran turned back and said to him, "Exactly, that's my point. Each Gathering Qi Pill is already selling for twenty-one spirit stones now, but you guys at Zhican Valley only sell for twenty spirit stones, so you're taking a loss. Our two sects have been on good terms for so long that I just can't bear to see you at a loss."

This disciple was just about to add a few more words, feeling proud of himself, when suddenly he saw his master staring grimly at him. He was so startled that he couldn't get the words out of his mouth.

"Oh... it's just a small loss!" To stop his disciple from speaking out of turn, Elder Sun quickly laughed to Qin Ran, "We've been on good terms for hundreds of years, there's no need to speak like outsiders."

"There's a saying in my hometown that close siblings should calculate accounts clearly. In money matters like this, one can't be casual." Qin Ran said earnestly. Without waiting for Elder Sun to speak, he pointed to another medicinal material, "Elder, look, this is Coagulated White Fruit. It blooms in spring and bears fruit in autumn, only to be harvested in winter. So this kind of fruit also shows differences between winter and summer.

"In times when it was less abundant in summer, it could sell for ten spirit stones apiece; but in winter when it became more abundant, it couldn't even sell for ten spirit stones a jin.

"Coagulated White Fruit is an important medicinal material for refining Barrier Breaking Pill, thus affecting the price of Barrier Breaking Pill. It is said that..."

The more Qin Ran spoke, the uglier Elder Sun's face became. By the time Qin Ran spoke of the price, one could already feel the chill around him.

"It is said that in summer, Barrier Breaking Pill can sell on the market for two hundred spirit stones apiece, but in winter..." Qin Ran didn't care about Elder Sun's reaction and went on to say, "in winter it should sell for one hundred spirit stones apiece."

"One hundred spirit stones?!" That disciple couldn't help but cry out in surprise again, sneering, "Aren't you just dreaming?"

Whether in winter or summer, the price at which the Dao Sword Sect buys inferior Barrier Breaking Pills from Zhican Valley has always been two hundred spirit stones, and hasn't changed for many years. If there were summer and winter price differences, how much would they have lost?

"Don't panic, young one..." Qin Ran said with a laugh to reassure him, "I'm just stating some facts based on market research."

Hmm, young one. Elder Sun's disciple was at least over a hundred years old.

"Elder Sun, look, there's also this Ice Mountain Snow Lotus..."

Qin Ran was about to introduce Elder Sun to more medicinal materials that had different prices in winter and summer, or that had fallen in price recently for various reasons, but Elder Sun suddenly reached out and pressed down on his account book.

Elder Sun's face was extremely ugly, because if Qin Ran kept talking like this, he would lose over a million spirit stones this time.

There were red veins in his eyes as he stared at Qin Ran and said, "Name your discount."

"We still follow the standard pricing," Qin Ran replied, pretending not to understand.

"Twenty percent off!" Elder Sun gritted his teeth.

"Elder Sun, you look like a molted blood python skin..."

"Forty percent off!"

Qin Ran collected the account books and nodded, "Deal."

In fact, he didn't dare push too hard either. After all, Zhican Valley had a monopoly on elixirs here. If he really provoked them, they could just stop selling elixirs to him and leave him dumbfounded. It was wise to quit while he was ahead.

Moreover... he knew well the threshold principle of making requests. Since he could get a 40% discount this time, next time he could aim for 50%, and the time after that, everything would be priced according to standard market rules...

"Phew!" Elder Sun let out of a sigh of relief.