My love game is too abstract

As Yarrow walked, a red-haired man in leather armor suddenly stopped him.

“Hey, buddy, can you do me a favor?” The man looked anxious.

“What is it?” Yarrow asked.

“It's like this, I suddenly remembered I needed to buy something, but I came out in a hurry and didn't bring my wallet. It's pretty urgent, could you lend me some money? I can pay you back soon,” the man said.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t bring my wallet either,” Yarrow said bluntly.

It's better to avoid trouble, he didn't want to meddle in this.

He was about to leave, but the man stopped him again.

“Little brother, let me be honest with you,” the man leaned closer and pointed to a small stall in front of them, lowering his voice:

“Actually, there's an incredible treasure on that stall over there, that blue crystal bracelet. It's an item with extremely high hidden attribute bonuses, worth at least fifty Gold Lang, but the stall owner doesn't know its value. I asked the price, and he only wants ten Sikes!”

His expression was exaggerated: “If I hadn't forgotten to bring enough money, I would have bought it right away! But I live far away, and I'm afraid someone else will buy it before I get back! So, if you lend me some money now, we can buy it together, and split the profits, how about it?”

Yarrow glanced at the stall not far ahead. It was a general store, and the owner was a rough man. From here, he could clearly see that there was indeed a blue crystal bracelet on the stall.

“How do you know that it's a hidden attribute bonus item?” he asked.

“I used to be an apprentice to a great mage, and I've seen the exact same thing. I won't be mistaken!” the man said, still keeping his voice down.

Yarrow suddenly understood what was going on.

He had seen this trick on Earth before. It was common in antique or gambling stone markets. The owner would hire someone to pretend to be an appraiser, claiming to have found a good item that could be a bargain, but they didn't bring enough money and wanted to borrow some. At this point, there were three possible outcomes.

The first was to refuse directly, skipping those who didn't fall for the trick.

The second was to willingly lend the money. After buying the item together, they would have it appraised, only to find out it was fake. The 'expert' would apologize, saying they misjudged. Usually, the amount of money swindled wouldn't be too large, and the victim would feel that the other person also lost money, so they would just keep it to themselves. This was considered someone who hadn't fully fallen for the trick.

The real victims were those in the third scenario: they wouldn't lend money, but would immediately buy the item themselves after the 'expert' left. At this point, the owner would temporarily raise the price or bundle it with other items, extracting a large amount of profit from the victim, because they thought they would make a profit, so they wouldn't mind spending a little extra money. By the time they realized they had been scammed, it would be too late.

A very low-quality and crude trick, but its advantage was that it could cast a wide net.

“Sorry, I'm still not interested,” he waved his hand, refusing directly.

The man looked heartbroken and sighed, “You're really something! I better hurry back to get the money.”

After saying that, he ran away.

“He acts so well, it's a pity he's not an actor,” Yarrow exclaimed.

He was about to continue walking when Tao Hu suddenly jumped onto his back and whispered in his ear:

“Yarrow, there's indeed a treasure on that stall, it's very auspicious.”

“Huh? Which one?”

“The thing in the wooden box on the far side.”

Yarrow looked in the direction she indicated. In the corner of the stall, inside a wooden box with a glass cover, was a piece of sheet metal.

“Can you tell the value of that thing?” Yarrow asked in a low voice.

“Of course, I used to learn treasure appraisal from a shopkeeper. I can tell what's a good treasure at a glance,” Tao Hu said.

“Can your past treasure appraisal skills be used here?”

“You don't understand, the universe shares the same origin. It's the same everywhere. Good treasures shine wherever they are,” Tao Hu winked at him.

“Then do you know what it's used for?” Yarrow asked.

“I can't tell that, but I can absolutely guarantee that it's a good treasure,” Tao Hu said. “If it's not, you can sell me off.”

Yarrow thought for a moment, then walked to the stall.

“Come on, young man and lady! Take a look around, I only sell good stuff!” The stall owner greeted them enthusiastically.

Yarrow pretended to be uninterested, picking up the surrounding goods and looking at them casually.

To be honest, even with his discerning eyes, there wasn't anything good here. They were probably all junk dug up from ordinary ruins, some not even worth a steamed bun.

Ji Xiaofei was very interested in these things, looking here and there with wide eyes.

“How much is this?” Yarrow asked, picking up a brass cane at random.

“4 Gold Lang, this is a work of art,” the owner said.

There were three units of currency on the continent: Daca, Sike, and Gold Lang. Daca was the lowest denomination, with a base-16 system: 16 Daca equaled one Sike, and 16 Sike equaled one Gold Lang.

Four Gold Lang was roughly the monthly expenses of an average family.

To think he could ask such a high price for junk without batting an eye, what a profiteer, Yarrow thought.

Of course, the owner probably saw that he had been targeted by the shill and thought that someone who could fall for that wouldn't be too smart, so he deliberately raised the price sharply.

“What about this?” Yarrow asked, picking up a ruby ring.

“This is a handmade piece by the master craftsman Ferilon, I'll give you a discount, 7 Gold Lang!” the owner said.

He picked up a feather pen.

“A feather pen used by the great writer Ma Dang, 5 Gold Lang!”

Yarrow gave him a suspicious look, then picked up a wooden sign used to indicate directions.

“A wooden sign that guided the Royal Knights during their march in the Lightless Forest, it has high commemorative value, only 3 Gold Lang.”

Yarrow picked up a stone in the corner.

“This has been blessed by the Pope, 6 Gold Lang!”

“I think your mouth is the one that's been blessed! Isn't this thing you use to weigh down the tablecloth!” Yarrow pointed to the obvious indentation in the corner.

“Young man, you don't understand. Some treasures may not look valuable, but they still have a lot of hidden value. Many people have missed many rare treasures because of this,” the owner said earnestly.

Yarrow rolled his eyes inwardly and picked up the auspicious treasure Tao Hu had pointed out to him earlier: a piece of sheet metal in a wooden box.

“What's this?”

“This…” The owner was about to speak, but looked like he hadn't prepared his words yet.

“This is… a part of the armor worn by the commander of the Iron Cross Knights, very commemorative, I'll only charge you 4 Gold Lang.”

“What's the name of this Iron Cross Knights commander?” Yarrow asked.

The owner choked, obviously unable to answer, coughed, and said sternly: “If you want to buy, buy it. If you don't, go away. There are plenty of people who want my treasure.”

Yarrow picked up the sapphire bracelet: “This looks pretty good.”

Seeing that he was falling for it, the owner immediately began his prepared spiel: “This, ah, this is a trophy I got from a treasure chest in the ruins, it has a large attribute bonus, but the bonus attributes aren't clear yet, so it's cheaper, I'll sell it to you for 10 Gold Lang!”

“Can it be cheaper?” Yarrow said.

“Then how about you name a price, young man?”

“1 Daca.”

“I might as well give it to you!” The owner was angry.

“Don't be angry, you can haggle if you're not happy,” Yarrow said.

“8 Gold Lang.”

“5 Daca.”

“6 Gold Lang.”

“10 Daca.”

“5 Gold Lang, that's the lowest I can go!”

“1 Sike, I don't have much money with me. If it's okay, I'll take it.”

“No sale, no sale! Too low, not even enough to cover my labor costs.” The owner shook his head firmly.

“Then how about this,” Yarrow pointed, “Those five items I just asked about, 5 Sike for all of them.”

“I said no, too low.”

“Then you name a price?”

The owner stroked his stubbled chin and said, “Three Gold Lang, no less.”

“Ten Sike.”

“No way, no way!”

“Fifteen Sike, all five items together, final offer.”

“Tsk, take them, take them!” The owner waved his hand impatiently.

Yarrow took out three Sike, threw them on the stall, then only picked up the piece of sheet metal, smiling and saying:

“I only want this one. It was agreed, fifteen Sike for five items, so this one is three Sike.”

“You son of a…”

“Good business, boss.”

Yarrow took the box of sheet metal, grabbed Ji Xiaofei, who was still playing with a wooden doll, and quickly fled the stall.

The stall owner watched Yarrow's departing figure, his gnashing expression relaxed, and he sneered, picking up the three Sike.

“To think a piece of scrap metal I just picked up is worth three Sike, heh, that kid thinks he got a bargain.”