Chapter 138: The Store in Tianhai City
Chu Feng and Illya had returned from another world.
“Ah, you’re back!” Shaman Qiu Luo exclaimed upon seeing them. “You’ve been gone for days. Did you run into danger again?”
“Not really,” Chu Feng said with a shake of his head. “We were in the capital. Illya had a film to shoot and had to be on call at all times. I was worried someone would find out something, so I kept a low profile.”
Chu Feng did a mental count—he hadn’t been back in about ten days. That was probably the longest time he and Illya had been away together.
“Since you’re back, why don’t you go check on Tianhai City?” suggested Qiu Luo. Several villagers had gone there, and she was worried about them. The journey to Tianhai City was long. Even Fei Ying with flight abilities needed over ten days for a round trip, assuming good weather. Though he was concerned, he could only wait.
Chu Feng nodded. “Alright.”
Previously, he had dropped people off outside Tianhai City and left. Now it had been several days—he wondered how business at Lan Hu’s place was going.
Chu Feng brought Illya and teleported to the outskirts of Tianhai City. The two quickly got in touch with Lan Hu.
Lan Hu, dressed in a fur coat and surrounded by about ten guards, warmly welcomed them.
“Boss, you’re finally here!” Lan Hu excitedly grabbed Chu Feng’s hand.
Chu Feng gave him a look. “Who are those people with you?”
“Family guards,” Lan Hu explained. “After I disappeared, everyone was looking for me. When they heard I was in Tianhai City, they all showed up.”
Lan Hu actually thought this group was mostly freeloaders. Back when he was stuck in dire straits in Crescent Village, not a single one of them showed up. Now that he was doing well, they suddenly appeared. Still, at least they looked decent—tall, well-built—and made for good public appearances.
Chu Feng looked at Lan Hu’s belly and sighed. “You should lose some weight.”
Lan Hu scratched his head sheepishly. “I’m just wearing a lot of layers, makes me look bulky. I’ve actually slimmed down a bit. The food here isn’t great. No hotpot.”
There was a hotpot restaurant in Crescent Village, and Lan Hu had often gone to eat with Shi Qi. After coming here, there were no such perks.
Lan Hu led them to Moonlight Trading Company—a three-story commercial building inlaid with 18 luminous pearls. Under the brilliant glow of the pearls, the building looked high-end, elegant, and classy.
“Is this shop rented?” Chu Feng asked.
Lan Hu shook his head and confidently replied, “This shop belongs to our Merdes family. I requisitioned it.”
Chu Feng nodded. “So it’s yours.”
Lan Hu explained, “It’s not easy to rent a place in Tianhai City. The available rentals are all in remote locations and not suitable for displaying our priceless treasures. Naturally, we can’t sell them in cheap-looking shops.”
Chu Feng said, “Priceless treasures? Isn’t that a bit exaggerated?”
He walked into the main hall and saw a carousel music box placed right in the center. “Why is this thing in the middle?”
Lan Hu answered as if it was obvious, “This is the shop’s centerpiece treasure, of course we have to display it. It’s for those bumpkins who’ve never seen anything valuable to admire.”
Chu Feng: …A regular music box is your shop’s treasure?
Is this thing even worthy of being a centerpiece?
Lan Hu clasped his hands behind his back and said, “Of course it is! The craftsmanship is exquisite. It spins and plays music — it’s absolutely priceless. A young lady once offered 30,000 gold coins for it, but I refused. This treasure is the shop’s signature item. How could I just sell it?”
Chu Feng thought: Is Lan Hu an idiot? Someone actually offered 30,000 gold coins and he refused? That much gold could buy hundreds or even thousands of ‘centerpiece treasures’ like this!
“Boss, why are you looking at me like that?” Lan Hu asked awkwardly.
Chu Feng shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
He took a deep breath and thought: If you trust someone to manage the shop, then trust them. Let him mess around with it.
“You didn’t bring any goods this time?” Lan Hu asked expectantly.
Chu Feng shook his head. “No, I just came to check out the situation.”
Lan Hu frowned. “How could you not bring goods? We need to restock quickly!”
Chu Feng glanced at him. “Didn’t we already bring a lot last time?”
Lan Hu nodded. “Yes, but we’re almost out.”
Chu Feng was surprised. “That fast?” He remembered bringing a lot of crystal accessories last time.
Lan Hu nodded again. “Exactly! There are a lot of trade caravans coming to Tianhai City. The crystal accessories we put out were sold out instantly.”
“Crystals are that popular?” Chu Feng asked.
“Of course,” Lan Hu said. “The people at the Shaluo Alchemy Lab can make transparent crystal cups and sell each one for over a hundred gold coins. Their alchemists act like they’re some big deal. But our crystals are of far higher quality.”
He added proudly, “We were well prepared.”
Lan Hu led Chu Feng into the basement and opened a box.
A large chest filled with gleaming gold coins appeared in front of Chu Feng.
Chu Feng blinked and thought: The purchasing power of people in this world is actually pretty decent.
Lan Hu nodded and said, “There’s more. The shaman instructed us to collect some shamanic books and spiritual herbs. If not for that, we would have even more gold.”
“The shaman’s orders take priority — no matter how much it costs,” Chu Feng said seriously.
Lan Hu nodded. “Understood.”
Lan Hu thought to himself: shamans are not to be offended, especially that shaman from Crescent Village — he’s a powerful one.
Chu Feng glanced at him. “I saw a lot of catgirls and foxgirls in the shop. Are you into that kind of thing?”
Lan Hu scratched his head, a little embarrassed. “We were short on staff, and there was a slave auction with beastkin, so I bought a batch.”
“Manga, huh?” Chu Feng muttered.
He was sure Lan Hu had gotten the idea for catgirls and foxgirls from manga.
Lan Hu smiled even more sheepishly.
Chu Feng rolled his eyes helplessly. Previously, the shaman had asked Illya to buy books. Not knowing which ones were useful, Illya had gone to a bookstore and asked if they had books with lots of pictures. The shop owner was thrilled and recommended tons of manga and adult-themed books, swearing they were top-notch and rare collectibles.
To be fair, the bookstore owner wasn’t exactly scamming — Illya’s Chinese wasn’t great, so he didn’t catch the hidden meanings in the owner’s words. Illya, who’d been spending money lavishly, was convinced and bought tens of thousands of books in one go.
After bringing them back to the other world, he delivered them to Lan Hu to review and see if any were suitable for teaching children.
Lan Hu hadn’t expected much, but once he started reading, it was like discovering a whole new world. He got completely hooked, bingeing on hundreds of volumes. A few days later, the shaman realized something was off.
The shaman decided to seal away some of the more inappropriate books. When Illya returned and realized he’d bought the wrong books, he burned the adult ones on the spot.
Lan Hu was devastated by what he saw as a waste of literary treasures but was powerless to stop it.
On the day the books were burned, Lan Hu cried like his parents had died.
Chu Feng had long suspected that only some of the adult books were burned — the rest had probably been hidden.
Lan Hu scratched his head and said, “Actually, if we brought those books over to sell, they’d probably sell really well.”
Chu Feng rolled his eyes. “Don’t even think about it. Illya’s just too conservative. We’re all adults here. What’s the harm in reading a few books?”
Lan Hu thought to himself: Didn’t Illya once loudly tell people in public that he and Chu Feng slept together? He seemed pretty open-minded then — why’s he so uptight about books?
Chu Feng blinked, feeling like Lan Hu actually had a point. What man hasn’t read some spicy books?
“Boss, can you smuggle a few more books over next time?” Lan Hu said with a wink.
Chu Feng rolled his eyes again. “Just focus on doing business properly. Stop wasting time on this nonsense.”
Seeing Chu Feng unfazed, Lan Hu sighed in disappointment. “Got it…”
He grumbled, “The shaman definitely found out because of that idiot woman Lichiya. She must’ve snitched!”
At first, Lan Hu wanted to keep everything for himself. But when Riye discovered his stash of erotic books, Lan Hu pulled Riye in to share the blame and keep him quiet. However, their actions were eventually discovered by Lichiya, who was utterly disgusted by the both of them and harshly scolded them, saying they were no good.
Chu Feng thought: An idiot woman? Isn’t this idiot woman the one Lan Hu likes? Lan Hu, that dumbass, gave up a real woman just for some dirty books.
“Lan Fatty, Lan Fatty, get out here!” Chu Feng was speaking to Lan Hu when a shout came from outside. Chu Feng glanced at Lan Hu and said, “Who’s that?”
Lan Hu frowned and said, “Some little witch who wants to buy the music box.”
“Then sell it to her,” said Chu Feng.
Lan Hu frowned deeper. “But that’s our store’s treasure item.”
Chu Feng replied, “Isn’t it just a music box? If it can sell for 30,000 gold coins, it’s definitely worth it. Go ahead and trade it. I’ll bring you an even better treasure next time.”
Lan Hu nodded. “Alright then.”
Chu Feng followed Lan Hu outside and saw a pretty young girl.
The girl stood with her hands on her hips and said arrogantly, “Lan Fatty, today you’re selling that store treasure whether you want to or not!”
Lan Hu nodded. “Fine. 40,000 gold coins.”
The girl looked annoyed and said, “Do you still want to chase after my cousin or not? Raising the price like that… If you give me that treasure for free, I’ll help you talk to my cousin and get her to ignore Riye and consider you instead.”
Lan Hu waved her off. “No need.”
The girl was visibly irritated. “You really don’t know what’s good for you. No wonder my cousin doesn’t want you.”
Lan Hu shot back, “I run a big business now and make tons of money. There are plenty of people throwing themselves at me. I don’t like your cousin anymore.” After all, because of Lichiya, he lost his precious manga. There’s only one Lichiya, but there are thousands of beauties in books!
The girl shouted angrily, “You fickle scumbag!”
Lan Hu snorted coldly. “You big-breasted, brainless woman.”
Chu Feng: If Lan Hu keeps insulting people like that, he’s probably never going to land a rich lady.
The girl stormed off after paying 40,000 gold coins and taking the music box.
Chu Feng came down the stairs and asked, “That was Lichiya’s cousin?”
Lan Hu nodded. “Yeah, that little girl has loads of pocket money.”
Chu Feng took the gold coins and some spirit medicine back to Crescent Village, then packed up a new batch of goods and delivered them to Tianhai City.
