Two hours later.
At noon.
In a huge mine more than ten miles outside Les City, the scorching sun was high.
The red sun, as big as a wheel, hangs in the center of the sky, constantly scorching the earth. In this late summer and early autumn season, it releases the little remaining heat of the year without hesitation.
Under the sun, there are open-pit deposits full of pits in the mine, as well as many mine holes dug out of the nearby mountains.
Thousands of miners, with their upper bodies bare, like worker ants in an ant colony, are working in every corner of the mine. Even though he was so hot that he was sweating profusely, he didn't even have time to wipe it off. The yellow sweat beads rolled down his tanned back and fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.
Richard stood quietly in a corner of the mine. After casting a "Frost Wind" zero-level spell, the heat of the outside world was completely eliminated, allowing him to look at the two people in front of him without being affected by the temperature.
In front of him, two people were having a heated argument.
One of the two people arguing was the owner of a jewelry store. He was slobbering and wiping the sweat from his face. But at this moment, the clothes all over his body were soaked through, and his whole body was covered in sweat as if he had been fished out of water.
The other person looked relatively normal, with a body that was a head taller than the jewelry store owner. He was far less fat than Qian Ning, the jewelry store owner, so he was more comfortable under the scorching sun. His name was Simon, and he was the owner of this mine. At this time, he looked down at Qian Ning, shook his head, and gave the final answer to the argument - rejection.
Qian Ning's face turned red, either from the sun or from anger. He glared at Simon fiercely and strode back to Richard.
Richard saw everything in his eyes and already had some guesses. He looked at Qian Ning who came back and asked, "The other party is not willing to help?"
Glancing at Simon in the distance with the whites of his eyes, Qian Ning snorted and said: "I used to think he was very smart and knew how to be flexible, but who knew he was a rigid old antique who was even stupider than a donkey. What can I say? The others are busy with orders, so they are completely unwilling to help you, sir."
At this time, Simon in the distance seemed to notice that Qian Ning was speaking ill of him. He looked over and waved his hand, saying loudly: "Hey, my old friend and the strange guest, I'm really sorry. It's not that I don't want to You, on the other hand, can’t do anything, so you’d better find someone else.”
"Look!" Qian Ning was very angry. "Sir, look, with this attitude, he really wants to beat him up. How about you teach him a lesson?"
Richard did not follow Qian Ning's suggestion. After thinking about it, he asked Qian Ning: "Are you sure that your jade feather emerald was mined from this mine? Moreover, this is the only mine that can mine it. Come out with the green feather emerald?"
"Yes, sir, I can confirm this." Qian Ning affirmed.
"In that case... Okay, I'll have a good talk with him." Richard pondered for a second, then walked toward Simon in the distance without wanting to give up.
Simon watched with a smile as Richard approached, spread his hands, and said with an apologetic and sincere face: "Unfamiliar guest, I know what you want to say, but I can only say sorry to you.
It is a great honor for me that you would like to purchase the exclusive Feather Emerald, which is unique to my mine. But now I have a very urgent order to rush for time, and all the workers cannot be mobilized, so your work can only be postponed. If you are willing to come here in a month, no, half a month, I will definitely offer you a sufficient amount of emeralds, but not now. "
But the time I plan to stay in Rice City is only two days. If we really wait for half a month, I'm afraid we still don't know what the Garden of Eden in Pompeii Town will look like. The ever-lasting ancient tree species tinwood in Laboratory No. 3 will rebel even if it doesn't want to, right
After hearing Simon's words, Richard couldn't help but think.
Looking at Simon, Richard said: "Mr. Simon, I am very anxious about the demand for the Emerald. I must get it within two days. Do you think your workers really can't give some away? The price is above Easy to discuss…”
"No, no, no." Simon waved his hand, interrupted Richard's words, and said with a very serious expression, "Unfamiliar guest, I must explain to you that this is not about money, it is only about my integrity. I have I promised another guest that I would give him enough ore in three days, and then it must be completed."
"Can't be accommodating?"
"I'm afraid not."
Richard pursed his lips, frowned slightly, thought for a moment and asked, "Mr. Simon, how much is the order you are going to complete for this customer?"
"About a hundred gold coins," Simon said, chuckling, "This amount is indeed not very high, but I also said that this is not a matter of money, it is only about my integrity. The principles of my life. That is, treating guests as family members will not let them down in any way.
Because of this, more and more customers will take care of the mining business, and the mine can continue to operate. Unlike the previous owner of the mine, who had no good reputation and had no orders for half a year, the mine went bankrupt. I will never be like him. "
Richard narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at Simon and asked, "Mr. Simon, how much did it cost to purchase your mine?"
"How much?" Simon was stunned, then vaguely guessed what Richard was thinking, and said with a smile, "Guest, I want to tell you that the price of the mine is much higher than you think."
"How high?"
"You see, this mine is very large and rich in minerals. It mainly produces iron and copper, and also produces a small amount of gold, silver, tin and gemstones. So in theory, if it falls into the hands of anyone, there will be no loss. Because of this, even though the previous owner of the mine went bankrupt, I still spent a hundred thousand gold coins—the savings of several generations of my family—to purchase it.”
"In other words, this mine is worth almost 100,000 gold coins, right?" Richard asked.
“Theoretically, the value of the mine has been reduced since it was mined, but if you put it that way, there’s not much of a problem.”
"Then how about I give you 100,000 gold coins to buy this mine?" Richard suddenly said.
"Ah?" Simon was stunned. After a few seconds, he blinked and looked at Richard and asked, "Sorry, I may not have heard clearly just now. Can you say it again?"
"If I buy your mine, you don't have to worry about going bankrupt because of the loss of integrity. Then there will be no problem in letting the workers help me mine emeralds." Richard said.
"This..." Simon opened his mouth wide, his aura suddenly weakened a lot, and he said after a long time, "This... this matter may be a bit too big, and I can't make the decision."