...
Three days passed in a blink of an eye.
Lin Suo's figure darted from one antique shop to another, buying Elf Clan fake antiques at a low price by figuring them out.
As for how to determine that the shop was selling fakes,
he just had to pretend not to understand the Elf Language and express admiration for the Elf culture.
Ninety-nine percent of the shop owners would sell him a set of fake Elf Clan antiques.
He swept through more than a dozen antique shops.
Spent five gold coins.
Acquired thirty-eight, variously conditioned, pottery Ancient Elf vases.
Some were better, but all were fakes.
Lin Suo sneered, consuming a large number of books written in the Elf Language that he bought elsewhere.
Elf Language +3 (6/100)
Rapid foreign language mastery technique!
Unfortunately, only language acquisition could be rapidly mastered through shortcuts.
Upgrading Break Limit to +3, already at the Purple Level, the same as Padolon Universal Language, he could use various derivations of the language, clan anecdotes, and idioms flawlessly.
Including the ancient version, the most orthodox Ancient Elf Language, he could perfectly interpret it, starting from the techniques, word choice, and habits.
Then using the Stacked Synthesis technique.
While enhancing the quality of the antique vases, he altered the details according to his will, adding marks of ages.
Making them yellowed and decolorized, plus a bit of deep-seated dirt on the pottery.
The imitation was called perfect.
He spent great efforts to make these antique vases, which had an Ancient Elf Language sacrificial text on the outside, indicating that this item was used to worship the Elf Mother Tree.
He even added a hidden Royal Family symbol.
A "profitable" surprise for the buyer.
"Perfect!"
He shook the flawless antique, then dressed up as a traveller passing by on a ship.
He found the antique shop that previously deceived him into buying a nine-piece set of Ancient Elf antiques.
[Uncle John's Antiques Shop]
The owner of this shop was an extremely greedy person, precisely targeting this fact and a slight sense of vengeance,
Lin Suo approached, lowering his hat and speaking in a hoarse, unclear voice.
Bang bang bang.
The old classical wooden display cabinet was knocked.
Old John, wearing a wooden-framed monocle, stood up from behind the counter, his impatient expression changed the moment he saw the antique vase.
Obsessed, he moved closer to the vase, observing it closely.
"The patterns, typography, painted colors, including the style of the sacrificial text all match."
"How much do you want to sell it for?"
Lin Suo's eyes flickered; it seems he wasn't recognized.
He didn't speak, but gestured a five with his hand.
Old John exploded on the spot, his voice sharp and frantic like a child.
"Fifty thousand gold? That's too much, this antique is not without flaws."
"The clay used doesn't quite resemble top-quality Star Soil, the pottery color isn't pure enough, and the gold spots have already turned black, although it might be due to time factors."
"But real Star Soil, all have gold-like speckles that are hard to remove, this condition is not perfect enough, not worth that much."
Lin Suo silently noted this point, never mentioning that the deep-set black spots in the pottery were dirt, not changes brought by decay...
With a hoarse voice.
"Then how much do you say?"
Old John hesitated for a while, then dropped a zero.
"Five thousand?"
Five thousand gold coins actually aligned very much with Lin Suo's mental reservation price, selling at fifty thousand was overly fantastical.
Ancient Elf antiques, even if valuable, hadn't reached that level, with perfect condition prices between 20,000 to 30,000.
If it were a Royal Family's Sacrificial Artifact, the price would definitely exceed one hundred thousand.
Given old John's greedy character, to offer this price, he must be making a huge profit, and Lin Suo did not hesitate to bargain hard, finally settling the price at ten thousand gold coins.
It was still Lin Suo who accidentally knocked over the pottery, and "coincidentally" old John caught it, and again "coincidentally" saw the royal family's exclusive symbol at the bottom.
Only then did he change his tone and gave Lin Suo an unregistered golden ticket, which could be exchanged for gold coins at any bank within the Dan Dong Empire.
This is a policy introduced by the Empire merchants, designed to hold onto the empire's wealth, invest in various industries, and slowly withdraw the principal after they start to profit.
It can be considered an investment without cost, supported by policy, plus it itself is a state-owned enterprise run by relatives of the rulers, which has never lost money.
Over the long term, they grow richer and richer.
It is said that soon, the Empire will also introduce paper money, to retrieve gold and silver and replenish the treasury.
Back to the main point.
No matter where, the antique business profits for the first three years after opening.
After this deal, Lin Suo isn't planning to continue for a while.
And Uncle John's Antiques Shop.
Old John took out a magnifying glass, inspected the pottery inch by inch, quite reluctant to part with it.
This item, with his connections, could be resold for ten times the price, making a clean profit of ninety thousand!
That's as much as his entire antique shop.
He scoffed at that foolish fool, who didn't know the true value and sold the Ancient Elf Royal Family's sacrificial artifacts for cheap, feeling thrilled inside.
Suddenly, he sniffed the smell of the pottery, feeling a sense of deja vu.
Seems like something he had smelled somewhere before.
He was sure, it was right here in his own shop.
"What could it be? Really strange..."
"Wait!"
Old John bent down, pulled out a counterfeit Ancient Elf pottery from under the counter that was meant for wholesale, and suspiciously sniffed it.
"Damn bastard!!!!"
"I will ****ing ruin your guts!!!! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!"
When he rushed to the nearest bank in a huff.
And when he called out that familiar account number.
The staff kindly told him the account was already empty.
His steps faltered suddenly, initially intending to file a complaint with the Committee.
But his face, all crumpled up, suddenly smoothed out.
He didn't go!
Instead, he took a trip to the flower shop, bought various flowers, went to a drugstore to buy some herbal powder, and became happily light-footed.
Meanwhile, Lin Suo, having changed into a different outfit, carrying two handbags, witnessed the entire transition of old John.
He knew in his heart.
There was still room for improvement in the odor and the pottery quality.
The next day.
After staying another night at the hotel, Lin Suo secured his gold coins and took half of the funds to the housing department.
Using the identity of Rhein Lin, he bought two properties.
One in Phil District, another in Mixed Blood District.
The former to be a safe house, sealed off after stocking a large amount of living supplies.
The latter for regular living, blending into the community.
Started building relationships and dealing with neighbors.
A whole process ended up costing five thousand gold, the money was not even warm before half was spent.
Money comes easily, he didn't feel much about it.
The Mixed Blood District house was a three-story building, ancient and elegant; the first floor he planned to run a bookstore, creating an identity as a master of languages.
The second floor temporarily acted as a venue for practicing the Breathing Skill, and the third floor for his residence.
Having money in pocket, everything was unhurried.
Only after half a month did he finally stabilize his foothold on this street, having gotten to know a few people.
The bookstore also officially opened.
It housed classic books from various races, Lin Suo had made several sets of moveable type molds, bought paper from the factory and edited them into books.
Aside from the money spent on sample books, everything else was carved out by sheer effort, meanwhile learning the Beastman Language, Noble Etiquette, Sea Clan Universal Language, and more.