So... had he discovered treasure?
Primordial black crystal came primarily from the meteorites that fell from the sky. It had a very special quality and was a very difficult substance to detect through general methods of quality inspection. Furthermore, it was very easy for many merchants of raw materials to confuse primordial black crystal with ordinary black crystal.
Like with this stone ghost mask; from the quality inspection report which the customer service employee had sent, it was clearly written that this stone ghost mask was made from seventy-five percent premium black crystal and twenty-five percent elastic resin.
It was an ordinary mask that didn't serve any function, and the shop was completely unaware that the mask contained primordial black crystal, so it cost just six hundred HNY.
Wang Ling knew that six hundred HNY for a stone ghost mask made from primordial black crystal wasn't expensive at all. But taking into account that his pocket money was just one thousand yuan a month, in the end it was still a little bit expensive.
Seeing that Wang Ling was still hesitating, the customer service employee gave the chat window a little shake. "Are you still there, cultivation friend?"
Wang Ling replied with a question mark. "?"
"If the price isn't suitable for you, feel free to discuss it with us... we can certainly offer you a discount. Mm, of course I won't tell you, this mask will bring you bad luck!"
Wang Ling: "?!"
"Oh... I typed wrongly. Sorry, I meant to say, it will bring you good luck."
"..."
Who the f**k are you trying to deceive? Can your acting be any more fake?!
Finally, Wang Ling threatened to use the online customer complaint service before the customer service employee finally told him the truth. "Initially, we bought this stone ghost mask from a wholesaler. Our boss really liked it because of its unique appearance. But after we hung the mask up in the shop, our sales started to drop sharply... our boss thinks that the shop's business must have been cursed by this stone ghost mask."
Wang Ling stared at the stone ghost mask for a while, but apart from its slightly unique appearance, he still couldn't detect anything unusual about it.
Still, he would have to wait until he got it before he knew for sure whether there was something wrong with it or not.
Actually, Wang Ling was inherently someone who in fact did like looking for something amusing to do.
After all, being invincible was so, so lonely... 1
Seeing no message response from Wang Ling, the customer service employee became anxious. "This cultivation friend... the price is negotiable, make us an offer!"
Although Wang Ling doubted that the stone ghost mask was cursed, seeing how desperately the customer service employee was trying to sell it, he felt that at the very least, the employee wasn't lying about how the shop had indeed run into a fair bit of trouble after purchasing the stone ghost mask from a wholesaler.
After due consideration, Wang Ling sent a number to the customer service employee...
When the customer service girl saw a lonely '5' unexpectedly appear in the chat window, she was utterly astonished. "This cultivation friend, are you sure... you're not missing a zero?" If it had been '50,' the customer service girl could have completely understood. It was a cursed mask, after all. Selling it cheap was one thing... but f**k! Five yuan! Do you f**king think you're buying crispy noodle snacks?!
The customer service girl waited five whole minutes in front of the chat window... and after realizing that this stubborn, stingy customer still hadn't corrected his meaning, immediately felt a little disheartened.
Of course, Wang Ling hadn't left and was just calmly sitting with his arms crossed as he waited for the customer service girl's reply. This was a tactic that he had learned from Mother Wang, who often used it when she was window-shopping or buying groceries to catch those cutthroat vendors off guard. Patience and mental endurance were important in times like these...
After a stalemate of almost ten minutes, on the other end, the customer service girl finally caved. "Alright! Five yuan! Please confirm the delivery address, fellow cultivator."
However, to her surprise, Wang Ling remained silent.
The customer service girl sent Wang Ling a bawling expression. "Fellow cultivator, don't tell me you're backing out?"
Wang Ling was silent for a while, and then typed a few words in the chat window. "Remember to include the delivery fee."
In... include the delivery fee?! Buy for five yuan, and still want to include the delivery fee! The customer service girl felt that her three views had been refreshed. What kind of customer was this? Even though the customer was god... this was the first time that the customer service girl had seen such a stingy god.
F**k it! Fraud! the customer service girl thought in her heart with extreme grief and indignation...
It was around five in the evening on Saturday in the third week of the semester.
Wang Ling felt that he had done a lot today. He had caught up on the knowledge he had missed out on in school, completed the required homework, destroyed an underground laboratory that had been conspiring against him... he had also just purchased a mask online, so he felt that he had finally settled one more thing. Now he just needed to wait for that odd stone ghost mask to be delivered by Shun Feng Express, delivery fee included.
This kind of day had indeed been really productive, but it had completely tired Wang Ling out.
On one side, Father Wang and Lie Mengmeng were still conferencing together, engaged in a battle of wits as they worked out some plot details for the new book. On the other side, Mother Wang had also come to the second floor, and she knocked on Wang Ling's door. "Son, get ready! Change into something nice, we're eating out in the evening."
Wang Ling: "..." Eating out?
As far as he knew, the Wang family seldom ate out. This was largely because of Wang Ling; Father and Mother Wang were worried that taking him out to eat would cause trouble for the restaurant, so the number of times they went out to eat in a year was comparable with the number of spring and autumn outings a school typically organized. It was usually only on New Year's Day or Wang Ling's birthday that Father and Mother Wang would spend lavishly on a delicious meal for him. Apart from that, if they were suddenly going out to eat at a restaurant, it usually meant that some relative was coming to visit.
Wang Ling's hunch was proven right.
About half an hour later, his spiritual senses picked up an old man on a creaking freight tricycle approaching the usually deserted area around the front gate of the Wang family's small villa.
The old man was a little fat, and it seemed that riding the tricycle was a little taxing for him. He was wearing a black, old-fashioned mandarin hat, a black mandarin jacket and a dark blue mianpao 2 . He staggered a little as he got off the tricycle and Wang Ling was afraid that he would fall if he wasn't careful.
The old man bent down slightly, hands on his knees. He took a few deep breaths, thumped his shoulders and stretched. Then he slowly walked to the back of the tricycle, untied some rope and finally lifted the white cloth cover. Unexpectedly, the tricycle's cart was full of apples...
Mother Wang had been taking in the laundry at the front of the villa, and when she saw the fat figure appear at the front gate, she hurried to meet him. "Oh, dad! Why did you come by yourself on a tricycle? You should have called me, I would have gotten Wang Jiao to pick you up!"
Grandfather Wang rubbed his head. "...Wang Jiao? Who is Wang Jiao..."
"Wang Jiao is your son..."
Mother Wang sighed in her heart. The old man's dementia came and went and was becoming harder to avoid.
"Oh! Right! My son!"
Grandfather Wang patted his head, then pointed to the apples behind him. "Do I have a grandson named Jingke? These oranges, I brought them for my grandson, remember to take them..."
Mother Wang: "..."
Wang Ling: "..."
This lyric is from the song 'Invincible,' which was the theme song for the Chinese film 'The Mermaid.' A 'mianpao' is a variation of the changpao , which is a traditional Chinese long garment worn by men.