Buying and Selling

Strictly speaking, Luo Qiu wasn't an orphan, as he had legal guardians and relatives.

That would be his father's second wife, or more simply put, his stepmother.

A stepmother, indeed...

However, such thoughts didn't surface in Luo Qiu's words or life.

Because looking at the woman who toiled day and night for him, a woman who seemed determined to give him motherly love, Luo Qiu found himself rather accepting of her.

Of course, if the owner of this name added to his household registration, this woman who was his legal "mother," were not in the prime of her life, Luo Qiu felt he might have been more willing to call her "Mom."

Humans are creatures who grow accustomed to, or accustomed to escaping, sadness. They also grow accustomed to the people around them.

Theoretically, no one should crave solitude.

"But why do I crave it?"

Luo Qiu wrote "Going out" on a sticky note and placed it on the refrigerator door. He left the house before the weather became too hot.

It was the weekend, and he had no classes at university. He just wanted some peace and quiet, nothing more.

The streets in the morning were already starting to get lively.

Perhaps it was because people were taking advantage of the weekend to head out early.

Fathers taking their daughters out to play, elderly couples strolling hand-in-hand along the riverbank, people going out for exercise to feel the vitality of life, and others starting their daily grind.

All sorts of people appeared and disappeared from Luo Qiu's sight, like actors on a stage in a grand opera house, as if they were born to be top-tier performers, playing their roles.

Luo Qiu was accustomed to observing but not to speaking. He wanted to probe what people were thinking but was unwilling to interact too much with them.

What could that be?

A belated adolescent identity crisis?

He just wanted some peace and quiet... The surroundings were becoming more bustling, so Luo Qiu shook his head and walked towards the shopping street, which likely hadn't officially opened yet.

It should be quieter around here. Perhaps he'd find a pedestrian or two and observe them carefully.

With earphones plugged in, listening to songs that weren't exactly popular, Luo Qiu unconsciously entered the pedestrian street.

Just as he had hoped, most of the shops were either closed or only half-open. Occasionally, a shop that was open was only selling breakfast items like bread.

Luo Qiu bought two steamed buns and sat down on a bench at the edge of the street... It seemed no one was paying him any attention, even though he looked rather peculiar sitting alone.

—"Trafford Buyers Club"—

A name like that suddenly entered Luo Qiu's view.

While he wouldn't say he remembered everything around him, a shop with such a peculiar name should leave some impression, right?

The sign was assembled from individual letters. The storefront was entirely wooden. On the left was an oil lamp with a strong European flavor, and on the right was a clear display window.

He could vaguely make out some small ornaments inside the window, which drew Luo Qiu closer.

Elaborately dressed dolls, a small clock that seemed to have stopped ticking, an artistic piece resembling a grizzly bear's paw, and a tattered but strangely appealing fisherman's hat.

"Customer, would you like to come in and take a look?"

Just as Luo Qiu was pausing to observe these strange decorations in the display window, a voice suddenly appeared beside him.

It was an unusually pale girl, who looked to be around his age.

Black and white, the eternal colors of a Gothic maid outfit. She looked like a woman with a sickly beauty. But Luo Qiu didn't have time to focus on that.

He was looking at her sapphire-blue eyes, truly captivating, like jewels, gems with a strange magic.

As if they were a vortex.

By the time Luo Qiu reacted, he had already walked into this strange club. He couldn't even recall how he had entered.

It felt like a sudden scene change in a movie.

"Customer, please have some tea."

The girl with sapphire-like eyes and a slender figure, dressed in a Gothic maid outfit that wasn't uncommon in this era, served Luo Qiu a cup of floral tea.

"Hibiscus tea can make you feel at ease. Only when one is at ease can they figure out what they truly need."

"Oh... are you the only one in this shop?"

He couldn't think of anything else to say, but since he had inexplicably walked in, Luo Qiu decided to go with the flow. It wasn't unusual to look around without buying anything.

However, this strange shop piqued Luo Qiu's curiosity more than usual.

Even though he had entered, he still didn't know what kind of business this place conducted.

"No, the master will be out shortly to discuss matters with you." The girl smiled slightly and walked into the inner hall.

The master? The owner's preference?

Heh heh...

Shaking his head, Luo Qiu began to survey everything inside.

It seemed to continue the style of the window display outside, featuring all sorts of strange, mismatched items that somehow didn't look awkward when placed together, instead exuding a mysterious aura.

The area where the shop received customers was like the fortune-telling parlors Luo Qiu had seen in the West, with a generally dim color scheme. The lighting wasn't from incandescent bulbs, but from tall white candles set in candlesticks.

It seemed the owner had put considerable thought into this place.

The wait time exceeded Luo Qiu's estimation, but his curiosity kept him there. His attention, however, had already been drawn to the items displayed on the cabinet beside him.

There were two beads, held in place by a stand, one above the other. They were crimson, like some kind of gemstone, and encased within an exquisite glass container.

For some reason, Luo Qiu imagined them as moons in the night sky. But thinking about how there could be two moons in the sky, and crimson ones at that, made him chuckle.

"Do you like these 'Crimson Moons'?"

Finally, he heard a voice other than the girl's. It seemed to be the owner who had been so slow to appear.

Luo Qiu turned around and saw a meticulously dressed, well-attired middle-aged man—or rather, a middle-aged foreign man.

Unlike the maid attendant, his eyes were a cloudy gray… and he spoke the local language with remarkable fluency. If you didn't see him, you'd hardly guess he was a foreigner.

Also, the fact that he was a handsome older man was quite striking…

"I'm just looking," Luo Qiu replied instinctively.

Both the owner and the maid attendant gave Luo Qiu a sense of mystery.

At this moment, the owner smiled slightly, walked over to the display cabinet, and gently lifted the glass container.

He looked at Luo Qiu and said, "These 'Crimson Moons' are something possessed by the people of a tribe that lived on the ancient continent of Latin America. When the people of this tribe experienced unbearable sorrow, anger, or even joy, their eyeballs would transform into this beautiful crimson. And under the night moon, they would emit a wonderful radiance. Of course, this tribe is now extinct… extinct because of these beautiful eyeballs. These might be the only 'Crimson Moons' left in the world."

These were eyeballs?

Luo Qiu blinked, feeling like he was listening to a ridiculous story, and even more ridiculous was that he had listened to the whole thing.

But finding the owner's way of appearing rather unique, Luo Qiu asked, "Since it's such a precious item, how much are you planning to sell it for?"

The owner chuckled lightly, "That's for the customer to decide. Because this is a buyers' club… so, if you want to get these 'Crimson Moons,' please offer something you deem appropriate. Also, I must add, we do not accept any form of currency."

So… this was a weird shop run by a crazy owner?

"Don't you like it?"

The owner didn't seem disappointed. He put the item back and warmly pulled Luo Qiu to sit down again. "Then let's talk about what you, the customer, would like to buy."

"What I want to buy…" Luo Qiu said with a laugh, "I don't even know what you sell here."

Shaking his head, Luo Qiu stood up. "I'm sorry, I don't think there's anything I want to buy… Of course, this shop is very special. If I have time, I'll come back to have a look."

"You can buy anything, anything at all, as long as you are willing… Of course, you need to pay a sufficient price. So… what is it that you truly desire?"

The owner sat there quietly, with an almost otherworldly confidence and a smile, watching Luo Qiu.

Today didn't seem as boring as usual.

Luo Qiu looked into the owner's eyes, momentarily lost.

What is it that I truly desire?

Luo Qiu subconsciously pondered this question… The surroundings became incredibly quiet, so quiet that Luo Qiu felt a sense of peace.

This place… felt like another world, where he could see the pedestrians outside… but the pedestrians outside seemed to never notice its existence.

Just watching like this, watching, watching…

"This place… I want this place."

Luo Qiu slowly spoke his current thought.

Of course, in just an instant, he felt as if he had woken up, realizing that everything here was unbelievable, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

The owner's expression suddenly became strange, a mix of joy, anticipation, and even more so… urgency.

"Esteemed customer, one of the rules of the 'Trafford Buyers Club' is that once you state what you desire, the transaction enters its procedure. If you do not state what you wish to pay, then I will set the price. Therefore… as you wish. I shall sell you the 'Trafford Buyers Club' in exchange for your freedom…"

The world seemed to completely invert, and darkness swallowed everything around him.

Before Luo Qiu, an ancient parchment slowly unfurled. He couldn't even clearly read the text on it, but he saw his name begin to appear on it, bit by bit.

Then, it began to burn.

Burning rapidly.

Darkness consumed him.