The Fool's Gold

By the time Zhang Tie reached the grocery store, he had already shaken off the incident involving Doug. By tomorrow, Doug's misfortune would surely be the talk of the Airplane Brotherhood; he wondered if that unlucky fellow would ever be able to wash away this stain in his lifetime.

When Zhang Tie arrived, Tang De was busy attending to customers. Zhang Tie stood to the side watching, and only after the customers left did he step behind the counter. He grabbed a broom, a rag, and a basin of water to give the shop a thorough cleaning. Once finished, he picked up the abacus and flipped through the ledger, reconciling the transactions from the past few days. Ever since Zhang Tie started working at the grocery store, he had noticed that Tang De was becoming increasingly lazy. Each time he came in to handle these chores, it took nearly an hour, and today was no exception.

Seeing Zhang Tie busy in the shop, Tang De lay back down on his recliner and leisurely closed his eyes.

Thinking of those few leaves Barry had been holding earlier, Zhang Tie felt a stir of curiosity and struck up a casual conversation with Tang De.

"Boss, do you know what tea leaves are?"

"Tea leaves?" Hearing this question, Tang De turned his head with a strange expression and glanced at Zhang Tie. "That's a very precious and rare beverage. Those wealthy and powerful lords who want to appear cultured and pretend they have style and taste love using such things to show off their status!"

"That's not right. It doesn't seem to be a beverage. I saw someone put them directly into their mouth to suck on. Are they eating saliva?"

"Idiot, tea leaves are meant to be steeped in water; there's a whole art to it!" Tang De scolded. "Holding tea leaves in your mouth is just a method some nouveau riche use to freshen their breath!"

"Oh, you mean this stuff is very expensive?"

"Not just expensive, it's extremely expensive. In Black Flame City, the lowest grade stuff shipped in from outside costs this much for a one-pound bag!" Tang De held up a palm. "As for higher-grade goods, don't even bother dreaming about them in this lifetime!"

"Five silver coins!" To Zhang Tie, that already sounded outrageous.

"Five silver coins..." Tang De scoffed disdainfully. "That'll only get you a sniff. It's five gold coins, and sometimes even more!"

Zhang Tie was shocked. He thought to himself, no wonder those pathetic, ugly-looking leaves were so precious; Barry had been so careful to wrap them in layer after layer of paper. It turned out this stuff was worth a fortune and certainly not something an ordinary person could afford to play with.

"If it's so expensive, wouldn't someone make a fortune if they could grow it in Black Flame City?"

"Even if there were a fortune to be made, it wouldn't be your turn. That stuff only grows on the Eastern Continent; it can't be grown anywhere else. The ones who control that trade are all large merchant groups and chambers of commerce with powerful backing!"

"The Eastern Continent... I've heard there are many human nations there, many powerful ones. Some countries possess thousands of cities like Black Flame City. The teachers at school mentioned it...!"

"You bumpkin, what is Black Flame City? There are cities dozens of times larger than this. When you have the chance to travel to the Eastern Continent, you'll see for yourself. The Eastern Continent is home to human nations primarily composed of the Hua Clan. Back when I was young..." A look of longing and nostalgia appeared on Tang De's face, and he began to ramble on incessantly. Zhang Tie listened intently. It was likely true that Tang De had visited the Eastern Continent in his youth, and some of his observations were reliable. As for the rest—swearing blood oaths with powerful human Warriors according to local customs, fighting side-by-side to crush alien races, discovering massive ruins with Prospectors, exploring underground with beautiful women, nearly being ravaged by a group of beauties, and seeing diamonds as big as heads and gold nuggets the size of houses—Zhang Tie automatically filtered these out as content straight from a cliché knight novel.

While Tang De was busy spinning his tall tales, reaching the part where the beautiful women who explored the underground with him were begging to marry him, two customers entered the shop. They were in their thirties, faces weathered, sporting stubble, wearing cowhide boots, copper-buckled belts, and riveted half-armor. They carried longswords at their waists and steel crossbow cases on their backs. Their shoulder pauldrons had hooks for windproof hooded cloaks—they were clearly Prospectors. After a year in the grocery store, Zhang Tie's eye for detail had become sharp. These two were Prospectors, but they hadn't been at it for long. He could tell just by the condition of their gear; novices who had only been in the trade for a year or two always looked like this, terrified that others wouldn't know they were Prospectors, buying their equipment in full sets as if they were regular soldiers.

"Gentlemen, is there something you need?" Zhang Tie asked with professional politeness.

The two men first sized Zhang Tie up, then scanned the shop, and exchanged a nod. The taller one walked over, leaned in, lowered his voice, and asked, "Is the boss in? We want to discuss some business with him!"

Such customers were common. Tang De's grocery store didn't just sell goods; it also bought them. Seeing the cautious, guarded demeanor of these Prospectors and their request to speak directly to the boss, Tang De climbed off his recliner, rubbing his hands and bowing slightly as he approached.

"I am the boss. I make the decisions in this shop!"

The two Prospectors' gazes shifted to Tang De, they exchanged a look, and then nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Do you buy things here?"

"I do. As long as it has value, I buy it. If the items you've brought are too valuable for my small shop to handle, I can introduce you to other channels. If you are satisfied, I charge a 5% commission afterward!" Tang De's seasoned, straightforward manner immediately convinced the two Prospectors. After carefully checking outside to ensure no one was watching the small shop, one of the Prospectors stood in a way that blocked the view from the street, while the other pulled a fist-sized piece of metal ore from his pouch and placed it on the counter.

The surface of the ore glittered with a golden sheen. It looked like gold, appearing quite precious and intimidating. Zhang Tie had expected these two to pull out some treasure that would open his eyes, but he hadn't expected them to produce something like this. Zhang Tie opened his mouth in surprise, but stayed silent, merely shaking his head.

"This is it?" Tang De hissed, looking as if he had a toothache.

"This is it..." one of the Prospectors said, looking at Tang De quite solemnly. "Name your price. As long as the price is fair, our brothers can cooperate with you long-term!"

"One copper coin for five kilograms!" Tang De stated his price.

"What? Say that again! I must have misheard you..." Both Prospectors widened their eyes, glaring at Tang De in anger.

"I can say it ten thousand times, it's still one copper coin for five kilograms!" Tang De said slowly, ignoring the flushed faces of the two Prospectors. The one acting as a lookout had already impulsively placed a hand on the hilt of his sword.

"You two must have thought this was gold ore because the color is so similar and the quality looks so beautiful?" Hearing Tang De say this, the two Prospectors paused for a moment before nodding. The one with his hand on his sword hilt loosened his grip slightly.

"Heh, some gold ores do look quite similar to this, but unfortunately, this isn't gold ore. It's Fool's Gold. One copper coin for five kilograms is a very fair price for it!"

"Fool's Gold?" One of the Prospectors picked up the glittering, beautiful ore, seemingly unable to believe that the item they had worked so hard to obtain was worth less than scrap iron. The other seemed more suspicious, not entirely believing Tang De's words. Seeing their reaction, Tang De didn't say much more, simply telling Zhang Tie, "Bring out our sample of Fool's Gold!"

Zhang Tie turned around, rummaged through a corner of the shop, and brought over a dusty, tattered sack. He placed it on the floor and revealed its contents. He dumped out over ten kilograms of the stuff, and it was indeed identical to the ore on the counter. The two Prospectors crouched down, each picking up a piece of the worthless Fool's Gold to compare it with the one in their hands. Their expressions shifted through a rainbow of colors before they finally slumped like deflated balloons.

"There's a canyon in the Red Highlands, over a hundred kilometers southwest of Black Flame City. That's likely where you got this. This stuff really does look like gold ore. In the past, other Prospectors have mistaken it for gold and caused quite a stir. Don't take it to heart; when prospecting, you'll see all sorts of strange things. No one is omniscient, and no one knows everything!"

Having even named the location, Tang De's words completely shattered the last shred of hope in the hearts of the two Prospectors. They stood up from the floor, thanked Tang De listlessly, and feeling too embarrassed to stay, slunk out of the shop. As they reached the doorway, one of them remembered he was still clutching the piece of Fool's Gold they had treated as a treasure. With an angry curse, he hurled it into the street.

"Fool's Gold, the gold of fools—it truly lives up to its name. Another two fools taken in..." Watching them leave, Tang De shook his head with a sigh and lay back down on his recliner.

For the rest of the time, a few more customers came by, and the shop sold over a dozen silver coins' worth of goods. When Tang De said, "...as usual, I won't be keeping you for dinner today!" Zhang Tie knew it was time for him to leave.

I wonder what Doug and Barry are doing right now, Zhang Tie thought as he walked out of the grocery store.

The sky was beginning to darken, and the lamplighter was shaking his bell to light the city streets. He hadn't walked ten steps when Zhang Tie suddenly stopped. By the light of the newly lit streetlamp, he saw something glinting faintly in the corner of the wall ahead of him...

Oh, it was the Fool's Gold the two fools had thrown away. After being smashed against the ground, it had rolled into the corner by the street and broken into two pieces. Zhang Tie took two more steps forward...

Oh, wait. There seemed to be something inside that Fool's Gold. That was what had glinted just now, and the color was different from how Fool's Gold appeared under the lamplight. Zhang Tie's heart skipped a beat. He walked over, turned his back, and pretended to crouch down to tie his shoelaces. Seeing that no one was paying attention, he quietly picked up the two pieces of Fool's Gold from the side of the road and tucked them into his pocket. There was definitely something inside the Fool's Gold, and Zhang Tie's heart began to thump wildly in his chest...