After a day of hard work, he had not collected much scrap iron, but he was delighted all the same. He felt that the road to victory lay just ahead.
The thought of those crafty bandits filled him with anger.
Despicable, shameless bastards, using their numbers to bully the outnumbered.
Just wait until I develop my grenades. I'll make you pay.
He put the scrap iron into his storage ring, planning to buy another batch tomorrow. Then he could make his grenades.
Of course, the scrap iron he already had was enough, but the more the merrier. Naturally, more was better.
Once he made them, those bandits would not be enough for him to fight.
In another room.
Huang Fugui's face had been livid with rage all day.
"Damn it, that fellow is absolutely despicable." He had never been so humiliated. Today, he had thoroughly lost face in front of so many disciples.
His lackey hurried over. "Senior Brother Huang, I've found out everything. That fellow is called Lin Fan. The sect promoted him to a first-grade outer sect disciple for his contributions on the battlefield. According to the disciple who delivered his rewards, he's extremely stingy and has terrible character."
Huang Fugui was not very quick-witted. Though furious, he could not think of a good solution. "Tell me, what should we do about this?"
The lackey furrowed his brows, clearly thinking. Then his eyes lit up as a plan came to mind.
"Senior Brother, look, that fellow is actually buying scrap iron. That must mean it's very important to him. In my opinion, we should buy scrap iron tomorrow too. We'll steal his business and make sure he can't close a single deal," the lackey said.
Huang Fugui frowned. "Buy scrap iron? What would I want that junk for? What would that prove?"
"Oh, Senior Brother Huang, think about it. If he can't buy anything, he'll definitely be upset. And we can show him the might of Senior Brother Huang's wealth, so he knows not to throw an egg against a rock. We're not people he can afford to offend. This plan kills two birds with one stone!" the lackey said smugly, giving himself a thumbs-up for coming up with it.
Huang Fugui thought it over briefly and felt it really could work. He smiled and patted the lackey's shoulder. "Good, good. You've got a clever head on your shoulders. Taking you on as my subordinate wasn't a waste. Go make the arrangements. Tomorrow, we'll teach him a lesson."
"Yes, Senior Brother Huang. Just watch. I definitely won't disappoint you." The lackey brimmed with confidence. He had already been won over by his own intelligence.
Perhaps that was why he had earned Senior Brother Huang's favor.
The next day!
Lin Fan pushed his cart around the disciples' residences as usual, calling out.
"Buying scrap iron! One coin per jin, a fair price! Come one, come all, don't miss out! Miss this chance, and you'll have to wait until next time!"
By now, all the disciples along this road knew there was a not-too-bright disciple buying scrap iron. Quite a few had spent all of yesterday doing nothing but searching for it. As soon as they heard that familiar voice, they all ran out.
Seeing what the disciples held, Lin Fan immediately smiled in satisfaction. It looked like this round was in the bag.
Just as he thought he would reap a bountiful harvest, something unexpected happened.
Clang, clang!
An even louder gong rang out.
Huang Fugui's lackey called out, "Senior Brothers, come take a look! Buying scrap iron! Two coins per jin! Senior Brother Huang's fortune of a hundred thousand is waiting for you to claim it!"
The disciples about to sell their goods to Lin Fan froze at those words.
"Holy shit, Senior Brother Huang is paying two coins per jin! Hurry, sell it to Senior Brother Huang!"
"Good heavens, since when was scrap iron worth so much?"
"No idea. Anyway, I'm selling to whoever pays more."
Lin Fan stared dumbfounded at the scene. What the fuck was going on? Someone was actually stealing his business?
When he looked toward Huang Fugui, he saw him standing with his arms folded, looking back smugly.
His eyes seemed to flash with the words, You broke bastard, you think you can compete with me?
"Fuck." Lin Fan was unhappy. Extremely unhappy. This fucking script was wrong. This scrap iron was worthless. Why the hell were you buying it?
Double the price? Do you think I'm an idiot?
Oh, dear mother of mine. What an absolute beast.
The commotion drew many disciples' attention. Hearing what was happening, some immediately took to their heels to fetch their things to sell.
To them, the fact that scrap iron was actually worth money was something they would never have dared imagine.
Lin Fan simply watched. In no time at all, the other side had collected a full load of scrap iron.
Huang Fugui could not have felt more pleased, but his heart ached terribly. This was real money, painstakingly saved up, and now he had spent quite a sum just to get revenge on one fellow. It hurt deep inside.
But seeing that fellow looking at him with such a helpless expression made Huang Fugui feel so, so good.
As he saw it, that fellow would definitely come over to argue with him shortly. Then he could give him a proper humiliation.
For example, he could say something like this.
See that?
With money, you can do whatever you want, and there's nothing you can do about it.
But reality differed somewhat from his expectations. That fellow actually pushed his cart away and left.
After buying all the disciples' scrap iron, the lackey happily approached Huang Fugui. "Senior Brother, it's all done. I've made sure that fellow won't get a single bit."
Huang Fugui asked casually, "How much did you buy?"
The lackey smiled. "Senior Brother, we spent twenty-four thousand Flame Magnificence Currency in total."
"What?" Hearing that figure, Huang Fugui's heart suddenly clenched. That much?
Looking at the scrap iron piled into a small mountain, he kept feeling that something was wrong.
Lin Fan returned to his residence, inwardly cursing too.
Motherfucker, what a fucking dog. Forget it, forget it. I won't stoop to his level. I've got plenty of scrap iron already, enough to make quite a few grenades.
"Good. Over the next few days, I'll put my intelligence to work and let everyone know just what a terrifying weapon of mass destruction I, Lin Fan, am about to create."
Lin Fan was brimming with confidence. As for Huang Fugui buying scrap iron, he could buy all he wanted. He would have plenty to cry about.
Trying to screw me over? Take a look at how badass I, Lin Fan, am first.
Over the next few days.
He stayed busy making grenades, resolving all the fundamental problems.
During that time, however, something major happened.
The Artifact Refining Hall's disciples came out looking for some scrap iron to take back and practice with. But when they approached some disciples, they discovered that scrap iron, which had previously been free, had actually gone up in price.
Two coins per jin?
And there might not even be much available?
To these Artifact Refining Hall disciples, this was utterly baffling. Since when did worthless scrap iron cost money?
At first, they thought they had encountered a unscrupulous disciple, but after asking many more, they got the same answer every time.
"Junior Brothers, scrap iron isn't free anymore. The going rate is two coins per jin now. If you need it, I can sell it to you. If not, I have to take it to Senior Brother Huang."
The Artifact Refining Hall disciples: "???"
Even Lin Fan probably had not expected that this little action would actually drive up the price of scrap iron throughout the sect.