"Is that... an albino red fox?"
He edged half a step closer, his boots crunching through the snow crust.
"Alive? Wild?"
Su Wei stepped half a pace sideways with his left foot, blocking Jack's view.
He didn't answer any of the questions about the fox.
He reached back and opened his backpack's side pocket.
He pulled out the fist-sized, pitch-black chunk of chaga and tossed it in his hand.
"You're here to do business, Jack."
"I happen to have just what you want."
Su Wei watched the merchant, his tone calm.
"If all you're going to do is stare at my pet, I'll have to ask you to leave."
Old Jack reluctantly tore his gaze away from Su Wei's leg and fixed it on the dark brown chunk of fungus. His eyelid twitched sharply.
"Chaga... that oiliness, that quality."
He took another puff of his cigar, and the merchant's smile returned to his face, though now there was a more appraising look in it as he studied Su Wei.
This kid was nothing like the poor bastard who had always hidden behind his father.
He had grown more mature, more of a man.
Then again, both his parents were gone.
With debt on his back too, he had no choice but to grow up.
"All right, kid."
Jack pointed at Su Wei's backpack, then at the ramshackle cabin.
"Since you've made it back alive, let's talk about how you're going to pay off your debt."
"It's cold out here. Aren't you going to invite me in for a sit-down?"
Chapter 9: The First Pot of Gold
Su Wei didn't respond.
He stepped forward, took the key from the side pocket of his backpack, and opened the door.
"Come in."
He crossed the threshold first, then stepped aside to make way.
It wasn't much warmer inside than out, and with no one having cared for the place for a long time, a damp, moldy smell wafted out.
He tossed his backpack onto the old sofa and set the Browning rifle on the gun rack beside it.
Ignoring the old man who followed him in, Su Wei went straight to the fireplace.
He arranged a few pieces of dry birch, stuffed some tinder underneath, and struck sparks with a magnesium rod.
Flames licked at the firewood, casting an orange-red glow that chased away the gloom inside.
Old Jack stamped his feet hard.
His suede boots left two dark puddles of muddy water on the floor.
The old fellow made himself right at home, tossing his ice-crusted fur hat onto the table and plopping down into a chair.
The chair legs creaked.
"In this godforsaken place, you're damn lucky to have made it back alive. The wind and snow have been terrible these past few days."
Old Jack rubbed his big, frost-reddened hands together while his gaze swept around the room.
At last, his eyes fixed on the collar of Su Wei's outdoor jacket.
It was bulging.
A small tuft of white fur had just withdrawn inside.
Cotton Candy hated the old man in front of them and had hidden inside Su Wei's clothes.
"Stop looking. That's mine."
Su Wei prodded the fire with an iron poker, without turning his head.
Old Jack gave two awkward chuckles and pulled a stainless-steel flask from the inner pocket of his coat.
He unscrewed the cap and took a long swig.
The strong smell of liquor immediately spread through the room.
"Su Wei, I never saw it before."
He wiped the liquor from his beard, his cloudy eyes shifting. "Your old man was a good shot, but he wasn't too bright when it came to business. Same with you. You used to be unable to get a damn word out when you met a stranger."
"People have to keep living."
Su Wei stood and brushed the wood chips off his hands.
He had no interest in chatting with this fellow who was eyeing Cotton Candy with ill intent.
"As you said, it's cold outside, and both our time is valuable."
Su Wei walked over to the table and unzipped his backpack.
He took out the heavy chunk of chaga and gently set it on the table.
The sight of such a huge chunk of chaga made Old Jack's eyelid twitch.
"Let's do business, Jack."
Old Jack set down his flask and leaned forward, the casual look on his face quickly turning professional.
He reached out a large, rough hand, black dirt lodged beneath his fingernails.
He picked at the surface of the fungus, then leaned closer and sniffed it.
"Hmm... just taken off the tree."
Old Jack muttered and pulled out a folding knife.
He cut off a thin slice, popped it into his mouth, and chewed.
Su Wei stood to one side, neither rushing him nor showing any impatience.
He was very confident in it.
The Gathering Module had rated it: top-grade.
That meant it was in high demand on the market.
Ptui.
Old Jack spat out the scraps in his mouth, a critical look on his face.
"Too much moisture."
He shook his head and tapped the fungus's outer surface with the tip of his knife. "Looks big enough, but it'll shrink by at least half once it's dried. The grain's a mess too. It doesn't qualify as top-grade."
Old Jack put away his knife, leaned back in his chair, and held up eight fingers.
"Eighty."
He stared at Su Wei. "Eighty dollars a pound. I'm only offering that high a price out of respect for your old man. Anyone else, sixty at most."
Su Wei's expression didn't change.
Eighty?
This old bastard's heart is black as coal.
If it had been the original owner, he might really have been fooled by that price.
But the current Su Wei had the system's data in hand and knew where he stood.
"If it's so poor, go buy it somewhere else."
Su Wei reached out to put the chaga back in his bag. "The herb shop in town is a little farther away, but they don't take people for fools."
Smack.
Old Jack's hand slammed down on the fungus.
"Hey! What's the hurry?"
He bared his yellow teeth in an ugly smile. "It's business. Isn't that what bargaining's for? Think it's too little? Name your price."
Su Wei slipped his hands back into his pockets and regarded the shrewd-faced old man coldly.
"It grew on the shaded side of a birch tree, and the tree was old enough."
Su Wei's voice was level, betraying no emotion. "This fungus grew for at least fifteen years."
Old Jack froze.
"It's oily, dense at the cut surface, and free of insect damage. At current market prices, processed top-grade dried chaga goes for at least four hundred and fifty dollars a pound."