Chapter 448 - Familiar Jewelry Design
Selling ingredients with Reiki alone is not a sustainable way to earn a living. If they don’t want to reveal their identity, they have to amass a huge fortune in another way. In that case, they can live comfortably in the Nami Alliance.
One way for a cargo starship to make money is to ship commodities in large quantities. In this way, the starship exclusively serves as the ship of a big commercial firm and doesn’t give any outsiders a ride. The other way is to rent out warehouses of the starship to small merchants and give them a ride, like the way Huaxia people sailed to the Southeast Asia in ancient times. Whether those merchants can make money is not considered by the owner of the cargo starship. As soon as the merchants embark on the starship, they have to pay charges. From them the owner of the starship will earn enough money, even if more fuel will be used.
Many interstellar merchants don’t have much capital when they start their business. Those willing to work hard will rent warehouses to do business at first until they grow stronger financially. According to Han Weiya, the Han family that is now based on the moonstar also started their business by being an itinerant merchant several generations ago. Now they have their own cargo starship.
The carrying capacity of the Edward is not huge, but it’s definitely not small.
Lin Luoran doesn’t like to deal with strangers. Besides, there are many secrets about the starship. Therefore, she has never thought of carrying small merchants but has to make money by shipping their own commodities. As they are going to the Nami Star to have fun, she decides to carry some goods there for sale.
After Colin Weir got a flight permit and a temporary residence permit, the Edward and the people aboard have gained a foothold in the Nami Alliance’s network. The Edward can be landed like other starship, and Lin Luoran and her companions can step on this huge planet. Its brown sandstone has long been covered by plastic ground. The trading area is near the huge landing field for starships.
There is no animal husbandry, no aquaculture, no industry on the planet. Only commerce flourishes here.
The residents of the N2 planet have taken a different path to achieve prosperity. They built on the sandstone a business district which is famous throughout the Nami Alliance. The two stars above the planet mean there is no night here. In other words, N2 is a sleepless planet.
Starships bring about not only trade and taxes, but also booming service industry. The entire planet is divided into countless commercial areas. Actually, many products and services are available near each landing field for starships.
Goods being sold here range from food, drinking water, clothes, shoes, jewelry, gene pharmacy to monsters, weapons, and even intelligent lives as pets or a huge starship. As long as you have enough credit points, N2 planet is a paradise for you.
A saying in the Nami Alliance goes that “Anything you want can be found in the N2 planet!” Although it sounds too good to be true, it tells us that commerce is prospering on the N2 planet.
On the dust-free street, aero sports cars with a beautiful flame on its tail run past them from time to time. Lin Luoran feels that Colin Weir beside her is extremely excited. The light that forever shines on the planet makes Colin Weir look fairer. In fact, he hasn’t been exposed to sunshine for a few months. He can be a gigolo if he wishes. Those businessmen weren’t mistaken.
Lin Luoran unconsciously smiles. Ma Shuangshuang is holding Han Weiya’s arm, and the cyan little fox shamelessly takes its place between the two girls. Ma Yiming walking bolt upright, Colin’s handsome face… The scene reminds her of the peaceful time three hundred years ago.
Her quiet, sweet youth.
“Huh, this building sells clothes and accessories.”
The building is bathed in the morning light. In the shining display windows are colorful gifts and brilliant diamonds. This place is really a shopping paradise for women.
Seeing Ma Shuangshuang holding Han Weiya’s arm and standing in front of the window, how could Lin Luoran not understand what the little girls are thinking?
In fact, they have plenty of time to shop. Only Colin is busy, because he has to find business opportunities among a sea of goods.
“Let’s go shopping together. We have quite a bit of credit points to spend.”
Lin Luoran takes the lead, and the girls are glad to follow her. However, the cyan little fox is lazy. It can’t figure out why women like shopping so much. Colin thinks for a while and follows them. Since the princess is going to have a wedding, he is sure to make money from women.
The high-end shopping mall is different from the automated market. No matter how calm a woman is, she will feel flattered by constant compliments and spend a big sum of credit points. No wonder this ten-storey shopping mall is staffed with handsome shop assistants everywhere.
These shop assistants come from the famous Mermen Planet of the Nami Alliance. It is said that 90% of the Mermen Planet is waters. These mermen live in the water like fish, but when they come out, they will have gills on their face. God has given them outstanding appearance, but they are mediocre in spirit power and physical skills. Therefore, when they leave their home planet, they can only find jobs in either the sporting house or the service industry.
The first floor sells women’s clothing to be worn in each season. There are long ones and short ones, thick ones and light ones. There are silk dresses and clothes made of high-quality fur. All are in a typically medieval style. Layered dresses, most in beige or light yellow, are court-style clothing. At the beginning, the two young girls are crazy about the dresses. However, as they scroll around, they find such products nothing special.
Lin Luoran doesn’t buy anything. As for the cyan little fox, it grimaces when it sees two pieces of clothing made of fox fur. To prevent violence, Lin Luoran quickly grabs it and takes the elevator to the second floor.
Calfskin boots to go with a horsewoman’s suit.
Crystal Stilettos which are over twelve centimeters high. Oh, Cinderella is not afraid of twisting her ankle.
The shoes are either dazzling or low-key, including but not limited to boots, high heels and lambskin flat shoes. The second floor is a world of women’s shoes. Lin Luoran looks at the gleaming eyes of Ma Shuangshuang and Han Weiya. She feels affection for them like she’s their parent. She buys so many shoes for them that seven to eight young men offer to show them around; the men regard the group as heavy buyers. There were only two shop assistants following them when they entered the store!
Indeed, the goods are far from inexpensive. It’s said that they are designer clothing. Lin Luoran can have the goods delivered to the Edward, so she doesn’t have to worry about being unable to carry them back. When she sees the two girls are happy, tender feelings well up in her heart.
High-heeled shoes are a girl’s dream. When she was young many years ago, she couldn’t take part in high-end cocktail parties. She was wrapped in school uniforms throughout the year. Three hundred years later, she can afford the shoes, but she prefers to wear a simple long dress with sneakers.
Compared with the Nami women in luxurious clothes, Lin Luoran is plainly dressed, like an ordinary plant growing among splendid flowers. However, many shop assistants peek at her admiringly.
As they walk around, half a day has slipped away. There is a leisure area providing simple yet high-quality milk tea and pastries. There is also a large restaurant on the fifth floor, but the cyan little fox is too lazy to go there, so they only have some snacks.
The shopping mall is so large! Colin Weir collapses in tiredness. Lin Luoran simply leaves him behind with Ma Yiming and the cyan little fox. She takes Ma Shuangshuang and Han Weiya straight to the tenth floor.
They have come to the jewelry store.
Gold, the valuable heavy metal, is prized by the Nami people. Diamonds and the like are also relatively common. Silver and other rare nonferrous metals have also been popular in the Nami Alliance for years.
The salesperson introduces to them the jade that has enjoyed great popularity among the Nami people since fifty years ago.
Huaxia used to have four kinds of best-known jade—Hetian jade, Lantian jade, Dushan jade and Xiuyan jade. Considering the history of the world of cultivation, the jade culture can be traced back to over tens of thousands of years ago.
However, the jade in the Nami Alliance is different from that in Huaxia. The jade here contains a lot of Reiki. No one thought of turning jade into accessories until fifty years ago, when jade suddenly became popular… Lin Luoran randomly picks up a piece of jadeite peace buckle. When she sees the familiar “Huaxia Knot”, she has to hold her emotions in check so she doesn’t look unusual.
“We don’t know why it suddenly became popular. Now accessories made of jade and jadeite have become increasingly sophisticated.”
The merman salesperson explains with a sweet smile. “I heard that it was imported from other alliances… This peace buckle made of polished jadeite is a perfect gift for the younger generations.”
The delicate texture… Lin Luoran knows more about jadeite than all these salespersons do.
The peace buckle with a tag price of 1,200 credit points is a piece of Huaqing jadeite which is not that limpid. It is also a medium – or low-end product on the earth before the New Era. After all, you get what you pay for.
Even Ma Shuangshuang looks down upon these peace buckles, because she once received some superior jade accessories from Lin Luoran.
The sweet salesperson can tell that the three are heavy buyers. He takes them to the VIP area.
“Ladies, please have a look here. These are the most fashionable accessories on the Nami Star, which have just arrived here.”
The little girls only like earrings and bracelets. In contrast, Lin Luoran looks at the items one by one until her eyes are glued to a hairpin on the crystal booth.
Not many Nami people wear a hairpin. Besides, this yellow jadeite hairpin is beautifully carved in the shape of a lifelike phoenix holding a pearl.
She surveys it with her spiritual mind and knows that the gadget is not a magic weapon. Why is it shaped like a phoenix? The phoenix totem should be native to Huaxia, shouldn’t it? She is confused.
“Please bring me that phoenix hairpin.”
The sweet salesperson feels sorry. “Madam, that phoenix hairpin is an early work of a famous designer, so…”
“So, you don’t sell it? It doesn’t matter. I just find it unique. Do you know the designer’s name?”
“It’s Nolan Mancia, a royal designer. Her work is very popular on the Nami Star, but only a few have been traded outside of it. I am really sorry, madam.”
The salesperson is sincere. Lin Luoran is not so unreasonable as to cause him any trouble. She just asks casually, “Will she design something for the upcoming royal marriage?”
The salesperson thinks for a while and says he has no idea.
The wedding of the princess on the Nami Star is irrelevant to the jewelry salesperson on the faraway N2 planet.
Lin Luoran stares at the phoenix hairpin thoughtfully.