Chapter 79: What Secret Does the Iron Ring Hold?

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: What Secret Does the Iron Ring Hold?

Zhang Yun was actually quite satisfied with the cooperation Zhang Youcai had just proposed. What could be more relaxing than being a hands-off Shopkeeper?

To Zhang Youcai, appraisal was the most difficult part, but for Zhang Yun, it was the simplest link. The other things, like channels and negotiating prices, were the tedious tasks. The other party was even covering the costs, so why not do it?

A 50-50 split was acceptable to Zhang Yun. He hadn’t expected Zhang Youcai to voluntarily make a concession, shifting it to a 70-30 split in Zhang Yun’s favor. It was an offer he simply couldn’t refuse.

Zhang Yun smiled. "Uncle Cai, have you thought this through? Whether it’s your distribution channels or your negotiating Experience, they were accumulated over the past twenty years. Are you truly willing to accept this?"

Zhang Youcai said seriously, "I’m not testing you. If you just asked me to help sell, I’d take a ten percent commission at most; twenty percent would be a bit too much. Once you get familiar with the business, you could easily bypass me and stop cooperating with me. With the current arrangement, I’m just fronting a bit more of the cost, but the returns are secure!"

Zhang Yun could see that Zhang Youcai was far-sighted and wanted a long-term partnership with him. "However, I might also make a bad call and slip up."

Zhang Youcai smiled. "Even the best hunter misses sometimes. Online treasure appraisal experts often flop spectacularly on live streams. We’re looking at the base numbers. Your appraisals can reduce the risk from sixty or seventy percent down to twenty or thirty percent. That leaves a massive profit margin."

Zhang Yun stared at him for a moment. Earlier, Zhang Ronghui had also made concessions first, only to pull the rug out from under him at the very end.

Zhang Youcai grew a little nervous under his gaze and gave a wry smile. "You know all my secrets. Could I possibly scam you?" He lowered his voice. "I’m still counting on you to help me get those soft-shelled turtles."

"Deal!" Zhang Yun smiled.

In business partnerships, character and friendship were never reliable. Shared secrets and mutual interests were much more secure.

Zhang Youcai had abundant Experience. He had already thought things through before coming. After reaching an agreement, he immediately explained his ideas to Zhang Yun. They would build momentum tonight and hold an acquisition fair Ming Tian, inviting people from neighboring villages as well.

Zhang Yun fully authorized him to handle the operations. When it came to local connections, he definitely couldn’t compare to Zhang Youcai. All he needed to do was handle the appraisals!

After confirming the plan, Zhang Youcai immediately got to work. He sent out red packets in the village group chats and asked everyone to share the advertisement for purchasing old items to their Friends Circle. He also posted it on his own Friends Circle.

This was much more effective than Zhang Yun advertising alone; the news spread far and wide overnight.

Money was no object! As long as you had old items at home, you could bring them over to try your luck. If they proved to have antique value, you’d be paid a good price on the spot!

Zhang Yun had just earned a million yuan and was already a trending topic. Combined with Boss Zhang Youcai’s joint guarantee, many people immediately started rummaging through their chests and cupboards...

Xiuxun sent another message, thanking Zhang Yun on behalf of herself and Auntie Pang.

"I don’t have much worldly experience, and I might be wrong... but isn’t it too risky to spend so much money buying up old things in bulk?"

Xiuxun was worried that Zhang Yun might have let the quick money get to his head. She decided to warn him directly, otherwise it would be too late Ming Tian.

Zhang Yun replied, "If I keep this money at home, a lot of distant relatives and acquaintances will come asking for loans. Refusing them would hurt our relationships, so I might as well do some business. Zhang Youcai has the Experience, so there won’t be any problems."

Xiuxun replied, "It’s not that I don’t trust Uncle Cai. It’s just that he’s used to doing business, and you might not be able to outsmart him."

"I understand. I’ll pay closer attention," Zhang Yun replied perfunctorily. It wasn’t convenient to explain the details to her, but he wanted to ease her worries.

Having said this, Xiuxun probably realized it wasn’t quite appropriate. Who was she to Zhang Yun? What right did she have to dictate how he spent his money? She quickly wished him a good night and said no more.

Zhang Yun didn’t think much of it either. Lying in bed, he stroked the mysterious, pitch-black Iron Ring.

Was the Energy on those Ancient Artifacts absorbed by it?

For the time being, he hadn’t noticed any changes in the Peach Blossom Spring Space. Was it because it hadn’t absorbed enough, or did the ring itself have other functions?

Zhang Yun wanted to study the ring carefully. In a daze, he entered the Peach Blossom Spring Space again. After exiting and returning to his bed, he focused his attention even more on the Iron Ring itself, trying to see if he could sense anything.

As a result, Zhang Yun felt a little ashamed! He didn’t sense anything special about the ring, nor did he sense any of that Energy. Instead, he grew increasingly sleepy, and his consciousness soon became fuzzy.

After being transformed by the Mysterious Petals these past few days, he had been full of vitality. Staying up all night was no problem at all. It was rare for him to fall asleep in seconds like this.

Having nothing else to do, Zhang Yun stopped overthinking it and fell fast asleep. As he slept in a daze, he felt like he was in a blurry darkness, and it seemed someone was talking to him.

"Have you felt the taste of power?

"Do you want to possess more?

"Are you satisfied with your current life? No, you are not satisfied!

"Don’t you want the space to have more functions? Don’t you want to become even stronger?

"Don’t you want to know the truth behind your mother’s death?

"Don’t you want to find your mother?"

There wasn’t a specific person speaking, nor was it a voice transmitted from afar. It was as if it was spoken directly into his ear, or even directly within his mind.

But he was sleeping right now. How could there be someone? Zhang Yun woke up with a start!

He found himself panting heavily, covered in a fine layer of cold sweat. He checked the time and realized not much had passed. It was as if he had just taken a quick nap, rapidly entered a dream, and then startled awake.

The panicked hyperventilation was an instinctive reaction. Once his breathing evened out a bit, Zhang Yun regained his senses. He quickly and carefully recalled everything from the dream before he could forget it.

Although it wasn’t line by line, the content was deeply engraved in his mind. It wasn’t as blurry as a normal dream; it was as if someone had genuinely spoken to him.

Wait a minute! Was this really a dream? Zhang Yun felt his heartbeat accelerate.

He raised his hand and looked at the Iron Ring. Just now, he had deliberately tried to sense and study it, wanting to figure out its situation and the status of its Energy. As a result, he had uncontrollably fallen asleep in seconds, followed by this dream-like trance...

Could it be that the content just now was feedback from this Iron Ring? The Peach Blossom Spring Space had appeared after he put on the ring. What did it mean now? Did absorbing the Spiritual Energy activate it? By using this kind of suggestive guidance, was it trying to get him to absorb more Energy so that the Peach Blossom Spring Space could unlock more functions? So that it could make him stronger? Then what about his mother?

Zhang Yun felt a little panicked... He recalled the dream again. It seemed his subconscious was very satisfied with his current situation. More functions for the Peach Blossom Spring Space and greater personal strength didn’t hold much appeal for him. That was why the unknown entity used his mother to entice him!

The truth behind his mother’s death? What other truth could there be? Hadn’t it been an accident? What unknown truth was there?

And that final thought: "Don’t you want to find your mother?"... This indeed left Zhang Yun thrilled yet terrified!