Duoduo hesitated. "Father, does buying stones cost silver?"
Xiao Yi nodded. "Of course."
Duoduo was very hesitant. She only had fifty thousand taels in her bag.
However, she had just planned to use this fifty thousand taels to expand her barbecue shop.
Duoduo remembered clearly that when she and her mother went to the shop to buy jade ornaments, a good quality jade bracelet cost one or two thousand taels of silver.
A piece of jade the size of her palm could yield two or three jade bracelets.
According to this calculation, a piece of jade would cost almost ten thousand taels.
Her fifty thousand taels would probably only be enough to buy one or two small pieces of jade.
If she ended up buying ordinary stones, she would even lose money!
No matter how she looked at it, this business was not cost-effective.
Thinking of this, Duoduo shook her head firmly.
"Father, let's just go back."
Surprise flashed in Xiao Yi's eyes.
However, he quickly guessed Duoduo's thoughts.
Xiao Yi pursed his lips.
"Since we are here, let's look around. Just treat it as coming here to play, how about that?"
Hearing this, Duoduo was immediately overjoyed.
"We'll just look, we won't buy!"
Amusement flashed in Xiao Yi's eyes. "Right."
Li Jin couldn't help but shed a tear of sympathy for Duoduo.
Because Li Jin was the manager of the shop, it was inconvenient for him to show his face.
Yunxiao pushed the wheelchair, and Duoduo walked beside it. The three of them left the shop and headed towards the other stores.
As soon as Duoduo went out, she was attracted by the stones on the ground outside.
She couldn't help it; these stones were piled up in huge heaps outside every shop, as if they cost no silver at all, left for people to pick and choose.
At first, Duoduo tried hard to control herself from joining in, just standing outside and watching others pick through the stones.
As Duoduo watched, she discovered the trick to it.
These stones were not as expensive as she had imagined.
Some stones could be taken away for just one tael of silver.
Of course, there were also expensive ones.
However, the most expensive one Duoduo saw was only a thousand taels.
Duoduo secretly calculated in her heart.
If she calculated based on a thousand taels, even if she took out ten thousand taels to buy them, she could still buy a lot of stones.
If, by chance, one of them could yield a good quality jade, she would have scored a bargain.
After figuring this out, Duoduo suddenly became interested.
Xiao Yi just looked at the shops on both sides, occasionally stopping to watch the people picking stones chat.
Seeing that her father had stopped walking, Duoduo also started to imitate the others, picking up stones to examine them.
Unfortunately, she didn't have x-ray vision and couldn't see what was inside the stones.
Duoduo didn't dare to gamble.
Regretfully, she put the stone back in its original place.
The three of them kept walking forward until they reached the very end of the street.
The business of this innermost shop was not as good as the ones at the entrance.
However, there was a super large open space in front of this shop.
The open space was entirely filled with piles of stones.
Xiao Yi stopped and looked at Duoduo.
"Since we are here, go and pick a few pieces to see."
Duoduo looked at the empty shop; unlike the other shops, which had at least some customers.
Duoduo was a little hesitant and asked softly.
"Father, no one is picking here. Could it be that his stones are not good?"
Seeing the three people stop outside the shop, the shopkeeper hurriedly came out to greet them.
With a face full of smiles, he respectfully cupped his hands and bowed to Xiao Yi.
"Guest, feel free to choose from the stones outside."
"The small stones over there are one tael of silver each."
"The stones in the middle are five taels of silver each, and the ones here are ten taels of silver each."
"If you want to choose ones with good quality, you can go inside the shop. We have jade materials with opened windows inside."
Xiao Yi shook his head slightly.
"The child is just picking a few pieces to play with."
Hearing this, the shopkeeper was immediately a bit disappointed.
However, he still enthusiastically introduced things to Xiao Yi and the others.
"These stones outside are all from the same vein."
"You can choose freely, maybe there will be a surprise!"
Xiao Yi nodded at the shopkeeper. "Alright."
The shopkeeper cupped his hands at Xiao Yi and retreated back into the shop.
Duoduo tilted her head, observing the stones all over the ground.
These stones were actually this cheap?
Her silver could buy half of them!
Seeing that Duoduo didn't move, Xiao Yi curled the corners of his lips.
"Go and see if there are any you like. Just consider it as helping the shopkeeper draw some popularity."
Business was like this; customers flocked to popular shops.
Ordinary people didn't dare to enter a shop with no people.
Duoduo nodded and first went to the pile of stones that cost one tael of silver each.
These stones were slightly smaller, only about the size of her palm.
Duoduo walked carefully among the stones, occasionally picking one up to observe it in her hand.
Xiao Yi stared closely at Duoduo's every move, as if worried about her safety.
Yunxiao looked at the ten-tael stones by his feet, his heart itching to try.
"Your Highness, how about you also pick a few pieces?"
Xiao Yi turned his head to glance at Yunxiao, then he nodded.
"Show me the stone by your feet."
"Yes!" Yunxiao cheerfully picked up the stone by his feet and handed it to Xiao Yi.
This stone was yellow, with some moss on its surface.
Xiao Yi looked at the stone while keeping an eye on Duoduo.
Duoduo wove through the stones.
She picked several one-tael stones and held them in the hem of her clothes.
When she couldn't hold anymore and turned around to bring them over, her gaze fell on the five-tael stones.
Duoduo seemed to start struggling with a decision.
She put a few of the stones from her arms back and started picking again in the five-tael area.
In a short while, she had picked out a small pile.
Her gaze fell on the ten-tael stones again.
A conflicted expression appeared on Duoduo's face once more.
She looked at her selected stones over and over again.
"Do you like them all? If you like them, keep them." Xiao Yi put down the stone in his hand.
Duoduo looked up with a smiling face. "Father, these stones are all so pretty. I want to take them back and put them in the pool!"
The shopkeeper, who was quietly waiting by the door, heard Duoduo's words, and surprise filled his eyes.
Xiao Yi nodded. "Alright, as long as you like them."
Duoduo was a little embarrassed.
"Father, I've already picked three hundred taels worth of stones."
"Mhm. What about over here? Are there any you like? Keep picking." Xiao Yi looked at Duoduo encouragingly.
A look of pleasant surprise immediately appeared on Duoduo's face.
She liked these stones so much that she couldn't bear to leave a single one behind.
These stones all looked brown or dark on the outside.
However, in Duoduo's eyes, they all revealed different colors.
Yes!
Because Duoduo had weeded out all the stones of the same color.
Just now, she saw a few stones of different colors in the largest pile.
These stones were a bit big, and Duoduo couldn't lift them.
"Yunxiao, please help me carry them," Duoduo asked for help.
"Yes!" Yunxiao walked over and moved the stones Duoduo had selected out.
Xiao Yi stared at them closely.
Among the stones Duoduo had chosen, one was exactly the piece he had just been looking at.
