It was a young person, around twenty years old, his identification card showed that he was a Fu Dan disciple. He seemed honest, but he asked in a sneaky manner, “Is this your first time coming to the Fu Dan Pavilion?”

12th said, “Yes, uncle, what's going on?”

The person’s face suddenly turned bitter, “Little brother, do I look that old? Don't call me uncle, call me brother!” He continued, “Did you come here to trade?”

12th said in a surprise, “Trade what? What are you doing? Why is everyone here acting so mysterious?” 12th noticed the person's name on his identification card, Wei Xian.

Wei Xian smiled, “I have meat here, a total of 1000kg, what do you have to trade?”

12th was slightly astonished and asked, “How much for a kilogram?”

Wei Xian said, “Not for sale, only for trade.”

12th said, “I know you want to trade, but your meat…it should at least have a price for reference, right? How much is a kilogram?”

Wei Xian simply said, “One Big Fu Bill per kilogram, but if you are buying with money, it will be more expensive, at least a couple Silver Fu Bills extra.”

Zhang Da Kui who was behind 12th had his mouth wide-opened, he did not know what to say. Usually 2-3 Small Fu Bills could buy a kilogram of meat, he did not expect the prices to rise 40 to 50 times. The most ridiculous thing was that it could not be sold for money, but can only be traded for.

12th could not help but laugh, he said, “Oh, I have nothing good, Ha Ha, your meat…I'm not interested in it.”

Zhang Da Kui couldn't help but laugh in secret, this description was indeed not pleasant.

Wei Xian sighed and said, “Ah, you…forget it. This is not my meat.” Wei Xian hung the Fu Hidden bag on this waist with disappointment and said, “If you are not here to trade for food, then what are you here for?”

12th said smilingly, “I'm here to buy Plant Hidden Fu.”

Wei Xian was surprised, he said, “Are you kidding me? You want to buy Plant Hidden Fu during a time like this? It will not be helpful even if you plant it right away, it only taste good, but it cannot be a replacement for food,…Ah, are you here to buy some special Plant Hidden Fu? Ah, listen, there are a lot of those right now, but they can only be traded with food, n.o.body is willing to sell it.”

The truth was that 12th had no money, it was all spent on food. He whispered secretly to Zhang Da Kui’s ears and then Zhang Da Kui nodded and left.

12th said with a smile, “Brother Wei, why is there so much people wanting to trade for food?"

Wei Xian sighed and said, “Well, it has been more than a month…most of the people here finished all their food, the food distributed to them were far from enough, so they can only trade for food."

12th asked, “Brother Wei, how come you have so much meat?”

Wei Xian was going crazy. “Little brother, I said this is not my meat…”

12th said happily, “Really?”

Wei Xian sighed and said, “Little brother, it is very tiring talking with you.”

12th laughed loudly and said, “I'm just kidding, Brother Wei where are all the people selling…ah, trading Plant Hidden Fu?”

Wei Xian said, “There is a lot of them…all of the Plant Hidden Fu which were plants has been used as food, but the new ones has not been planted yet, there are people who are happy to trade them for real food."

12th asked, “How come n.o.body is trading flour?”

Wei Xian said, “There is, but not a lot…flour is usually expensive and now it's ridiculously expensive.”

12th said, “Brother Wei, if you are busy, you don't have to stay with me, I'll go look around.”

Wei Xian smiled, “I have time, let me stay with you.”

12th did not mind so he nodded and said, “Well, let’s go.”

The trading region within the Fu Dan Pavilion was not big, it was divided into an inner section and outer section. People here were mostly Fu Dan disciples and a couple of FuZhou disciple who were trying to find something good like 12th, there were very few Fu Dan Knights and Fu Knights.

Setting up a stall was very simple, spread a piece of beast hide on the ground and place the goods on it and then just wait for people to come. There were also some impatient people who carried their goods around each stall trying to look for a trade.

12th searched patiently from one stall to the next, he found a lot of Plant Hidden Fu with the prices being not that high, but they were mostly only tradable for food. No one wanted to sell them because money could not buy food right now.

The stalls were very shabby looking, some only had a few Fu Dan while others only had a few materials. 12th squatted in front of a stall, there were two palm-sized Fu on the beast hide, 12th asked, “Is this a Plant Hidden Fu? What does it grow into?”

The stall owner was a Fu Dan Knight, he sat on the ground lazily and said with a weak voice, “It could only plant food, nothing else…this is a Plant Hidden Fu used only for planting food. I will only trade, I'm not selling it…250kg of meat or 50kg of flour, either is ok.” This guy looked very hungry, his face was greenish yellow and his hands were slightly trembling.

12th said, “250kg of meat for 2 Hidden Fu.”

“Are you trying to rob me? A Hidden Fu is worth at least 500 Black Fu Bills! 2 Hidden Fu for 450kg of meat or 90kg of flour, no bargaining!”

12th smiled, he was not going to suffer any losses from this trade, but if he waited a few more days, the term of the trade might be totally different because n.o.body could withstand the fear of hunger. Perhaps 12th could trade 5kg meat for 2 Plant Hidden Fu, at that time, 12th was not in a hurry to trade “Let me look around first.” 12th nodded.

The Fu Dan Knight sighed and continued to wait for people to trade with him. It's a pity that n.o.body was interested in Plant Hidden Fu during the crisis the North Fu Sect is in, it's not because the Plant Hidden Fu were not good, but because only Fu Knights and FuZhou Knights can use it. Other professions cannot use it even if they got it for free. Right now everyone is suffering from hunger, and thus n.o.body have any interest in playing with Plant Hidden Fu.

At the beginning, 12th thought that Plant Hidden Fu were very valuable because it was the equivalent of having a plot of land which can cultivate plants in it. After learning more about the Plant Hidden Fu, 12th understood that even though the Plant Hidden Fu can produce vegetable plants because the area in which it can be grown in is small, it had a lot of restrictions, the yield from the Fu was just too limited. The people in this world were all big men, they were all big eaters and the food produced by the Plant Hidden Fu was just too little, it was far from enough for the people to eat. Therefore the price was dropping naturally.

Wei Xian followed 12th for half a day, but 12th did not trade anything. He could not help but asked, “Little brother, why don’t you trade for anything?”

12th grinned and said, “I don't have money or food on me, how do I trade?”

Wei Xian was so angry and he stared straight at 12th, after a while, he said, “you…you…Ah, why am I so silly…”

12th said, “You're not silly, you're just thinking that…maybe this child will be easy to swindle, am I right? Oh yea, I have to thank brother Wei for accompanying me for so long. Thank you!”

Wei Xian was astonished, he really did have that thought, it was normal for young disciples to carry around a few good things from their teachers. If Wei Xian was fortunate, he might be able to cheat one or two and that would truly be a big gain. He did not expect that a child can see through his attempts. He was not angry, it was good if they could cheat something, but he would not suffer any losses if nothing was taken, he only felt a little embarra.s.sed when getting laughed at by a child.

“Nonsense! When did I try trick you?”

12th said smilingly, “Well, you should know that I am poor after following me for so long. See… there is a disciple over there, go, and hope you succeed…”

Wei Xian smiled bitterly, he was really trying to trick 12th, but he said, “Ah, it's hard to be a good person…” he sighed.

12th could not stop laughing, he said, “If Brother Wei went into acting, you will certainly not be a good actor, you don't even know how to lie.”

As expected, Wei Xian had been taken in, he said, “What? I don't know how to lie? Is ‘liar’ written on my face? Only a little child like you have sharp eyes…ah, little b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you fooled me!” He suddenly realized, if he was a good actor, then he will be a good liar and if he was a bad actor, then even worse, he would be a stupid liar. What annoyed him the most was, no matter good actor or bad actor, he was still a liar.

Zhang Da Kui came back to 12th and whispered a few words. 12th nodded and said, “Uncle Zhang, come with me.” He walked toward a stall. Wei Xian followed them curiously, he did not plan to cheat anyone, he just wanted to see what a poor disciple like 12th was up to.

12th went in front of the Fu Dan Knight who was selling two Plant Hidden Fu, 12th did not negotiate and just directly traded the flour for the Fu. Afterwards, he traded one after another as long as they were visited by 12th before and the trade arrangements were already known. Soon, 12th had 8 Plant Hidden Fu, 6 were ordinary Plant Hidden Fu and 2 were Hidden Fu for elixiers.

After that, 12th stood in the middle of the trading region and shouted loudly, “Who have books about planting? I will trade it for stuff with high value, I am interested in Plant Hidden Fu as well!”

Wei Xian was shocked, he now understood that 12th have been teasing him. 12th was not poor, he was much richer than himself.

“Quickly if you want to trade…the prices might be different tomorrow…”

Everyone in the trading region was reserved, very few would yell in the region, but 12th was different, he knew the importance of advertising. Yelling was the advertising method he thought of because he could not think of a better one here. And because he looked like a child, he did not care what others’ thought of him.

With the clear voice breaking away the dull atmosphere of the trading region, a few people came up and one said, “I have a Plant Hidden Fu, what do you have to trade?”

“200kg of meat and 40kg of flour!”

That person obviously was not going to negotiate with 12th, he said, “How about 100kg of meat and 20kg of flour?”

Not many knew about 12th’s trades from before, so the trading conditions did not seem low, 12th said, “Sure, let me see your Plant Hidden Fu first, what does it plant?”

That person said, “This Plant Hidden Fu is for planting Northern Birch.”

12th was happy, the leaves of the Northern Birch were well-known, he did not expect that there was a Plant Hidden Fu for it, he said, “Give it to me, I'll trade!”

Zhang Da Kui led the person trading to the side and 12th continued to yell.

A Fu Knight came over and said, “I don't have any Plant Hidden Fu, can you sell me some food? I……I'll offer 2 Black Fu Bill for 0.5kg of meat, How's that?”

12th shook his head, “Uncle, I can't accept your offer, I will only trade not sell.”

Everyone understood that the price the Fu Knight offered was not low, but it was impossible to buy food with the current situation. n.o.body traded food for Fu Bills because Fu Bills cannot be eaten.

The Fu Knight sighed and took out a set of Fu books, “This set of Fu books…do you want to trade? It is hand-written by a Plant Fu Master, and I somehow received it.”

12th knew that only Plant Fu Masters make Plant Hidden Fu, he was very interested in the books, but did not show any excited expression, he said calmly, “What do you want to trade for it?”

That guy firmly said, “1000kg of meat!”

Before 12th could even speak, the people around him said in a surprise, “1000kg of meat to trade for one set of Fu books? That's ridiculous.”

“You are just trying to bully a little child!”

“……”

The Fu Knight blushed because he knew that he was asking for too much. Seeing that 12th was not saying anything, he was running out of patience and asked, “Well, how do you want to trade for it?"

In fact, 12th was extremely happy with the offer, but he could not let the trading prices rise too much because it would hurt the market and the people who did have food to trade would not be happy. 12th said, “250 kg of meat with 50kg of flour.” 12th's offer was really good, 50 kg of flour can be traded for more than 500kg of meat. The meat here was very cheap, but the flour was a luxury.

The Fu Knight said, “Ok!”

Later 12th traded for 2 more Plant Hidden Fu, he was satisfied and left with Zhang Da Kui.

“Uncle Zhang. How much flour and meat do we have left?”

“400 kg of meat and 100 kg of flour.”

Zhang Da Kui was holding a few Fu Hidden Bags, and said “12th, a few days later…the prices of meat and flour will continue to rise, isn't it too early to trade?”

12th shook his head and said, “I can't be too greedy, money cannot buy these normally, haha, if it's not because of the food crisis, they will not exchange their treasures for food.

Zhang Da Kui asked, “Are we going home?”

12th smiled, “I'm not in a hurry to go back home, let's go visit Grandpa Xu.” 12th had long wanted to visit Xu Zai Kun after coming back, but he was busy cultivating so he did not have the chance to go. Since he was already at the Fu Knight Hall, he want to stop by.

The courtyard that Xu Zai Kun lived in was different from the one of his Teacher's Luo Jie. It was obviously much smaller, he did not have as much supporters as his Teacher, only around a dozen. And there were also families, disciples, and servants living with him, around a total of a hundred people.

After arriving, the housekeeper went to greet them.

Xu Zai Kun was very happy to see 12th, he said, “12th, you have finally come to see me! Ha Ha, I thought you have forgotten me……”

12th said with a smile, “How can I forget about Grandpa, I'm just too busy studying.”

Xu Zai Kun asked 12th to sit down and said, “Have dinner here tonight.”

12th asked, “Grandpa, do you have enough food?”

Xu Zai Kun said with a bitter smile, “The food is distributed right now, how can I have enough? But 12th, don't worry, Grandpa is a Fu Dan Master, I can use high-level Fu Dan to exchange for food. Rest a.s.sured, one of my disciples went out to trade he should be back very soon.”

“Teacher, I'm back.”

Xu Zai Kun noticed that 12th’s expression was strange, 12th had a faint smile on his face. Xu Zai Kun could not help but ask, “What happened?”

12th held back his laughter and said, “Nothing, Nothing's wrong.”

Xu Zai Kun saw Wei Xian carry a Fu Hidden bag and coming in happily, but when he saw 12th, he was shocked and said, “Eh? Why are you here?”

12th smiled, “Why can’t I be here?”

Grandpa Xu shouted, “Wei Xian, what are you doing?”

Wei Xian was scared to a tremble, he smiled apologetically and said, “HaHa, Teacher, I just met this little brother in the market. Haha, hahaha……”

Xu Zai Kun asked, “How much food did you trade for with the 4 high-level Fu Dan?”

Wei Xian said proudly, “I traded 1000 kg of meat, Ah, if I was not fast I couldn't even get these 1000 kg of meat.”

Grandpa Xu was surprised, he said, “What? You only got so little? Are you kidding me? A high-level Fu Dan can save a life in a critical situation. They can usually be sold for at least 2000 Black Fu Bills and even with that I might not be willing to sell them! You only traded 1000 kg of meat? That's too little…” Xu Zai Kun treated 12th as one in his family, he did not feel embarra.s.sed at all.

Wei Xian was upset and said, “Teacher, you don't know, food can't be measured with money, the price of food increases 3 times a day. No one is willing to sell them, they can only be traded for and it is getting a lot more difficult. Oh yeah, little brother, you know, tell my Teacher, Ah, my teacher does not trust me…..”

12th knew that Wei Xian has exaggerated the real situation, he looked at Wei Xian with a grin. Wei Xin began to have heavy cold sweat seeing the smile, he secretly saluted 12th, obviously trying to ask for help.

12th smiled and said, “Grandpa, I have brought over some food, Ha Ha, it's just for Grandpa.” 12th signaled Zhang Da Kui to take out the Fu Hidden bag and said, “There's not much, but it's a token of my appreciation.”

Xu Zai Kun said, “Ah, I can't accept it, how can I take your food? With food being so scarce right now, if I take it…what are you going to do?”

12th said, “Grandpa, I have a lot of food from my teacher, more than enough, HaHa, just give me a chance to honor you. Please take it, or else I don't dare to come visit in the future.”

Although the gift was not that much, it conveyed profound affection, Xu Zai Kun was truly touched, he said, “Ah, ah…I will take it, I will take it, good child.” Xu Zia Kun then asked Wei Xian to bring over the Fu Hidden bag and said, “Wei Xian, this is 12th, you need to become closer with each other in the future. To help each other, understand?”

Wei Xian smiled and said graciously, “Yes, Teacher, I understand!” He ran out holding the Fu Hidden bag. If not because of 12th's help, it would had been difficult for him to deal with his Teacher today.

In the evening, 12th stayed at Xu Zai Kun’s courtyard and had a very fancy dinner which included two Fu food dishes.

12th had a question that he was wondering about, he asked during dinner, “Grandpa, there are so many people in the North Fu Sect, where does all the food come from?”

Xu Zai Kun said, “The flour is basically transported from the outside, and 50 percent of the meat is bred in North Fu City, with some from hunting. Everything else is transported from the outside. With the food being transported in the Fu Hidden bags, the North Fu City will never have a lack of food. This year is an exception, but I believe that the situation will soon get better.”

12th was confused, “Grandpa, how come I don't know about the huge farms here? There are millions of people in North Fu City and everyone have huge appet.i.tes, how many animals is enough?”

Xu Zai Kun could not help but smile, he said, “It's not difficult, you must have heard about the Beast Fu Sect. They have a Fu which can quickly ma.s.s produce animals, but only large sects will have the capabilities of using it.”

12th asked with curiousity, “Why not speed up the the production if we have this ability?”

Xu Zai Kun said, “It requires time to adjust, I'm guessing it can take about 10 days and the meat supply lines will be open again.”

12th was surprised and asked, “So the supply of flour is still short?”

Xu Zai Kun nodded, he was a little curious and asked, “12th, why are you interested in this so suddenly?”

Of course 12th was interested, he was relying on it to make money. He have stocked up a lot of food with half of it being meat. If the meat supply line was opened, it meant that he was going to suffer losses. 12th smiled, “Just curious. HaHa, Grandpa, I have traded a lot of good things."

When seeing the Fu Book from the Plant Fu Master, Xu Zai Kun said in a surprise, “This is a treasure from the Plant Fu Sect!” He said in a serious tone, “You have to keep it well, it's ok to take it out in the inner court, but don't let others see it when are outside. I'm guessing this set of Plant Fu Books were stolen, but I have no idea how it got unlocked. Perhaps the person who stole it had good luck or they found the Fu Key.”

Xu Zai Kun advised again and again, which revealed his care for 12th.

That night, 12th lived in Xu Zai Kun’s courtyard.

The next day, 12th went back home and immediately asked the servant to get Auntie Lan and Auntie Xin, 12th said, “Auntie Lan, the meat we stocked up can be sold, with the current market price, sell it all within 10 days as soon as possible. Save enough for 10 days. Hmm, actually save the quant.i.ty for 15 days. Continue to hold onto the flour, the price will still increase.”

Everyone has been busy working, since meat was scarce now, it can be sold immediately. From 4 Black Fu Bills a kilogram at the beginning, ending with people who were willing to pay 8 Black Fu Bills. 12th's group spent around 7000 Black Fu Bills for the meat when they were stocking it up, and right now, the meat was sold for hundred times more. They made a profit of nearly a million Black Fu Bills.

Auntie Lan and Auntie Xin could not believe it, they did not expect to gain so much money in less than 2 months, they truly admired 12th pa.s.sionately.

12th arrived at his Teacher, Luo Jie Estate at that time.

Luo Jie was leisurely sitting on the ground with his legs crossed, there was a small short table with a few Fu food dishes on it and a cup of rice wine. Luo Jie was drinking and eating Fu food and was very relaxed and happy. When he saw 12th walked in he said with a smile, “Arrived at the right time, you know that Teacher has something good to eat? Come, sit down, someone bring one more set of silverware. 12th, drink with me."

12th did not refuse, he sat down with a smile and asked, “Teacher, why are you so happy?”

Luo Jie said, “After a couple of days, you can sell the meat there is too much, you won't be able to finish it all.”

12th could not help but laughed and said, “Teacher, I have already asked Auntie Lan to sell it before coming here, it will probably take a few days for all of it to sell.”

Luo Jie took a sip of the rice wine and sighed, “You child…Ah, amazing! Did you sell the flour?”

12th said, “Flour…I'm going to hold on to it.”

Luo Jie could not help but pat 12th on the head, “Sometimes I do not know what is growing in your head, you truly do not seem like a child. This time Teacher has gained a profit because of you. Good, good…Ha Ha.”

Luo Lao suddenly walked in and said, “I'm back!”

Luo Jie immediately became serious and shouted, “Do you still know how to come back?”