Gasp! She's a Time Traveler Using Modern Tech to Improve Ancient Life-Chapter 684 - 680: Robbery Is a Skillful Art

In the makeshift and simple tent set up by the caravan, Lin Wanwan and her two companions sat opposite the bearded Hu leader and his people.

In a world where everyone learns the official language of the Tang Dynasty, communication between the parties presented no problem.

The tea cakes Lin Wanwan took out were not strange, but the brown sugar, white sugar, and fine salt truly surprised them.

This group of Hu Shang had traveled far and wide for so many years, frequently crossing the Silk Road, but had never seen such refined salt and sugar.

Several Hu Shang pinched a bit of the snow-like fine white sugar with their fingers and put it in their mouths to taste. Although they tried hard to remain calm, their glowing eyes betrayed their true feelings.

Lin Wanwan watched the others silently organizing their words, having already decided to make a hefty profit off this group of Hu Shang.

The musk, ambergris, Dragon Brain, rhinoceros horn, ivory, amber, ruby products, sapphire products, and turquoise products in the hands of this group were all Lin Wanwan’s favorites!

She wished she could return to the modern era to buy more white sugar and then clear out all the goods from this caravan of a hundred people!

Alas, acquiring white sugar was not difficult, but transporting these treasures back, whether from the modern era or from the Tang Dynasty, was truly impractical and fraught with endless troubles.

Therefore, she had no intention of going back to the modern era to buy more sugar and salt; instead, she wanted to exchange what she had for an absolutely great price.

Lin Wanwan’s eyes lit up at the sight of the Great Shi Country’s goods, and the opposite was true too when they saw her goods.

The fine and rare treasures before them were only enjoyed by the most noble of nobility.

When Lin Wanwan returned to the modern era, she bought thirty pounds of sugar and twenty pounds of salt, stuffing her large cloth bag to the brim.

This caravan from the Great Shi Country, although very interested in the silk and porcelain of Chang’an and Kaiyuan copper coins, was equally intrigued by these rare items.

What shrewd merchant wouldn’t be delighted with the goods Lin Wanwan presented?

Due to Lin Wanwan gifting the Salt Drying Method to Xiao Chong, fine salt had begun to appear in the upper echelons of the Tang Dynasty.

Despite this, the refinement of Tang Dynasty sea salt still couldn’t compare to the modern fine salt Lin Wanwan now had.

As for sugar, it was even rarer. The sugar available in the Tang Dynasty markets was still rather coarse maltose, cane sugar, and honey.

The first, maltose, was something common folk ate during festivals, while the latter two were only affordable to the nobility, especially the sugar frost refined from cane sugar, which was the most precious.

Worldwide, the country with the strongest sugar processing skills was Magadha (future India’s territory), which could produce a type of sugar called stone honey, a favorite at Tang Dynasty noble banquets.

The characteristic of stone honey was that it was sweet as honey but hard as stone, similar to modern rock candy, and was the most expensive sugar in the world at present.

The method for making stone honey was only introduced to the Tang Dynasty in the fifteenth year of the Zhenguan era after Wang Xuance single-handedly conquered Magadha and brought back two sugar makers from there.

And the coarse version of white sugar manufactured and presented to the Northern Song Court by the Great Shi Country was not even in existence yet at this time.

Currently, the sugar-making skills of the Great Shi Country were slightly higher than those of the Tang Dynasty, but not by much.

That is to say, even this merchant group, having traversed the Silk Road countless times, had never seen such crystal-clear white sugar as Lin Wanwan produced.

Such good things, whether transported to the Tang Dynasty or back to the Great Shi Country, would not worry about a market.

The only disagreement between the two parties now was how to barter in a way where both aimed to exchange the smallest cost for the greatest gain.

For Lin Wanwan, this was an opportunity to exploit but once; it couldn’t be repeated lest misfortune arises.

Even just this one time, she had to return to the modern era quickly after the transaction; otherwise, she’d risk consequences, so she had to exploit as much as possible in this single instance.

And for the Hu Shang of the Great Shi Country, fine sugar and fine salt were very rare, and so were the porcelains and silks of Chang’an.

They needed to get the treasures from Lin Wanwan at the smallest cost, leaving enough goods for trading in Chang’an.

So, with no noble airs to maintain, the two sides engaged in intense haggling, going back and forth, saliva flying.

Baye Feng, the bodyguard Lin Wanwan temporarily hired, watched in awe at the intense bargaining, amazed.

He confirmed once more that while he could kill, he couldn’t haggle. His path lay in martial arts, not commerce.

After a fierce bout lasting an hour, both sides paused for a break in the middle of negotiations.

The six-year-old Naba had already fallen asleep in her brother’s arms. To little Naba, on one hand, the merchant’s haggling was beyond her understanding, and on the other, her Tang Dynasty speech was not as fluent as her brother’s, leaving her understanding only partially.

The Hu Shang drank milk, but Lin Wanwan didn’t touch any food or drink in the tent.

A moment later, the second round of intense negotiations began, Lin Wanwan adopting a very firm attitude. When they wouldn’t compromise, she directly sprinkled a handful of white sugar onto the woolen carpet.

Then she smiled maliciously and said, "Now, my white sugar is even more expensive."

Startled, the Hu Shang nearly abandoned their dignity to lick the carpet; this was money, and this nasty merchant woman just spilled it like that!

The bushy-bearded leader’s eyes flashed fiercely, and with a bang, he overturned the food table, cursed in a foreign tongue, and as if receiving a signal, the group suddenly rose up to attack.

This was an intention to kill and rob for a profitless business. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Without hesitation, Lin Wanwan raised her nail gun and fired, but because it wasn’t a real gun, the "bullets" had limited power. When not hitting vital areas, they did little harm to large animals and humans; they were usually modified and used as hunting guns.

The model she bought could still fire ten shots in succession, having slightly more power than the new version.

Her hand-raised speed was so quick and decisive that she "rat-tat-tat" injured several across from her in one go.

The ones missed, when pouncing towards Lin Wanwan, were intercepted by the silent Baye Feng, who used the empty-handed disarmament technique to fend off the attack and discard the machete.

The target was extremely tough to crack!

After a brief clash, the Hu Shang realized they couldn’t really tear each other apart—not during the daytime, at least. They quickly raised their hands to call a halt and had their injured taken for treatment.

Having traveled overland from the Great Shi Country to Chang’an, they naturally had doctors doubling as merchants.

Lin Wanwan wasn’t inclined to fight to the death either. After all, in doing business, harmony brings wealth.

Having intimidated the other side, Lin Wanwan, though still holding the gun and watching them vigilantly, refrained from further action.