章 5: Chapter 5: Living Up to the Name
Although Chen Ze really wanted to befriend this generous Dragon who could easily toss out a Gold Coin, Sebastian didn't give him a chance to strike up a conversation.
After giving a Gold Coin, Sebastian left quickly, so fast that Chen Ze wondered if he had some unspeakable secret or perhaps his wife was getting her hair done with Lao Wang.
"That cake was delicious," Sebastian muttered to himself as he stepped outside the door and reverted to his true form, a gigantic Black Dragon.
He swished his tail gently, watching as the door vanished in a shimmer of light within his lair.
"I should go see Riesel to get this checked out. I just feel something is off," grumbled Sebastian, who had not sensed any magical fluctuations.
The door had appeared and disappeared without any sign of power, as if it had materialized out of thin air. Even as an Ancient Black Dragon, he had detected nothing amiss.
After some thought, Sebastian flapped his wings and flew out of his abode, heading in the direction of his old friend.
Meanwhile, Chen Ze had ascertained three things.
Firstly, the wealthy guy just now was indeed a Dragon. Chen Ze had watched him walk out of the door and transform back into a Dragon.
Secondly, it seemed that all these Otherworld visitors came through the door. Looking at the ordinary-looking wooden door in front of him, Chen Ze felt a headache coming on. He had tried to dismantle the door, but it was very sturdy, and he then remembered that according to the contract, he couldn't remodel the restaurant.
Thirdly, Chen Ze couldn't go to the Otherworld. Just now, he had tried to follow Sebastian, but the moment Sebastian stepped out, Chen Ze reached out his hand, and found himself back in K City.
Chen Ze sat in the empty restaurant, fiddling with the Gold Coin Sebastian had given him for payment. He didn't know how to deal with the coin, especially since it looked mass-produced.
There were very special patterns and characters on the Gold and Silver Coins, unlike any civilization on Earth. Chen Ze worried if he sold the coins, it could cause trouble.
"Maybe melt it down?" Chen Ze rubbed his chin, considering this possibility but quickly dismissed it.
Leaving aside his lack of equipment for such a task, dealers would not accept gold and silver without proof of legal provenance to avoid police trouble.
"So have I inherited a hot potato here?" Chen Ze felt he shouldn't have taken over the restaurant in the first place.
Initially, he had thought it was an opportunity to get rich, but it turned out to be a trap.
"Hm? What's that?" Chen Ze suddenly noticed a small puddle of an unknown liquid on the floor.
Wasn't that where the Dragon had been sitting? Chen Ze looked at the table, which indeed still had the plate that held the cake.
"Hiss... What did this guy do while I was making the cake?" Chen Ze gasped upon seeing the dark puddle of unidentified liquid.
Chen Ze picked up some chopsticks from a nearby table and prodded the puddle, then checked the chopsticks for any changes. Finding none, he was relieved that the substance was not corrosive.
"So what exactly is this stuff?" Chen Ze crouched down, pondering life.
What if it was poisonous? Chen Ze felt uneasy, although he had only glimpsed it briefly, he had noticed that the other party was a Black Dragon.
After all, the Black Dragon often played the role of an ATM or power leveler in various novels and games.
However, even a cash machine, Black Dragons generally have great strength, so if this unidentified liquid really is something left behind by that Black Dragon, then Chen Ze must be careful how he handles it.
"What is this smell?" Chen Ze sniffed, catching a very unique fragrance.
The fragrance was light but distinct, akin to the scent of orchids, yet with a slightly enticing undertone, decidedly pleasant to the nose—certainly, Chen Ze had never smelled anything like it before.
Chen Ze quickly found the source of the fragrance, that unidentified substance.
"So, could this stuff actually be ambergris?" Chen Ze said with a mix of laughter and bewilderment as he looked at the unidentified liquid.
Just now, the burly man was a Black Dragon, and this unidentified liquid he left behind probably was something like saliva, and it even emitted such a peculiar fragrance...
This truly did turn out to be genuine ambergris! Chen Ze didn't even know how to begin complaining.
"But, if it really could be used as perfume..." Chen Ze stroked his chin, suddenly struck by a bold idea.
He had previously heard from his sister that one of the rich and beautiful girls in her class was always showing off her perfume, saying that a small bottle cost thousands of US dollars.
Although he didn't know how a perfume that cost thousands of dollars for a small bottle could smell, Chen Ze thought that this indisputable ambergris might also fetch a high price.
"This is all money... this is all money... all money..." Chen Ze put on plastic gloves and scooped the saliva into a bottle with a small spade, trying not to think about the fact that this substance was saliva.
The unidentified liquid was scant in quantity; after Chen Ze finished scooping, there was less than twenty milliliters in total.
Chen Ze looked at the small spade, a drop of saliva had just fallen onto the spade's wooden handle, but the handle seemed waterproof, and the drop of saliva rolled back into the bottle.
Chen Ze recalled the chopsticks from before, which were also clean, without any traces of liquid or fragrance.
"So it doesn't get absorbed by wooden materials?" Chen Ze looked at the liquid in the small bottle, thinking he might be able to save on the cost of buying glass bottles.
Chen Ze rummaged through his suitcase and pulled out a small wooden bottle that originally contained sealing wax pellets; he had previously criticized the overpackaging of the product, but now, he found it useful.
Seeing that the liquid in the small bottle wasn't absorbed and still emitted the unique fragrance, Chen Ze nodded with satisfaction. Next, all he needed to do was ask around at the auction house tomorrow.
Chen Ze yawned and glanced at the clock hanging in the middle of the dining room—the time had reached 2:30 in the morning.
"Hopefully, tomorrow will be a bit more normal..." Chen Ze locked the door, turned off the lights, and returned to his bedroom upstairs.
The next day, with dark circles under his eyes, Chen Ze stepped out. He had stayed up the previous night thinking about this saliva. If he could sell it for a high price, he could improve his living conditions. But if it didn't fetch a high price, he would have to figure out what to do with the gold and silver coins.
Chen Ze hailed a taxi and made his way to his destination, Longxuan Auction House, the largest and commonly acknowledged as the fairest auction house in K City.
Chen Ze, checking the information he found online, found Longxuan's practice of charging an extra one percent commission compared to other auction houses quite reasonable. What you pay and what you get are mostly proportionate. If you want to earn more money and pay less commission, you need to have an accurate estimate of your own auction items.
Chen Ze had no plans to get involved in the auction industry; this was not something he could play at, so he chose this auction house.
Feeling the small bottle in his briefcase, Chen Ze was a little nervous, but still, he stepped inside.
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