My Home's Ancient Well Connects to the Martial Arts World

Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Selling Lighters in the Martial Arts World

”CHIRP!” ”CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP!”

The chirping of birds, crisp and pleasant, filled the air. He was surrounded by shady green trees, and as a gentle breeze swept by, leaves danced to the ground.

After a long journey, Ye Xing descended the mountain, walked along a main road for a while, and finally arrived at Phoenix Town at the mountain’s base.

Phoenix Town’s main street was bustling with people, incredibly lively and prosperous.

The streets were lined with stalls selling all sorts of things: vegetables, rice, hot steamed buns, cosmetics and powders, needles and thread, masks, weapons, and wood-cutting knives, to name a few. Along the long street, stall after stall was filled with a dazzling array of goods. The sounds of buyers and sellers haggling, mixed with waves of hawking cries, created a lively, boisterous atmosphere.

Ye Xing found an empty spot at the end of the street, spread a large cloth on the ground, and arranged his lighters on top. Just like that, his simple stall was open for business.

”Lighters, selling lighters!” Ye Xing mimicked the other vendors, shouting at the top of his lungs.

However, despite his enthusiastic shouting, he was dismayed to find that no one was paying him any attention. The few passersby who did glance at his stall only gave him looks of confusion and bewilderment.

’What’s going on? These lighters are clearly better and more convenient than flint and steel, so why isn’t anyone buying them!’ Ye Xing was extremely frustrated. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him. He slapped his forehead in realization. ’Oh, right! Lighters don’t even exist on the Martial Arts Continent. I’ve been yelling my head off about selling lighters, but who the hell can understand what I’m babbling about? Hahaha!’

Ye Xing couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Having figured out the reason, he immediately started shouting again with even more vigor, ”Flint and steel, selling flint and steel! Top-quality flint and steel, convenient and practical...”

Switching from selling ”lighters” to ”flint and steel” worked like a charm. He had barely shouted twice when an old woman from the crowd walked over to his stall.

”Young man, are you selling flint and steel here?” the woman asked, arriving at Ye Xing’s stall with a bamboo basket in her hand.

”Yes! Yes, I am!” Ye Xing was overjoyed. ’This is my first sale! Once business starts, the wealth will come rolling in. Money is the foundation for establishing myself in this world.’

”Where is it? Young man, where is your flint and steel? Why don’t you have it on display?” The woman’s gaze swept over Ye Xing’s stall. Seeing no flint and steel, she asked in confusion.

”This is the flint and steel!” Ye Xing picked up a lighter and handed it to the woman.

”This is flint and steel?” The woman fiddled with the lighter in her hand, her expression a mixture of shock and suspicion, as if to say, ’I may be uneducated, but don’t you try to fool me.’

”That’s right, this is flint and steel. It can make Fire. If you don’t believe me, watch!” Ye Xing immediately picked up another lighter. With a flick of his thumb across the wheel, WHOOSH! A small flame shot out from the top.

”Ah! It really does make a fire! What kind of flint and steel is this? I’ve never seen anything like it!” The woman’s face was filled with amazement as she exclaimed loudly, drawing the attention of many people nearby and attracting the gazes of numerous pedestrians on the street.

An idea sparked in Ye Xing’s mind, and he quickly seized the opportunity to advertise. ”This flint and steel of mine is also called a ’lighter,’ and I’m the only one in the entire world who sells it. My lighter is incredibly easy to use. It lights with just one click...”

”It does seem really useful. Young man, how much are you selling this flint and steel for?”

”It’s a real bargain! The push-button ones are two Silver Coins, and these smaller, wheel-style lighters are even cheaper—just one Silver Coin each!” Ye Xing said with a smile.

”What? One Silver Coin is a bargain? Young man, why don’t you just rob people instead!”

”That’s right! We can buy ten flint and steels for a single copper coin, but you’re asking for one Silver Coin—that’s a hundred copper coins—for just one of yours. That’s outrageously expensive!” someone in the crowd shouted.

”Uncles, Aunts, everyone! My flint and steel isn’t the same as the kind you normally use. Your kind is hard to light in damp or rainy weather, and once you use it, it’s gone. You can only use one a single time. But my flint and steel, also called a lighter—watch this. I click it once, there’s a flame. I click it again, still a flame, right? I can click it a third time, a fourth time, see? This lighter works easily no matter how humid it is, can be used hundreds or even thousands of times—equivalent to hundreds or thousands of your old flint and steels—and it takes up no space. It’s so easy to carry, you can hold five in one hand!”

”He’s right, it does seem pretty useful!” A few men and women in the crowd were playing with the lighters, clicking them on and off to make the flames appear and disappear. They were having a blast, looking like curious children who had never grown up.

”Alright, young man, I’ll buy one.” The old woman took a Silver Coin from her pocket and handed it to Ye Xing.

”Great! Ma’am, since you’re my very first customer, you bought one, so I’ll give you another one for free,” Ye Xing said.

”Haha, you’re a good young man. I’ll go recommend you to all my neighbors.” The woman was overjoyed and scurried off with her two lighters to spread the word for Ye Xing.

Seeing that someone had already bought one and that the lighters were genuinely useful, the crowd in front of the stall was now dying to get their hands on one.

”Hey, young man, I want a lighter too!”

”I want one of the push-button ones!”

”Young man, give me two lighters.”

”I want one too! Me too!”

”Alright! Alright! Please, don’t rush, one at a time, one at a time.”

The crowd scrambled to buy them, and in no time, all one hundred-plus lighters Ye Xing had brought were sold out. Many more people who had heard the news rushed over, but Ye Xing could only apologize and tell them to come back next time.

’I knew it! How could something this novel and practical not sell like hotcakes! Plus, I’ve got a monopoly here. It would be hard *not* to get rich!’ Looking at the over three hundred heavy Silver Coins in his bag, Ye Xing’s face bloomed into a wide grin.

The common currency on the Martial Arts Continent consisted of Gold, Silver, and Copper. One Gold Coin was equal to one hundred Silver Coins, which was equal to ten thousand Copper Coins. One copper coin was equivalent to about one yuan on Earth, so a Silver Coin was worth about one hundred yuan. This meant Ye Xing had just made over thirty thousand yuan, while the cost of the lighters was less than two hundred yuan. That was a profit margin of over one hundred times—absolutely terrifying, and obscenely profitable.

’Hmm, I have money now. I need to think about what I can buy here to take back to Earth and sell!’ Ye Xing packed up his stall and began to wander down the street.

’Things like rice and cabbage are definitely a no-go. Earth already has them, so there’s no profit. Although, the cabbage on this Martial Arts Continent is much better quality than the pesticide-laden stuff on Earth. Kitchen knives and wood-cutting knives are out, too. The ironware made by ordinary blacksmiths here isn’t even as hard as the steel produced in factories back on Earth.’

Ye Xing continued to stroll down the street, browsing from one stall to the next.

Suddenly, a crisp female voice rang out from behind him. ”Hey, you, stop right there! So this is where you were! You made me look all over for you, I’m exhausted!”