I Was Forced To Marry The Phoenix Empress

Chapter 298: Eating Out

Walking out of the shop’s door, Yi Chen let out a deep breath, a bitter smile evident on his face.

"I still end up buying a couple of bottles..." he muttered under his breath.

’Even though the ingredients of the pills themselves are being imported from outside, for them to ask for four times the price...No, I must confirm things on my own.’

He thought with a bitter expression. Although he had a lot of spirit stones with him, that didn’t mean that he would let himself be cheated.

"If I find any other store selling at a price less than them, I’ll come back and skin that man," Yi Chen snorted to himself with a sour expression and started moving around the city once again.

This time, he deliberately looked for stores that sold pills apart from the Violet Pill Pavilion.

After asking around and walking several kilometres, he came across quite a few of them, and the responses he got in all of them were the same.

"800?! Just how is it this expensive?!" Yi Chen finally lost his calm at the fifth store and lashed out. "You’re also importing goods from outside, and it’s the same with the Violet Pill Pavilion, so how is the difference so much?!"

"S-Sir, please try to understand. It’s because of all the expenses we’ve incurred. Unlike the Violet Pill Pavilion, we don’t have access to transportation arrays, so all our goods come here by either flying artefacts or armed wagons, both of which are quite expensive, and as a result, we have no choice but to ask for this much..."

"But still...at the rate you’re selling it, do people even buy from your stores then?" Yi Chen asked with a frown.

Hearing Yi Chen’s question, the clerk smiled in a bitter manner and said, "Most of the time they don’t...However, we do see a rise in sales when the Violet Pill Pavilion is out of stock at times."

"..."

Yi Chen’s anger changed to sympathy hearing the clerk’s response.

"I see...I’m sorry for lashing out earlier." Yi Chen apologised and, while pointing towards the pill bottles, said, "Also, I’ll take five of them."

Hearing this, the clerk’s face brightened the very next moment as he immediately brought four more pill bottles to the counter.

"Here’s the payment," Yi Chen handed over the spirit stones and, placing the bottles in his storage ring, soon left the store.

Although it was a bit pricey to buy them from here, it was his way of making up for losing his cool earlier.

"Thank you for your patronage!" the clerk bowed gratefully towards him and saw him out.

With a heavy feeling in his heart, Yi Chen once again started walking in a random direction.

’So, they are using the advantage of the already present supply chains...’ he thought to himself while feeling a little better.

They were providing the Kingdom with free food, water and, along with that, were also playing a major role in keeping its economy moving, not to forget the Qi barriers they had installed on all the cities to protect them from the frequent eruptions.

After he had taken all these investments into account, the price they had asked for the pills only made sense...and to some degree even a little cheaper.

GRUMBLE~

"All that moving around had finally made me hungry, huh?" Yi Chen muttered to himself as he started looking for some food outlets.

There were quite a lot of food stalls around him now, as unknowingly he had reached the suburban areas.

Behind these stalls mostly stood old men and women who seemed to have just started preparing some dishes at the moment.

’Oh, they have grilled corn as well?’ Glancing at an elderly woman who was setting her coal on fire to prepare grilled corn, Yi Chen’s appetite was stirred, and he immediately went towards the stall.

"One grilled corn, please." He said with a smile while raising a finger.

"Right away, Sir!" the old lady said with an enthusiastic smile and began grilling a fresh piece of corn over coals.

The smoky smell in the air intensified, but not minding it in the least, Yi Chen enjoyed watching each side of the corn slowly turning black.

’Hm?’

Just then, his eyes went next to the stall. On the ground, an old, sickly-looking man was sitting on his feet with his back resting on the wall behind.

However, unlike his weak appearance, his eyes looked full of life as he stared ahead, lost in his thoughts, as if waiting for something to happen.

"Don’t mind him, Sir," the old lady said, seeing Yi Chen’s gaze and continued, "That man has been like that since the moment he arrived in this city.

Every day he picks up a few nuts in the morning, and after getting the required tablets, he just sits here until late at night before disappearing, heaven knows where."

The lady shook her head in frustration while fanning the coals with a hand fan.

"From the looks of it, the only time this crazy man opens his mouth is when he’s hungry...truly a frustrating old Bastard," she snorted, not minding that the old man was sitting right next to her stall.

"O-Oh..." Hearing this, Yi Chen’s eyes immediately went towards the old man, expecting him to at least frown upon hearing her words, but not even a single muscle on his face twitched at those words, seemingly completely unaffected by it.

’Well...he really might be just crazy.’ Yi Chen thought to himself. He remembered seeing quite a few mentally disturbed people near the railway stations or under the bridges in his past life.

With that thought, he soon focused his attention back on the corn that was almost ready by now.

CHOP!

The lady chopped a fresh piece of lemon on a wooden board and rubbed it on top of the grilled corn.

A tangy, familiar smell entered his nostrils as a sizzling noise entered his ears the next moment.

"Here’s your grilled corn, Sir. Enjoy." The lady said with a bright expression and handed the piece to him.

"Thank you." Yi Chen took the piece from her hand and took his first bite the very next moment.

A smoky flavour along with the tangy taste of lemon invaded his taste buds, making him smack his lips in satisfaction the very next moment.

’Now that’s a good corn.’

He smiled and soon finished it up.

"Make one more, please, and pack it up. I’ll eat it a bit later," Yi Chen told the lady, whose smile only brightened hearing his words.

While waiting for the corn, he turned to his side to watch the flow of people moving around in the street.

However, while turning his head, he felt a gaze that momentarily met his, making him pause and turn back in that direction.

Looking at the old man who was still looking ahead in a lost manner, a subtle frown formed on his face, ’Was that a mistake?’

Yi Chen thought in confusion, and seeing that the old man didn’t move his gaze even a bit during this period, he became even more convinced that it was just a momentary mistake on his side.

Turning around, he soon busied himself with watching the people that were walking past the street one after the other.

"Oh? That’s a large crowd..." he muttered, seeing a large group of people walking towards them from around a corner.

"Ah, that, that’s just because the work hours at the processing units have just ended. They all have been working there since eight in the morning...they must be extremely tired by now." The lady answered, hearing Yi Chen’s words.

"So that’s the case..." Yi Chen nodded towards her before focusing his attention towards the incoming crowd once again.

A few buildings behind them, he could see a tall chimney rising towards the sky. It was no longer emitting thick smoke like earlier.

His attention was soon pulled towards their clothing and skin. Several patches of black dust could be seen on their robes, face, hands and arms, making Yi Chen grow curious as to what exactly they’ve been doing inside these processing units.

"Inside these processing units, the Tarantula nuts are processed, right? Just what do they do inside for everyone to be covered in so much dust?" Yi Chen asked while turning toward the old lady.

"Oh, that, it’s been years since I last worked at the processing units, but I still vividly remember all the details.

It was gruelling work. After breaking the nut’s outer covering, we were required to keep hammering it, then heat the purple powder, and repeat the whole process.

We kept at it until the purple powder had turned black before packaging it...my wrist still hurts because of all that hammering haha."

The lady chuckled softly while rubbing the lime onto the corn. It was almost finished.

"You’re not alone, Old Mei, it’s the same with all of us," an old man from the stall right next to them said while stretching his arms, "In those times we were standing in front of our Qi furnaces for hours hammering one nut after the other until the final product was obtained..."

’So, it’s basically like a factory...’ Yi Chen thought while listening to the two’s words.

"Here’s your second corn, Sir. I’ve packed it for you as asked," the lady said with a smile and handed it to him.