Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 84 - 9 Catherine’s Deterrent Power_2

"So you value money like life itself, working desperately to earn and save money, all to pay off debts?" Pannis asked.

"Haha, of course not." Catherine turned around with a smile, her face full of ecstasy. "I work desperately to earn and save money, just because I like it. Hear this, the crisp sound of gold coins colliding is so joyful. It makes people sink in their love for money. Oh, Money, how many are driven mad for you, how many have fallen for you. You are the most beautiful devil in the world..."

"Stop. Baron Robert indeed was a thoughtful philosopher." Pannis interrupted Catherine’s poetic musing. "But soon after he wrote this epic poem as the conclusion to his masterpiece, Money Theory, he committed suicide due to mental breakdown. Are you sure you want to follow his path?"

"But you cannot deny, his words do make sense." Catherine savored the thought with her eyes half-closed. "Money indeed is the most beautiful thing in the world."

"How does it compare with your knightly spirit?" Pannis asked with a playful smile.

"There’s no contradiction between the two, so there’s no need to compare." Catherine answered sternly, "We’ve arrived at the largest market in the City of Knowledge."

The situation on arrival at the market was almost identical to the one in the alleyway. As Catherine stepped into the market, the vendors who were yelling or loudly haggling the moment before, all fell silent. Even those who reluctantly had to converse with customers lowered their voices as if afraid that a loud sound might attract her attention.

"What did you do to these people?" Pannis wondered, "Why do they react to your presence as if they’ve seen their mortal enemy?"

"Buying stuff," Catherine answered sternly, walking through the market stalls. She soon stopped at a vegetable stall and pointed at several small piles of jaygrass. "I want these."

The stall owner put on a forced smile, worse than crying, quickly weighed the stuff and carefully said, "S, s, sixty copper coins per kilogram, that’ll be two silver coins in total. Is that okay with you?"

Catherine nodded slightly, taking the bagged vegetables, "Thank you."

Just moments after they left the much-relieved vendor, they heard an unsatisfied customer grumble, "Why did you charge me one and a half silver coins per kilogram, when she only had to pay sixty copper coins?"

"Because you are not Miss Catherine." The vendor responded impatiently, "If you were as...uh...powerful as her, you could also get it for sixty copper coins per kilogram."

"That’s impressive." Pannis said with a smile, "I didn’t see that coming."

Catherine completely ignored Pannis’s sarcasm, and continued inspecting the stalls expressionlessly.

"Beef! Fresh beef for sale! Have a look!" A young vendor, clearly new to the market, loudly called for customers. He was oblivious to the pitying gazes of the nearby vendors — gazes akin to looking at a dead man.

In the midst of the young vendor’s loud promotions, a young black-haired lady in casual attire stepped up and carefully inspected the beef on the cart. She then inexplicably circled the stall, closely observing every detail before asking, "How much are your beef loins and shoulder meat?"

The young vendor was happy to see a potential sale with an unusually attractive customer, and cheerfully replied, "Ten silver coins per kilogram for the beef loin and eight silver coins for shoulder meat."

The young woman crossed her arms, glanced at the young vendor, and nodded, "Looking at the proportion of meat parts on your cart, you clearly didn’t slaughter your own cow. You must have purchased it directly from the slaughterhouse, right?"

"The horseshoes on your hauling horse has two pieces of flint embedded, which can only come from the gravel road when entering through the South Gate of the West City district. So, you entered the city from the South Gate of the West City district." The young woman didn’t wait for the young vendor to get over his astonishment and confusion, and continued, "You also have some red dirt on your cart wheel, which is unique to the vicinity of Crazy Hans Slaughterhouse in the said direction. So, it’s evident that you got your stock from Old Hans."

The young vendor nodded dumbly, unable to understand why she was saying all this.

"You’re very honest, and honesty is a virtue." The young woman seriously nodded, and continued, "However, getting your stock from Old Hans is fifty copper coins cheaper than other slaughterhouses outside the town. For quantities over thirty kilograms, beef loins and shoulder beef cost three and a half silver coins and three silver coins respectively from Old Hans. Am I correct?"

The young vendor finally understood, his face broke out in a cold sweat as he nodded tremulously.

The young woman smiled contentedly, "This is a small-scale commodity, and should only cost you three silver coins for the cart entry fee. The market stall management fee is also two silver coins per day. Including the wear and tear of your horse and your daily expenses, your daily costs should not exceed nine silver coins. Considering these nine silver coins into your two hundred kilograms of beef..."

"Stop!" The young vendor’s voice was trembling. "I...I won’t sell it anymore, okay?"

"Not sell? Sure," she replied with a nod, speaking louder, "But then I’ll have to discuss the relationship between cost and selling price with the market manager and other customers."

"B, be quiet." The young vendor visibly wilted, pleading with a miserable face, "I’ll sell. I will. I will sell it to you at cost. Please, don’t make this hard for me."

"No," the woman declined, "I am buying something, not robbing you. There’s no reason for you to sell it to me at cost."

"Alright, alright," the young vendor had given up struggling, "Whatever price you say, you decide."

"Four and a half silver coins per kilogram, and I want two kilograms." The young woman pointed at a piece of meat on the cart, "That one will do."

"Who is she?" The young vendor watched as the woman walked away, feeling distraught.

"That’s the famous Miss Catherine." An older vendor, who had been playing dead when Catherine approached, came over and patted the young vendor’s shoulder, "She’s quite well-known in the market. If you dare to negotiate with her, she’ll break down every step of your costs from production to processing to transportation to sales, counting everything more precisely than you. Count yourself lucky. The year before last a baker from our village who was known for his cunning business practices met her face to face, and since then, he dares not sell his bread. Hahaha, when you meet Miss Catherine, just accept your bad luck."

"Why didn’t you tell me sooner?" The young vendor’s lament hung in the air long after she was gone.