Chapter 669: News from the South Sea Region 2
The young boy stood skeptically by his small stall, his gaze fixed on Dean Chen’s hastily retreating figure. ’Could this little bottle of mine really be worth one hundred taels of Gold?’
He’d heard that previously found bottles only sold for twenty or thirty taels of silver. ’Is that old man pulling my leg?’
The young boy watched Dean Chen enter a restaurant. His eyes widened when he looked up at the sign—the old man had gone into the Immortal Sea Building.
The Immortal Sea Building was a restaurant established just a few years ago. Rumor had it that its branches were spread across several kingdoms, its menu featured seafood primarily from Nanyuan, and its prices were far beyond what an ordinary person could afford.
Before long, he saw Dean Chen walk out empty-handed. The light instantly faded from his eyes. He scoffed, "I knew that old man was just full of hot air..."
Before the boy could finish his sentence, he saw the manager of the Immortal Sea Building hurry out after him, carrying a box.
A jolt of joy shot through him, but he forced a calm expression as he watched the two approach.
"Young man, here are one hundred taels of Gold. Please accept them," Dean Chen said, his eyes fixed on the bottle in the boy’s hand.
The Shopkeeper of the Immortal Sea Building stepped forward and opened the box, revealing ten gold ingots inside.
The boy’s eyes practically bulged out of his head. But seeing how straightforward they were, he couldn’t help but feel a little apprehensive. "This... this isn’t fake, is it?"
"The Immortal Sea Building never deals in counterfeits," the Shopkeeper declared in a resonant voice.
The Shopkeeper’s words completely dispelled the last of the boy’s doubts. He handed the porcelain bottle to Dean Chen, then grabbed the box, picked up one of the ingots, and bit down on it.
’It’s real! It’s really real!’
"I’m rich! I’m rich!"
Overjoyed, the boy clutched the box and ran for home, completely abandoning his little stall.
Dean Chen opened the bottle and took out the slip of paper from inside. It was his little disciple’s handwriting. Moreover, she hadn’t written in simplified characters, but with letters of an alphabet.
Back when the little lass taught him simplified characters, she had written out the twenty-six letters of the alphabet for him to study, and had also penned many simplified characters annotated with those letters.
He had now completely mastered reading simplified characters.
Tears glistened in Dean Chen’s eyes, and his fingers trembled as he clutched the slip of paper. ’The little lass wrote this.’
"Dean, why spend one hundred taels of Gold on this porcelain bottle?" the Shopkeeper asked, puzzled.
Dean Chen reined in his excitement, folded the note, and placed it back in the bottle. "This is a priceless treasure."
"A priceless treasure?"
’Isn’t it just one of the bottles that washed ashore after the tsunami in the South Sea region?’
"Have the Immortal Sea Building issue a public notice. We will pay one hundred taels of Gold to acquire any bottle of this type containing a special note."
"Understood."
"Also, send people to investigate which island in the South Sea region these bottles are coming from."
The Shopkeeper nodded.
"Is your master still in Jizhou City?"
"He left four days ago."
"Send word to him. Tell him to come to the Immortal Sea Building in Jizhou City immediately. The sooner, the better."
"Yes, I’ll see to it at once."
Dean Chen looked up at the sky, tears shimmering in his eyes. ’It’s been six years. I finally have news of her. It wasn’t all just a hopeless dream... my little disciple is truly, genuinely alive.’
’I have to share this wonderful news with the others,’ he thought. ’I need to get them to Jizhou City as fast as possible.’
「Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.」
News that the Immortal Sea Building was paying one hundred taels of Gold for bottles containing strange notes spread throughout the entire coastal region. Everyone flocked to the South Sea region to search. Many fishermen even put out to sea for the sole purpose of finding one of these bottles.
After all, one hundred taels of Gold was enough for an entire family to live in wealth for a lifetime.
In the following days, the Immortal Sea Building received another one or two bottles containing the strange script. Through them, Dean Chen learned more specific details about the porcelain bottles’ origins and the area they came from.