Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 9 The Mantis Monster and The Jade Token



It had been just 3 days since Luo Qiu became the boss, but once he returned to the club, he felt a certain carefreeness, just as if he were home, which Luo Qiu found amazing.


You Ye was already waiting there, while holding a suit.


En…she really was a thoughtful servant girl.


She had said that the boss should at least wear an appropriate suit that matched his status.


Even though Luo Qiu felt there was nothing wrong with casual wear, but he still compromised with You Ye who wouldn't take no for an answer.


Black gave a mysterious feeling and covered many weaknesses. Luo Qiu was 1.76 meters tall. You Ye gave him a single-breasted black windbreaker with a tailored collar and a black collared shirt along with a long golden pendant as an accessory. Only then did he look this part as boss of the club.


As per You Ye’s demand, he also changed to a slicked-back hairstyle.


En…now he looked mature for his age. As it was often said, the clothes make the man.


After taking a look in the mirror, he got ready to greet the visitor, while listening to some basic information about the new customer.


When You Ye said that the new customer was a newly formed monster, Luo Qiu was so surprised he missed a step and almost tumbled down the stairs.


He remembered the rule that the boss wouldn’t die, so he didn’t feel afraid. In fact, he felt curious about the monster.


Monsters always gave Luo Qiu a mysterious feeling. He wondered if they looked like what was shown in the movies.


...


...


However, reality was harsh.


When he realized the object in front could move, Luo Qiu renewed the definition of a monster in his mind.


The customer was a humpback, wearing a ragged black coat. An old grey sunhat, disposable mask and sunglasses covered his face.


His hands wore white industrial gloves and he even had a scarf…


No skin was exposed…but his looks didn’t seem to be out of Luo Qiu’s imagination yet.


"Greetings. I’m the boss here. May I help you?"


As per the club’s rules, Luo Qiu had to break the silence and greet him.


"I, heard, there’s, everything, I can, buy, here. Unexpectedly, it’s, true."


The words were blurred and barely coherent. The hoarse sounds made it seemed like his vocal cords had been badly burned.


But Luo Qiu understood his words. He had heard about the legend of this club somewhere, and finally found it.


"What’s your name please?" Luo Qiu asked with smile.


At the moment, You Ye brought two cups of herbal tea.


"I don’t have a name." the weird guy shook his head, "Call, me, any, thing."


Luo Qiu looked at You Ye subconsciously, but she didn’t do anything. It seemed like she was waiting for orders—it was different from the first case where they met Jin Zifu.


It might be because she didn’t want to act beyond her authority after she told all the rules to Luo Qiu.


"Let’s talk about what I can do for you." Luo Qiu sat down. As a new boss, there were still many details he didn’t know about the deals, so he said directly: "What do you want, and what’s your transaction fee."


"Tomorrow, evening, my, important, time. Enemy, one, protect, me. Just, one, night."


He still answered in that voice.


Trafford’s Trading Club was known as the place where everything could be bought, it certainly included a period of protection.


Luo Qiu had a thought: "You can stay here until you feel safe to leave. We have spare rooms for you."


"No, must, be, outside."


Luo Qiu frowned, "You said an enemy was chasing to kill you. And you only need to be protected for one night, right?"


"Yes."


"Please explain what your enemy is." Luo Qiu calmly said: "You should know about the rules here."


"Mantis, one hundred, and, 20 years, I, can’t, deal."


Luo Qiu turned his view to You Ye. Then she came close and said slightly: "120-year-old monster in the east is an immature little monster. They are weak in ability. No problem to deal with or kill it."


Did that mean…You Ye was absolutely confident to cope with the 120-year mantis monster?


Basically, more value the object you need, the higher the transaction fee you must pay.


Luo Qiu had heard of monster circles, however, he had no idea of how to wrest more secrets from their new customer…so he decided to ask You Ye primarily.


Moreover, the customer wasn’t able to fight against an immature monster. This revealed that he must be "poor" within the circle of monsters.


"And what’s your transaction fee?" Luo Qiu asked, and also induced him: "You know, I will have to deal with the enemy which you are not able to fight. And you need the protection. So it means the protection is as valuable as your life."


"This…this."


He fished out a parcel of something carefully from his coat—it was wrapped in newspaper.


He opened it. It was a white jade token, with the length of one finger, a width of three fingers, and a thickness of one finger, while the top was narrower than the bottom.


The customer put it on the table, pushing it to Luo Qiu inch by inch.


And Luo Qiu put his hand on the jade token gently.


...


Not only did his lifespan lengthen, Luo Qiu had also received an ability used for identification after the first transaction.


Of course the identification ability would be enhanced once the number of successful transactions increased, but now all he knew was:


--it was a jade with unknown ability


--20 days of lifespan was required to do a further identification


--he would get 70 days lifetime if he gave it as a tribute.


En.. that was everything he knew. Though it was a weak ability, but he had the option to do a further identification.


This small jade token was twice as valuable compared to the 33 years of Jin Zifu’s life…



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