Chapter 14: Spending Money Like Dirt

Long Yin stood on a street in Texas, and suddenly remembered the young man selling steamed buns.

“Grandfather, I want to look for someone, you don’t have to accompany me!” Long Yin tugged at Cassano’s sleeve, then waved his small hand and slipped into the crowd.

Cassano’s cloudy old eyes flashed with a sharp light—was there anyone his own eyes couldn’t see? Then a sly smile appeared on the old man’s face. With his skills, following his grandson to see what was going on was all too easy. It wasn’t excessive curiosity—he was simply worried Long Yin might run into trouble!

Excited, Long Yin hurried to the place he’d visited before, but no matter how he looked around, he couldn’t see the person he was searching for. Frowning, he wondered if the young man hadn’t come? Turning onto another street, Long Yin searched further, but after a whole morning and even enlisting Cassano’s help, he was certain the young man truly hadn’t made an appearance. Only then did Long Yin give up.

He’d come brimming with hope, only to leave disappointed. Long Yin’s mood was a bit low, and seeing him like this, Cassano was disappointed as well. That brat An Qingming, of all the times not to show up, had to choose today and let his grandson search in vain. Cassano’s irrational anger made An Qingming, far away in the frigid North, sneeze several times without knowing why.

An Qingming rubbed his nose after sneezing, looking around in puzzlement.

“Xiao An, don’t get distracted!” A stern old man saw his student lost in thought and rapped the table.

“Yes, Teacher.”

Long Yin’s spirits, dampened by not finding An Qingming, instantly revived as he passed the Gilded Rose. The Gilded Rose—one of the Federation’s renowned families for producing card-making pens. Inside, the pens ranged from those fit for divine masters to the simplest apprentice’s practice pens—whatever you wanted, they had it.

Long Yin entered, finding the first floor crowded with parents and children picking out pens. He didn’t even spare them a glance, heading straight for the second floor.

He cast an eye toward the third floor; he wanted to go up, but lacked the privilege. Everyone who frequented the Gilded Rose knew that the third floor was for advanced card-makers only—unless you could present proof of being a Level Seven Card-Maker from the guild, you couldn’t even approach the door. Access was granted only via guild-issued credentials.

Long Yin smiled—no matter, even the pens on the second floor would last him quite a while. He pulled out his silver card and looked around. On the second floor’s curved display platforms, all you had to do was pay the required gold coins in the vending machine, and the chosen pen would be yours, as the display case opened automatically. There were no salespeople here, only security hidden in the shadows; everything was fully automated. No matter which Gilded Rose branch you visited, prices were uniform.

“Grandfather, do you have a storage card?” Storage cards were extremely rare—cards that created a pocket of alternate space. In his previous life, even as a Palace-level Card-Maker, Long Yin couldn’t make one; crafting storage cards signaled entry into the ranks of Arcane Card-Makers.

“No storage card!” Long Yin had only asked in passing, and wasn’t surprised by Cassano’s answer—the rarity made it expected.

“I do have a storage space, though!” Cassano produced a silver bracelet from his pocket and handed it to Long Yin. Staring at the bracelet, Long Yin’s eyes widened. Cassano said proudly, “Don’t worry, this storage space doesn’t rely solely on elemental force—it can be activated with mental energy. You’re already capable of projecting mental force; opening the bracelet’s space will be easy.”

Cassano slipped the silver bracelet onto Long Yin’s small wrist. Long Yin’s heart raced; even in his last life, he’d never had it so good. This lifetime was truly full of surprises. He tentatively extended his mental force into the bracelet, feeling it out—excellent, powerful, roughly the size of a football field. An artifact! Most storage cards had only ten cubic meters; this space was an entire football field. Was life meant to be so delightful?

Long Yin caressed the storage bracelet, reluctant to let go, repeatedly putting the silver card in and taking it out, playing gleefully.

Cassano watched Long Yin’s happiness with a broad smile, warding off any prying glances from passersby.

Once he’d had his fun, Long Yin approached the vending machine, inserted the silver card, and began a wild shopping spree. Click, click, click—the only sound in the quiet second floor was the display cases opening. Long Yin was in high spirits, sweeping up every pen on the floor. So many valuable pens, yet he hadn’t maxed out a single card. He worked his short legs, storing pens one by one in the bracelet.

Cassano nodded with satisfaction—this was truly a child of the Long family! Impressive!

“Grandfather, today I’m going to max out my silver card!” Long Yin had fallen in love with this lavish spending. The poor kid had been squeezed for coins for four years, utterly forgetting the decades when he’d considered gold as mere dirt.

“Good! I’ll accompany you. If you run out, ask me for more!” Cassano didn’t mind raising a spendthrift; the Long family had its own money-making machine, and his grandson’s spending was never a concern.

Their exchange was like an assault on the ears of everyone nearby. The two were delighted, while the others were left dumbfounded.

Long Yin swept through ten Gilded Roses and several famous pen shops before he finally maxed out his first silver card. Looking into his storage space, the pens formed a veritable mountain; these would last him three years at least. Satisfied, he nodded and left under the proprietor’s welcoming gaze.

Long Yin headed straight for the high-end materials shop. As soon as he entered, the owner greeted him with a beaming smile. The street’s big spender had arrived; word had spread after Long Yin’s third Gilded Rose sweep, and every shop owner hoped the big spender would grace their store. A single sweep equaled a year’s revenue.

The owner of Yulian High-End Materials had been keeping an eye on Long Yin’s movements. He never expected that after clearing out all the famous pen shops in Texas, this big spender would pick his store first for materials. The excitement was overwhelming.

“What materials does Young Master need? Our Yulian shop’s prices are a bit higher, but the quality is guaranteed!”

Long Yin nodded—the owner wasn’t exaggerating. His earlier reconnaissance had shown that while prices were high, quality was assured. At this point, Long Yin didn’t care about price—only quality. He strolled around the spacious shop, tapping his little finger as he went: “This one, that one, this one… and that one…”

The owner followed, directing staff to quickly gather the items. After a circuit, Long Yin looked at the delighted owner and said, “Actually, I don’t want any of those.”

The staff, halfway through packing, froze—did they hear correctly? Not want them?

The owner wiped sweat from his brow and asked with a forced smile, “You mean you don’t want those materials?”

“Yes.” Long Yin nodded. “The quality isn’t high enough. I’ll take everything else! Charge my card!” With a flourish, he handed over his silver card, unconcerned by the owner’s astonishment.

The owner, dazed, ran the card. Only when he saw the shop nearly emptied did the reality sink in, tears streaming with joy. If only every day were like this, he’d faint in happiness.

From then on, Long Yin calmly swept up all the high-end materials on the street. Using his mental force so much, even with S-level strength, he was feeling dizzy. Once again, he faced mental exhaustion, reminding himself to prioritize mental training—after tonight, he would train at least six hours daily.

After a short rest, Long Yin resumed his spree. Another two hours, and another street’s high-end materials were gone. He couldn’t help but look at Cassano, a hint of complaint in his tone: “Grandfather, how much crystal is in one card, anyway? I’ve swept two streets, and the second card isn’t used up yet!”

Cassano scratched his head, then shook it. “You’d have to ask your uncle—he gave you the cards, I just keep them safe. As for how much is inside, I don’t know. Don’t worry, Xiao Yin, when we get back I’ll give your uncle a good beating for you. Who loads so much crystal in one card? What a spendthrift!”

Cassano’s logic forced Long Yin to reevaluate his grandfather—no, no, how could he start liking him just because of such reasoning? Far too unscrupulous.

As for the innocent uncle, Long Yin felt a bit guilty. But guilt aside, he had no hesitation swiping the card. Cassano spent the entire day watching Long Yin; at first, the little fellow would point and pick carefully, but after buying so much, he barely looked, simply swiping the card and collecting items. The aura he displayed rivaled, even surpassed, that of any noble family heir. His icy son’s words were true—wealth breeds confidence.

After laboriously storing all the packed materials, Long Yin finally surrendered. He’d swept eight streets, yet when the owner returned the second silver card, he said the balance was only halfway used. Which meant Long Yin would have to sweep another eight streets to max out the second card? He took the card, feeling deep regret for his earlier boast. With over twenty silver cards, maxing them out in a single day was a joke—like a mouse ravishing an elephant.

His uncle was a complete lunatic! At this moment, Long Yin believed it. With all these materials, he estimated he’d spent at least ten billion crystals; a single card had twenty billion as pocket money. The first card had been spent quickly only because Grandfather had used most of it earlier. When Long Yin asked, Cassano emphatically insisted he’d only used that one card, never touched the others. Even more absurdly, Grandfather assured him the other cards had equal or greater balances, though he didn’t know by how much. Hearing this, Long Yin was numb.

With enough materials in his storage for years, Long Yin fully surrendered. He had no desire to sweep more streets—even if he cleared every shop in Texas, his silver cards would remain unscathed.

“Grandfather, just what kind of person is Uncle?” Long Yin couldn’t help but ask.

Cassano thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t know, but your mother calls him a money-making machine.”

Long Yin understood instantly! Enough about that strange uncle; he remembered Grandfather had said something about training earlier.

“Grandfather, weren’t you going to take me somewhere? Let’s go now.”

Cassano’s expression turned odd. “Xiao Yin doesn’t mind?”

“Grandfather would never harm me!”

Cassano looked even more peculiar. “It’s very tough over there.”

“I’m not afraid of hardship.” Long Yin shook his head, then yawned. “Grandfather, you fly—I’ll sleep for a bit. Wake me when we arrive!”

Cassano picked up Long Yin, who fell asleep at once. Scratching his head, Cassano thought, since Xiao Yin didn’t object, going there for training could only benefit him, despite the hardship. Children of the Long family must not be spoiled excessively. Too much pampering becomes indulgence, which only harms them! With that thought, Cassano didn’t hesitate any longer, carrying Long Yin off on their journey.