Chapter 112

I was surprised to find that Bai Haotian lived a block over from Hefang Street. This area in Hangzhou was full of antique shops and shops that sold strange stones. Bai Haotian lived on the second floor of a shop facing the street.

She said that her family hoped that she would take over some of the family business in the future. Under the protection of the Nine Gates, many of those in the huge Bai family were engaged in the collection industry. Some shops had been operating well for many years, so in addition to working in Warehouse Eleven, she interned at this shop. That way, she could gain some contacts and get familiar with the rules of the business.

I was surprised to discover that the name of this shop was Haoshanju. In other words, the Wu in Wushanju had a steel bar inserted through the top of it (1).

Bai Haotian was a little shy and proud, so I couldn’t bring myself to ask her what was going through her head. When I arrived, she had already gone upstairs to wash up, so she came back down and turned on the lights to the shop’s first floor so that we could sit down there and talk.

I looked around at all of the goods on the first floor. There was a large cabinet facing the door that displayed seeds for sale and all kinds of strange and cheap stones were piled together on either side of it. There was a problem with the arrangement and placement of the shelves. At first glance, it appeared to copy the display of other shops, but Bai Haotian didn’t seem to understand the internal logic, so only part of it was copied without a true understanding of the inside.

I figured the little girl was tidying up her face or something, so I reflexively rearranged the stones according to my own understanding.

When she finally sat down, I gave her the two codes and asked, “Why were you able to crack Zhang Da Fo Ye’s code? How did you figure it out?”

Bai Haotian looked at me and thought for a long time, “How to say it…I guessed it. It’s not something I can explain in a day and a night.”

I wrote down Yin Xinyue’s name and number.

“With these two, can you figure out the logic behind it? You know, to make an equation so that we can figure out the owners of all the goods in the warehouse.”

“But why should we know that?” Bai Haotian looked at me nervously, “Little Master Three, why are you trying to do such a big project on your first day of work? According to the rules, we’re not allowed to know the specific details regarding the goods.”

“Didn’t you figure out Zhang Qishan’s code?”

“That’s because there was nothing to do. I was only entertaining myself. If anyone else but you had asked me, I wouldn’t have said anything.” Bai Haotian flipped the paper with the two names on it over. “I won’t do it, I won’t do it.”

“Well, I don’t need to know the equation. Just help me figure it out. You don’t have to tell anyone what the equation is. Just tell me one thing: what is Wu Sanxing’s serial number. I want to see what my Uncle Three put in the warehouse. He left everything to me, so there’s no problem with me checking it out. I’ll know sooner or later, anyway,” I said to her.

Bai Haotian flipped the paper over again and bit her lower lip. I looked at her expression and realized that something was wrong.

Her expression wasn’t that of someone who was debating on whether to help me figure it out, but of someone wondering if they should tell me something I didn’t know. I thought of several possibilities and suddenly said, “Or, maybe you’re so smart that you’ve already figured out the equation and know what my Uncle Three’s number is. Come on, you can tell me directly.”

Bai Haotian’s face immediately turned pale and she almost looked like she wanted to escape. Her eyes were looking around everywhere, unable to stay in one place for more than two or three seconds. Her hands clutched at her pajamas in a vice-like grip.

I took a deep breath, “If you tell me this, I’ll teach you how to run this shop well.”

Bai Haotian didn’t think I would say this and looked at me in surprise, “Really?”

“Still hesitant?”

“No!” Bai Haotian immediately flipped the paper over and quickly wrote down a number before handing it to me, “Keep your word!”

I took the paper and looked at the number. She really did figure it out, I said to myself.

But before I could give my answer, she grabbed my pinky finger and burst into tears, “I dream of being your boss, no, of being your shop assistant!”

<Chapter 111><Table of Contents><Chapter 112.5>

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TN Notes:

(1) Hao=昊 and Wu=吴. As you can see, the Wu character doesn’t have that line going through it like the Hao character does.