Chapter 1056 – Mo Lan’s Travel Diary 9

In an instant, over ninety percent of the cards flickering on the screen vanished, and all those dazzling high-tier cards disappeared from view.

What remained were plain, unadorned basic cards.

{Matches}, {Flint}, {Water Pouch}, {Rope}, {Insect Repellent Powder}, {Hemostatic Powder}, {Simple Tent}…

Simple in function, limited in effect, and not expensive either — completely affordable. But the sheer number was still overwhelming.

Sylvia’s little face scrunched up into a knot as her fingers swiped back and forth across the light screen, looking at this one, then that one, unable to decide.

“{Matches} and {Flint} can both be used to start fires, and you need fire for cooking — but which one should I pick? Or should I get both? What about {Insect Repellent Powder}? Bugs are everywhere this time of year, so it should sell well, right? But {Hemostatic Powder} is really important too — if someone gets hurt, they’d definitely buy it…”

The more she looked, the more torn she became. The shelf had well over a hundred slots, but the “money” in her hands was only enough to buy a small fraction of them.

Which ones to pick? Which ones to give up? Every choice felt like carving off a tiny piece of her heart.

“Why are there so many…” she groaned, turning to look at her mother with eyes full of pleading. “Which ones should I buy?”

Mo Lan didn’t give her a direct answer. Instead, she produced a thin booklet she had prepared in advance.

“If you want to know what sells well, you first need to understand what kind of customers we’ll be dealing with. Perhaps we should start by looking at what the Tatari like and what they need, then stock our goods accordingly — that way nothing will be left unsold.”

“《A Field Guide to the Tatari Tribes》?” Sylvia was immediately captivated. She had never opened a book so eagerly before, and began reading the text aloud in a soft voice.

“The Tatari are a nomadic mountain-forest people active in the eastern reaches of the Land of Chaos. Every member of the tribe is a skilled hunter, and they are especially adept at taming Flash Thunder Wolves… Flash Thunder Wolves need to periodically run through thunderstorms to accumulate the power of lightning. They are most active during the rainy season… The Tatari also migrate through the mountain forests with the changing seasons… They are particularly fond of vibrant colors and decorations, with a special preference for blue, purple, and gold…”

As she read, the little gears in Sylvia’s head began spinning at full speed.

She read and read, then looked up excitedly.

“I get it! Nomadic people move around all the time, so lightweight and portable items would definitely be more popular! When camping in the wild there are lots of mosquitoes, tents get damp easily during the rainy season, and it’s hard to treat wounds during long migrations… So {Flint}, {Insect Repellent Powder}, and {Hemostatic Powder} are definitely all needed!”

She grew more animated as she spoke, her little hands already reopening the Card Shop’s light screen.

“Also, they love vibrant colors and decorations — so couldn’t I buy some pretty ornaments, or fabrics, accessories, and dyes to sell to them? Maybe they’d sell really well!”

She analyzed and selected simultaneously, rapidly filtering through the light screen and adding cards one by one to her shopping cart, her movements as nimble as a little squirrel that had discovered treasure.

“Don’t jump to conclusions just yet.”

Mo Lan gently placed her hand over her daughter’s busy little fingers and reminded her with a smile, “Finish reading first!”

Sylvia blinked in confusion but obediently read the rest of the booklet.

When she reached the final pages, she finally understood — her mother’s reminder had been well-founded.

“The Tatari tribe currently has 153 Card Magic contract holders. Among them, the highest-ranked contract holder in terms of mana is a low-level mage, and the highest Card Shop unlock level is Level 4…”

Below this data, there was an additional note in slightly smaller text:

“Note: The Tatari tribe has maintained long-standing friendly relations with the Witch race and enjoys a ‘Friendly Tribe’ ten-percent trade discount. Their Card Shop card prices are equivalent to 1.8 times the Witch-edition Card Shop prices.”

Sylvia stared at that line, then looked up at the cards in her shopping cart.

Her little face gradually scrunched up as her fingers quickly swiped across the light screen, pulling up the detailed information for the cards she had just added to her cart. Sure enough, they were all resource cards below Level 3, and none were Witch Card Shop exclusives — they were ordinary cards available in any Card Shop once the appropriate level was reached.

“Good thing I didn’t buy them…” She patted her chest in relief. “Otherwise they’d definitely have been stuck on the shelf! The Tatari can’t even buy these from us!”

But then she noticed the numbers in that note, tilted her little head, and wore a puzzled expression.

“Ten-percent discount… what does that mean? And what does 1.8 times mean?”

Mo Lan had already anticipated that her daughter would ask this.

Without any rush, she produced yet another booklet — an even thinner one, with an elegant light-blue cover adorned with cute numbers and Gem Coin illustrations: 《Practical Arithmetic for Beginners》.

Sylvia stared at the words on the cover, stunned. “Arith… arithmetic?”

“That’s right, arithmetic.” Mo Lan’s smile was gentle yet sly. “Want to know how to set prices so you don’t lose money? Want to know what a ten-percent discount really means? Want to know how to spend limited Gem Coins to get the most — and most suitable — goods?”

She gently pushed the booklet toward Sylvia, her voice carrying an encouraging warmth.

“Want to learn? Mommy will teach you.”

Sylvia had never known that being a little shopkeeper and making money required learning so many things.

But right now, her desire to earn Gem Coins burned fiercely. “I want to learn! Mommy, teach me!”

Mo Lan opened the arithmetic booklet to the first page.

“Alright, let’s begin. First, let’s meet some of the most interesting friends — the plus sign, the minus sign, and the equals sign.”

Her explanations were lighthearted and vivid, like telling a little adventure story about numbers. The plus sign was “inviting more friends to the party,” the minus sign was “some friends have to go home early,” and the equals sign was “before and after the party, the fun stays the same.”

Sylvia listened with rapt attention, occasionally reaching out her little hand to practice drawing those symbols on a blank sheet of scratch paper.

But learning arithmetic couldn’t happen overnight. These were things she would learn again once she started school, and Mo Lan had no intention of pushing her too far too fast.

The purpose of this booklet was merely to serve as an introduction — covering a few conceptual and fun ideas, helping the child understand the importance of arithmetic in everyday life, and sparking her interest. Nothing more.

The whole booklet took only about ten minutes to go through.

When Mo Lan closed the booklet, Sylvia was still clinging to her sleeve, wanting more. “Mommy! This book was so interesting — are there others? Right now I only know that a discount means it’s a bit cheaper, and that multiplying means it’s a lot more, but I still don’t know how to actually calculate it…”

Mo Lan shook her head with a smile. “That’s all there is. The deeper stuff — you’ll learn when you start school!”

Sylvia gaped. “Huh?”

Mo Lan looked at her and seemed to see herself as a child. Borrowing the tone that Shana’s mother had once used with her, she said:

“A young witch should play to her heart’s content and do whatever interests her — that’s enough. When you’re thirteen and go to the Witch Academy, that’s when it’ll be time to study in earnest!”