Chapter 1064 – Mo Lan’s Travel Diary 17

“Wonderful!” Talam and Taliro broke into radiant smiles simultaneously, and several young tribe members nearby happily clapped each other on the shoulders.

Talam and the others bowed once more before turning to leave.

The general store fell quiet again.

Sylvia stared at the stack of Gem Coin Cards on the counter, then suddenly let out a squeal, hopped down from the bar stool, and threw herself into her mother’s arms.

“Mama! Mama! We made money! So many Gem Coins!”

Her little face was flushed pink, her eyes shining with astonishing brightness, her whole being buzzing with excitement.

Mo Lan caught her in a hug and laughed, ruffling her hair. “Yes, our little shopkeeper just closed a big deal. So now—”

She gently pushed her daughter back a bit, turning her to face the counter.

“It’s time to settle accounts. Which ones are yours, which ones are Mama’s… we need to sort all of that out.”

Sylvia instantly perked up.

She climbed back onto the bar stool and spread the Gem Coin Cards out one by one, then turned to look at Clack, who stood quietly to the side.

“Clack! I’m officially hiring you for one day! Help me calculate—three bottles of Level 5 Healing Potion, cost of 1,000 each, selling price of 2,500, how much profit?”

The ghostly fire in Clack’s eye sockets flickered. It pulled out paper and pen and began writing out the calculation: (2,500 – 1,000) × 3 = 1,500 × 3 = 4,500.

When it finished, it turned the board around to face her.

“4,500 Gem Coins!” Sylvia’s eyes instantly lit up like two little stars. “I made 4,500 Gem Coins!”

She immediately began sorting through the spread-out Gem Coin Cards, murmuring under her breath: “One thousand-denomination card… two… three… four! And then one five-hundred card…”

Though she couldn’t do arithmetic yet, counting was something she was naturally gifted at—counting from one to a thousand, from a thousand back down, and even higher.

Her small fingers tapped the cards with quick, precise movements, every number crystal clear in her mind.

After counting out 4,500 Gem Coins, she paused to think, then picked out two Gem Coin Cards with a face value of 1 from the pile of small-denomination cards.

“Almost forgot… I helped Mama sell one Level 5 Antidote Potion card and one Level 5 Magic Card—Thornvine Stranglehold. Per our agreement, that’s a commission of 1 Gem Coin per card, so Mama still owes me 2 Gem Coins.”

She added those two 1-denomination cards to her own little pile, then took one back out and pushed it toward Clack.

“And also, I hired Clack for one day at a daily wage of 1 Gem Coin! Here’s your pay!”

Clack extended a bony hand and accepted the Gem Coin Card, its soul fire pulsing gently.

With the distribution complete, Sylvia gazed at the pile of Gem Coin Cards that belonged to her—a total of 4,501 Gem Coins—brimming with a sense of accomplishment.

“Money I earned myself…” she murmured softly, the corners of her mouth curling irrepressibly upward. “It feels… amazing!”

But she quickly cooled down from the thrill of success and looked toward Clack.

“Oh right, Clack!”

She opened the Card Shop and filtered for cards priced at 4,500 Gem Coins or below.

“Help me calculate—if I sold these cards at double their price, what would the selling price be, and how much profit would I make? Write all the results down on paper for me, nice and clear!”

The “little tycoon” holding 4,501 Gem Coins intended to squeeze every last drop of value from her one-Gem-Coin-a-day bookkeeper.

Clack showed no objection whatsoever. Its greatest advantage as a bookkeeping assistant was that it could work twenty-four hours without a break.

Outside the window, the setting sun had already sunk below the mountain ridge, painting the sky in brilliant hues of purple-red and orange-gold.

In the valley, the Tatari tribe’s encampment began to glow with warm lamplight. Wisps of cooking smoke rose lazily into the air, and faintly, one could hear children chasing each other with laughter, mingled with the contented rumbles of Flash Thunder Wolves.

Sylvia leaned against the Windowsill, her little nose sniffing gently. “Mama, can you smell that? It smells so good… they must be preparing for tomorrow’s celebration!”

“Yes.” Mo Lan walked over and rested a hand lightly on her shoulder. “Looking forward to it?”

“Super looking forward to it!” Sylvia spun around, her violet eyes glittering in the dimming light. “I’ve never been to a celebration before! Will there be dancing? Will there be singing? Will the Flash Thunder Wolves perform?”

“Mama hasn’t attended a Tatari celebration before either,” Mo Lan said softly, a glimmer of curiosity in her own eyes. “But according to other Witches’ travel journals, their celebrations usually feature grand bonfires, whole roasted game, homemade thunder-berry wine, and impromptu hunting dances and war songs.”

Sylvia imagined the scene, her anticipation growing even stronger.

Then she suddenly remembered something and looked down at her Gem Coin Cards.

“Mama, when we go to the celebration tomorrow, can I bring some little gifts for the Tatari children?”

Mo Lan looked at the pure, sincere kindness in her daughter’s eyes, and felt warmth bloom in her heart.

“Of course! Mama will prepare some gifts for the Tatari tribe too. That’s proper etiquette when visiting as guests.”

“Mm!” Sylvia nodded vigorously and began planning what to bring. “I want to buy some yummy candy and cookies…”

She opened the Card Shop and browsed, murmuring her budget calculations under her breath. “I have 4,501 Gem Coins… a Food Card—Pop Rocks (large) is 20 Gem Coins each, a Food Card—Fruit Gummies (large) is 15 Gem Coins each, a Food Card—Bear Cookies (large) is 25 Gem Coins each… the Tatari tribe has over ten children, so I need at least five of each to have enough… Clack, help me figure out how much!”

Clack: “500 Gem Coins!”

“Five hundred?” Sylvia looked at the number, her little face scrunching slightly.

That was nearly a fifth of her entire fortune.

But after only a moment’s hesitation, she gave a firm nod.

“That’s okay! The whole point of earning money is to spend it where it matters!”

With that, she tapped through the light screen without a shred of hesitation and confirmed the purchase.

She didn’t materialize the items right away. Instead, she opened the shop again and searched for “wrapping materials.”

Before long, she selected a roll of semi-transparent food wrapping paper printed with stars and moons, and a spool of indigo ribbon that gave off a faint luminescent glow.

“The Tatari will definitely love this color!”

These two items cost her another 20 Gem Coins, and Sylvia didn’t bat an eye.

Then she materialized the candy and cookies, cut the wrapping paper into proper sizes, and fashioned them into little gift packages.

Her movements were clumsy at first, but gradually grew smooth and practiced.

Mo Lan did not interfere with her daughter’s gift preparations for the Tatari children.

She simply took out a small wooden box and placed inside it three Level 5 Healing Potion cards and three Level 5 Antidote Potion cards.

Nothing particularly high-tier, but exactly what the Tatari needed.

“There.” She murmured to herself and set the small wooden box on a corner of the counter.

By the time she turned around, Sylvia had finished wrapping all the gifts.

A row of over a dozen small parcels tied with indigo bows stood neatly in a line, each one slightly different in size, shape, and the way its bow was tied.

Sylvia knelt on the floor, gazing at the fruits of her labor.

“Do you think the Tatari kids… will like them?”

“They will,” Mo Lan said with certainty. (End of Chapter)