Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation(Vol 5)

Vol 5/ Chapter 72: Meeting Parents Again

"Is there a problem? Or you don't exchange for foreigners?"

I felt a bit nervous and my heart skipped a beat. I thought the shopkeeper had found something fishy.

Or maybe gold from different worlds was very different?

"Exchange, of course we exchange! We H-country people never look down on foreigners!"

Luckily I was just thinking too much. When he heard this, the shopkeeper's face changed and he smiled, saying it was no problem. But he didn't seem totally sure. After I agreed, he brought out a fire gun to do a melting test!

"Of course it's real, and the quality is very good too!"

I secretly felt relieved. Real gold isn't afraid of fire! The shopkeeper finally accepted our five "Eastern Spain commemorative gold coins" and bought them for the cheap price of 2000 H-country dollars.

Just 2000?

I felt a bit disappointed hearing this price. In Eldoria Continent, five Continental gold coins could buy quite a lot. But this was Earth, and the gold price was what it was. Plus, private exchanges always gave lower rates! To avoid trouble, I had to accept it.

"You don't even have phones? How is that possible in this day!"

But when it was time to pay, we had a small argument. The shopkeeper had no cash and insisted on online transfer. But how could Adrian and I have accounts? This made the shopkeeper suspicious!

Nowadays, H-country society mostly uses digital payments. It's hard to find people who insist on cash. And Adrian and I didn't look like seniors who couldn't use phones.

"Phone? I think I have one! Is this okay?"

Though Adrian didn't understand H-country language well, he could remember some special words he'd heard many times. So he quickly took out his phone.

It was actually a gift Wayne Peng and others gave out when they went to the light elf village. I thought it was too crappy and didn't want one, but Adrian found it very special, so he kept one for himself.

"An old-style phone? It's not a smartphone, so I can't transfer money to you online!"

The shopkeeper shook his head, but this gave me a good idea for an excuse. I quickly explained:

"We can't help it, as you can see! We just got off the plane and met thieves who stole everything. We only have this old phone left. If we weren't in a hurry for money after just arriving in H-country, who would sell family heirloom commemorative coins?"

It made sense that foreigners might not have H-country accounts yet. And Eastern Spain's economy had fallen badly after nuclear war and rising sea levels, so it was understandable they might be short on money.

"If your phones were stolen, you can go to the police! They'll find them quickly..."

Though he said this, the shopkeeper clearly bought my story. No matter what, he was making good money on this deal and didn't want to let it go. So he quickly went to the bank ATM to get 2000 in cash for us.

"Let's go, I'll treat you to a meal!"

Though it took some effort, we finally got the money! Feeling the big stack of bills in my pocket, I happily pulled Adrian straight to a restaurant.

Since we didn't have much money, we couldn't choose any fancy places. Thinking we still needed to save money to buy a smartphone, I just picked a very common, ordinary noodle shop!

"It tastes a lot like what you make, but the actual taste is far worse!"

Adrian didn't seem used to the real H-country food here, but that wasn't the main point. From the TV shows playing in the restaurant and other customers' talk, I finally learned some important information.