The old man glanced down at Linda with a cold and arrogant look, unfazed by her youthful appearance.

He arrogantly tapped the tray filled with jade beads, “Where did this ignorant young one come from? These jade beads are top-quality ice types. If they were made into a bracelet, they'd start at several hundred thousand! Selling them to you for five thousand each is already a bargain!”

Linda, rendered speechless and embarrassed by the old man's retort, finally understood why the store lacked customers and staff – it was practically a rip-off!

The old man himself was enough to drive away any potential buyer who couldn't afford his prices.

Frustrated yet unable to find words to argue back, Linda was furious.

"Let's go!"

Linda grabbed Nancy's hand, indignantly suggesting, “Nan, let's leave! Even with money, we shouldn't be treated like this after buying something!”

"Then leave quickly!"

The old man dismissively waved them away, “You're just disturbing my sunbathing and calcium absorption. Why loiter here without money?”

"Hey, you!"

Linda had enough, thinking about her affluent background where she never lacked pocket money. Though she wasn’t short of money, she detested the old man's attitude.

“Old man, don't be too much!” she exclaimed.

The old man coldly glared at her but refrained from further verbal sparring.

As he was about to put away the jade beads, Nancy intervened.

“Wait a second.”

She said, “I didn’t say I’m not buying, why are you putting them away?”

Linda, surprised, looked at Nancy, her face flushed with anger, “Nan! With his attitude, why would you buy anything from him? There must be other jade stores in Chinatown, right?”

Then she angrily addressed the old man, “We're just tourists here. There are plenty of good jade stores back home, why bother coming to Taurus to be treated like this?”

"Linda."

Nancy gently patted Linda's shoulder, trying to calm her, “Don't be angry. The old man has lived so long, how could he not tell if we have money or not? He must have been frustrated by people who came to play with the colorful ropes but didn’t pay, hence he mistook us for those kind of people.”

Though Nancy appeared to be giving the old man an out, her words actually made him blush with embarrassment.

That young lady was mocking him!

Calling him old and dumb?

What a smart-mouth lady!

“Ha...”

The old man chuckled with mixed feelings of anger and amusement and placed the tray of jade beads on the counter.

“Fine, if you want to play, go ahead. But let me make it clear, you can play, but first, you need to pay a deposit of fifty thousand!”

He was genuinely afraid Nancy would play and then refuse to pay, causing him not just wasted effort, but also immense frustration.

Nancy, unfazed by his poor attitude, turned to Charlie and said, “Honey, pay the deposit for him.”

Charlie didn't rush to pay. Instead, he glanced at the tray of jade beads and asked, “How many beads are there in total?”