ps: I was too busy yesterday, my father-in-law's network was broken, and I didn't go home until nine o'clock in the evening, and I didn't update it in time, I'm sorry. ∈ ♀ the top novel, and now the two are released in a row......

..............................................................................

So Baker picked it up on the shelves of fine teas. The packaging of these high-grade teas is also very beautiful, they are divided into small cans of half a pound or a pound, and the tea cans are also very exquisite, with tinplate cans, porcelain, bamboo, and lacquerware, which are very high-end and atmospheric at a glance. And the popular version of tea on the side is much worse, at most it is a simple carton, and some are even loose tea. Of course, the prices were cheap, and Baker saw that the most expensive ones were only 5 shillings per pound, and the cheapest were only 10 pence.

After looking at it for a while, Baker realized that the things here were really expensive! He saw that the price of a kind of black tea that he usually drank was about five times that of before! Although he also knew that the food on the black market must be expensive now, but it was too expensive for him to accept.

He glanced at his wife, and Lisa said knowingly, "Miss Fran, your tea leaves here are so expensive, like this most common Indian tea, I remember it doesn't cost more than 10 pence a pound, but you sell it here for 4 shillings." ”

"Ma'am, what you said was the price in peacetime, and now it's wartime, and of course the price is different. At present, the average number of merchant ships in China can only reach one after an average of four, which is too risky, and many merchants are reluctant to buy goods. If the supply is small, the price will naturally be high......" Flan explained without changing his color. She has to answer this kind of question hundreds of times a day, and she has become numb.

"Also, our black tea is all Chinese. China is the homeland of tea, and the tea is much better there than in India. Moreover, Chinese tea is very safe, definitely not like some teas with copper carbonate, which not only tastes different, but also poisonous. (Chinese tea merchants proudly said: Roar, we don't use low-end means such as copper carbonate, and even our export tea is added with a new anti-mildew agent provided by Xingke Company, which guarantees that it will not taste good and that it will not die when drinking.) (^o^)/~）

Well, you're right, but Nima's price is too dark! Baker vomited in his heart. But he also found an interesting thing, most of the goods in this are from China, made-in-China. This is true not only for tea, but also for coffee and cocoa. When did the Chinese start growing coffee and cocoa? Baker felt that he was a little out of his brain.

........................................................................

After Mr. and Mrs. Baker walked around the Holy Light Mansion, their faces were not good-looking.

This is also very normal, no matter who sees the increase in daily necessities several times, their face will not look good.

In this era, Britain was exploiting the world to support itself, so their citizens also enjoyed a lot of dividends, and the prices of domestic living materials were lower than the world average. So their pound purchasing power is quite high. To note in particular, the British currency system at this time was more alternative, not decimal, one pound = 20 shillings, 1 shilling = 12 pence. This bizarre currency system was not abolished until 1971 when the British currency reform was carried out, and the shilling was abolished, with one pound = 100 pence.

For example, in Britain before the war in 1914, 1 penny (equivalent to about 4 Chinese dollars.) 1 cent) can buy a large loaf of bread, or a kilogram of potatoes, a pint of milk or beer. Only 3p per kilogram of sugar,1. 5 kg of flour for 2 pence. But here and now, the prices of all commodities have skyrocketed, ranging from a few times to ten times.

Although Baker is also a rich man, no matter how much money he has, it is not used in this way. It's too pit!

But now that the whole of Britain is rationed, unless you are willing to eat the unbearable quality food that is rationed, and you have already put up with the little portions that make people cry, you have to buy it.

"Don't you have any deals here?" asked Baker, reluctantly.

"Well, of course there are discounts. Look at the price tag, the small red text below is the member price......" Fran smiled, casually pointing to a tag. This is a price tag for refined flour that reads "Refined flour, 1 shilling per kilogram" in large black letters, with a line of small red letters "2 points" underneath.

"Well, what does this [2 points] mean?" Baker saw it at first, but he didn't understand what it meant, so he didn't care.

Fran explains: "Our members don't spend in pounds, they spend points. This [2 points] means that each kilogram of flour is 2 points......"

"Can I become a member?" asked Baker, with a roll of his eyes. Although he did not know the conversion of this point to the pound sterling, he did know that it was definitely cheaper than using the pound.

"As long as you're eligible, of course you can...... If you want to become a member, I can take you to our manager," Fran said politely.

........................................................................

Manager's Office.

"I'm Liu Fan, the manager of Shengguang Mall. Liu Fan shook hands with Baker and introduced himself.

"Hello, Mr. Manager. I want to become a member of your mall, what do I need to do?" Baker was not polite, and directly explained his intentions. He also knew that the Holy Light Building was the property of the Godzilla Consortium, and the Godzilla Consortium cooperated very closely with China, and it was not surprising to use a Chinese as the manager.

"Oh, thank you so much for your interest in our mall. Liu Fan said a few polite words with a formulaic smile on his face, and then introduced the membership system here.

Ten minutes later, Baker asked, "Mr. Manager, according to your rules, can't you just exchange pounds for points?"

Liu Fan showed a standard smile with eight teeth: "Of course not, if you exchange pounds for points, it is not cost-effective, and now one pound can only be exchanged for 50 points." In addition, this redemption method is only open to members, and if you want to exchange pounds sterling for points, you must first become a member of us. ”

In other words, in order to become your member, you must first exchange your supplies for 500 points. ”

"Yes, that's the threshold for membership. For someone of your status, there is absolutely no problem with 500 points......"

Baker nodded, pointed to the huàn watch given by Liu Fan and said, "Okay, I understand." That's what you need......

"That's right, this is it. In addition, this table is time-sensitive and will be updated once a month. The price code on this table is only valid for this month......" Liu Fan replied with a smile.

There are many types of materials on the table, the first ones are precious metals such as gold and silver, jewelry, antique artworks, and then various specialties and raw materials.

Baker asked, puzzled, "But why do you need supplies in the first place?"

Liu Fan spread his hands and explained: "Mr. Baker, this is the request of the merchants, because even if they collect pounds, they need to exchange them for materials and sell them." This is one more formality, and time is of the essence at this time......"

Baker hesitated for a moment and said: "I also have some of these things at home, but this estimate ......" He also has precious metals such as gold and silver, jewelry, and antique artworks at home, and he is also a capitalist, although it is not too big, but it is used to show pomp and circumstance, and there are things to pretend to be.

"You can rest assured that we have the best appraisers here. We will never let our customers suffer...... In this way, you can go to the huàn room and have a look......" Liu Fan stood up and made an inviting gesture.

The huàn room is on the ground floor. It was a wide hall with a long row of counters in the middle of the hall and dozens of uniformed staff members sitting in the back. There are rows of coffee tables and chairs in the lobby, apparently for customers waiting to redeem their huàns. Tea and snacks are also available for free, as well as books, newspapers and magazines. This is very normal, because the dim sum that is exchanged for huàn points here is what Liu Fan wants, and this little treatment cannot be spared.

Liu Fan took the Bakers to the counter for a visit.

At this time, there are several customers redeeming huàn points. One of them brought two gold bars.

An appraiser carefully tested with touchstones, spectrometers and other instruments and tools, and after weighing on the scale, he said to a young girl next to him: "2 24K gold bars, weighing a total of 300 grams. ”

The girl took out a form and looked at it, dialed it on the abacus again, and reported a number: "You can exchange huàn2050 points, are you sure you want to exchange it, sir?"

"Of course, give me points ......" the man nodded.

"Okay, please ......wait a minute," the girl quickly opened a ticket, handed it to him, and said, "Please go to counter 2 and exchange for points......

The man took the ticket to counter number three, and quickly changed from it to a box of small colorful signs. Baker walked over and looked at it, and saw that these small signs were very similar to casino chips, and they were marked with various numbers, but the material of the signs was very strange, not gold and jade, not wood and not stone, and he couldn't recognize what they were made of at all. If there are people from later generations, they will definitely be embarrassed, isn't this Nima a plastic brand?**In the 10s, many canteens and restaurants used this thing in large quantities, and customers would receive this kind of brand after paying the money, and then go to the window to change food.

At this time, an elderly customer arrived at the counter with a few thick thread-bound old books, also ready to exchange points.

"This is an ancient Chinese book, this is the ...... I found in the Chinese Imperial Palace," said the old man.

Baker didn't notice that Liu Fan, who was beside him, obviously shook a few times when he saw the names of these books. The appraiser was also an elderly Chinese, he put on gloves, took a magnifying glass and looked at these books carefully, and then shook his head quietly and said: "Leave three tattered books, although they are ancient books, but the quality is very poor, the age is not long, it is still a printed matter, it is not a cultural relic, it can only be barely regarded as a fifth-class artwork......

"You can exchange 750 points for huàn, sir, are you sure you want to exchange it?" The girl next to her also quickly calculated the number.

"Well, let's change it, it's useless to take it anyway......" the old man thought for a moment.

At this time, Liu Fan walked over and said with a smile: "Sir, books are worth a lot if they have a set, if you have a set of books, we will give a high price." Even if it is not a set, the more copies there are, the higher the price......"

"I remember I still have a few copies at home, so let's go back and find them. Oh, I've got a couple of them too, and if they didn't throw them away, I could get them for them. The old man thought for a moment and said.

"Yes, if you can raise more ancient books, our prices will be more satisfactory to you......" Liu Fan smiled like a flower.

"Mr. Manager, I have some Egyptian antiques at home, do you want them too!?" said Baker.

"Of course, as long as it's an antique, we have to ......"

"Do you really want anything?" At this time, a young man in the customer section stood up and said with a smile: "Do you want the Big Ben on the Tower of London?"

Liu Fan replied without humility or arrogance: "Of course, as long as you can send that Big Ben here, we will give you the same huàn ...... after we identify it as true."

"Uh......" The young man was bored and shrank back in embarrassment.

After sending Baker away, Liu Fan hurried to the valuables area.

"Where are those three books?"

"Manager, these are the three books we just received, and we have already loaded ......," replied a staff member.

Three sturdy wooden boxes were already on the table, lined with a layer of silk. In each box lies an ancient book, and on the cover is the words "Yongle Canon".

"Hehe, is it really true?" asked Liu Fan eagerly.

"Manager, it's genuine! It's definitely genuine...... "The appraiser just now is also inside." He said with confidence: "Don't worry, with my 30 years of experience as a pilgrimage in Liuli Factory, I will definitely not be able to leave." ”

"Well done! Teacher Tian, I'll give you a credit this time!" Liu Fan laughed and said, "Your sentence 'Leaving three tattered books' is really classic! Hahahaha......"

"This is what the court used to saying back then, and I used to be a pit countryman, and I really did a lot of sins. Now the government is willing to use people like us to atone for their sins, and of course it is no problem to pit foreigners, hehe......" Teacher Tian laughed very obscenely.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, many of the former pawnshop worshippers and counterfeit antiques were unemployed, but they were soon co-opted by the government. These special talents will never be wasted. Like Liu Fan, many of the appraisers here are former pilgrimage worshippers and counterfeit manufacturers, and many experts in abduction and abduction.

"Great, these books will be delivered tonight, and they will be better packaged. Liu Fan said.

"Don't worry, manager. We all have experience, and there will be absolutely no problem with packaging. The staff smiled and agreed.

"Teacher Tian, I guess that the old man is back today, you take a good check, take out all your skills as a courtier, and strive to fish out all his things!

"Rest assured, manager, I'm assured. If I don't squeeze oil out of that guy's stone, I'll write it upside down!" said Teacher Tian, patting his chest.

"Ah, well, well......" Liu Fanzheng nodded, and suddenly found that something was wrong, so he said: "I said, Mr. Tian, you write this Tian upside down, it is still Tian!"

Teacher Tian said embarrassedly: "Oh, this ...... I didn't pay attention, okay, if I don't squeeze oil out of that guy's stone, I won't be surnamed Tian, I will change my surname to Kou!"

"Okay, okay, just kidding!"