Whatever he was up to, Shen Yunyun couldn't care less. At most, it was just a few million—Tang Yuan could paint her a picture, and that would cover it. Just as she was thinking this, Gu Changye called to tell her that the painting had now been hyped up to ten million and asked if she wanted to sell it.
"Sell it, why wouldn't I?" Shen Yunyun told him to offload it right away. To others, it might be a priceless treasure, but to her, it was easy to come by.
Gu Changye felt that selling it for ten million was a bit of a loss and kindly advised her, "Based on my experience, this painting still has room to appreciate. If you're not in urgent need of money, you could wait a bit longer to sell."
"If it still has room to appreciate and I can wait, why did you even call me?"
Gu Changye felt a pang of frustration at her words. He didn't know when it started, but he felt like he was working for her. Back then, he had no qualms about making money off her—when had that changed? Probably around the time he started growing a conscience. And conscience, once lost, isn't something you can just find again, right?
"I'm just giving you a heads-up. Even if you sell it for a buck or give it away for free, it's your right. I have to respect your choice."
That sounded reasonable enough. Gu Changye was just her tool, helping her turn treasures into cash. As for the value, whether it was worth it or not? It was hard to say, really, since value systems differed across worlds. In modern society, everyday essentials like rice, flour, and oil were dirt cheap, but in the interstellar world, they were scarce. As for this painting, she didn't think ten million was too little at all. If Tang Yuan knew one of his paintings could fetch that much, he'd probably sit there painting every day. But then again, he was the emperor of the Great Li Dynasty—could he use paintings as rewards for his ministers? That way, he wouldn't have to part with real gold and silver, and an emperor's personally painted piece could become a family heirloom.
Shen Yunyun felt more and more like a clever little trickster.
Soon after, she received another plea for help from the Seth Galaxy, but she turned it down. These days, they could specify what aid they needed in their requests, but Karl just wouldn't write it. Since he refused to say, it meant it wasn't urgent. Sure enough, after she ignored him for a while, Karl finally noted the aid details in his request. Last time, Shen Yunyun had sent over a batch of Blue Star people, but they couldn't absorb energy stones and needed a huge supply of food. The Seth Galaxy was already short on food—their scientists were using soilless cultivation, but even that couldn't meet the demand. Karl was asking for food instead.
Shen Yunyun was just thinking about getting some laser guns from him when he came knocking. Karl showed up at the trading center, and when he saw Shen Yunyun, his handsome face carried a hint of grievance.
"Miss Yunyun, you've been ignoring me for so long."
"Aren't you busy swapping genes?"
Karl replied without flinching, "I only want to swap genes with you."
This wasn't the first time Karl had said he wanted to swap genes with her. But she wasn't interested.
"I want laser guns. How many can you get me?"
Karl understood and countered, "How much food can you give me?"
"Enough to feed those Blue Star women who can't absorb energy stones for a year."
"Then I'll give you ten. Is that enough?"
"Enough." Shen Yunyun was overjoyed.