The Three Spirit Stones

Chapter 121 Supermarket Shopping District

After touring the entire supermarket, the royal family could not wait to go shopping. They said they wanted to apply for membership immediately. The well-trained store staff immediately invited these distinguished guests to sit in the VIP room.

This VIP room also amazed them!

There was a glazed window as big as a wall inside, with an extremely wide field of vision, and one could see the charming scenery outside at a glance.

There are many special chairs in the hall. These chairs are soft and so comfortable to sit in!

In addition, there are several large glass lamps hanging on the ceiling. Although candles are put into these lamps at night, the sunlight shining in from the windows during the day also makes them dazzling, rich and gorgeous!

The supermarket membership here is divided into several levels.

The first level is the Gold Supreme Membership Card, which requires a one-time deposit of 100,000 taels of silver to apply for. The 100,000 taels of silver will be converted into banknotes of equal value for gold members. Members need to present both the membership card and banknotes when shopping.

In addition to enjoying a 20% discount on supermarket goods, this type of membership can enjoy a one-on-two personal shopping guide service every time they shop, and can also enjoy a 20% discount on stores around the supermarket, dance theaters, restaurants, accommodation, etc.

Moreover, this kind of membership card has another advantage, that is, when you make a purchase, you will be automatically arranged in the most high-end places.

For example, guests can watch a dance show in the front row or in a private room, and be served fruits and drinks; meals can be arranged in a VIP room; and accommodation can be arranged in a premium suite.

Anyway, enjoy all the best.

When they heard that applying for a Supreme Membership Card had so many benefits, dozens of Liao nobles immediately took out 100,000 taels of silver notes to give to the store clerk to apply for this card. This amounted to several million taels of silver.

Chen Lin, Li Yunze and other Song officials were all shocked. Lord Cheng was really good at making money!

Then move on to the Silver VIP Membership Card, which also requires a certain amount of silver deposit. The benefits enjoyed are one level lower than those of the Gold Card. Next is the Bronze Membership Card and the Ordinary Membership Card.

These royal nobles must at least apply for a silver card. Applying for the other two types is simply embarrassing for themselves.

Those who did not bring enough silver would immediately ask someone to go back and get more. Some even asked their servants to get 100,000 taels to apply for a Supreme Gold Card. In any case, the other party would return the same amount of banknotes, which could still be used to buy things.

The Liao people who applied for gold membership cards were invited to another VIP room, where there were more detailed service items and craftsmen were waiting inside to engrave the member's general appearance, name, identity and other information on the gold card.

The first person to receive the Supreme Gold Card was Yelu Bali, Yelu Ruan's uncle. He took his card and saw his portrait engraved on it. He couldn't help but burst into laughter.

This is so interesting!

Then, a clerk handed him a hundred thousand silver dollars worth of banknotes with both hands.

He took it and looked at it. These banknotes were different from silver notes. The paper was stiff and had various delicate patterns printed on it. Each banknote had a face value of ten taels of silver. The 100,000 taels of silver banknotes were in several thick stacks and were packed in an exquisite cloth bag.

At this time, two shopping guides came in with a cart and asked Yelu Bali to go shopping with them.

In the supermarket, these country bumpkins had a great time. They just took a quick look and now they can take a closer look at the goods.

In addition to goods from the south, these commodities also include many rare marine products, including spices, medicinal materials, ivory, overseas handicrafts, etc.

With the invention of the compass, maritime trade in the Song Dynasty gradually increased, and the shipbuilding industry was very developed.

The imperial court set up a special agency called "Shibosi" to manage overseas trade. Whenever envoys visited, the court would discuss many matters of business and trade with them, and would also take the initiative to go abroad to recruit foreign merchants. For example, during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song, eight eunuchs were directly sent to "each go to Hainan and various foreign countries to solicit tributes."

The annual tax and profit from maritime trade was about 50 guan, which shows how developed maritime trade was at that time!

These Liao nobles have lived in the northern grasslands for a long time, how could they have seen so many good things!

In the carefully designed shopping environment of supermarkets, they want to buy and take everything. The most popular items are high-end tea and wine. It is so prestigious to take them out when entertaining guests.

Soon, everyone's carts were piled up into a mountain. Many people had more than one cart, so they asked people to send a few more. When it was time to check out, some had dozens of carts, and some had more than a dozen, all filling up a whole cart.

The spending power of these nobles is truly astonishing!

The supermarket earned several million taels of silver from this trip alone. Many gold card members spent all their money and then deposited hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to go shopping again.

The shopping was over and everyone was satisfied!

The shopping guides then took them to visit the surrounding shops, restaurants, and dance theaters, allowing them to experience the business circle that radiates outward with the supermarket as the center.

In modern times, a large supermarket can indeed form a business district, and a business district can attract people to live there.

So usually the lower floors of many high-rise buildings are used as shopping malls and supermarkets, and the upper floors are all residential.

Here, the Song Liao Supermarket is also the center, radiating outward to various shops, restaurants, teahouses, opera and singing venues, as well as sports fields for sumo, polo, and Cuju. Accompanying these sports are the gambling service industries, and then there are commercial housing.

These houses were not like the large mansions in Bianjing City with several entrances and exits, gardens and ponds.

The whole place is only about 30-40 meters wide and 80-90 meters long. There is a yard in front and inside is a two-story concrete building.

However, the interior decoration is very warm, comfortable and convenient.

There is a coal-burning fireplace, a glass lamp on the ceiling, and a clean and tidy bathroom covered with ceramic tiles...

The most magical thing is the little mechanism that makes water flow out when you twist it with your hand. Everyone who sees it is amazed.

The shopping guide said this is called tap water, which is taken from the Baigou River and is pumped out by Cheng's Industry's most advanced steam engine, and then flows into the pipes here.

These pipelines were laid at a huge cost.

A professional shopping guide also described such a scene to them:

In winter, sitting on a soft chair, burning a fireplace, drinking warm wine, and looking at the scenery outside through the large glazed window,

When you have stayed at home long enough, you can go out to the mall, listen to some music and drink some tea, or go to a polo match, or go to the supermarket to buy fresh ingredients and have the cook cook for you, or go to a nearby restaurant for dinner...

This is the real comfortable life!

This is the real way to enjoy life!

This group of royal relatives were in this most modern house, listening to the shopping guides describe the life scenes for them, and each of them had an intoxicated expression on their face!

but,

These houses are expensive.

Each building costs at least several hundred thousand taels of silver. Only a few dozen gold card members can afford it. The other silver card members all look constipated when they see the price.

But the gentle shopping guide said,

Yes, you can pay in installments!

That is, first you pay a portion of the money and you can move in with your luggage, and the rest will be repaid in ten years, with a little interest added every month.

When the shopping guide calculated the down payment and repayment amount, the faces of the silver card members immediately became lively.

The shopping guide also said that this batch of houses is in the best location, there are only about 80 houses, if you buy one, you will have one less.

Moreover, this kind of house is very sturdy and is not afraid of strong winds or heavy snow. It can be lived in for a hundred or several hundred years without any problem. It can be passed down to future generations, or even sold after being lived in for more than ten years to make a profit!

These professional sales pitches are so attractive that some silver card members immediately choose a house for the down payment.

But the gold card members said they should choose the room first because they have priority.

This made sense. The shopping guide immediately asked someone to lead the gold card members to choose first. After the selection, only about 30 houses were left out of the 80-odd houses.

But there are more than a hundred silver card members, how to divide the rest?

The shopping guides immediately asked their leaders for instructions.

Then, in a fair, just and open environment, under the supervision of Lord Cheng and the Liao Emperor, everyone divided up the remaining houses by drawing lots.

Those who caught it were elated, while those who couldn't were dejected.

Lord Cheng comforted them and said, don't be discouraged, the second phase is now under construction and will be completed soon.

Then you silver members can be given priority in selection.

Some people are worried that the second phase may not be as good?

Lord Cheng explained that except for the location, which was not as good as the first phase, everything else was the same.

You can visit and decide whether to buy.

Anyway, you can choose first in the second phase, which is also an optimal solution!