The Queen of Scrolls never admits defeat

In an instant, the number of cards flashing on the screen decreased by more than 90%, and all the dazzling high-level cards disappeared.

What remains are the simple, basic cards.

Matches, flint, water bladder, rope, insect repellent powder, hemostatic powder, simple tent...

It has simple functions, limited effects, and is not expensive, making it affordable, yet its quantity is still enormous.

Sylvia's little face scrunched up as she swiped her fingers across the screen, looking at this and then that, hesitant and undecided.

"Both matches and flints can be used to start a fire, and both are needed for cooking, but which one should you choose? Or should you use both? What about insect repellent powder? There are a lot of insects this season, so it should sell well! But hemostatic powder is also very important; if someone gets injured, they'll definitely need it..."

The more she looked, the more conflicted she became. There were clearly hundreds of shelves, but the "money" she had was only enough to buy a small portion of them.

Which ones to choose? Which ones to give up? Every choice feels like a small piece of flesh being cut from my heart.

"Why are there so many..." She turned to her mother in distress, her eyes filled with pleading, "Which ones should I buy?"

Instead of giving a direct answer, Moran produced a pre-written, thin booklet:
"To know what goods sell well, we first need to understand what kind of customers we are dealing with. Perhaps we can first see what Tatali people like and need, and then purchase goods accordingly, so that the goods won't be stuck in our hands."

"The Tatali Tribe Chronicles?" Sylvia was immediately captivated, having never so eagerly opened a book before, and softly read the text aloud:
"The Tatali are a nomadic people of the mountains and forests active in the eastern part of the Chaotic Realm. Every one of them is a skilled hunter and is also very adept at taming lightning wolves... Lightning wolves need to run in thunderstorms regularly to accumulate lightning power, and they are most active during the rainy season... The Tatali also often migrate through the mountains and forests with the seasons... They especially love bright colors and decorations, and particularly favor blue, purple, and gold..."

As she read, Sylvia's little head began to work at lightning speed.

As she looked, she excitedly raised her face:
"I get it! Nomadic people move frequently, so lightweight and portable items are definitely more popular! There are many mosquitoes when camping in the wild, tents are prone to getting damp during the rainy season, and wound treatment is inconvenient during long migrations... so {flint}, {insect repellent powder}, and {hemostatic powder} are definitely needed!"

She became more and more excited as she spoke, and her little hand had already tapped the card shop screen again:
"Also, they like bright colors and decorations, so could I buy some pretty ornaments, or fabrics, jewelry, or paints to sell to them? Maybe they'd sell very well!"

As she analyzed the information, she quickly filtered the cards on the screen, adding them one by one to her shopping cart with the speed and agility of a squirrel that had discovered a treasure.

"Don't jump to conclusions yet."

Moran gently pressed down on her daughter's busy little hands, smiling as she reminded her, "Watch it first!"

Sylvia blinked in confusion, but still obediently finished reading the booklet.

When she saw the last few pages, she finally understood that her mother's reminder was not without reason.

"The Tatali tribe currently has 153 card magic contractors, among whom the contractor with the highest magic power rank is a low-level mage, and the highest unlock level in the card shop is level 4..."

Below this data, there is a note in slightly smaller font:
"Note: The Tatali tribe and the Witch tribe have a long-standing friendly relationship and enjoy a 10% trade discount as 'friendly tribes.' Their mall card prices are equivalent to 1.8 times the prices of the Witch version in the mall."

Sylvia stared at the words, then looked up at the cards in her shopping cart.

Her little face scrunched up slightly as her fingers swiped rapidly across the screen, bringing up the detailed information of the cards she had just added to her cart. Sure enough, they were all resource cards below level 3, not exclusive to the Witch's Shop, but common cards available to all players at certain levels in the card shop.

"Thank goodness I didn't buy them..." she patted her chest in relief, "Otherwise, they would definitely be stuck with these! They simply couldn't afford them!"

But then she noticed the numbers in the note, tilted her head, and looked puzzled:
"What does '90% off' mean? And what does '1.8 times' mean?"

Moran had already anticipated that her daughter would ask this question.

She calmly took out an even thinner booklet with an elegant light blue cover, decorated with cute numbers and coin patterns: "Practical Arithmetic Primer".

Sylvia stared at the words on the cover, stunned: "Arithmetic?"

“Yes, arithmetic.” Moran smiled gently but slyly. “Want to know how to price your goods without losing money? Want to know what a 10% discount really means? Want to know how to buy the most and most suitable goods with a limited number of gem coins?”

She gently pushed the booklet towards Sylvia, her voice filled with encouraging laughter:
"Want to learn? Mom will teach you."

Sylvia never knew that making money as a small shop owner required learning so much.

But now, her desire to earn gem coins is incredibly strong: "I want to learn! Mom, teach me!"

Moran opened the arithmetic book to the first page:
"Okay, let's begin. Let's get to know some of the most interesting friends first—the plus sign, the minus sign, and the equals sign."

Her explanation was light and lively, like telling a little adventure story about numbers. The plus sign means "inviting more friends to the party," the minus sign means "some friends have to go home first," and the equal sign means "the fun is the same before and after the party."

Sylvia listened intently, occasionally reaching out her little hand to imitate drawing those symbols on the blank draft paper.

But learning arithmetic cannot be accomplished overnight; these skills will be learned again after starting school, and Moran did not try to force it.

The purpose of this booklet is simply to provide an introduction, to introduce some conceptual and fun things, to help children understand the importance of arithmetic in life, and to spark their interest.

I finished explaining a booklet to her in about ten minutes.

As Moran closed the booklet, Sylvia clung to her sleeve, still wanting more: "Mommy! This book is so interesting! Are there any others? I only know that a discount means it's cheaper, and doubling it means it's much more, but I still don't understand how to calculate it specifically..."

Moran smiled and shook her head: "No, you'll learn more about it when you go to school!"

Sylvia: "Huh?"

Moran looked at her, as if seeing her as a child, and spoke to her in the same tone as Shana's mother had spoken years before:

"Young witches should just play and do what interests them. It's time to seriously study when you turn 13 and go to witch academy!" (End of Chapter)