In a nutshell, Zhang Yuan was quite optimistic about this race and believed that in the coming period, the Gleize Civilization would produce more geniuses, and even some great figures who could permanently change the direction of the civilization.
During their conversation, the train arrived at the station.
A crisp electronic voice came through, "Dear passengers, your flight D-112F has reached its final destination. You’ve arrived at The Kyushu Star Trading City, wishing you a pleasant journey."
The tourist group scanned their passes at the security channel and entered a disinfection room for security checks. Though the air in the interstellar trade city was breathable for humans and it was unlikely for the Half-sphere Civilization to deliberately release biological viruses, it was still necessary to adhere to regulations as much as possible.
This was a work area, not a living area, and to punish those who did not follow the rules and refused to wear protective suits, a foul smell was deliberately added to the air of the work area.
"This smell is not toxic, but it is extremely uncomfortable to breathe. You can try it if you like."
He walked through the last gate, and his view suddenly broadened.
The trade city was filled with a dazzling array of goods, from Native handcrafts of ancient times to exquisite modern goods and various consumer electronics, even old gasoline cars, jet planes, and tanks!
Indeed, the imagination of the common folk was unrivaled. Given a bit of freedom and a small amount of productive capacity, they could produce all sorts of miscellaneous goods...
Zhang Yuan was examining a Huawei 888 phone from the 23rd century that had been replicated with a 3D printer. Its electronic chips were also designed by a private factory. Although the exterior looked exactly the same, he was unsure if it would work properly.
Thinking back, when he left Earth, he had used a Huawei 888 to take photos of the Great Wall in space!
Suddenly, he heard Lin Xuanyuan’s voice from behind, "What’s this? Is this a Half-sphere person’s hat? It looks so weird, and it feels a bit like silk!"
The Half-sphere people’s hats looked a bit like a rooster’s comb—brightly colored and indeed a part of their traditional culture.
Lin Xuanyuan took a hat and placed it on Zhang Yuan’s helmet, laughing non-stop.
Nowadays, with the integration of many functions and biomimetic science in Power Armor, touching an object with a mechanical hand could send tactile feedback directly to the human brain. Thus, humans could easily obtain nearly perfect tactile perception through Power Armor.
Discovering a rooster comb hat on his glass helmet and becoming a comical figure, Zhang Yuan didn’t know what to say and could only give an awkward smile, twisting his head to allow his wife to mess around as she pleased.
"That looks quite dashing, don’t move!"
Click, click, click. She took several more photos.
Accompanying her to stroll through the market was her long-cherished wish. They had been married for so long, always diligently working—it was time to have some fun. Life couldn’t just be about work and sleep; that would be too lacking in romance...
The Half-sphere person shop owner standing in front of Lin Xuanyuan, after all these years, still wasn’t good at doing business; he just kept clapping and spinning his head in a dance, looking quite foolish.
Such was the mentality of the Half-sphere people; they lacked the "memory template" specifically for doing business.
And those Half-sphere people who came to this intermediary market to do business were generally those with inherently lower intelligence, unable to learn more complex knowledge, with somewhat rigid thinking. These guys seemed dim-witted and would never learn how to attract customers like humans do.
Essentially, the Half-sphere Civilization also used this intermediary market to resolve the employment problem of their lower-end population. Just letting them run small businesses here, earning foreign currency from humans, was quite a good choice for the whole civilization’s welfare.
"Wow, what’s this? Hanfu? They actually sell Hanfu; is it really produced by the Half-sphere Civilization?!" Lin Xuanyuan exclaimed in amazement as she held up the garment, finding it pretty nice and well-fitting, looking good on her.
An alien civilization producing traditional human garments was indeed curious.
Then, the shop owner spoke, "Dear human friends, hello! The raw material for the clothes is a special plant from my civilization, Barry Bagaba, processed entirely by hand and very skin-friendly for humans, hardly causing any allergies... and the price is only 388 federal coins!"
It sounded like he was reciting a script.
"Barry Bagaba" was a plant from the Half-sphere Civilization’s Mother Star Karena Star, similar to cotton, but its fibers were slightly finer, feeling a bit like silk.
The Half-sphere Civilization even specifically took seeds from their gene bank to revive some ancient plants, which was commendable.
Seeing how much Lin Xuanyuan liked it, Zhang Yuan immediately waved his hand, "Buy, buy, buy!"
Yet, Lin Xuanyuan reluctantly put down the clothes, changing her mind about buying...
Women always loved the process of shopping, not truly caring about what to buy. They simply enjoyed the act of shopping, especially with their partner alongside.
It was best if something novel appeared occasionally, further stimulating their shopping spirit.
In this trade city, there were indeed too many goods. Merchants from various places had replicated cultural products of all civilizations along their routes, surprisingly also offering Stone Age spears, ancient divination tortoise shells, and even divining sticks for love fortune!
"Get one, get one!" Some pangolins eagerly recommended their homemade stone tools, even making gestures like they wanted to run up and cling to someone’s legs.
The stone carving, with its bizarre curves, gave Zhang Yuan a strange illusion of nostalgic memories as if it meant something though it was inscrutable.
"What are you carving here?" Zhang Yuan asked.
"Goldbach’s Conjecture, it’s Mathematics! Mathematics! The frustration from failing to prove Goldbach’s Conjecture," the pangolin gazed at him eagerly.
Goldbach’s Conjecture was a popular pseudo-scientific topic among pangolins; these pseudo-scientific mathematicians were obsessed with solving it using elementary mathematics... naturally, it was unsolvable.
After a while, Zhang Yuan looked and said, "Mathematics?! Not bad, quite artistic."
"Would you like to buy it, boss?"
Buy, buy, buy, purchasing a grand marble carving as a handcraft, lest he be told he lacked artistic cells!
Zhang Yuan paid and picked up the heavy, fifty-kilogram stone block, planning to place it in his living room as a decorative item.