Zhēnzǐ walks into Second Best and puts his cold iron chunk and all his gold coins (14 of them) onto the sales counter of Second Best.
"Tian-Zhe, I would always like to have some hazelnuts to juggle with, but I tend to eat my last few hazelnuts without realizing I did, so have none left to juggle with. Could you make me some metal hazelnuts from this chunk of metal. That way I will always have some metal hazelnuts to juggle with. If the gold will not cover the full cost, would there be enough of the chunk left that you could take payment from taking a portion of what's left of the chunk after making me the metal hazelnuts?", Zhēnzǐ asks the the owner of Second Best, who made his beautiful three hazelnut buckler, if he can make some more metallic 'hazelnuts' for him.
Zhēnzǐ does not know that when he overhears some townsfolk call him a 'nutter' that it is not a compliment. He thinks they call him 'nutter' because it is well-known how much he loves hazelnuts.
Tian-Zhe, "How many are you thinking you would like to have, Zhēnzǐ?"
"At least three, as a good juggler should be able to juggle at least three things. I'm not that good yet, but I practice each day. Jubei tells me to keep it up and someday I might be good enough to juggle five items at once. So between 3 and 5 would be good."
Tian-Zhe eyes the size of the chunk of metal, and visualizes how much of it will take to create a single hazelnut replica as well as an estimate of how long it will take him to craft a single hazelnut replica.
* *
Tian-Zhe, "Are you hoping for a rushed deliver, or whenever I have time to work on them with time I have to spare after finishing rush orders?"
"No rush, whenever you have them ready for me, just let me know. Thank you, Tian-Zhe."
Zhēnzǐ, thinking that was all the info exchange needed starts to head to the door.
"Wait, Zhēnzǐ. I have not finished figuring out how many and what a fair price will be for you. Please wait for a few minutes as I figure that out."
Zhēnzǐ initiates his kinetic aura (dirt-covered hazelnuts appear in the a 10-foot emation around him and fall to the ground) then conjures a fresh hazelnut in each of his hands and starts practicing juggling them, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he can summon hazelnuts for juggling whenever he wants (provided his kinetic aura is up).
Tian-Zhe, familiar with this particular 'OCD' trait of the friendly talking squirrel, continues with his mental task.
* *
"It would take half of the chunk of metal for me to make you 5 metal hazelnut replicas. Give me a few more minutes while I figure out how much is fair price to charge you for my time to craft them, Zhēnzǐ."
Tian-Zhe, "You have two options for paying for my time to craft them, Zhēnzǐ. You take all but 5 of your gold coins back or you take all of your gold coins back and I keep the remaining half of the metal chunk afterwards."
Zhēnzǐ's snout scrunches up, as the two hazelnuts drop to the floor, "I don't know. Jubei gave me the metal chunk and gold when I told her I kept eating my nuts." (go ahead and laugh :P) "and she doesn't want me summoning hazelnuts in some parts of home, so sometimes I don't have any hazelnuts left to juggle with because I got hungry and ate them."
"Tell you what, Zhēnzǐ, since the remainder of the chunk will cover the cost, that works as a deposit payment. When I have them crafted and ready for you, you can decide to pay 5 gold then or for me to keep the rest of the metal chunk as payment for my time. Does that sound fair to you?"
"It does! It does!" ecstatic that he will have metallic juggling hazelnuts to practice with, that he will not want to eat, Zhēnzǐ's mouth opens wide as he grins what some might view as lacking composure. "Thank you!"
Zhēnzǐ starts heading for the door again as Tian-Zhe says Zhēnzǐ again.
Zhēnzǐ stops and turns back towards Tian-Zhe, "Yes, Tian-Zhe."
With an affectionate, somewhat parenting tone to his voice, Tian-Zhe indicates the fallen dirt-covered hazelnuts in the display room of his shop, "You also need to practice remembering to clean up your messes, Zhēnzǐ."
"Sorry, I keep forgetting to do that."
Zhēnzǐ uses his base kinesis impulse to (suppress) make the mess he created disappear, before he and Tian-Zhe say their 'have a good days' to each other before he exits Second Best.
Zhēnzǐ heads home to tell Jubei Tian-Zhe is making him some more metal hazelnuts (with his 'three hazelnut' metal buckler being the first 'hazelnuts' Tian-Zhe made for him.
