Chapter 2: Simply Exorbitant Profit

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Simply Exorbitant Profit

Zhang Lin entered the warehouse, a look of delighted surprise on his face. 500 jin of honey peaches were stacked inside, their distinct, sweet fragrance perfuming the air.

Everything felt so real.

He stepped forward and picked up a honey peach. It was about the size of the early-ripening honey dews currently in season—not particularly large.

But then, a magical sight appeared: a block of text floated above the honey peach in his hand.

[Honey Peach: Quality 1]

[Note: This is a game-produced honey peach. Its flavor and texture surpass those of ordinary honey peaches!

Attributes: Delicious+1, Sweet+1, Texture+1.]

Zhang Lin stared at the floating text in astonishment.

’It can do this?’

He tried picking up other honey peaches.

He found that the same text appeared for every honey peach he picked up, but only inside the warehouse. As soon as he took one outside, the text would disappear.

Furthermore, only game-produced items had this effect.

He brought a rock in from outside, and no text appeared for it.

Next, he took a honey peach to the faucet to wash it. He wanted to taste this game-wholesaled product for himself. After all, with three bonus attributes, it had to be something special.

After washing the peach, Zhang Lin took a bite.

His eyes lit up after the first bite. He now knew exactly what the attributes in the peach’s description meant.

It was incredibly sweet, delicious, and juicy, with a wonderful texture.

This honey peach was worlds better than any of the ones sold at the market.

He had never eaten such a delicious honey peach in his entire life.

So this was the effect of the Delicious+1, Sweet+1, and Texture+1 attributes.

The honey peaches on the market selling for 10 yuan a jin definitely couldn’t taste this good. Even the more expensive, well-known brands couldn’t compare.

Zhang Lin finished the peach, still savoring the flavor. He immediately washed another one and continued eating, his eyes growing brighter with every bite.

’In reality, selling fruit isn’t just about wholesale cost. You also have to factor in labor, shipping, storage... all those expenses.’

’But if I can save on all those expenses, and my wholesale cost is even lower, the profit margin will be huge.’

’For example, if I wholesale 500 jin of honey peaches from the game at 4 yuan per jin and sell them at the market price of 10 yuan, that’s a 3,000 yuan profit.’

’Who among all the fruit sellers in You City could make a 3,000 yuan profit from 500 jin of honey peaches?’

’Wait, no. The 10 yuan market price is for ordinary honey peaches. Are mine ordinary?’

’These are clearly a new variety of honey peach, developed after massive research investment by Li Yuan Farm’s agricultural lab. How could I sell them for the same price as common ones?’

’Those famous brands dare to sell their peaches for 20 yuan a jin. Mine are immeasurably tastier, so selling them for 30 yuan a jin should be no problem, right?’

’After all, they were produced with a massive R&D budget, so the costs are inherently high. Plus, they’re delicious. If I don’t sell them at a premium, who would bother funding agricultural research in the future?’

The more Zhang Lin thought about it, the more sense it made. However, to make his story even more plausible, he decided he needed to create a research report for promotional use, stamped with the farm’s official seal. That would make it far more convincing.

’And if someone investigates?’

’I’m the owner of Li Yuan Farm, with all the official paperwork and licenses. So what if the farm is just 2,000 mu of barren land right now? The peaches are genuinely delicious!’

’If anyone asks, I’ll just say the details are a trade secret and that they’re currently in a trial-run sales phase.’

The more Zhang Lin thought about it, the more excited he became. Following this plan, the profit from these 500 jin wouldn’t be 3,000 yuan, but 13,000 yuan.

At that rate, wholesaling 500 jin a day would mean 15,000 jin a month, for a monthly profit of 390,000 yuan.

’The best part is, I can still upgrade! After I level up, the variety of things I can wholesale will increase, and the profits will be even higher.’

’This has a ton of potential,’ he thought. ’My debt of over a million yuan could be cleared in no time.’

’This is the plan, then.’

However, just showing up and saying a honey peach costs 30 yuan a jin wouldn’t work. Even if I let people taste how delicious they are, good wine can still go unsold if the tavern is hidden too deep in an alley. I need a gimmick to make people psychologically accept the price.

Therefore, since these were a new variety secretly researched and cultivated by Li Yuan Farm, he would print out promotional materials about Li Yuan Farm’s new variety research. This would create a high-end, impressive psychological suggestion for potential customers.

’Isn’t that how all the big fruit brands got their start anyway?’

When he went out to sell, he’d also buy a megaphone to hawk his wares and attract attention.

But the farm’s research and cultivation documents had to look convincing.

Zhang Lin returned to his prefab steel house and went online. In this day and age, you could find anything on the internet. Without much effort, he found numerous research reports on honey peaches.

He had experience plagiarizing papers to graduate from college, so he put those skills to use. He found a few reports, copied the key terminology, tweaked the non-essential points to avoid copyright infringement, and deleted the rest.

Tackling it with the same dedication he’d used for his graduation thesis, he quickly created a promotional document. Pairing it with Li Yuan Farm’s official licenses, he rode his scooter into the county town and had the document printed on a two-meter-long, one-meter-wide advertising banner. He also spent 50 yuan on a proper display stand for it.

And just like that, the honey peaches were now a special variety developed by Li Yuan Farm.

After that, he went to the market and spent another 40 yuan on a megaphone with a recording function. This was for shouting out his sales pitch!

He also bought an electronic scale and plastic bags for the peaches.

After buying everything, he checked his balance and saw he only had a little over 20 yuan left.

His savings were officially less than three digits!

Back at the farm, he immediately drove the three-wheeled truck to the warehouse entrance and called Liu De over to load the baskets of honey peaches onto it.

As long as the tires didn’t blow out, this kind of truck could haul a ton without issue. 500 jin of honey peaches was a piece of cake.

Liu De was an extremely diligent worker. And since he was an employee hired through the game, under the system’s influence, he didn’t find it the least bit strange that a pile of honey peaches had suddenly materialized in the warehouse.

All you could say was: amazing.

While Liu De loaded the peaches, Zhang Lin went off to the side with the megaphone to record his sales pitch. Afterward, he could just press the play button, and the megaphone would loop the recording.

He then prepared a bucket of fresh water for washing the peaches people would be sampling.

Once everything was ready, Zhang Lin started up the three-wheeled truck and headed for the county town with Liu De.

The fastest way to sell 500 jin of honey peaches a day would be to wholesale them, but before diving into that, he planned to run a pop-up street stall for a few days to test the waters.

The truck soon arrived outside You City’s South District Market.

On the street outside the market, several other pop-up stalls were already set up.

He found a spot and parked. Across from him was another pop-up stall selling honey peaches, also operating out of a three-wheeled truck. A piece of cardboard haphazardly taped to it read: "Honey Peaches - 8 yuan/jin."

This was much cheaper than the 10 yuan/jin price charged by the stalls inside the market.

In a big city, this kind of unlicensed stall would quickly be chased off by market management, and the city inspectors would tell them to move along.

But in a small county town, as long as you didn’t obstruct traffic, nobody really cared. The market management staff were typically out running personal errands, rarely seen at the market. The city inspectors usually just sat in their offices, happy to be on the public payroll—some even collecting pay for no-show jobs. They’d only hastily throw on their uniforms for a quick patrol when a superior demanded it.

Zhang Lin hadn’t chosen this spot to compete with the other stall owner. The main reason was that this market was famous for its many fruit stalls. The street outside was lined with so many fruit shops that the locals in You City called it "Fruit Street."

A lot of people came here specifically to buy fruit.

So, his plan was to run a pop-up stall here for a few days to gauge the situation. After that, he would set his sights on all these fruit stalls and shops. Wholesaling to them would be much faster than selling everything himself.

’After all, once I upgrade and can wholesale larger quantities, how long would it take me to sell it all on my own every day?’

’As for why he wasn’t approaching the big supermarkets? The payment cycles. He couldn’t afford to wait that long for his money right now.’

Seeing Zhang Lin’s truck pull up—also selling honey peaches—the owner of the other pop-up stall was visibly annoyed. He was about to stomp over and have a word, but then he saw Zhang Lin put out his large advertising banner with the price of 30 yuan/jin. He sheepishly backed away.

’Is that guy crazy?’ the other vendor thought. ’Selling some stupid peaches for 30 yuan a jin. Clearly, he’s not going to affect my business at all.’

After parking, Zhang Lin took out the advertising banner he’d had printed and set it up on its display stand.

When he printed the banner, he had also printed out a large QR payment code. You couldn’t do business these days without one.

At the same time, he washed a few honey peaches, cut them into chunks, and stuck toothpicks in them for people to try as free samples.

With all preparations complete, business was officially open!

He took out the megaphone and pressed play. A recorded voice boomed out: "Step right up, don’t miss out! Li Yuan Farm’s new honey peach variety, developed with a massive research investment, is now on trial sale! The flavor and texture far surpass any other peach on the market! The only place in the world to get them is right here...!"

The sound from the megaphone immediately drew the eyes of many people nearby.

Whether it was the claim of a "new variety," "flavor and texture surpassing all others," or being "the only place in the world," every part of the pitch was clearly enticing.

A small crowd quickly gathered. The first thing that caught their eye was the printed advertising banner, and the professional-looking research material on it piqued their interest even more.

Still, 30 yuan for a single jin of honey peaches was truly expensive.

However, even though You City was a small county town, imported fruits that cost several hundred yuan a jin sold just fine. A moment later, a fashionably dressed young woman approached and asked, "Are these new honey peaches really tastier than anything else on the market?"

"Miss, it’s a brand-new variety. The taste is incredible. Here, have a sample." Zhang Lin said with a grin, offering a slice of peach to the young woman. He then offered samples to the four other fashionably dressed women standing with her.

These five women were clearly together, and one look at them told him they lived refined lifestyles. They were definitely his target demographic.

The five women didn’t stand on ceremony, accepting the samples and taking a bite.

Under the influence of the Delicious+1, Sweet+1, and Texture+1 attributes, the women’s eyes lit up the moment they took a bite.

"This is really good! I’ve never eaten a honey peach this delicious before!"

"Yes, it’s so sweet and juicy!"

"The texture is so smooth. I love peaches like this."

"..."

The woman who had spoken first immediately said, "Get me a bag, I’m buying some!"

The other four fashionable women immediately chimed in:

"That’s right! My husband has definitely never tasted a peach this good!"

"Get me a bag, too!"

"..."

Liu De immediately handed plastic bags to the five women, letting them pick out peaches from the back of the truck.

The first woman quickly finished her selection, and Liu De stepped up to weigh them for her.

’This kind of work was for the employee, of course. It wasn’t the boss’s job,’ Zhang Lin thought.

"That’s 6 jin total! 180 yuan!" Liu De announced as he handed the bag of peaches to her.

The woman took out her phone, scanned the QR code, and paid the 180 yuan.

Soon, the other four women had also finished their selections and had Liu De weigh them.

The four of them bought a total of 21 jin, paying 630 yuan altogether.

Combined with the first customer, that was 27 jin sold for 810 yuan.

’This is a great start,’ he thought.

’And the wholesale price was only 4 yuan per jin. The cost for these 27 jin was 108 yuan, which meant a profit of 702 yuan.’

They say a 50% profit will make a man take risks, a 100% profit will make him trample on the law, and a 300% profit will make him commit any crime imaginable.

’And his profit margin was 650%!’

His farm’s wholesale business would be taxed as a small-scale enterprise, meaning he only had to pay 3% in taxes.

...