Chapter 3: Made 10,000 Just Like That

Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Made 10,000 Just Like That

After the five young women left with their peaches, the rest of the crowd surged forward. A sturdy-looking older woman immediately asked, "Boss, can I try one?"

"Of course. Everyone is welcome to try them first!" Zhang Lin said without hesitation, immediately taking out pre-cut peach slices and handing them to the woman and the people around them.

’It’s just like with those five women. You have to let people taste how good the honey peaches are before they’ll buy them.’

After tasting a slice, the woman was just as astonished. "I’ve never had a honey peach this delicious before! Boss, weigh out 30 jin for me. I want to buy some for both of my sons."

"You got it!" Liu De immediately replied, grabbing a plastic bag and packing the peaches. Then, he watched as the woman simply lifted the bag with one hand and walked off.

’Impressive!’

"Give me a bag, I want to buy some too!" someone else immediately called out.

The others who had tasted the samples also started speaking up one after another.

"No wonder it’s a new variety. It’s incredible! I’ll buy some, too."

"Get me a bag, too!"

"..."

"Everyone can grab a bag! Once you’ve picked your peaches, bring them to me to weigh!" Liu De shouted to the others while he finished bagging the woman’s order.

After taking the 30 jin of honey peaches, the woman scanned the QR code and paid 900 yuan.

All at once, the area in front of Zhang Lin’s stall erupted with activity.

The calls from the loudspeaker continued to attract a steady stream of people.

After tasting the samples, every single one of them was won over by the honey peaches and started picking out their own.

These honey peaches were genuinely delicious and unlike anything people had tried before. Anyone who tasted them was compelled to buy at least a few.

As customers paid via QR code, Zhang Lin’s WeChat notifications rang out continuously:

"WeChat payment received: 153 yuan!"

"WeChat payment received: 127 yuan!"

...

"WeChat payment received: 176 yuan!"

As customers came and went, they easily sold over 100 jin of honey peaches, taking in more than 3,000 yuan.

This roaring trade left the owner of the makeshift honey peach stall across the way completely dumbfounded.

’That actually works?’

"Lesson learned," the owner muttered. He got straight into his truck, deciding to move to a new spot and try his competitor’s method. A "new variety"? He didn’t buy it. It had to be a gimmick.

Zhang Lin helped for a little while, but seeing that Liu De could manage on his own, he sat down in the driver’s seat to examine the game in his mind.

As the WeChat payments rolled in, he could see the balance in the information panel in the top-left corner of his view rapidly increasing. Clearly, the game’s balance was completely tied to his real-world funds.

`Agricultural Tycoon` was a casual farming game. While it was very open-ended, it still had the conventional upgrade mechanics found in most games.

Upgrading would increase both the quantity and variety of products available for wholesale.

Based on the profit margins from the honey peaches, upgrading was a direct path to more money.

On top of that, leveling up would also unlock many new features.

However, upgrading had conditions. For example, there were three conditions to advance from Level 1:

1. Have 3 workers (1/3)! 2. Earn 100,000 in profit (5,310/100,000)! 3. Develop 50 mu of agricultural land (5/50)!

’Of these three conditions, earning 100,000 in profit seems the easiest right now. All I have to do is keep wholesaling and selling the game’s honey peaches. Next is hiring three workers. As long as I have the money, I can just hire two more in the game. The hard part will be developing 50 mu of land; that will be physically exhausting.’

’But a problem that can be solved with manual labor isn’t really a problem. When the time comes, I’ll just hire more staff and have them develop it.’

’So, for now, I need to focus on completing the 100,000 profit condition. Once I have the money, hiring people and developing the land will be easy.’

In addition to the leveling system, `Agricultural Tycoon` also had milestones. Completing these milestones would also grant rewards.

His current milestone progress was at 0%. He took a look and saw that there were a ton of achievable milestones.

They ranged from small achievements, like "Earn 10,000 in profit for the first time," "Develop 10 mu of land," and "Recruit 10 employees," to major ones like "Establish a laboratory to research crop formulas." There was a huge variety of milestones, each with a different reward.

’And right now, the "Earn 10,000 in profit" milestone seems to be the easiest one to complete.’

The honey peach sales continued to be brisk. Clearly, his "new variety" gimmick was working. The main reason, though, was that the game-produced peaches were genuinely delicious, which had broken the ice and opened up the market.

By noon, the market shoppers had started heading home for lunch, and the flow of customers gradually thinned. Nevertheless, of the 500 jin of honey peaches in the truck, nearly 300 jin had already been sold, a testament to their popularity.

Not counting the peaches given away as samples, his balance had reached 8,130 yuan!

His phone rang. Seeing it was his mom’s number, he answered immediately.

His mother’s voice came through the phone. "Lin, lunch is almost ready!"

"Okay, Mom!" Zhang Lin answered. He then grabbed a bag and picked out a few honey peaches, planning to bring them home for his mom to try.

Once the bag was full, he turned to Liu De. "I’m heading home for a bit. You watch the stall. I’ll order you some food from one of the shops nearby."

"Don’t worry, Boss. I’ll keep a good eye on the stall!" Liu De immediately assured him.

After that, Zhang Lin went to a small eatery nearby to order a meal for Liu De before hailing a cab to go home.

He lived in Huayuan District, which was considered a fairly nice residential area in You City.

He entered his building, went up to the sixth floor, and walked into the apartment to see his mother, Lin Yan, setting out lunch.

The apartment was a standard three-bedroom, one-living-room unit. Buying it had been his father’s proudest accomplishment. After all, having been born in the countryside to three generations of poor farmers, he had finally managed to establish a home for his family in the city.

However, his dad had since mortgaged the apartment for a loan of over 500,000 yuan. If they couldn’t repay it, the apartment would be repossessed by the bank.

Before, he and his mother had already discussed selling the apartment to pay back the bank. They would then rent a small studio, which would leave them only with the few hundred thousand yuan they owed to friends and relatives. The pressure would be much more manageable.

’But now that I can wholesale items from the game for such high profits, the plan is going to have to change.’

When Lin Yan saw Zhang Lin come in, she asked, "Lin, how are things going with that land?"

"Mom, just leave it to me. Trust me, I’ll take care of everything," Zhang Lin said. With `Agricultural Tycoon` in mind, his voice was filled with a strange confidence.

Hearing her son’s usual response, Lin Yan sighed. "Lin, your father and I have failed you. At your age, all your peers have their parents’ support. Not only did we lose the betrothal money we’d saved for you, but we also left you with over a million yuan in debt."

As she finished speaking, she couldn’t stop herself from sighing repeatedly.

"Mom, why are you talking like that? You and Dad gave birth to me, raised me, put me through school, and took meticulous care of me my whole life. That’s the greatest gift anyone could ask for," Zhang Lin said, trying to comfort his mother.

He had never blamed his parents for their current situation. After all, he was healthy and had received a good education, which was already more than many people had.

Many people weren’t even born with a healthy body.

Besides, this was their reality now. Complaining about his fate all day would just lead to more mental anguish.

The more her son said things like this, the guiltier Lin Yan felt, and she could only sigh again.

Seeing this, Zhang Lin quickly changed the subject. "Mom, I’ve worked out a deal with a supplier. I’m going into the agricultural wholesale business. These peaches are my first product. Here, try one!"

As he spoke, he took out a honey peach, washed it, and handed it to his mother.

Hearing her son was starting a business, Lin Yan was very interested. She took the honey peach and had a bite. An intense sweetness immediately filled her mouth, followed by an indescribably fragrant flavor that overwhelmed her taste buds.

"Lin, why is this peach so delicious?" Lin Yan exclaimed in surprise. She had eaten plenty of peaches in her life, but never one as good as this.

She was certain that if her son was wholesaling these peaches, he would have no trouble selling them!

This lifted her spirits considerably. She quickly ushered Zhang Lin to the table to eat and filled a bowl with rice for him.

Zhang Lin smiled, accepted the bowl, and started eating. His mom was a great cook.

Lin Yan suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right, Lin, you should have dinner with Dong’s daughter, Yingzi, when you have time. She has a very good impression of you."

"PFFT!" Hearing this, Zhang Lin nearly sprayed a mouthful of rice across the table.

’Mom’s trying to set me up on a blind date.’ Dong’s daughter was bigger than him, had a more masculine personality than him, and was three years his senior.

’Even if I can never again find that pure feeling of first love I had in high school and have to settle for someone, shouldn’t I at least find someone slender, pretty, and younger than me?’

Lin Yan knew what Zhang Lin was thinking and started sighing again. "Lin, don’t be so picky about Yingzi. She doesn’t mind that our family is over a million yuan in debt, and her family is wealthy and could help you. She may be three years older, but as the saying goes, ’a wife three years older holds a brick of gold’!"

’It’s not a brick of gold,’ Zhang Lin thought, ’it’s a bar of rebar.’

When it came to things like this, he’d rather have nothing than settle for less. Even without his recent lucky break, he would never compromise just because her family was rich.

He hurriedly blurted out a lie. "Mom, I have a girlfriend! She doesn’t mind that our family is in debt, and she doesn’t want a betrothal gift!"

"Really?" Lin Yan’s eyes lit up when she heard this, and she looked at him with a hopeful expression.

"Yeah, it’s true!" Seeing his mother’s expectant gaze, Zhang Lin could only bite the bullet and nod. He hoped the lie would make her happy and get her to drop her plan of having him "marry the rebar."

"When are you bringing her home for me to meet?"

"Ah... she’s been really busy lately. Once she has some free time..."

Zhang Lin, terrified his mother would press the issue, gave a vague answer, quickly scarfed down the rest of his rice, and bolted out the door. He hailed a cab back to the stall, his mind troubled.

’Where the hell am I supposed to find a girlfriend to show my mom? If I drag this out too long without bringing someone home, she’s going to start trying to set me up with the "rebar" again.’

’If worse comes to worst, I’ll just have to rent one to show her.’

’There’s always a way.’

Just as Zhang Lin was lost in thought, a crisp, pleasant voice spoke up. "Are these honey peaches really that delicious?"

The voice belonged to a pretty, innocent-looking girl in a high school uniform.

Zhang Lin froze for a moment when he saw her. She reminded him of his first love, especially since she was wearing the uniform of No. 1 High School. It caused an odd flutter in his chest as memories from high school came flooding back.

"Here, try a sample!" Zhang Lin said, washing a honey peach and handing it to the girl.

"Oh, is that okay? I only plan on buying two to take to school," the girl said, a little embarrassed.

Zhang Lin smiled. "If you like them, just be sure to recommend them to your classmates. It’s a new variety from Li Yuan Farm."

"Okay, then!" The girl accepted the peach and took a bite. Her bright, lively eyes widened in the same surprise as everyone else’s. "Wow, Boss, these peaches really are delicious! Even the imported ones my sister bought me weren’t this good. Boss, will you be here again tomorrow? I’ll definitely recommend you to my classmates."

"Yep, I’ll be here!" Zhang Lin replied. Watching the girl eat the peach with such enjoyment, he felt that same pure flutter in his heart again. He remembered his first love had also been a big fan of peaches.

’The resemblance is uncanny.’

He sighed as he watched the girl buy two peaches and leave.

’What’s past is past.’

’After all, I can’t just chase after some young girl just because she reminds me of the thrill of first love. She looks like she isn’t even sixteen. People would think I’m a creep.’

In the afternoon, the market started to get crowded again, and Liu De was back to being busy.

As the WeChat payment notifications continued to chime one after another, a game prompt soon appeared in his mind:

[Congratulations! You have completed the "Earn 10,000 in Profit" milestone. You have received a milestone reward: Daily wholesale limit for a random product has been increased by 500 jin. Current product affected: Honey Peaches (Resets next day)!]