Chapter 48: An Unexpected Situation

Chapter 48: Chapter 48: An Unexpected Situation

Zhang Lin answered the phone, and Chen Shengfei’s voice came through. "Boss Zhang, sorry to call you out of the blue. I’m planning on bringing a friend to your farm tomorrow and was wondering if you’ll be free? I also have a bit of a bold request to ask."

Hearing the words "bold request," Zhang Lin chuckled and asked, "Honeysuckle Tea?"

Chen Shengfei sounded a little embarrassed. "Yes, I’ve been craving your Honeysuckle Tea, Boss Zhang. With a problem like constipation, even if it gets better one day, it’ll come right back the next if you go out drinking for business or eat something spicy."

Hearing this, Zhang Lin sensed something was off. "Mr. Chen, wasn’t it your wife who had constipation?"

"Yes, it’s my wife who has this never-ending constipation. I’ll just get a cup to-go for her," Chen Shengfei said, his tone instantly becoming self-righteous.

But the words had barely left his mouth when he suddenly felt a murderous aura.

He turned his head and saw his wife, Fu Qing, standing right beside him, glaring daggers at him.

"Chen, you’d better explain yourself. Who has ’never-ending constipation’?" Fu Qing said, immediately reaching out and twisting Chen Shengfei’s ear.

"OW! Honey, go easy on me!"

"Honey, I’m on the phone! I haven’t hung up yet!"

Hearing the commotion on the other end of the line, Zhang Lin’s mouth fell open in astonishment.

’So, the one who’s actually constipated is Mr. Chen himself?’

The call finally ended. Zhang Lin just shook his head and smiled. ’What’s so embarrassing about something like that?’

’Constipation is a perfectly normal ailment. Almost everyone gets it at some point.’

As Zhang Lin was pondering this, his phone buzzed with a WeChat message. It was from Lin Yao of Millennium.

He had sent a 3D mockup of a tea cup. It featured the logo designed by Millennium, with a background image of Fu Yao and the rapeseed Flower Sea, along with the Li Yuan Farm brand mark.

’Honestly, buying the rights to Fu Yao’s image for 2,000 yuan was an absolute steal, especially since I can reuse it and it looks so good.’

"President Zhang, are you satisfied with the cup design?" Lin Yao’s follow-up message asked.

Zhang Lin examined it carefully. He was quite pleased with Millennium’s work. "Mr. Lin, I’m very satisfied with the design. Please finalize it and send over the files. I’m about to order a batch of cups so I can start a trial run for the Honeysuckle Tea tomorrow."

The rapeseed Flower Sea at Li Yuan Farm was already building a lot of buzz, but to reach the next level of popularity, it needed another hook.

This constipation-curing Honeysuckle Tea was the perfect hook, and he needed to roll it out immediately.

If he could generate enough hype and make it appealing enough, it would be much easier to trigger a viral explosion.

"Great, I’m glad you’re satisfied, President Zhang," Lin Yao replied, adding a few fist-clasping emojis and a final sentence. "I’ll personally deliver the promotional signs for the Honeysuckle Tea tomorrow. While I’m there, could I get a cup to go for a friend of mine? His constipation has been really bad lately."

"..." The message immediately reminded Zhang Lin of Chen Shengfei.

’He had a strong suspicion it wasn’t Lin Yao’s friend who was constipated, either.’

After receiving the final design files from Millennium, Zhang Lin immediately left the farm and headed for Red Earth.

Red Earth was the industrial district of You City, home to factories of all sizes, including one that specialized in producing three-piece sets for bubble tea—cup, lid, and straw.

Zhang Lin met with the factory manager, handed over the design file, and placed an initial order for 10,000 premium sets. Each three-piece set—cup, sealing film, and straw—cost a total of 2 yuan.

This type of premium cup was usually custom-ordered only by high-end, brand-name tea shops.

’Since he was going to sell 500ml of Honeysuckle Tea for 200 yuan, the cup naturally had to be of higher quality to reflect a certain class.’

Because the factory had blank cups in stock, all they had to do was use their specialized equipment to print the custom design. The first batch could be delivered to the farm as early as tomorrow morning.

However, he didn’t just order 500ml cups; he ordered 200ml cups as well, for a total of two sizes: small and large.

The large 500ml cup would sell for 200 yuan, and the small 200ml cup for 100 yuan.

’500ml was actually too much for many people; they might not be able to finish it in one go. The 200ml size would likely be the more popular choice. Plus, a 100-yuan price point would make customers more willing to open their wallets.’

’The key was that 200ml would leave people feeling like they hadn’t had quite enough. Especially once they realized it really worked for constipation, there was a high chance they would order a second cup.’

’In that case, they’d be paying 200 yuan for 400ml.’

’And if anyone questioned the pricing strategy, well, Li Yuan Farm reserved the right to explain it however they saw fit.’

’Besides, Li Yuan Farm was the only place selling it. If you had a problem with the price, you could just keep suffering from constipation. No one was forcing you to buy it.’

Zhang Lin finalized the details with the factory, signed the contract, and paid a 9,000-yuan deposit.

「Meanwhile.」

Wei Yuan was at the Agriculture Bureau, just finishing up his meeting with the fruit farmers about the partnership with Li Yuan Farm. He then addressed them, "I’ve explained all the specifics to you. I have another matter to attend to shortly, so please take the two types of fruit with Mengxi and head over to Li Yuan Farm to liaise with them."

Hearing this, the fruit farmers were all visibly enthusiastic and chimed in:

"Don’t worry, Director Wei, we won’t let you down."

"That’s right. If it weren’t for the Agriculture Bureau, we never would have gotten this opportunity with Li Yuan Farm."

"Technician Lin, we’ll be counting on you to introduce us to Boss Zhang!"

"..."

Don’t be fooled into thinking these farmers were out of touch with the internet. With the rise of e-commerce, they had kept up with the times. They knew that one of the fastest ways to build a brand and sell products was to have an influencer with a large following promote them on a live stream.

They knew exactly how much traffic Li Yuan Farm was getting, because its rapeseed Flower Sea had already gone viral online.

They had just been looking at Li Yuan Farm’s videos. The farm had only posted two so far. The first one already had 800,000 likes. The second, posted not long ago, was also trending and was already approaching 300,000 likes.

With just those two videos, their account had already gained 200,000 followers.

Crucially, these numbers were still climbing. By the time the Agriculture Bureau finished preparations for the live stream, it was guaranteed to attract a huge audience.

All they could say was that Boss Zhang of Li Yuan Farm was truly impressive.

Therefore, they were incredibly excited about the partnership with Li Yuan Farm and felt fortunate that the farm was giving their fruit this opportunity.

"Alright everyone, let’s get going. I’ll take you to meet Boss Zhang," Lin Mengxi said with a smile, beckoning to the farmers. She had to admit, they were surprisingly hip and understood all this internet stuff, which really saved her a lot of explaining.

At her signal, the group left the Agriculture Bureau and headed for Li Yuan Farm together.

When Lin Mengxi parked her car in the Li Yuan Farm lot and stepped out, she immediately noticed the farm was significantly more bustling than it had been that morning. As far as the eye could see, there were tourists coming and going in large numbers.

The fruit farmers also saw the streams of visitors. This scene alone was livelier than You City’s 4A-rated tourist attraction, and this was only the second day Li Yuan Farm had been open.

Considering Li Yuan Farm’s online hype, they knew the number of visitors was bound to increase at an explosive rate. Forget how much they could sell during the live stream; the farm itself would probably move a lot of produce and, at the very least, provide excellent publicity.

Seeing the bustling farm with their own eyes, they grew even more enthusiastic about the partnership.

Just then, they saw a young man on a mud-splattered scooter driving straight toward them.

’Looks like the rapeseed Flower Sea really is popular,’ they thought. ’This young guy came all the way out here by himself on a scooter.’

Lin Mengxi, however, recognized Zhang Lin and called out from a distance, "Boss Zhang, just getting back from some errands?"

Her words made the fruit farmers pause in surprise.

’This young man on the scooter is the owner of Li Yuan Farm?’

’He’s a bit different from what we imagined.’

’But the fact that he’s so young and has accomplished all this just proves how capable he is.’

Hearing Lin Mengxi call out, Zhang Lin rode his scooter over to them. "Miss Lin, you’re back already!"

He also saw the people behind her. ’They must be the fruit farmers,’ he thought.

Lin Mengxi immediately made the introductions. "Boss Zhang, these are the blueberry and Furong plum farmers. Director Wei asked me to bring them here to connect with your farm. They’ve brought a batch of Furong plums and blueberries with them."

The farmers immediately stepped forward, their voices warm and eager to please:

"Boss Zhang, we didn’t expect you to be so young and accomplished."

"That’s right, to have built something so impressive at your age."

"Boss Zhang, we’re counting on your farm for our Furong plums and blueberries."

"..."

After all, the success of their fruit now depended on his farm.

"Everyone, let’s take a look at your fruit!" Zhang Lin could understand the farmers’ enthusiasm. They were just trying to make a living, and that was never easy.

One of the farmers immediately led the way. "Boss Zhang, the fruit is in my truck. This batch is a gift for Li Yuan Farm."

When they reached his truck, they saw it was indeed loaded with crates of blueberries and Furong plums.

Zhang Lin hopped onto the truck bed to inspect the produce. The quality was excellent. He turned to the farmers and said, "Let’s get this fruit moved inside. We can put it on the sales stand for a trial run."

The farmer who had spoken immediately called out, "Everyone, let’s lend a hand and get this fruit inside."

While the farmers got to work, Zhang Lin got back on his scooter and offered Lin Mengxi a polite invitation. "Miss Lin, want a ride to the service center? It’ll save you some walking."

’Visitor vehicles had to stay in the parking lot, but as the boss, he had the privilege of riding his scooter on the grounds.’

"Then I’ll have to trouble you, Boss Zhang." Lin Mengxi didn’t seem to mind the mud caked on the scooter and hopped right on the back. After all, working for the Agriculture Bureau meant she was no stranger to a bit of dirt.

She wasn’t that delicate.

Zhang Lin started the scooter and rode to the area outside the service center.

Lin Mengxi saw that he was right—there were far more tourists than that morning. People were now lining up at the ticket checkpoint, and the service center was filled with resting visitors, some even heading into the restaurant.

’It was hard to believe this farm had only been open for two days. It was simply incredible.’

Zhang Lin parked the scooter, just as Mucheng, the ticket agent, hurried over. "Boss, you’re finally back! A situation has come up, and we need you to handle it right away."

As she spoke, she handed him a tablet connected to the ticketing system.

Zhang Lin took the tablet and frowned instinctively at what he saw on the screen. He had never imagined something like this would happen.

...