Chapter 237: You Despise Me?

Chapter 237: Chapter 237: You Despise Me?

The young man wasn’t confident either. This thing didn’t have a fixed market price to begin with; others had just egged him on to ask for more.

If the guy was willing to spend ten thousand bucks to buy it, it definitely meant its value was well over ten thousand!

He had initially aimed for two thousand, which already met his expectations. However, knowing that asking for an outrageous sum would invite fierce haggling, he tacked on another two thousand to cushion the inevitable fifty percent counteroffer.

"Have you watched the news? The Premier said that six hundred million people in the country earn less than a thousand a month. Do you know what the standard for a middle income is?"

The young man was taken aback. "I don’t know."

"Our country uses the World Bank standard, where an annual income of between over three thousand to over thirty thousand US dollars is considered middle income. Converted to our currency, a monthly income of over two thousand reaches the middle-income standard," Zhang Yun explained with a chuckle.

"Enough! I get that you’re educated. World Bank this, middle income that—beating around the bush just to say two thousand is too much, right? How much are you offering?"

The young man felt that Zhang Yun talking in circles was definitely setting a trap. Direct haggling was much more reliable.

"Do you remember what I said last time?" Zhang Yun asked in return.

"What did you say? How would I remember!"

Zhang Yun smiled. "This thing can’t be sold. If I spend money on it, I can only keep it for my own collection. If you want ten thousand, you have to bring out two."

"I already gave them to you!"

"I can make up the difference in cash for those two. But these didn’t come from your old family house. If you can still get your hands on more, I’ll keep buying them."

After Zhang Yun finished speaking, the other party fell silent for a moment before asking, "How much?"

"I’ll pay you an extra four thousand for the first two. The next new one will be seven thousand, the second eight thousand, the third nine thousand, and the fourth ten thousand. So on and so forth. Every additional piece adds another thousand to the price."

As soon as Zhang Yun finished speaking, he clearly heard the other party’s breathing grow heavy over the phone.

This was exactly why he had emphasized the low income of one thousand and the middle income of two thousand earlier! Merely mentioning a few thousand or ten thousand was just tossing out numbers; it lacked emotional impact.

Now that the concept was planted in his mind, an extra thousand equated to an entire extra month of income for the average person. The very same amount of money now held a completely different level of motivational power!

"Are you a man of your word?"

"To be honest, I’m not short on this bit of money. I’m just curious about how you managed to get them. If you can really gather a batch, I’ll accept it even if I can’t sell them. But you’ve seen the site; you know my level of professional expertise is far beyond what you guys can fathom..."

"I get it!" he interrupted Zhang Yun’s emphasis. "I, Song Tie, value loyalty and fairness! If you don’t scam me out of my money, I definitely won’t use fakes to screw you over either! Let me ask you one more time—everything you just said, does it count?"

"It counts!"

Transactions in the countryside weren’t that formal. What people wanted to see was money in one hand and goods in the other. If one actually insisted on signing contracts, they would instead be suspected of setting a trap.

"Deal! I’m getting out of bed right now to get this done for you! But let me make something clear upfront. I swear I won’t buy new ones to cheat you out of your money, but I don’t have your professional knowledge. If some worthless ones get mixed in, don’t assume I did it on purpose!"

"Alright! Originally, I thought you were a hot-headed young man who’d be hard to deal with. But listening to you now, you’re actually quite straightforward," Zhang Yun said with a polite laugh.

Song Tie was visibly pleased. "Of course! I’m just a straightforward guy. Actually, once you get to know me a bit, you’ll realize I’m very easy to get along with. Even though we’ve only met once, I’ll still be loyal to you! Since you didn’t haggle, it shows you’re an upfront boss."

"Haha, treat others as you want to be treated. As long as it’s not too outrageous and falls within my acceptable range, I can handle it."

"But there is one thing wrong with you..."

"Oh?"

"You act like an old geezer! Listen to what you just said." Song Tie mimicked Zhang Yun’s voice. "’I thought you were a hot-headed young man...’ Damn it! You’re around the same age as me, aren’t you? You sound just like my dad!"

"Haha, I didn’t even notice that myself," Zhang Yun chuckled.

"Wait for my call. I’ll try to get it done for you by this afternoon!"

"Alright!"

"You... uh, you’re surnamed Zhang from Tianxin Village, right? Boss Zhang, if you have time, you can come over first so it doesn’t get too late by the time I deliver them."

Having nothing else to do, Zhang Yun immediately agreed. "Sure, I can head over first. Tell me the place."

"Our village is called Ancient Tree Back. You can go to Under the Ancient Tree first. And I mean literally under that large ancient tree."

Zhang Yun was rendered speechless for a moment. Did he look like an idiot with more money than sense? Under the Ancient Tree obviously meant under a large ancient tree; did he really need to emphasize that?

After saying that, he hung up the phone. Song Tie had just woken up and needed to go eat.

Zhang Yun didn’t know where Ancient Tree Back was, so he opened his map app to search for it.

"Ancient Tree Back..." That was a town quite a distance away. No wonder he had never heard of it. The straight-line distance alone was twenty to thirty kilometers, and the route was full of small paths and mountain roads. No wonder Song Tie wasn’t too keen on delivering it himself.

"Under the Ancient Tree?"

When Zhang Yun zoomed in for a closer look, he immediately felt awkward.

Holy crap. Just before Ancient Tree Back, there was actually another village called Under the Ancient Tree...

The map didn’t mark the location of that large ancient tree, but judging from the positions of the two villages, Zhang Yun already had a rough idea.

According to the naming conventions of the older generation in the countryside, that large ancient tree should be on a hilltop. The village at the foot of the hill in front would be called Under the Ancient Tree. The village on the back side of the mountain past the ancient tree would be called Ancient Tree Back.

Zhang Yun checked the estimated time on the navigation route and got a general idea, so he was no longer in a hurry.

"Sir, looking to buy a car?"

The auto mall salesperson had originally come out to welcome him, but seeing Zhang Yun outside on the phone, she didn’t think much of it. Now that he had approached the door, she finally walked over to greet him.

"Just looking." It was Zhang Yun’s first time here, so he was somewhat nervous. But the thought of his bulging wallet put him at ease.

"What brand do you prefer? We are an agency for all brands..."

"BMW, I guess. I’ve tried it, and the handling is pretty decent," Zhang Yun replied casually. He had only ever driven Zhang Youcai’s BMW, so he was telling the absolute truth.

But to the salesperson’s ears, this just sounded like pretentious bragging!

The female salesperson couldn’t help but look Zhang Yun up and down. It wasn’t that she was intentionally looking down on him, but he was clearly just a young peasant from the countryside who had ridden over on a motorcycle. Opening his mouth with a "BMW is pretty decent"—did he really have to act so pompous?

"BMW, huh? We aren’t an agency for them..."

"What about Mercedes-Benz?"

"No."

"Audi?"

"No."

Both of them were utterly speechless.

"You don’t even have the most common BBA brands, let alone Porsche or anything else. You have absolutely nothing, yet you claim to be an agency for all brands," Zhang Yun couldn’t help but criticize.

The female salesperson lost her patience as well. "This place is for people to look at and buy cars, not for people to show off. Did you just list out every single luxury car brand you know?"

Zhang Yun frowned. "I think you’re looking down on me."

"You came running up to my face to act all arrogant. Who else can you blame? If you have money, go ahead and slap my face with it! As long as you casually buy any car here, I’ll take back what I just said, apologize to you, and pour you some tea!"

Although this place was billed as an auto mall, it was actually inferior to many single-brand dealerships. The two of them had walked inside while talking, and as their argument grew louder, it drew the attention of more people.

Zhang Yun was amused. He had only made a little bit of money, and he was already running into this kind of situation? This wasn’t just a classic trope from novels; even an episode of *Fast & Furious* opened with this exact cliché: the bald supporting character was looked down upon at an auto show, so he bought out every single sports car on the spot to slap them in the face!

However, Zhang Yun was not about to do such a thing. "Buy a car to slap your face? You look down on me, yet you want me to boost your sales and give you a commission? In your Chunqiu dreams!"