Chapter 25: Fellow Daoist, Do You Want Seeds?
Chapter 25: Chapter 25: Fellow Daoist, Do You Want Seeds?
"Fellow Cultivator, are you here to sell... is it you?"
In this line of business, one relied heavily on the ability to read and remember people. Even if they had only met once, one had to retain a general impression. By taking the initiative to be friendly and familiar during future encounters, a long-term business relationship would naturally form over time.
Mei Hua was the shop assistant at Yi Er San Grain Station, primarily responsible for soliciting customers, negotiating prices, weighing grain, and selling grain.
"You remember me?" Chen Mo was somewhat surprised. He hadn’t expected the man to remember him from a single brief encounter.
"Last year, you brought 800 catties but only sold 200 catties to us!" Mei Hua paid close attention to Spirit Plant Cultivators with high potential. "Didn’t we make a verbal agreement? I waited for over a month and didn’t see you come... I was just thinking about it, and here you are!"
"I had some matters to attend to. I was delayed for a few days," Chen Mo replied.
Looking at the stacks of grain sacks on the handcart, Mei Hua asked, "How many catties are you selling us this year?"
"How are the grain prices?" Chen Mo asked in return.
"I won’t play games with you." The grain harvesting season had already passed, so there was no need to hide anything or worry about other Spirit Plant Cultivators overhearing. "From now on, whenever you come, our Yi Er San Grain Station will buy from you at a ten-to-one ratio! How about that?"
Chen Mo nodded slightly. He knew the chances of haggling over the grain purchasing price were slim. "That works."
"How many catties are you selling?"
"I’m selling it all to you. Weigh it."
"All of it? You’re selling it all to us?" Mei Hua was very surprised. "Don’t you have to pay the introduction fee?"
"It’s already paid."
"HISS!" Mei Hua drew a sharp breath. The grain on this cart looked to be around 600 catties. Factoring in the ten-percent introduction fee and the fifty-percent grain tax, did that mean this much grain only accounted for forty percent of his total harvest? Calculating it, that meant the man must have brought in a harvest of around 1,500 catties! Didn’t that mean he had to own eight or nine mu of Spirit Fields?
That was practically half a tycoon!
Chen Mo didn’t expect the other party to have such a huge reaction. Fortunately, he hadn’t brought all 1,000-plus catties in one trip, or who knew what kind of wild speculations it would have triggered. "It was a bumper harvest this year."
"Please wait a moment. I’ll go weigh the grain for you."
Mei Hua was overjoyed. In the past, it was considered good if a Spirit Plant Cultivator sold them a few dozen catties. He never expected this man to sell them all 600-plus catties at once!
The staff at Yi Er San Grain Station worked with great agility. After confirming the grain had no issues, they began weighing it.
catties.
They rounded it up to 620 and directly brought out a pouch containing 62 taels of Spiritual Sand. It was swift and decisive, prioritizing sheer efficiency.
Chen Mo took the Spiritual Sand and nodded in satisfaction. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, the shop assistant behind him called out.
"Fellow Cultivator, please hold your steps!"
Chen Mo’s expression stiffened. He turned his head in slight dissatisfaction. "That is not a very auspicious phrase!"
"Ah?" Mei Hua naturally didn’t know the context and looked at him in bewilderment.
"Speak. What is it?"
The other party first glanced around. After confirming no one was nearby, he pulled Chen Mo to the corner of the room.
"What’s the matter?"
"Fellow Cultivator, do you need seeds?"
Why did this feel like a sales pitch? Instead of immediately refusing, Chen Mo asked back, "You have them here?"
"We have a few." Mei Hua didn’t dare to speak too loudly, nor did he dare to over-promise. After all, this was Niu’s Shop’s monopoly. Rashly poaching their clients and cutting off their revenue stream would inevitably incur the Pavilion Master’s displeasure.
"How are you selling them?"
"Eight taels per catty!"
"That’s so expensive! Niu’s Shop only charges five taels per catty!"
"Shh!" Mei Hua made a shushing gesture. "The situation is different this year! It seems you haven’t talked to Niu’s Shop about seeds yet."
"How do you know?" Chen Mo began to fish for information.
"This year, they directly doubled the price of seeds!"
"What? How is that possible!"
"They are selling seeds for ten taels a catty, and we are selling for eight taels. How about it? Do you want to consider buying from us?"
"Do you also buy seeds here?" Chen Mo suddenly asked in return.
This question stunned the other party. Weren’t they talking about buying seeds? Why was he suddenly asking about selling seeds? Mei Hua nodded blankly.
It was true that they had one or two Breeders, but their seed yield rates were merely average, producing roughly 60 to 70 catties. In previous years, when Niu’s Shop sold seeds at a fifty-to-one ratio, they absolutely wouldn’t have undercut the price to do this business. But this year, an opportunity arose. Niu’s Shop, believing they were the sole big establishment, directly doubled their seed prices. Meanwhile, to capture a group of Spirit Plant Cultivators who needed seeds, Yi Er San Grain Station decided to buy seeds at eight taels a catty and sell them at the exact same price of eight taels a catty!
It was purely taking a loss just to drum up business!
Of course, it couldn’t be considered a complete loss. As long as there was a continuous demand for seeds, the Breeders cooperating with them could constantly cultivate the Qi Crossing Technique. Over time, once their proficiency in that Magic improved, their seed yield rate would greatly increase!
"Then, if I have seeds in the future, can I sell them to you?"
"Yes... that’s how it works." Mei Hua suddenly realized the implication. "You’re a Breeder?!"
"It’s a secret!" Chen Mo replied with a smile. He needed to lay the groundwork now so that it wouldn’t seem too shocking when the time came. It was better to keep things a bit mysterious.
"What is your seed yield rate?"
"Secret. I’ll come find you when I have seeds!"
With that said, Chen Mo didn’t waste any more time. He walked straight out of the grain station under the other party’s dumbfounded gaze.
"Are Breeders this common nowadays?" Mei Hua muttered.
Another 62 taels of Spiritual Sand had been deposited into his account. Combined with the five taels remaining from yesterday, Chen Mo now possessed a considerable amount of wealth.
As he passed by Fragrance Pavilion, the glamorous Cultivator wearing a tube top leaned towards him once again. "Fellow Cultivator, would you like to come in and relax a bit?"
"Does it cost money?" Chen Mo asked back.
HMM?
It was her first time hearing someone ask if it cost money! Fragrance Pavilion was a famous money-sink. If it didn’t cost money, what else would it cost?
"It... it does."
"If it costs money, I can’t afford it." Chen Mo waved his hand and walked away. He would only consider it if it was completely free. If it cost money, then it was out of the question!
Heading north, Chen Mo came to a halt when he passed by a street stall. He suddenly thought of Wang Lixia, recalling the words she had said: "When you have money, you must buy a copy of the Geng Metal Finger."
She was already dead, making that sentence her dying piece of advice. The words of an old timer who had farmed the land for decades were worth heeding!
Chen Mo searched for a while and finally found the small street vendor selling Magic manuals.
"Fellow Cultivator, looking to buy some Magic? All my manuals are transcribed from the Cyan Yang Sect. Honest prices for everyone, absolute genuine goods."
What was the difference between genuine and fake? It simply meant the person who copied it was different.
Chen Mo casually flipped through the wares and found the copy of Geng Metal Finger pressed at the bottom. "Genuine or fake?"
"Of course it’s genuine! I, Old Wu, never sell fake goods!"
Chen Mo flipped through it. After reading it once, a translucent line of text indeed appeared on his Magic interface:
[Geng Metal Finger (Pre-entry-level): 0/50]
Judging from this, the Magic manual had to be genuine.
"How much?"
"Ten taels!"
"Two taels of Spiritual Sand. Deal or no deal?"