Chapter 33: A Victorious First Battle!

Upon arriving at the fruit section, the four of them—Jiang Tao and his companions—pretended not to know each other. They each found an empty spot and parked their trucks.

Hardly had they parked when a market administrator, identified by the red armband on his sleeve, stopped beside Jiang Tao’s vehicle.

"How much for the day, boss?"

Jiang Tao stepped out of the cab, greeting the administrator with a smile while handing him a cigarette.

"Twenty for the day. WeChat or Alipay?"

The administrator was a thin, white-haired man, looking to be in his sixties.

"Alipay, please."

Jiang Tao pulled out his phone, scanned the man’s QR code with a beep, and paid the twenty-yuan stall fee. "By the way, sir, if I sell out and have to go back for more stock, I won't have to pay again, right?"

"Twenty yuan covers you for the whole day. We don't charge double. We’re an organized, disciplined, professional unit; we don't mess around with fees." The old man gave Jiang Tao a look that said he had nothing to worry about.

"Got it! Carry on, then!" Jiang Tao smiled and turned back to the cab to grab his loudspeaker.

"Hey, boss, how much for these mandarin oranges?"

Before Jiang Tao could even turn on the broadcast, a middle-aged woman in a green down jacket, sporting a perm and holding a bunch of scallions, stopped in front of the truck to ask the price.

Jiang Tao stood his ground and replied with a grin, "Ten yuan a jin. A crate is exactly ten jin for a hundred yuan."

"How much? Ten yuan? Young man, that's way too expensive! It was only five yuan a jin at the market the day before yesterday! It’s only been two days; how did it jump straight to ten?" The woman’s eyes widened in shock.

Jiang Tao explained patiently, "Ma'am, you don't know the situation. There’s a blizzard in Guangxi, and the mandarins can't get out. We’re already paying over eight yuan a jin at the wholesale market! Selling them to you for ten is really not overcharging; if you don't believe me, go ask around elsewhere."

"Ten yuan is just too much! Forget it, I'm not buying." The woman muttered, shaking her head as she walked toward Liu Zhiyuan, who was parked closest to Jiang Tao.

Although the first sale didn't go through, Jiang Tao wasn't discouraged. He switched on his loudspeaker and began his pitch.

"Mandarin oranges! Sweet and tangy mandarin oranges! Authentic Guangxi mandarins, ten yuan a jin!"

The hypnotic sound of the broadcast looped, drawing sidelong glances from the nearby apple and banana vendors. It was the first time they had ever seen mandarins priced at ten yuan a jin.

Jiang Tao lit a cigarette and watched the woman who had walked away from his stall. She stood in front of Liu Zhiyuan’s stall for a good half-minute, then moved on to Shan Yufei. She lingered there for another dozen seconds before finally heading toward Zhang Chao.

After checking repeatedly, the woman finally confirmed—beyond any doubt—that the price of mandarins had indeed gone up. Before leaving home, her granddaughter had specifically asked for them, and she knew the girl would be upset if she didn't bring any back.

In the end, the woman had to compromise with the market, exchanging a crisp hundred-yuan bill for a ten-jin crate of mandarins. Among the four, Zhang Chao became the first to make a sale.

With the loudspeaker doing the work, they were spared the trouble of haggling. Jiang Tao adopted a "straight-hook fishing" approach: those who wanted them would take the bait.

"Boss, why are these mandarins so expensive all of a sudden? They were five yuan a jin at the last market!"

"Ma'am, the roads in Guangxi are blocked by heavy snow, and the supply is cut off. Our wholesale cost is already over eight yuan. We don't want to sell them this high either, but we have no choice!"

The lady in front of Jiang Tao had walked over from Zhang Chao’s direction, asking the price all the way, and finally had to yield to the market, spending two hundred yuan to buy two crates before leaving.

Initially, Jiang Tao had worried that raising the price would hurt business. After all, consumers usually need time to adjust to such a sudden price surge. However, the results far exceeded his expectations.

He had brought a truckload of 300 crates, and by noon, they were completely sold out. In just one morning, he had brought in over 30,000 yuan. This situation left Jiang Tao somewhat puzzled—it seemed to defy the usual market laws.

"Forget it, why bother thinking about it? The faster and the more I sell, the better it is for me! Regardless of the reason, the right thing to do is to get back and load up another truck!"

Jiang Tao stopped trying to figure it out, jumped into his cab, and headed back to Xiaoshahe to restock.

*Ding-dong!*

As soon as he started the truck, he received a WeChat message from Liu Zhiyuan.

[Brother Jiang! We're on the news! Look, these mandarins are trending!]

Jiang Tao opened Weibo and took a look. There was indeed a trending topic about mandarin oranges, and it was quite high on the list. The eighth item on the day's hot search list was: "Citywide Search for Mandarin Oranges!"

When he clicked into it, it was indeed a report on the price trend of mandarins. It wasn't just them; prices had doubled in all the major supermarkets across the capital. Every fruit shop, market, and wholesaler was seeing price hikes and severe shortages.

Seeing this, the smile on Jiang Tao’s face became impossible to suppress. He calmed himself down, sent a message to Liu Zhiyuan and the others in their private WeChat group, and set off to restock.

He grabbed a quick lunch and packed portions of fried meat pancakes and pig's head meat for the other three. Once fed and satisfied, it was back to work.

By 2:00 PM, Liu Zhiyuan and Zhang Chao had sold out their first truck and returned with a second. At 2:30 PM, Shan Yufei sold out. By 4:30 PM, Jiang Tao finished his second load and went back for a third.

They worked busily until 6:30 PM. As the sun set and the crowds at the Shahe market dispersed, they finally called it a day. It was about 7:30 PM by the time they returned to Xiaoshahe.

Jiang Tao invited Liu Zhiyuan and the others to a decent restaurant in the urban village. Today’s opening battle had been a success, a great start. As the largest shareholder and the biggest beneficiary of the project, Jiang Tao was happy to treat the guys to a good meal.

Stewed chicken with mushrooms, boiled sliced meat, braised pork knuckle, pickled cabbage fish, roast duck—the small table was covered with hearty dishes.

"You guys worked hard today. Eat up, drink up, and get a good rest tonight. We'll keep at it tomorrow!"

"Let's make a killing before the end of the year so we can all have a prosperous holiday!"

"Come on, let's toast."

"Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

Liu Zhiyuan and Shan Yufei wore equally radiant smiles. Only Zhang Chao’s smile held a hint of bitterness. What a turn of events! All the brothers were making money, but he had been left behind. But he couldn't blame anyone else; Brother Jiang had given him the opportunity, and he hadn't seized it.