"We've made so much money. Let's have a nice dinner tonight."
Seeing that no one else was contacting him for the time being, Lin Ze decided to treat himself.
Back in Big Stone Village, even if he'd made money and wanted to treat himself to a nice meal, he'd still have to cook it himself.
But now, in a big city like Tiannan City, there was no need to go to all that trouble.
Lin Ze called one of Tiannan City's top restaurants that offered off-site dining. A chef soon arrived at the villa where he was staying, bringing ingredients and cookware, and prepared a lavish beef feast for him on the spot.
Watching the middle-aged chef in a white uniform, with a stern face and a round build, cook with smooth, flowing movements was a pleasure in itself.
And eating the delicious dishes the chef had made was an even greater pleasure.
Dinner, including the ingredients and the chef's service fee, cost a total of 16,000 yuan. But Lin Ze felt the top-notch cooking and ingredients were well worth the price.
After dinner, he felt refreshed in both body and mind.
It also eased much of the fatigue from a long, busy day.
After washing up and resting for a little while, it was time for bed.
Before falling asleep, Lin Ze lay in bed, gazing at the ceiling as he reviewed the day's events in his mind.
I've settled on An Ye as my distributor in the Other World. If things go smoothly between us, I'll be able to get a steady supply of matsutake from there. When that happens, I'll have to measure the matsutake I sell in the Main World by the ton.
If I keep selling them the way I do now, it'll be far too inefficient. And with such a huge volume, I won't be able to easily hide where they come from.
Once I've sold this batch of matsutake, I'll have over ten million yuan in funds. That should be enough to get me started.
First, I'll hire a customer service representative to communicate with buyers, then an employee to handle shipping. I'll also need a few employees to buy matsutake in the Main World, and another to sort the matsutake I bring back from the Other World.
Next, I might need to set up a trading company to help me turn the goods I buy in the Other World into cash. With a trading company purchasing and shipping large quantities of supplies, as well as a warehouse of my own, I'll be able to hide the source of my goods much more easily.
As Lin Ze thought through the matsutake business spanning the two worlds, he soon drifted off to sleep.
As for the Centennial Ginseng, Lin Ze had no plans to sell it for the time being.
First, it was extremely rare. If he sold it now, he might not be able to find another one next time.
If he learned peerless martial arts in the Other World someday, a Heavenly Material Earthly Treasure like hundred-year-old ginseng might come in handy.
Second, Lin Ze didn't yet have a safe way to sell hundred-year-old ginseng. After all, wild ginseng that old wasn't something just anyone could harvest and sell these days.
The next day, Lin Ze woke from his sleep.
After washing up, he started his morning workout and ate breakfast.
After that, he got to work, selling the matsutake he'd brought back from the Other World.
Lin Ze had thought he'd have to spend several more days working nonstop to sell all the matsutake he'd brought back from the Other World.
But things often didn't go as expected.
"Hello, how much matsutake do you still have? I'd like to buy all of it. If you have other sources of matsutake later on, you can sell all of that to me as well."
A buyer with the nickname Green Curtain Mountain messaged Lin Ze on Flying Bear Chat.
The buyer had purchased matsutake from Lin Ze before.
But he'd seemed rather stingy, buying only two taels, and even splitting them between two grades.
He was less like a buyer than a reporter who'd come to ask around about prices.
"Huh? Are you sure? The amount I can source is measured in tons."
Lin Ze replied in surprise.
Even at an average price of 4,500 yuan per jin, a ton of dried matsutake would cost more than nine million yuan.
Given how stingy the other man had been over two taels of matsutake, even splitting them into two grades, did he really have enough money to buy it by the ton?
Faced with Lin Ze's obvious skepticism, the other man fell silent for a moment, then typed, "The two taels of matsutake I bought from you recently have arrived. After cooking and tasting them myself, I found that your matsutake is both high-quality and reasonably priced."
"My name is Mu Qingshan. I run Qingshan Import and Export Trading Company. You can look up my company information and shareholder structure online. We're in the import-export business in Jiangzhou City."
"So I was thinking of sourcing goods from you and selling them to other countries in the East Continent Archipelago. They'd definitely sell well."
"If you're unsure of what I can do, we can arrange a time and place to meet and discuss things in person."
Hearing how certain the other man sounded, Lin Ze was somewhat convinced.
But he was cautious by nature, so he wasn't going to believe everything the other man said.
So he typed back, "We're both busy, so there's no need to meet. I still have about 468 jin of dried matsutake on hand, in various grades. If you want them, you can place an order directly through my online store, and I'll ship them as soon as possible."
"Also, in a week, I'll have about three tons of dried matsutake slices ready. If you're interested, you can come to Tiannan City to make the deal. No credit; we'll sign a contract in person and exchange the goods for payment on the spot."
A week earlier, Lin Ze had bought matsutake in Clear River Township.
After that, the villagers of Clear River Township had been roused to gather matsutake. So, after deducting the amount Lin Ze had bought and brought back, there were about two tons left on the market.
Over the next few days, the villagers of Clear River Township would keep gathering matsutake. The three tons Lin Ze mentioned was only a fairly conservative estimate.
With those words, he was using the stock he had on hand to test whether Green Curtain Mountain really wanted to buy matsutake for export and profit.
If the other man promptly cleared out Lin Ze's four-hundred-plus jin of stock, then once Lin Ze brought back the next batch, he could simply sell it all to Green Curtain Mountain in a bundle at a slightly discounted price.
If the other man was just boasting and trying to trick him, Lin Ze wouldn't lose anything. He could just list the batch in his online store and sell it slowly.
Green Curtain Mountain could tell that Lin Ze didn't trust him very much, but he wasn't particularly angry.
After all, they'd never met. It was only natural to be suspicious.
He genuinely wanted to work with Lin Ze and make money by buying goods from him. They only needed to complete one deal to build real trust.
"Okay. I'll wait to hear from you."
"Once your goods are ready, please contact me right away. I'm going to place an order now and clear out all the matsutake in your store."
Green Curtain Mountain typed.
"Here's a link to claim a 5% discount coupon."
Lin Ze didn't say much more. He simply sent over a coupon for his online store to show where he stood.
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