Qin Lin took the okra, yams, and broccoli out of the game, loaded them onto the truck, and drove them to the manor.
The strawberries and watermelons would have to wait for the next trip. The beat-up three-wheeler couldn't carry that much.
He thought it was time to buy a small truck with blue plates. A regular Class C1 driver's license was enough to drive one.
The license he'd gotten during college, when Zhao Moqing had dragged him along to take advantage of a driving school promotion, could finally come in handy.
Back then, because of his family's circumstances, Zhao Moqing had even paid for his lessons. He'd felt like a kept man, but honestly, it had been great.
When he arrived at the manor, he saw baskets of fruit and aquariums full of seafood already set out in front of the main hall.
Lin Chong and Wang Wei had already delivered their goods. As soon as they saw him, they came over.
"President Qin, you're here. We were just waiting for you to inspect everything."
"President Qin, take a look. Everything's guaranteed fresh!"
Qin Lin nodded and went over to inspect the fruit and seafood they'd brought.
Neither of them had tried to pass off anything shoddy.
The fruit and seafood all looked good.
He called Chen Dabe over to have his men carry everything to the scales and tally up the quantities.
The contract he'd signed with the two of them called for weekly payments, so he'd settle the bill with them once a week.
After everything was weighed, the two men chatted with Qin Lin for a while before taking their leave. They were still busy at the market, so this time they'd come in person, but from now on they'd have their employees make the deliveries.
Qin Lin went to the computer and entered the quantities of the wholesale goods.
On the first day, they'd ordered 100 pounds of each of more than a dozen kinds of fruit. They'd also ordered 30 pounds apiece of seafood such as crabs and prawns. There were larger quantities of the common varieties of fish—black carp, grass carp, and crucian carp—which added up to more than 100 pounds.
They'd adjust the quantities later based on how much the manor used.
He wasn't worried they'd fail to sell everything. They'd had more than 600 visitors the day before, and people who came to have fun would usually buy some fruit.
Besides, plenty of people had dined there yesterday. People who came for the manor's buffet wouldn't be stingy when caught up in the atmosphere. With only 30 pounds of each kind of seafood, they didn't need to worry about failing to sell it all.
The only profit on these wholesale goods came from the markup, so they wouldn't earn as much as they did from the cost-free goods produced by the game. Still, they'd make some money, and it would serve as a useful supplement.
The wholesale goods also helped him better disguise the things he took out of the game.
"Chen Dabe, take those fish to the pond," Qin Lin instructed, then turned to Gao Yaoyao. "Gao Yaoyao, get some staff to put the goods on display. I'll give you the prices in a bit, and you can post them."
Some display racks had already been set up outside the main hall, covered by large, simple canopies. They didn't have better facilities yet, so they'd have to make do until the dedicated sales center was built.
"Sure thing, Boss!" Gao Yaoyao replied sweetly, then got busy with the staff.
Chen Dabe also led two security guards toward the pond with the fish.
Looking at the wholesale figures he'd recorded, Qin Lin suddenly had an idea. If he couldn't talk his mother out of it, he could ask her to record the wholesale quantities each day. The system software would calculate everything automatically, so she wouldn't have to think hard—just enter the numbers.
She could treat her other time at the manor as a chance to recuperate. She could take Wangcai for walks when she had nothing else to do. The lively atmosphere would lift her spirits, which would also be good for her health.
Gao Yaoyao and the staff soon had all the fruit and seafood on display. Before long, visitors began arriving, and the manor started to bustle.
As noon approached,
a Maybach 62S drove back into the manor's parking lot. Chen Dabe, who was on patrol, spotted it and immediately went over to guide it into a parking space.
Chen Shengfei got out with a square-jawed man.
The moment the man stepped out, he frowned. "Old Chen, you've got some unusual taste. Why bring me to a place like this?"
He was clearly disappointed.
Even the parking lot was still muddy. It looked so low-class.
If he and Chen Shengfei hadn't been close for years, he would've thought Chen Shengfei was brushing him off.
Chen Shengfei could tell what the man was thinking. He smiled. "Old Ma, don't be fooled by appearances. We've worked together for years. Would I really brush you off?"
Only then did Old Ma nod and follow Chen Shengfei toward the manor.
Seeing them, Chen Dabe immediately went to fetch two warning signs and placed them around the car.
They couldn't afford to let anyone bump into it. Otherwise, the visitors would be in trouble, and so would the manor.
Following Chen Shengfei, Old Ma walked up to the reception hall. He was even more disappointed. "Old Chen, the facilities seem a bit outdated."
It was clearly a manor, and at a glance, it looked like the sort of small operation with a limited budget. It didn't even meet the standard of a proper leisure resort.
He usually visited top-tier vacation resorts of this kind, so this place made him uncomfortable.
If Chen Shengfei hadn't brought him, he'd have turned around and left.
"Old Ma, I told you not to judge by appearances. You can get huge wild fish here—wild crucian carp weighing over ten pounds and wild grass carp weighing over thirty. They'll definitely whet your appetite." As he spoke, Chen Shengfei entered the hall and headed for the display tank.
"Old Chen, are you kidding me?" Old Ma was clearly taken aback.
He knew wild crucian carp and wild grass carp well, and he'd eaten plenty of them. Most weighed around two pounds. The biggest he'd ever had was a five-pound wild crucian carp at Baixiang Pavilion, and the owner had bragged about it as the king of crucian carp.
Now Chen Shengfei was telling him there were wild crucian carp weighing over ten pounds here?
As he thought about it, Old Ma followed him to the tank. He stopped short, staring at the enormous fish inside in disbelief.
"Damn... these are all wild?" Old Ma couldn't believe his eyes. What was he looking at?
There weren't just ten-pound crucian carp. The other two kinds of fish looked like they weighed twenty or thirty pounds, too.
Then he checked the prices. They were listed at just 250, 280, and 300 yuan per pound, respectively.
Chen Shengfei smiled. "They really are wild. There's a big difference between them and farm-raised fish. And that's not all this place has to offer."
With that, Chen Shengfei headed toward the display racks with a knowing smile, as if searching for something. But he couldn't find the okra he wanted—the kind that cost 400 yuan per pound.
That was why he'd brought Old Ma here.
"Mr. Chen, welcome back!" Qin Lin came out, recognized Chen Shengfei, and immediately went over to greet him.
Chen Shengfei's face lit up when he saw Qin Lin. "Boss Qin, I've brought a friend to support your business. This is Old Ma."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Ma." Qin Lin politely shook Old Ma's hand.
"Ma Liewen," President Ma introduced himself, then asked, "Boss Qin, these fish of yours are impressive. I've never seen so many huge ones before."
"Boss Qin, get us a fish!" Chen Shengfei said. Then, with an odd look on his face, he pulled Qin Lin aside and lowered his voice. "Boss Qin, why don't you have that okra that used to cost 400 yuan per pound? Old Ma's a good friend of mine, and I brought him here especially. His wife's more than ten years younger than him."
Qin Lin immediately gave him a knowing look. "I understand, Mr. Chen. I have two other things that work well, too. Would you like to try those as well? They're the same price!"
His wife was more than ten years younger—he needed a boost, right?
There wasn't much Quality 2 okra, yam, or broccoli, so Qin Lin wasn't planning to put them on display. Those were the sort of things he'd keep for himself from now on. He could leave them in the game's storage room, where they wouldn't spoil anyway.
They were the kind of things to bring out only when the occasion called for them.
He'd only put out the Quality 1 goods for sale.
"Sorry for the trouble, Boss Qin." Chen Shengfei nodded. "Oh, and cut open a watermelon with that special quality, and bring us two pounds of strawberries as well. We'll whet our appetites first."
"Then find yourselves a seat, Mr. Chen." Qin Lin said that, then went inside to make arrangements.
Chen Shengfei walked over to a nearby table and sat down with Ma Liewen.
"Old Chen, I didn't expect a place like this to have such huge fish. At least the trip wasn't wasted." Ma Liewen's attitude had clearly improved.
Chen Shengfei laughed. "Old Ma, once you've tried the fish, you'll find it even more delicious than you imagined. And I told you the fish aren't the only good thing here. This time, you'll enjoy yourself so much you won't want to leave, and you'll never care about how the manor looks again."
"Is it really that good?" Ma Liewen asked, astonished.
Even if the wild fish were huge, he'd eaten too many delicacies to count. After trying something once, the novelty usually wore off the second time. There were very few dishes he'd call so good that he'd never want to leave.
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