However much Manager Chen was making under the table each month wasn't Qin Lin's concern. Things like that happened all over the world.
Anyone who could sit in a position like his surely had connections within the RT-Mart system. Otherwise, how would he dare to take kickbacks at a nationwide retail chain?
Qin Lin was only there to sell watermelons. He'd achieved his goal, and that was enough.
Besides, it worked in his favor. Orders like this were usually settled individually: he submitted an invoice for each delivery and got paid right away, without having to wait for the money.
"Xiao Qin, how many watermelons do you have?" This was clearly Manager Chen's main concern.
Qin Lin explained, "Manager Chen, I have 800 ready for the first delivery, each weighing over ten pounds. I'll bring those over first, then deliver another 400 or so this evening. After that, I'll have at least 800 a day."
Manager Chen did a quick calculation in his head and seemed satisfied. Smiling broadly, he said, "All right. Bring me the invoice after each delivery, and I'll have accounting settle it separately."
"Sorry for the trouble, Manager Chen." After reaching an agreement with Manager Chen, Qin Lin left.
Manager Chen was in a good mood as he looked at the two watermelons Qin Lin had left behind. He had them cut open and shared among the employees outside.
Qin Lin returned to the warehouse. He hauled the remaining 422 watermelons to RT-Mart in two trips, where they were weighed and signed for.
They weighed 4,557 jin in total.
That evening, the watermelons in the game ripened again. Of this batch of seedless watermelons, 411 were Quality 1, and three were Quality 2.
Qin Lin planted the new seeds, then moved all 411 watermelons from the game into the warehouse outside. He delivered them to RT-Mart in two batches. This time, they weighed 4,471 jin. Added to the previous batch of 4,557 jin, that made 9,028 jin in total.
After delivering the watermelons, Qin Lin took the delivery slips and invoices to Manager Chen to settle the accounts. The money came through quickly.
"Your account ending in... Deposit amount: 10,899.60 yuan. Balance: 31,344.60 yuan."
Thanks to the watermelons he'd grown in the game over the past four days, his nearly empty bank account now had over 30,000 yuan in it.
And from now on, he could earn over 10,000 yuan a day.
Once his Game Character leveled up, he'd be able to develop more plots of land, and his daily income would climb even higher.
In high spirits, Qin Lin decided to do some shopping at RT-Mart before heading home.
But as he passed the fruit section and saw the watermelons on display, he couldn't help getting worked up.
"Special-quality watermelons, three yuan per jin!"
Ordinary watermelons were selling for two yuan per jin beside them. But he recognized the so-called special-quality watermelons at a glance. They were the exact ones he'd delivered!
Manager Chen must have known that every one of Qin Lin's watermelons was better than an ordinary one. That was why he dared to charge so much.
What a rip-off!
That was seriously shameless!
At that price, the profit was practically as much as Qin Lin made, and his cost was zero.
It really was a world where whoever controlled the distribution channels came out on top. RT-Mart had the means to sell at that price, and Qin Lin couldn't begrudge them. He stopped looking and headed to another section.
When he got home, he received another alert in his mind about bugs and weeds. He immediately controlled his Game Character and cleared them away.
The next day.
Qin Lin got up early. The watermelons had ripened again, and the shop owners had already messaged him to order wholesale watermelons.
They'd clearly gotten into the habit of buying their watermelons from him.
He went to the warehouse and moved the ripe watermelons out of the game.
This time, there were no Quality 2 watermelons, only 428 Quality 1 ones.
He filmed them and posted the video in the group chat. When no new orders came in, he tallied everything up. The shops had ordered about as much as they had the day before: 408 watermelons in total. After delivery and weighing, they came to 4,732 jin, earning him 7,099 yuan.
That evening, the watermelons ripened again. He sent them to RT-Mart. They weighed 4,970 jin, bringing in 5,964 yuan.
He'd earned another 13,063 yuan that day, bringing his balance to 46,409 yuan.
After delivering the watermelons to RT-Mart, Qin Lin headed to the Administration for Industry and Commerce. His shop only had the permits required for a sole proprietorship. Since he was now selling watermelons wholesale, he figured he needed a fruit wholesale license. Otherwise, any trouble could become a huge headache.
But after spending ages filling out forms at the office, he was told that he didn't need a wholesale license for his situation.
Only then did Qin Lin realize how little he knew.
It turned out that under Article 35 of the relevant food regulations, fruit growers who directly sold a single type of fruit wholesale didn't need a wholesale license if their operations hadn't reached a certain scale.
As soon as Qin Lin got home after leaving the office, an unexpected alert appeared in his mind:
[Game Character level increased. New land can be developed! Level 2 land upgrade permissions unlocked. 6 plots of land can be upgraded!]
Qin Lin's eyes lit up, and he immediately looked at the game screen in his mind.
Sure enough, six more plots of land had lit up, indicating that they could be developed.
A marker showing how many plots could be upgraded had also appeared on the screen, with a counter reading 0/6.
That meant he could now unlock six more plots of land and upgrade six beginner plots to Level 2.
Without a moment's hesitation, Qin Lin controlled his Game Character to pick up a sickle, an axe, and the other tools. He cleared the weeds, stones, and branches from the six plots, then tilled them with a hoe and planted watermelon seeds right away.
He didn't plan to sell the watermelons from these six plots in the real world. He needed in-game coins to upgrade the land to Level 2.
Besides, once he had Level 2 land, he could grow other, more expensive crops.
The watermelons from six plots ripened twice a day. In two days, that would be enough to upgrade one plot of land.
That meant he could finish upgrading all six plots of Level 2 land in twelve days.
Over the next two days, the original 24 plots of land brought Qin Lin another 26,123 yuan, raising his bank balance to 72,532 yuan.
He sold all the watermelons from the newly opened six plots in the game and unlocked one Level 2 plot.
As soon as the first plot had been upgraded to Level 2, Qin Lin immediately controlled his Game Character to leave the ranch and visit the seed shop in Mineral Town.
The seed shop had a dizzying variety of seeds, including crops found in the real world and even ones that didn't exist in reality.
The land level required for each seed was listed beside it. Seeds were only unlocked when the land met the required level. Anything beyond his current level was grayed out and unavailable.
Qin Lin immediately searched through the many Level 2 seeds. There were vegetables, fruits, and seedlings for all kinds of ornamental flowers.
He went straight to the fruit category. Many of the fruits were far more valuable than watermelons.
But most of them were seedlings, or came with other issues that made them difficult to grow discreetly. He dismissed them all.
In the end, he found a Level 2 fruit seed that suited his current circumstances perfectly.
It was red strawberries.
Qin Lin searched online. It wasn't strawberry season anymore, meaning red strawberries were now out of season. Ordinary red strawberries were selling for 15 to 25 yuan per jin.
Special varieties like cream strawberries went for at least 50 yuan per jin, but none of those varieties could be grown on Level 2 land.
After seeing the price of ordinary red strawberries, Qin Lin immediately headed to the designated seed supplier in You City.
It was the same woman as before, and she still remembered him. "Young man, what seeds do you need this time?"
"Do you have red strawberry seeds?"
The saleswoman eagerly replied, "We do, we do. Red strawberry seeds are 45 yuan per liang!"
Qin Lin bought strawberry seeds again, paid, and went home. He went straight into the game and put them in the seed storage box.
Back in the real world, Qin Lin looked at the game screen. Sure enough, strawberry seeds had appeared in the seed storage box.
He immediately planted them in the Level 2 plot.
That night.
After watering the crops and clearing away weeds and pests, he went to bed, full of anticipation.
The next morning, he looked at the game screen in his mind. Among the sea of green watermelons, one plot of red-and-green strawberries stood out.
Qin Lin entered the game at once and went to the plot where he'd planted them. On the screen, it had looked like just a small square, but here in the game, the whole stretch of red and green was invigorating.
When he'd been dating Zhao Moqing, they'd often gone strawberry picking at a farm. It wasn't really about saving money. Couples just liked that kind of atmosphere.
Qin Lin picked a few strawberries. They were plump and bright red, absolutely mouthwatering.
He also saw the item information:
[Red Strawberries: Quality 1] [Note: Though these aren't a special variety, they're a product of the game and taste excellent. The best of their kind. Deliciousness +1, sweetness +1, texture +1.]
Just like the watermelons, the game-grown strawberries had the attributes Deliciousness, Sweetness, and Texture +1.
That was what the note said, but Qin Lin preferred to judge things for himself. He popped a strawberry into his mouth and took a bite.
Juice immediately filled his mouth. The strawberry was tender and juicy, with an enticing sweetness and a fragrant aroma.
One word: delicious!
Two words: absolutely delicious!
If ordinary strawberries sold for 15 to 25 yuan per jin, then these game-grown ones could definitely fetch more than 25 yuan per jin—perhaps much more.
Back in the real world, Qin Lin controlled his Game Character to harvest the crops, collecting all the ripe watermelons and strawberries into the storage box.
This time, in addition to the watermelons, the plot of red strawberries yielded 50 jin. But he chose to sell the strawberries in the game so he could upgrade the five remaining plots of Level 2 land first.
Since he'd begun selling strawberries in the game, it took much less time to upgrade all six plots to Level 2. He finished in seven days.
During those seven days, Qin Lin made another 94,211 yuan wholesaling watermelons, bringing his bank balance to 166,743 yuan.
He'd made over 160,000 yuan in thirteen days. He'd never dared to imagine earning that much before.
Now all six plots of Level 2 land had been upgraded. His income would take another big leap from here.
Before you continue