Selling Water Caltrops Like a Slacker (Bonus Chapter)

Li Wenchuan charged around with his chicken, making the scene wildly exciting.

"Over here!"

"Quick, bite it!"

"Will it eat frogs?"

"Coo Coo is amazing!"

Before long, their little boat was piled full of fresh water caltrops. They had not gathered as many or as quickly as the professionals, but it was still pretty good.

After they finished, Uncle Zhang gave each of them ten yuan for their work and a large bag of fresh water caltrops as thanks.

They felt they had not really done much and tried to refuse, but Uncle Zhang stuffed the money directly into Su Mingwei's hands. It was like giving red envelopes during the holidays—if you handed one to an adult, they would definitely push it back and forth, but slipping it into a child's clothes saved a lot of trouble.

"It's nothing. They're all homegrown, not worth much anyway. Besides, the market's bad this year. More than half of them might not sell." Uncle Zhang's face darkened with worry as he spoke.

He was not the only person in the village growing water caltrops. Even this huge field was jointly cultivated with his relatives. They had found distributors and secured sales channels, so life had been pretty good over the past few years.

But this year's market was terrible. The buyers not only offered low prices, but also said they could not take as much as usual.

With nowhere to go, these water caltrops would probably just rot in the water. They were not even planning to harvest all of them now.

"Isn't there a market or something where you could sell some?" Tang Jingran did not know much about this. He thought there would be country fairs in rural areas, and surely they could sell some there.

"Everyone has a few plots of land. They might even grow them at home," Uncle Zhang explained patiently.

Things were valuable only when scarce. Water caltrops were far too common in Shangyang Village. Every household had some, and when they could not finish them, they gave them away to one another. Why would anyone spend money to buy them? If they were buying something, it would be fresh novelties that were uncommon locally.

Li Wenchuan looked at the vast water caltrop field, its green leaves floating across the water. A huge section had not been harvested at all, and he found it a pity.

In the past, many farmers had no land, no harvest, and no food. They would become refugees.

Times were different now. They might not starve to death, but losing income was still a massive blow to a family. Water and electricity bills, children's schooling—everything would be affected.

They had 104 yuan on hand now, enough to buy some food for lunch later.

"Uncle, have you ever thought about opening an online store?" Su Mingwei suddenly asked, holding a huge bag of water caltrops.

"Huh?" Uncle Zhang had been doing this kind of direct selling for years, but apart from phones and televisions, he had never used electronic products. He bought many things directly from physical stores and truly did not know what an online store was.

Jiang Hansheng explained, "It means putting your agricultural products up for sale on an online platform. They can be shipped by courier to people all over the country."

Uncle Zhang was stunned. He knew things could be mailed, but he had never known his water caltrops could be mailed too.

"But... would anyone buy them?" They could not see the actual goods. Who would trust that?

"Of course they would," Xiao Yi said, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the young people present. Take Tang Jingran, for example—one album release could sell out within an hour. If he promoted products, just imagine the traffic.

"We can do a livestream, like on those platforms. One person can introduce the products while the others taste-test them. It'll definitely work."

Xiao Yi suggested it because his wife loved watching e-commerce livestreams at home. Every day, she bought and bought and bought, leaving them with endless deliveries to unbox.

At the worst of it, especially after Singles' Day, his wife had as many as seven hundred pending shipments. He had no choice but to clear out two rooms in the house to store her things. Netizens had even joked about it last year.

Tang Jingran thought, Sure. With my charm, I'll definitely sell out this entire field! That man was downright, damnably sweet. OwO.

They used Tang Jingran's Weibo directly to post a livestream announcement, plainly stating the time and content. Then everyone started preparing.

They first needed to make a purchase link to post later, or people who wanted to buy would not know what to do.

Xiao Yi went to ask Uncle Zhang about delivery services. The nearest option in the village was the post office, but since everyone was from the same village and got along well, the rates were decent. They then began discussing pricing.

Tang Jingran, a modern-day traffic king, had disappeared from Weibo after his phone was confiscated. His fans voted every day to keep him firmly in first place. The moment their idol suddenly posted on Weibo, notification alerts from their specially followed account popped up on girls' phones everywhere.

In no time, the post had over ten thousand likes, and plenty of people in the comments said they were looking forward to it.

But some people thought it was inappropriate, believing he was using his public popularity to rake in money.

The livestream also drew in many people who did not follow the entertainment industry. Curious about water caltrops, they gradually clicked in after Tang Jingran went live.

"This host is so handsome. Is he the seller's son, or did they hire him?"

"What an opening beauty attack."

"Aren't they selling water caltrops? How much are they, and how do we buy them?"

"Has it not started yet?"

The livestream room broke eight thousand viewers right at the start. Uncle Zhang clicked his tongue in amazement. "They're all real people? The internet is really advanced now."

The background was the vast water caltrop field itself. Tang Jingran plucked up a plant and began picking off fresh water caltrops to show the viewers. "These were all freshly harvested. They're big and delicious."

Without any experience selling goods on livestreams, he could only awkwardly squeeze out a few dry lines.

Tang Jingran's fans began flooding the comments.

"I can't believe that after just a few days, you've become a farmer. Can you come to our village next time?"

"You look so skilled. I really want to know what happened over the past few days, hahaha."

"Ranran, say more! You won't sell anything like this."

"Hurry up and air the show. I can't wait anymore."

"By the way, who's that handsome guy behind Ranran? He's eating so enthusiastically."

"The hen in his arms is so cute too, sob sob sob."

Tang Jingran saw more and more people in the livestream asking about Li Wenchuan and found it baffling. Was he not speaking well enough? They were all asking for that handsome guy feeding the chicken to come over, saying they wanted to watch him and the hen eat water caltrops together.

For the sake of the program, they had Uncle Zhang bring over some cooked water caltrops so they could eat while selling.

Tang Jingran was still talking nonstop, while bored Li Wenchuan could only start eating by himself. There was a whole basket anyway, so there was no rush.

Not only did he eat them himself, he even broke some open to feed the chicken. Jiang Hansheng could not stand watching anymore and started breaking water caltrops for him beside him. This person was far too focused on feeding the chicken and barely ate any himself.

When Tang Jingran moved the phone over to him, he was still bewildered. The comments were all saying:

"Who is this handsome guy? He's so good-looking!"

"He's eating so deliciously. Are they really that tasty?"

"They look so easy to crack open. Where do I place an order?"

"Does this host have a livestream room?"

Li Wenchuan gave a dry greeting, gave Coo Coo a hard rub, then took a handful of water caltrops from Jiang Hansheng and stuffed them into his mouth one by one to calm himself down.

As he chewed, he said, "This fresh hen is really delicious."

Coo Coo jerked her head up in horror and let out an intense series of protesting clucks, then viciously pecked Li Wenchuan on the top of his foot.

"Hahahaha, this hen is so smart."

"This host is way too unprofessional."

"I placed an order. Does it come with a hen?"

The livestream room was filled with cheerful energy, much livelier than when Tang Jingran had first started.