Extra Meat Tonight

August 1, 2023, Shuangqing City.

It was Army Day, and business was booming at Cai Xinzi's model shop.

Military models in particular were selling one after another, minute by minute. The Liaoning, the Chongqing, Paratrooper Figures... everything was flying off the shelves today.

Cai Xinzi was beaming with delight.

She was counting her money when the shop door opened. She was about to greet the customer when she saw that it was her old friend, Li Daoxuan.

Cai Xinzi greeted him with a smile. "Daoxuan, what brings you here today? Here for your Hakka Walled House? Easy, easy. It'll be another ten days or so before you can pick it up."

Li Daoxuan gave her a mysterious smile. "I'm not here to pick up stock today. I'm here to supply you with some."

Cai Xinzi gave him a sidelong look. "Trying to fleece me again?"

"I came to help you make a fortune, and you accuse me of fleecing you? Tsk, tsk. So much for our friendship." As he spoke, Li Daoxuan reached into his trouser pocket, pulled out a tiny figure only about a centimeter tall, and set it on the counter in front of Cai Xinzi.

The figure was so small that Cai Xinzi barely spared it a glance. "A Supreme Treasure version of Sun Wukong? Where did you get one this tiny? Is it plastic? That thing's worth five yuan at most."

Li Daoxuan chuckled. "Solid wood."

Cai Xinzi said, "Huh?"

The words "solid wood" caught her interest.

A wooden figure was certainly a cut above a plastic one, but making it this tiny still seemed rather pointless.

Li Daoxuan said, "Want to get a magnifying glass and take a closer look at this little wooden figure?"

At that, Cai Xinzi knew something was up. She set her work aside for the moment and left the other customers to her shop assistant. Then she settled down, took out a magnifying glass, and examined the little wooden figure in front of her.

She would never have known without looking. Once she did, she got quite a shock.

Though the little wooden figure was only a centimeter tall, its workmanship was exquisite. Every detail had been meticulously carved. Its tiny features looked exactly like Supreme Treasure's, right down to the monkey hairs on its face. Even Sun Wukong's armor was so detailed that every individual plate had been painstakingly painted.

This... this was no toy. It was a work of art!

A miniature carving, without a doubt.

Cai Xinzi sucked in a cold noodle. "Where did you get this little wooden figure?"

Li Daoxuan said, "That's a secret."

Cai Xinzi said, "You didn't steal it and bring it here for me to fence, did you? Holy shit!"

Li Daoxuan said, "How many years have you known me? Am I the sort of person who goes around breaking the law?"

Cai Xinzi thought it over. "Fair enough. Not only are you a hopeless do-gooder, you hate evil with a passion. If someone shouted 'Stop that thief!' you'd be the first to charge after them. No way would you steal something and try to fence it."

"You really do know me." Li Daoxuan smiled. "I want to sell this, but I don't have a sales channel. Then I remembered my old buddy who sells models. Put it up for sale here, and take a cut."

"A cut, my ass," Cai Xinzi said with a laughing curse. "We've been buddies for years. I'll just sell it for you."

"No, you have to take a cut." Li Daoxuan's tone turned serious. "This isn't a one-off deal. It's a long-term business, so you have to take a commission."

"A long-term business?" Cai Xinzi paused, then immediately understood. "You've found someone who does miniature carving and partnered up with them. They do the carving, you handle the sales, and you take a cut in the middle. In that case, I won't stand on ceremony either. I'll take ten percent."

"Deal!" Li Daoxuan said. "I don't know what this thing's worth, and I'm guessing you're a bit lost too. Test the waters."

"All right, I'll give it a try. I only sell models. I've never sold miniature art before. Don't curse me out if I sell it for less than it's worth."

"Hey! Don't lose your nerve. Go ahead and sell it. I won't blame you even if we take a loss."

With that settled, Li Daoxuan took a taxi home. He was still halfway there when he saw that Cai Xinzi had updated her WeChat Moments.

"Rare new arrival! A miniature carving of Supreme Treasure, one centimeter tall. You'll need a magnifying glass to appreciate its exquisite detail. Only one available! First come, first served; come late and regret it. Special price for my Moments friends: 888 yuan..."

Several photos followed, taken with a high-end camera in macro mode. She had even deliberately included a shot of the carving balanced on a fingertip so people could compare its size with the finger.

Li Daoxuan grinned. "She really put some effort into this."

He reached over to give it a like...

To his surprise, the moment his fingertip tapped the like button, a notification popped up: "Operation failed."

"Huh? I can't like it?"

Li Daoxuan refreshed the page. The post Cai Xinzi had just made had disappeared. No wonder his like had failed.

Then a message came in from Cai Xinzi. "Holy shit! I'd barely posted your miniature carving on Moments before a regular customer snapped it up."

Li Daoxuan said, "It sold that easily?"

Cai Xinzi said, "That guy must know his stuff. He saw I'd priced it too low and snapped it up on the spot. Transferred me 888 yuan without another word to reserve it, and now he's on his way to collect it. Fuck, I should've priced it a few hundred higher. I've let you down. We both lost out badly on this one."

Li Daoxuan laughed. "It's fine, it's fine. Eight hundred and eighty-eight yuan is a nice profit. I don't feel shortchanged at all."

Cai Xinzi said, "You've got more stock, right? When that guy comes to collect it, there'll definitely be room to talk. I'll discuss future business with him. This time, I'm getting the price right."

"Nothing else in stock. More will have to be carved."

"So that means... custom orders are possible too?"

"Of course! Anything they want."

"Hehehehe." Cai Xinzi said, "Wait for my good news."

Li Daoxuan said, "Don't be too rigid about the price. Leave some profit for the other side, or they won't keep doing business with us. I can afford to earn a little less."

Cai Xinzi said, "You don't need to teach me that. I'm a lot more professional than you when it comes to business. Just wait and see."

[Cai Xinzi transferred 800 yuan to you]

Li Daoxuan tapped to accept the transfer, secretly delighted. Nice, nice. I'm making money. He had been raising the little people for over half a month, spending money the whole time. Now he could finally earn some back from them. Sure enough, talented people were what mattered most.

Only with a greater variety of talented people in the box could he come up with more ways to make money.

His mood soared!

Soon, he reached the entrance to his residential complex. Li Daoxuan hopped out of the ride-hailing car, ducked into the supermarket by the entrance, and bought a piece of pork tenderloin. Then he strolled home, humming a tune.

Dusk had already fallen inside the box. The little people were cooking, and wisps of smoke curled into the air.

Li Daoxuan cut a very small piece from the tenderloin he had just bought and gently placed it in the clearing at the center of the village.

The villagers immediately cried out, "Meat! What a huge piece of tenderloin!"

Li Daoxuan gave his instructions with a smile. "One Leaf, tell everyone we're having extra meat tonight. One hundred grams each. Have the two sculptors wait until the end, then give them everything left over as a reward for carving the Victorious Fighting Buddha statue."