A Bell Rings

The old men came to ask for grain.

"We agreed to the price you mentioned before. You'll sell us whatever amount of grain you have."

Lou Quan's informant at the Central Base had actually informed him of this matter long ago, but he still had to play dumb for now. "Oh, what's with the sudden change of heart? Changed your mind?"

The old men suppressed their urge to beat him to death and told him the whole story. They knew it was no use keeping it from him; Lou Quan would find out sooner or later.

Lou Quan wasn't too surprised by the result, because special ingredients with abundant active energy have more obvious effects, and what the old man and the others ate had already undergone several rounds of castration.

Lou Quan's tone sounded helpless, "Why are you describing this grain like it's a miracle cure? That old man's condition might have been an accident caused by various factors. If you're going to sell it, the price will definitely be high. What if you don't meet the customer's requirements and they unite to punish you?"

The old men thought he was talking nonsense and were a little unhappy listening to him, until a few seconds after he finished speaking, they realized what he meant.

"Wait, you mean you're willing to sell us grain?"

"Sell, of course I'll sell," Lou Quan said with a grin. "But it definitely won't be the same price as before. You weren't willing to pay the price before, but you're willing now, which means you can make more money from it. So, it's not unreasonable for me, the source seller, to raise the price, is it?"

The old men gritted their teeth; they knew this would happen!

"... Okay, how much do you want?" the old man who was in charge of answering asked weakly.

Lou Quan: "Three times the previous price, and I only want weapons and ammunition, not money."

He heard a gasp from the other end of the line, then chuckled and continued, "How about it? Pretty good deal, right? Only three times the price. I'm being lenient. I've roughly calculated it, and you won't lose out at this price. If you think it's too expensive, you can raise the price with the customer. I don't need to teach you that, do I?"

Hesitantly, someone on the other end said, "Three times? That's too..."

"No bargaining, thank you."

"..."

The negotiation didn't last long. As Lou Quan had expected, they agreed, "Okay, three times it is."

Thank you for your patronage. Just a reminder, please don't go back on your word.

"Alright, alright, you little rascal, I wonder where you learned to be so shrewd..." After complaining, the old man continued, "Seeds too? Send them over, the more the better. Second generation is fine, you can't bear to part with the first generation. Seed prices haven't gone up, have they?"

"Don't worry? Not at all." Lou Quan said with a smile.

The old man's teeth ached from hearing his tone.

Lou Quan continued, "Our base needs to maintain grain reserves and ensure that residents can buy grain at any time. We certainly can't allocate too much to you, but I believe you understand the principle of scarcity driving up prices. If our customers are desperate for more, they'll demand a price increase themselves. Less grain isn't necessarily a bad thing."

The old men were speechless once again.

How could they not understand? Aren't they Lou Quan's customers too? Was he being sarcastic or mocking towards them?

But since we need their help right now, we have to suppress our anger and coax them gently, "You're right, just give us whatever you have."

"Okay, I'll send the food and seeds over as soon as possible."

This time, the old men obediently waited for Lou Quan to hang up the phone first.

Lou Quan didn't want to sell them more grain, not only for the reasons mentioned above, but also because the grain he sent would need to undergo a process to reduce its active energy, which was troublesome and time-consuming. If it dragged on for too long, the old men might become suspicious.

Two weeks later, the grain and seeds were delivered to the Lou Family.

The old men concealed the true source of the grain. Although they knew Lou Quan wouldn't sell the grain and seeds to the families who had offended him, what if other smaller families contacted Lou Quan?

Although they thought it impossible for a small family to bypass them and go to Lou Quan, what if they were working for several large families?

If they discover that this grain is priced like ordinary grain at the Yong'an Base, the Lou Family's business will definitely be affected.

If Lou Quan goes crazy for money and sells them even the grain and seeds, then the Lou Family will lose its exclusive advantage.

Taking this into consideration, the Lou Family began to lavishly praise the hard-won nature of the grain, saying that their researchers had painstakingly cultivated the superior seeds at great expense, and that if the price were low, they probably wouldn't even be able to recoup their costs.

The Lou Family not only raised prices, but also used scarcity marketing, releasing only a small amount of stock at a time for customers to grab.

If they can't snatch the goods, they'll find some old men and pay more to engage in smuggling. That way, they can get enough stock.

The Lou Family, already firmly in a high position, has been even more prominent these days, more so than the Shen Family, who developed the Awakening Reagent a few years ago.

After all, the grain was readily available, and the effects were immediate. Didn't you see how that old master's withered tree came back to life after just one month of eating it?

The reagent, on the other hand, is like a carrot dangling in front of a donkey's eyes; successfully obtaining it requires a lot of money and effort, and the chances of failure are even greater.

Moreover, back then, did the Shen Family intend to use people with superpowers to dominate the market, while the Lou Family was simply making money by selling rice and flour?

Men, women, and children of the upper class dare to eat grains in large quantities, but dare not participate in a single awakening experiment.

The Shen Family also spent a lot of money to buy rice and flour, and had their researchers test it. The results showed that the nutritional value of this rice and flour was indeed several times higher than that of ordinary rice and flour.

Ever since the Shen Family developed the Awakening Reagent, they have never been willing to be second to anyone, and immediately ordered the relevant teams to cultivate the same superior breed as soon as possible.

The Lou Family gained more than just money from their grain harvest; they also gained things more valuable than money. How could the Shen Family not be envious?

From the moment they developed the Awakening Reagent, they had long considered themselves the number one family in the Central Base.

The turmoil and infighting at the Central Base are currently unknown to the Yong'an Base. As winter approaches, Tao Qiu went out to distribute the last batch of works for the year, and Lou Yu also went to collect the last batch of materials.

Tao Qiu and Lou Yu both had the day off, so they took their three kids out to play and had lunch at that restaurant.

After getting off the bus, all the passersby they encountered, whether acquaintances or not, greeted them. The two of them might not know these people, but everyone knew them, especially Tao Qiu.

Previously, everyone looked down on Tao Qiu for living off Lou Yu, but they were proven wrong. Tao Qiu is a planting expert; with his abilities, he could easily secure a place even at the Central Base.

Lou Yu supporting Tao Qiu? It's more like Tao Qiu supporting Lou Yu.

Lou Yu said these words himself.

After Tao Qiu's identity was revealed, some curious people asked Lou Yu what he thought about the previous rumors that he was keeping Tao Qiu as a mistress.

At that time, Lou Yu beamed and proudly declared, "It wasn't me supporting Qiuqiu and the child; it was him and the child supporting me."

Whether in the wild or back at the base, Tao Qiu and the kids took good care of him.

I was initially going to laugh at him for being kept by his partner, but seeing his expression, I almost rolled my eyes in exasperation.

Do you need to tell me?! Tao Qiu's true identity has been revealed for so long! We figured it out a long time ago!

"Auntie, we're here!"

As soon as they entered the restaurant, the three kids waved enthusiastically to the cashier.

At that moment, there was no one at the front desk, and the cashier waved to them happily.

When the boss in the office heard from his employees that Tao Qiu and Lou Yu had arrived with their child, he hurriedly came out to greet them.

This couple, one with unparalleled combat prowess, protecting the entire base, and the other cultivating superior breeds, ensuring the base's inhabitants are well-fed and clothed—calling them great heroes would be an understatement.

They love eating here; it's not only free advertising, but it also makes the owner look good. Only a fool wouldn't be eager to welcome customers.

Chapter 105 The Bell Rings

In early winter, several snowfalls have already occurred, and the temperature has dropped significantly. Even wearing thick clothes, a gust of cold wind outside can make one shiver.

However, the staff inside the Lou Family Research Institute were still dressed lightly, at most wearing only a sweater under their work clothes.

Unlike slums and working-class areas where heating is unavailable and people rely solely on fire for warmth, the buildings in the city center have heating almost all day long. Especially in research institutes where value is created every day, except for specific areas that require low temperatures, every corner is warm and cozy, like late spring.

Is this Bai Yan's seventh consecutive day of working overtime?

Every day after work, she would go into her personal laboratory to study the seeds that Lou Qing had given her.

When Bai Yan first obtained the seeds, she also conducted various tests, and the conclusions were similar to those of others, only showing that these seeds had high activity and rich nutritional value.

But Bai Yan's intuition told her that this thing was definitely more than just an ordinary good seed. After that, she began to try various testing methods, and even studied the sprouts after germinating the seeds.

Persistence pays off. After adding his own specially made catalyst, Bai Yan finally captured a strange active energy from the tender bud slices.

That is a vibrant, clean, and pure energy that evokes a natural sense of closeness and longing in people.

Although the energy dissipated severely and was fleeting, and subsequent tests using the same method failed again, Bai Yan firmly believed that it was not an illusion. She had been working hard to replicate the same result these past few days.

From the moment she received the seeds, Bai Yan conducted the entire research process alone, without submitting or sharing any experimental data or results with her team members.

Bai Yan was so cautious because this seed was cultivated by her son's lover. If her guess was true, then that child named Tao Qiu would also face the same fate as Lou Yu.

--It was coveted and plundered by ambitious individuals.

Bai Yan had witnessed firsthand how well the crops grown from these seeds sold in the Lou Family. She had even bought a box to taste them herself, and the flavor was indeed many times better than ordinary rice and flour.

These rice and flour products are so highly nutritious that so many people are buying them without regard for the cost. If they were to discover the active energy in the seeds, wouldn't they unite to raze the Yong'an Base and capture Tao Qiu?