The merchant looked at her stance and said, "Miss, come down and let me go, you all go back and discuss it slowly! How could a girl understand the pepper market? Don't give the adults more trouble! Go back!"
"Oh, really?" Tian Xin chuckled dryly and retorted, "You said 10 yuan per pound is the market price. Well, I'd like to ask, uncle, which company set this market price?"
"Which company?" The merchant got angry: "There is no company, it's the uniform market price!"
"Oh, really?" Tian Xin smiled and said, "Then how do you explain that I sold it for 15 yuan per pound yesterday?"
"What, 15?"
The expressions of the people below were just like that of the merchant, full of disbelief, and they started chattering, "Are you telling the truth?"
"How is that possible? I went to the wholesale market yesterday, and it wasn't that price!" The merchant looked unhappy, shouted at Tian Xin, "Come down, I'm not talking to you, don't waste my time!"
"True or not? You have to sell it to find out!" Tian Xin jumped off the car, pulled out a receipt, and waved it in front of everyone: "Look, everyone, this was sold just yesterday, medium-grade for 15 per pound, top-grade for 20 per pound! How much I sold is on here, this can't be faked!"
She indeed didn't tell any lies.
Ever since she came back, she found that the pitifully little pepper her family had was sold very cheaply, and her mother would always sigh when she saw the money given by the merchants.
Yesterday, when she had the chance to send dates with walnuts, she took a small bag of peppers to sell without telling her mother in detail. She rushed here afterward!
Since everyone was watching now, she figured she might as well explain it clearly.
"If everyone trusts me, I will sell this pepper for everyone! No matter what, it will definitely be much higher than what the merchant offers!"
She had just finished speaking when her mother pulled her aside: "Don't speak recklessly, everyone relies on pepper to live, if you can't sell it, how will you explain to everyone?"
"Mom, don't worry, I can sell it!" She turned to everyone and said, "I know, mere words are not enough, and I can understand if you don't believe me! This receipt was indeed issued just yesterday, if you trust me, bring your peppers to my house later, I'll help you sort and pack them, and I'll go to the county to sell them first thing tomorrow morning!"
After saying that, she pulled her mother: "Let's head back first!"
The people below listened and quickly stopped her: "Did you really sell it for 15 per pound?"
"Yes, really!"
"Then tell me, how to pack? If it can be sold for 15 per pound, I'll believe you, you sell them for me!"
The one who said this was Uncle Guo, who was calling her earlier.
When Tian Xin heard that, she turned around: "Uncle, have you thought this through clearly!"
"Oh, what's there not to think through?" Uncle Guo exclaimed: "We're looking at losing money here, if you can help me sell a bit more, what else is there to say? Sell! Uncle believes in you, I have a car, and tomorrow morning, I'll drive down with you!"
Hearing there was a car and someone willing to help sell for more money, where could they find such a good deal, the crowd below began to feel tempted.
"Why don't you leave first!" An old lady said to the merchant: "We won't sell for now, we'll talk next time!"
"Yes, yes, you go first, we'll talk later! Not selling for now."
"Not selling, not selling! You go!" The crowd waved their hands and gathered around Tian Xin, walking back with her: "Come on, girl, first take a look at mine..."
The merchant shouted for a long time, but not a single pound of pepper was purchased, he instead got driven away, feeling a bit speechless. The crowd had already moved on, and he shook his head and drove away.
In the afternoon, after lunch, more and more family members arrived, and those who came were neighbors and some villagers from the village who wanted her to help sell their peppers. Tian Xin sat in the courtyard and examined the quality of the peppers everyone brought.
"Here's the deal, everyone coming here shows you trust me, so I'll be straight!" She arranged for everyone to sit together and spoke to the crowd like it was a meeting: "To sell at a good price, we have to work first."
"Work?" The crowd was puzzled.
"Yes, the place we're selling isn't the wholesale market; we have to package first. As long as the presentation is good, the price will surely be higher than the merchant's."
This was her experience from the previous life. In her previous life, to earn more money, she opened specialty stores, hotpot restaurants, and did clothing businesses; she's tried every money-making venture. She was very familiar with where and how much pepper could be sold.
"Then how to package?" Uncle Guo asked.
The courtyard was getting more crowded and the sun was setting slowly, her mother poured tea for everyone as Tian Xin explained the packaging process and the place they were going to the next day.
"That's how it is, everyone gets moving. Package today, tomorrow morning, Uncle Guo and I will take the first batch. We'll do it trip after trip, so don't rush!"
————
The next day, Uncle Guo drove with Tian Xin and a truckload of peppers to the city with a roar!
She divided everyone's peppers according to their appearance into top, medium, and lower grades.
The top-grade peppers were red and strong-flavored. They were packed using baskets, with standard 2 pounds per basket.
The medium-grade ones were a bit dull in color but had a pure taste. They were packed in small burlap sacks, each sack weighing 50 pounds.
The lower-grade peppers were lacking in both color and flavor, directly packed in large burlap sacks.
The first stop was a specialty store.
What she was selling was the top-grade product packed in baskets. Specialty store peppers were all very expensive, with prices that could exceed the market price by half.
The merchant's purchasing price was 10 yuan per pound, while the specialty store purchasing price ranged from 25 to 30 yuan per pound.
"These are packed in 2-pound baskets, if you want them all, I'll give you the baskets for free, and it's 45 yuan per basket!" Tian Xin walked into a store and told the boss, as this price guarantees a profit for the specialty store.
"40!" the boss said.
"45"
"Leave me some profit!"
"42 is my lowest! These are the top-notch ones."
"40 and I'll take them all!"
After a bit of tug-of-war and bargaining, the top-grade peppers were sold at 40 yuan for 2 pounds.
The second stop was a snack street, which had many hotpot, barbecue, and snack shops. Peppers were a necessary common material.
She had Uncle Guo carry the sacks directly, going door to door promoting.
Hotpot restaurants generally had direct suppliers, but most of the prices were outrageously high, they had specific flavor requirements for the peppers, and Tian Xin's strategy was to offer them medium-grade peppers at a price lower than their suppliers, wholesaling at 15 yuan per pound.
These businesses liked fresh goods, and they brought all fresh peppers of the season. A bag of 50 pounds was just right for what one store could handle, making them very popular!
The last stop was a seasoning store. She directly wholesaled the lower-grade peppers to the seasoning store in one go, covering the cost.
"Is it all sold out?"
"Sold out!"
On the way back, Uncle Guo asked her, "Where did you learn all this? How come I didn't think of it!"
"Oh, it's nothing, if I can help everyone, learning more is good!" she sighed.
The road is still long! There's a whole life ahead! This life is bound to be different, if I can do more for everyone, coming here won't have been for nothing!