Chapter 4: Selling Mushrooms (2)

Jiang Heng felt the pull and stopped for a moment, sighing helplessly, “I don’t like haggling. If you don’t agree with my price, then I won’t sell.”

The Manager was also helpless, putting on a look as if he was taking a loss. “Your price is way too high. This is the selling price around here, I have to make a little profit, right? How about lowering it by ten yuan?”

Jiang Heng shook her head again. “No.”

This was already the lowered price. If she were selling them retail, she would want to raise the price by twenty yuan for each.

After all, these mushrooms had been accelerated with her spiritual power.

Even if you brought real wild ones to compare, you could see the difference.

She came to ask at the supermarket purely because she wanted to be lazy.

But now it seemed she couldn’t be lazy after all.

Sure enough, after she firmly said those two words, the Manager hesitated for a moment, let go, and said in a very sincere yet equally firm tone, “We can’t take them at this price. If you can’t sell them and are willing to lower the price a bit, I’ll buy them immediately!”

The goods were good, but it was really hard to sell them here.

Let this young lady try it herself and she’ll know.

Jiang Heng smiled, replied, and twisted the throttle as she rode off.

Her electric bike had been fully charged in advance, so this time she simply headed straight to the County Town.

The County Town was a bit far, more than ten kilometers each way, so round trip would be over thirty kilometers. Jiang Heng estimated that with her new bike, she should be able to make it back, right?

Fortunately, the boss who sold her the bike hadn’t lied.

The bike’s battery life was pretty good.

Jiang Heng rode at top speed on the electric tricycle the whole way.

In about half an hour, she arrived at the County Town with more than half the battery left. She definitely wouldn’t have to worry about making it back.

With no battery anxiety, Jiang Heng looked for a place to set up her stall while observing her surroundings.

The County Town had changed a lot in recent years.

Aside from a few main roads, many places were newly built, looking bright and fresh.

There was a newly constructed tall commercial building, and many new shops that looked pretty good at first glance.

Walking down the street, it didn’t seem much different from a big city’s shopping street.

Of course, if you looked closely, you could tell the difference—there were very few places to eat, drink, and have fun, and if you walked a little farther, you’d go too far.

It seemed like all the foot traffic was concentrated here.

Luckily, at a glance, places like Mai Mai, Ken Ken, and Star Star, which looked expensive, had plenty of customers inside, visible through their transparent glass walls.

People’s spending power was quite good.

So Jiang Heng, full of anticipation, parked her vehicle at a spot where she could set up a stall.

Next to her was a young lady selling sushi, and beside her were stalls for grilled sausages, grilled skewers, and stinky tofu……….

After parking, she took out a piece of torn cardboard and wrote in big, bold black characters on one side:

[Wuzhong Mushroom 100 yuan/jin; Pine Mushroom 80 yuan/jin; Chashu Mushroom 70 yuan/jin; Forest Mushroom 50 yuan/jin]

After hanging up the sign, Jiang Heng realized something—

She didn’t have a scale!

At this moment, a phrase she’d seen online popped into her head—this world is just one huge Grassroots Troupe.

Her stall was one of the most amateur.

Fortunately, there was food delivery around here.

Jiang Heng quickly opened the delivery app and ordered an Electronic Scale, then sat on her tricycle, patiently waiting for customers.

Anyway, this was a zero-cost business.

She only brought this much, thinking that if she really couldn’t sell it, she’d just take it home and eat it.

If she sold it, then she’d make a profit.

So Jiang Heng, in a good mood, took out her phone and continued playing her game.

She had reached the harvest period on the way to pick mushrooms earlier, but hadn’t had time to log in since then—she’d either been busy picking mushrooms or cultivating. Now she finally had time.

After the familiar entrance music, her little courtyard appeared in the game, and all the vegetable fields at the gate were ready for harvest.

She quickly clicked the sickle to harvest everything with one tap.

Then she checked the next set of tasks, planting whatever she was missing.

Jiang Heng was so absorbed in her game that she didn’t notice the strange looks people were giving her.

Especially the young lady selling sushi next to her.

What was going on?

Weren’t all the stalls here selling food? Why was there someone selling vegetables?

Especially……….

Song Ming stared at the mushrooms and the cardboard sign on the tricycle for a long time, falling silent.

These prices were way too high!

Compared to those, her sushi seemed especially affordable.

Maybe it was the comparison, but Song Ming felt business was a bit better today.

Quite a few people walked by, glanced at those super expensive mushrooms, then looked at her sushi stall, and after a while, one or two would decide to buy.

Ten yuan for a basic set, fifteen for a set with all sorts of extras, the most expensive was eighteen yuan.

Compared to a hundred yuan per jin for mushrooms, hers really were great value for money.

While selling, Song Ming felt a little guilty. She wanted to remind that girl that her prices were too high, but was too embarrassed, afraid the girl would think she was meddling.

After thinking it over, she decided that if she sold out today, she’d go and buy some herself.

Even buying half a jin of the cheapest mushroom would do.

Just as she was thinking that, two girls walking arm in arm passed by the tricycle, then suddenly turned back, sniffing the air. “Eh? That smells so good!”

“I smelled it just now too, it’s really nice!” the other girl said.

Their eyes fell on the tricycle. After seeing the price list, both of them wore shocked expressions.

But soon, the two exchanged glances and whispered, “Wanna take a look?”

The other nodded decisively, “Let’s check it out!”

They just had to see what could be so expensive!

As they got closer, the fragrance grew stronger, like the fresh scent of a pine forest after rain, with hints of pine cones and pine resin.

If you sniffed carefully, there were also earthy aromas of fallen branches, decaying leaves, and soil.

Wang Miaoyuan, who seemed to know a bit about mushrooms, exclaimed in surprise, “These seem like wild mushrooms, the scent is so strong!”

This caught Jiang Heng’s attention.

She looked up from her game and saw two customers standing in front of her, smiling, “Want to take a look? These are wild mushrooms I just picked from the mountain this morning. They’re very fresh and of excellent quality.”

The two girls looked over when they heard her, exclaiming, “Wow!” Their eyes lit up at the sight of beauty, glancing between the mushrooms, the stall owner, the mushrooms again, and then the stall owner, again and again…

Their minds short-circuited for a moment.

Wang Miaoyuan, trying to cover up her fascination with the owner, blurted out, “Boss, are these really wild mushrooms?”

It wasn’t their fault for being so easily swayed.

It was just that the stall owner’s looks were really outstanding.

Looking up, her face was fully revealed, her skin fair and rosy without any makeup, her eyes clear and bright, lips naturally red, and when she smiled, her eyes curved with a few white teeth showing.

Even in a simple beige sweatshirt and loose gray pants, she stood out.

Especially at such close range, her skin was flawless!

Modern people have long been troubled by skin problems, and the two of them were no exception, so as soon as they noticed her looks, they couldn’t help but feel envious.

Jiang Heng nodded, “Yes, I guarantee it. You can pick them up and have a look. Wild mushrooms have a very strong fragrance.”

The two nodded, looked for another two seconds before tearing their gaze away, and turned to the mushrooms.

They picked up the cheapest Forest Mushroom, its cap round and white, with reddish-brown ‘scales’ spreading from the center to the edges.

Up close, it had a faint almond aroma.

It really did smell good.

If you made soup with it, the flavor would probably be excellent.

Wang Miaoyuan looked at her friend Yu Gui. The two lived together, shared meals, and took turns cooking.

Today they were out buying groceries and had already bought enough for the next five days.

With prices rising, they had just complained after leaving the supermarket that one bag of food had cost them two hundred yuan.

In a small city with low wages, two hundred was quite a lot.

In theory, the two shouldn’t spend more on such expensive mushrooms, but best friends always share similar interests.

Whatever money they had, they liked to spend it on food.

Wang Miaoyuan was tempted, and Yu Gui immediately understood her look, cooperating by asking, “If you like them, why not buy a little to try?”

“Sure!” Wang Miaoyuan smiled and went to pick some out.

Afraid of being ripped off, the two only picked a small amount.

But when it came time to bag them, they realized this stall didn’t even have bags?!

The two of them each held a few mushrooms in their hands, silently exchanging looks with Jiang Heng.

Jiang Heng:

Setting up a stall on the fly is a killer, you have nothing you need!

Song Ming, who had just sold two more sushi sets, turned around and saw this scene.

She immediately handed over a few small bags, “Here, you can use these.”

Jiang Heng: “Thank you, thank you!”

She thanked her repeatedly, took one out, and packed the mushrooms for the two girls.

She was just about to weigh them when she glanced at her phone and said awkwardly, “Sorry, I came out to sell on a whim and my scale hasn’t arrived yet. Can you wait a moment? The Delivery Rider is less than a hundred meters away!”

The two girls:

Wang Miaoyuan laughed, “No problem.”

Yu Gui muttered softly, “I’m ninety percent sure these are wild mushrooms.”

Wang Miaoyuan: “Hmm?”

Yu Gui: “The stall owner clearly just decided to come out and sell on a whim! Probably picked too many and couldn’t finish them, so she brought them out to sell!”

Wang Miaoyuan nodded in realization, “Makes sense!”

In less than two minutes, the Delivery Rider arrived with the Electronic Scale.

Jiang Heng weighed the mushrooms. Mushrooms are naturally light, even when fresh, so the total was just over three liang.

Doing the math quickly, Jiang Heng smiled and said, “17.5 yuan, just pay 17.”

The two paid and took the mushrooms.

They had barely taken a few steps when, perhaps thanks to the first sale, a plump middle-aged woman came by, looked at the mushrooms, and stopped.

She picked up two, gave them a glance, and immediately asked, “Can you make these mushrooms a little cheaper? If they’re cheaper, I’ll buy two jin.”

The two girls stopped in sync.

Jiang Heng replied politely, “Sorry, I don’t haggle.”

The middle-aged woman grumbled in dissatisfaction, but her hands kept filling the small bag. Soon, it was full. She handed it over, “Weigh it.”

Jiang Heng took it and weighed it. One and a half jin, and it was the Wuzhong Mushroom, the most expensive one. “That’s 153 yuan, just give me 150.”

The middle-aged woman took a deep breath, feeling the pain, but paid anyway, took the bag, and walked off, still glancing back at the stall.

Wang Miaoyuan and Yu Gui, who had deliberately slowed down, heard everything and felt reassured that they hadn’t been ripped off for not haggling.

Even that auntie barely bargained and still bought them, so it must be worth it.

As it happened, their route overlapped with the woman’s, not too close but not too far.

After a few steps, they heard the auntie take out her phone and call, sounding delighted as if she’d found a treasure:

“Daughter, I just saw a stall selling wild mushrooms, all really fresh and fragrant, but they’re super expensive, super expensive. Just the Wuzhong Mushroom was 150. You’re coming back tomorrow, right? Mom will make you Little Chicken Stewed with Mushroom!”

Wang Miaoyuan and Yu Gui, who overheard: !!!

They exchanged glances, happily squeezed each other’s hands, and whispered excitedly, “We scored, we scored!”

Even the auntie who’s a pro at the market said these were good mushrooms, so they must be really special!

At the same time, Jiang Heng looked at the two payment notifications on her phone and smiled with curved eyes: She scored too!!!

In just a short while, she’d made nearly two hundred yuan~