Volume 1, Chapter 6: The Exorbitant Peach

"Boss Meng, we can negotiate the price; there's no need to go this far, is there?"

Upon hearing that Meng Xiaohan was about to leave, the shopkeeper grew anxious and immediately blocked their path. His attempt to stop them only confirmed that the price he had offered was not yet sufficient. Three yuan a jin was already quite high; were these peaches really that good? The surrounding fruit farmers began to grow curious.

"Boss Meng, why don't you suggest a price you have in mind?"

He was backing down! Meng Xiaohan smiled slightly and shot a triumphant look at Guo Dong.

"Thirty yuan a jin. I won't sell for anything less than thirty!"

Once these words were uttered, they hit like a thunderclap, leaving everyone stunned—including the owner of the honey peaches, Guo Dong himself. This was simply absurd! Thirty yuan a jin—these weren't the Queen Mother’s peaches from the legends! They had heard of such exorbitant prices, but they had never actually eaten fruit that expensive.

"Boss Meng, you must be joking. These honey peaches..."

Before he could finish, Meng Xiaohan reached into the basket, pulled out a peach, and peeled a piece of skin off with her fingers right in front of everyone. The juicy, succulent flesh looked so moist it was as if it had been injected with water, enough to make anyone’s mouth water.

"You tasted it just now, so I don't need to tell you about the quality of this fruit. I’ve done my research and looked into this before coming here. It’s not unheard of for fruit to sell for thirty yuan a jin. You are a fruit merchant; you must have encountered plenty of peaches. Hand on heart, tell me, how does this compare to those that sell for thirty yuan a jin?"

Meng Xiaohan’s words piqued the curiosity of the surrounding farmers. Some even wanted to try it for themselves, but since the shopkeeper hadn't given the word, they felt too awkward to ask.

The shopkeeper shook his head and laughed. "The taste is indeed excellent, but if you sell it to me at this market price, I won't make any profit!"

Guo Dong stood to the side, swallowing hard, completely at a loss for words. He felt his perspective was too narrow; he couldn't quite wrap his head around this! If he could really sell them for thirty yuan a jin, he could sell off his entire two-acre harvest and pay off all his debts in one go.

"Then I suppose we have nothing to talk about!" Meng Xiaohan said, looking as if she had victory in her grasp, her expression relaxed. In reality, she was panicking inside. After tasting that peach in the morning, she had been thinking about it all day and had even looked up information on her phone. As it happened, she had actually tasted those sky-high-priced peaches while in college. She had eaten ones that cost thirty yuan a jin, but never anything more expensive than that.

She felt that the honey peaches Guo Dong grew were much better than the ones she had tasted before. That was why she dared to ask for such a high price. Even if she hadn't eaten much pork, she had at least seen pigs run. If she couldn't even negotiate a price, then her years serving as a village official would have been in vain.

The shopkeeper looked at the two large baskets of peaches, knowing full well their worth, yet still unwilling to yield. "Boss Meng, how about this? Let’s forget thirty. I won't lie to you—my final offer is twenty. If you agree, I'll take them all right now and head back to the village with you. If the rest of your fruit tastes the same, I’ll buy in bulk. How’s that?"

Guo Dong almost agreed, but he wasn't a fool either. From the shopkeeper’s expression, he could tell his peaches were worth more than that. Instead, he felt a sudden sense of calm. The surrounding farmers, however, were going wild.

"Boss Zheng, is this peach really worth that much?"
"It looks good, sure, but if the taste isn't there, isn't twenty yuan a bit steep?"
"Young lady, could you cut one up so we can all have a taste?"
"I think this girl is broke and lost her mind, asking for thirty yuan right off the bat. Who can afford that?"

Voices rose one after another at the shop entrance. Just then, a stylishly dressed woman walked over. Wearing sunglasses, she stood to the side like a passerby, watching the scene unfold as if it were a joke.

"Of course you can taste it!" Meng Xiaohan wasn't stingy; she handed the peach she was holding to the crowd. No one noticed the woman in sunglasses; everyone’s attention was locked on the two baskets of peaches Guo Dong had brought.

Zheng Weiguang, the shop owner, took the peach. He struggled internally—he didn't want to cut it, but with so many people watching, he had no choice. He gave everyone a small piece. When he handed a piece to the woman in sunglasses, he paused for a moment. She looked familiar, but he didn't give it much thought—there were many people who looked alike these days, nothing strange about that.

Just then...

"This... this peach is incredible. I've never eaten a peach this good."
"So juicy, so sweet! Young lady, what variety of honey peach is this?"
"Can you sell me a few? I want to take them home for my family to try!"

The farmers who had tasted the peach suddenly went frantic, all clamoring to buy some.

Although they claimed they wanted to take them home to try, anyone could see that was just an excuse. These people were all fruit farmers; it was obvious what they were planning. Seeing this, Zheng Weiguang knew that dragging it out would only work against him.

"Boss Meng, let's go with your price," he said quickly. "I'll take both baskets at thirty yuan a jin. But I’ll have to inspect your other peaches before setting a price for those. If they don't meet this standard, I won't be taking them!"

Guo Dong remained expressionless, but inside, he was overjoyed. His look toward Meng Xiaohan changed. He was so heavily in debt that he hadn't even had the time to do any research before coming. If Meng Xiaohan hadn't tagged along, he would have sold his harvest for far less.

Meng Xiaohan replied, "You can rest assured about that. The rest will only be better, not worse than these. When will you be free so we can go take a look at our orchard?"

"Wait a moment, let me finish up here, and I'll head back with you immediately!" Zheng Weiguang didn't want to wait any longer and began busying himself with his work.

With nothing to do, and Guo Dong finally feeling at ease, he began to look around the shop. Meng Xiaohan also let out a sigh of relief. It was only then that she noticed the woman in sunglasses beside her. The woman had just finished eating the peach. Just as Meng Xiaohan noticed her looking and prepared to greet her, Zheng Weiguang’s voice echoed over.

"Boss Meng, come take a look and see if the scale is correct. Two baskets, two hundred and ten jin in total. According to the price we agreed on, that makes six thousand three hundred!"

Wow! Two baskets of peaches, sold for six thousand three hundred! Not to mention Guo Dong, even Meng Xiaohan was envious. She had been searching for a way to get rich for years. Wasn't this a golden opportunity right in front of her? If Guo Dong were willing to teach his cultivation techniques to the villagers, her time as a village official wouldn't have been in vain, right?

"It's fine, no need to check, I trust you! Just give the money to him; he's the owner of the peaches. His name is Guo Dong. You might find yourselves doing business often in the future." Meng Xiaohan smiled and revealed Guo Dong’s identity.

But... just as she turned back to greet the woman in sunglasses, she found that the woman had disappeared.