Chapter 23: Sugar Tangerine Prices Surge Over 100%! (Please Follow and Read!)
Ding-a-ling-ling—
Jiang Tao was woken up by the 7 a.m. alarm.
Today, no new intelligence about making money popped up.
So, he had no choice but to head to the second-hand furniture market to pick up some work.
Fortunately, the 80,000 yuan debt his family owed had already been paid off.
He still had a few tens of thousands in savings, enough to have a good New Year.
So, even though he was still doing odd jobs, Jiang Tao's mood was completely different now.
With no debt weighing him down and not a trace of anxiety, he felt great.
He went out and grabbed a simple breakfast at the village's food stall—some steamed buns and wonton soup.
After eating his fill, he returned to his old trade.
Whether it was earning 80,000 yuan in an hour or 800 yuan in a day, Jiang Tao stayed grounded.
He didn't let the huge fluctuations in income throw him off balance.
He started work at 8 a.m. and kept busy until 5:30 p.m.
By the end of the day, he'd made 625 yuan, about the same as usual.
After work, he parked his vehicle at the entrance of Xiaoshahe Village.
On his way home, Jiang Tao stopped by Fat Dongdong's supermarket to buy a pound of fresh noodles, two tomatoes, and a tray of eggs.
He planned to make tomato and egg noodles for dinner.
"Master Jiang, wanna grab a bottle of Qinghualang and try your luck?"
Every time Yu Dongdong saw Jiang Tao, he'd ask if he wanted to buy a bottle of Qinghualang. It was getting to the point where Jiang Tao was developing Qinghualang PTSD.
"My luck's not great today. Has Boss Yu switched to being a liquor salesman now? You push alcohol on me every time I come in," Jiang Tao said with a smile, waving off the offer while teasing Yu Dongdong.
"Haha, just messing around, Master Jiang, don't take it to heart. Honestly, the odds of winning with that stuff are pretty low."
"Besides the three first-place prizes you hit that day, I've sold six or seven cases over the past couple of days, and the biggest prize was just a second-place one."
Yu Dongdong was a straightforward guy, always honest, and wouldn't risk offending a loyal customer like Jiang Tao just to push a sale.
Though Jiang Tao was frugal, he spent over 10,000 yuan a year at this little supermarket.
Yu Dongdong changed the subject, asking, "By the way, Master Jiang, I've got a small job for you tomorrow. You up for it?"
Jiang Tao grinned. "Sure thing! What's the job? How much?"
Yu Dongdong said, "Tomorrow morning, I need you to go to the Huilongguan fruit wholesale market to pick up 200 crates of sugar tangerines. Including loading and unloading, it's 600 yuan."
A crate of sugar tangerines weighs about 11 pounds, so 200 crates would be around a ton.
Jiang Tao did the math and decided it was worth it. He agreed readily, "Alright, I'll take the job! What time do we head out?"
Yu Dongdong replied, "5:30 a.m."
"No problem!"
To make money, Jiang Tao could handle waking up a bit early.
"Alright, it's settled then. 5:30 a.m. tomorrow, we head out from here on time."
"Got it! Anything else you need to tell me, Boss Yu?"
"Here's the pickup address and the driver's phone number. Just head over tomorrow morning and mention my name."
As he spoke, Yu Dongdong grabbed a pen from the counter and quickly scribbled down the pickup address and driver's contact info, handing it to Jiang Tao.
"Alright! I'm heading back to eat and get some rest."
With the address in hand, Jiang Tao didn't linger to chat with Yu Dongdong. He grabbed his eggs and noodles and left.
Having secured tomorrow's job and locked in 600 yuan, Jiang Tao's mood lifted even more. He hummed a little tune all the way home.
At home, he used the rice cooker to whip up a tomato and egg sauce, then boiled some noodles.
In no time, a steaming bowl of tomato and egg noodles was ready.
After eating his fill, Jiang Tao video-called his wife, Xu Li.
The couple chatted casually, talking on and off until past 9 p.m. before hanging up.
He had to wake up early tomorrow, so Jiang Tao skipped listening to audiobooks tonight.
After washing up, he set an alarm for midnight, crawled into bed, and took a nap.
Ding-a-ling-ling—
At exactly midnight, Jiang Tao was woken by his phone alarm.
Rubbing his eyes, he sat up in bed.
With a thought, Jiang Tao checked today's intelligence.
[Today's Intelligence]: Based on your agreement with Yu Dongdong yesterday, you've obtained the following information—
Due to weather conditions, sugar tangerines will experience a price surge in three days.
The price will rise by over 100% and last for a week. Consider stockpiling appropriately.
…
"Over 100% increase?"
Seeing the new information, Jiang Tao's face lit up with shock!
This was insane!
Fat Dongdong's boss, Yu, had some foresight, ordering 200 crates of sugar tangerines in one go.
But he probably didn't expect that in three days, sugar tangerine prices would skyrocket by 100%!
Otherwise, forget 200 crates—he'd probably take 2,000!
It was winter, the peak season for sugar tangerines.
In Beijing, from big supermarkets to small markets, sugar tangerines were selling like hotcakes.
Jiang Tao had a few fellow villagers in Pingchang District who ran small fruit wholesale businesses.
They also lived in Xiaoshahe Village.
Every morning, they'd head to the wholesale market, pick up a truckload of fruit, and sell it at nearby morning markets or bazaars.
On good days, they could earn six or seven hundred yuan, though it was exhausting work, up early and out late.
Plus, they had to dodge city management officers, which was mentally draining.
Jiang Tao wasn't as close to them as he was to Wang Lianming, but they got along well enough.
A few days ago, Wang Lianming had even suggested gathering everyone at his place for drinks.
They were all from neighboring villages, roughly the same age, and all drifters in Beijing, so there was a sense of familiarity.
Jiang Tao never bought fruit himself, but his house always had plenty—gifts from those fellow villagers.
Those guys were small-scale vendors without access to cold storage or other equipment.
Whatever fruit they couldn't sell, they'd eat themselves.
If they couldn't finish it, they'd share it with nearby villagers like Jiang Tao and Wang Lianming.
Seeing today's intelligence, Jiang Tao's first thought was to team up with those villagers.
Without them, as a complete outsider, even knowing about the price surge in a few days, he'd just be left staring helplessly!
Knowing about the price surge was one thing, but to make money, you had to stockpile and then sell the goods!
As an outsider going it alone, he probably wouldn't sell much in a day.
"According to Boss Yu, the wholesale price for sugar tangerines is 3.18 yuan per pound, and retail is 4.55 yuan, so a 1.37 yuan profit per pound."
"With a 100% increase, wouldn't that mean they could sell for 9.10 yuan per pound?"
"That's 5.92 yuan profit per pound! The profit would multiply several times over!"
Of course, this was assuming Jiang Tao could get the tangerines before the price surge to maximize profits.
Otherwise, if the retail price doubled, the wholesalers wouldn't be foolish enough to keep selling at the original wholesale price!
"11 pounds is 65 yuan, 110 pounds is 650 yuan, 1,000 pounds is 5,920 yuan in profit…"
"Insane profits!"
Jiang Tao had chatted with those villagers about fruit sales during a meal once.
On good days, they could sell around 1,000 pounds of sugar tangerines without issue.
Of course, their sales weren't as wildly profitable as Jiang Tao's calculations.
Selling 1,000 pounds in a day might earn them around 1,370 yuan at most.
"The price surge is in three days, so there's still time to prepare."
"Tomorrow morning, when I go to the market to pick up Yu's goods, I'll check out the prices."
"Then tomorrow evening, I'll call Xiao Liu, Xiao Shan, and Xiao Zhang to discuss."
With a rough plan in mind, Jiang Tao glanced at his phone. Half an hour had passed without him realizing.
He quickly closed the intelligence system interface, lay back down, and went back to sleep.