Although Jiang Tao and Xiao Liu and the other two weren't as tight with Wang Lianming, they were still good friends who got along well, occasionally gathering for meals or such.
This time you treat me, next time I treat you. Everyone took turns, and no one talked about who was getting the short end or taking advantage.
After welcoming the group in, everyone chatted and laughed, the atmosphere lively and warm.
After a few rounds of drinks, Jiang Tao felt the timing was about right and finally said, "I have a friend who's in the fruit wholesale business, and he told me that in the next few days, tangerines are going to see a huge market surge. This friend of mine has always had a sharp eye for the market. He's still young but already a multimillionaire. This time, he told me about it because he knows I've had a tough year and probably felt sorry for me. I have a lot of confidence in his analysis and I'm planning to jump in on this. You guys want to join me?"
"What? Tangerines are going to see a huge surge?"
"We've been selling tangerines every day for the past two weeks and haven't heard anything about this."
"Brother Jiang, is this market tip reliable?"
Upon hearing Jiang Tao's words, Xiao Liu and the other two showed a hint of doubt on their faces.
It wasn't surprising that they were skeptical. After all, the three of them were fruit vendors who sold tangerines every day and hadn't heard any such news. Now, Jiang Tao, an outsider, was claiming he had insider information about a tangerine market surge. Wasn't this turning the tables completely?
"If it wasn't reliable, I wouldn't have called you all here. It's rare to come across an opportunity like this, and of course, I want to bring everyone along to make some money."
Jiang Tao didn't waste words trying to convince Xiao Liu and the others. Talking a thousand times was less persuasive than taking concrete action.
"Whether you believe it or not, I'm planning to invest around 250,000 yuan and head to the fruit wholesale market tomorrow to stock up. If you guys don't want in, you can help me sell the tangerines when the time comes. I'll pay you wages, and I guarantee it'll be more than what you're earning now."
Jiang Tao's words stunned Liu Zhiyuan and the other two.
"Invest 250,000 yuan in tangerines? Brother Jiang, are you serious?"
Liu Zhiyuan's small eyes widened, his face full of shock.
For these guys, who were all migrant workers from rural areas living in Beijing, 250,000 yuan was no small sum. To pull out that much money at once and invest it in a single project took incredible guts!
"Yep, the New Year is coming up soon, right? One last big push to make some money and go home happy for the holidays!"
Jiang Tao's expression was calm and confident, and everyone at the table could see his determination in his smile.
But deep down, they couldn't help but worry. If this investment failed… this New Year might be impossible to celebrate!
Investing in business wasn't something you could decide on a whim.
Having made his stance clear, Jiang Tao didn't try to persuade Liu Zhiyuan and the others further. Instead, he invited everyone to eat and drink.
Whether they joined in or not was up to them.
The opportunity was there for the taking—it was just a matter of whether they could seize it.
Jiang Tao gave them the night to think it over, asking for a final decision by the next morning.
The gathering went on from just after 7 p.m. until past 9 p.m.
After eating and drinking their fill, Liu Zhiyuan and the others headed downstairs together.
Liu Zhiyuan and Shan Yufei went straight home.
Zhang Chao, weaving through the narrow alleys of the urban village, turned into another lane just before reaching his place and slipped into a foot massage parlor.
After seeing Xiao Liu and the others off, Jiang Tao had a video call with Xu Li for a bit.
Today, his mother-in-law had bought Jiang Xue a red dress for the New Year, and the little girl put it on specifically to show Jiang Tao.
Jiang Xue took after her mom, Xu Li—tall and slim, a little foodie who never gained weight. Her features, though, came from Jiang Tao: big eyes, high nose bridge, oval face—a proper little beauty. In her bright, beautiful dress, she looked like a little princess straight out of a fairy tale!
"There's probably no other girl in the entire universe as pretty as my daughter~" Jiang Tao never held back on praising his daughter, always ready with the grandest compliments.
Jiang Xue giggled, "That's because Daddy is the handsomest dad in the whole universe, so of course he could have a daughter as pretty as me~"
"Hey, Jiang Xue, I'm the one who gave birth to you, okay?" Xu Li chimed in.
"Daddy played a big part too!"
"Who taught you to say stuff like that?"
The family of three laughed and chatted until past 10 p.m. before ending the call.
After a quick wash, Jiang Tao was still thinking about the intelligence update at midnight and wasn't sleepy.
So, he opened the intelligence report about tangerines and read it word for word again.
[Today's Intelligence]: Yesterday, you reached a cooperation agreement with Yu Dongdong, gaining related intelligence—Due to weather conditions, tangerines will see a price surge in three days. The increase will exceed 100% and last for a week. Stockpiling is advisable.
This intelligence was different from previous reports about specific items at specific locations. This time, it was about the future price trend of a product, even specifying the start and end times of the surge.
With such detailed intelligence staring him in the face, if he couldn't pull this off, he'd be, as Teacher Xiaoyan once said, better off going home to raise pigs.
"With 250,000 yuan as capital, the wholesale price for an 11-pound crate of large tangerines is 35 yuan. That's about 7,000 crates with 250,000 yuan. The current market price is 4.55 yuan per pound, and a 100% increase means 9.10 yuan per pound. That makes each crate worth 100 yuan. 7,000 crates would be 700,000 yuan! Minus the 250,000 yuan cost, that's 450,000 yuan in pure profit!"
"Holy crap, that's huge!"
Seeing the result on his phone's calculator, Jiang Tao was stunned. He hadn't done the math properly before, and now he realized just how insanely profitable this tangerine project could be!
The surge would last about a week at most, and Jiang Tao planned to wrap it up within that time. Even if he gave Xiao Liu and the others a cut or some labor fees, he'd still pocket at least 350,000 yuan in pure profit after the initial 250,000 yuan investment.
"But 7,000 crates of tangerines will need a place to store them!"
"The outdoor temperature is just right now, so no need to rent a cold storage. A standalone courtyard in the urban village will do. Rent for a courtyard here is only about 2,000 yuan a month—way cheaper than renting a warehouse."
After calculating the profits, Jiang Tao started thinking about storage and future sales.
For this tangerine project, timing the entry and securing as much stock as possible was the first step. Turning the low-cost stock into high-priced sales was the critical part!
Jiang Tao pulled out a notebook and a pen from the drawer. Whatever came to mind, he jotted down. A good memory is no match for a bad pen—fleeting ideas could slip away if not recorded.
He scribbled in the notebook for over an hour.
Soon, it was midnight, and a new day began.