Arriving at the fruit section, Jiang Tao and the other three pretended not to know each other.
Each found an empty spot to park their trucks.
As soon as Jiang Tao parked, a market administrator with a red armband tied around his sleeve stopped by his truck.
"Sir, how much for a day?"
Jiang Tao got out of the truck, greeted the administrator with a smile, and offered him a cigarette.
"Twenty yuan a day. WeChat or Alipay?"
The fee collector was a thin, white-haired old man who looked to be in his sixties.
"Alipay it is!"
Jiang Tao took out his phone, scanned the old man's Alipay QR code with a ding, paid the 20-yuan stall fee, and casually asked, "By the way, sir, if I sell out and go back to restock, I won't have to pay again, right?"
"Twenty yuan covers you for the whole day. No repeat charges. We're a proper, organized unit—no random fees here."
The old man gave Jiang Tao a look that said, You don't need to worry about that.
"Got it! Well, you carry on then!"
Jiang Tao smiled at the old man, then turned to head back to the driver's seat to grab his small megaphone for announcements.
"Sir, how much for these Tangerines?"
Before Jiang Tao could turn on the megaphone, a middle-aged woman in a green down jacket, with permed curls and a few green onions in her hand, stopped in front of his truck to ask about the price.
Jiang Tao paused, looked at her with a cheerful smile, and said, "9.10 yuan a pound, and one crate is exactly 11 pounds for 100 yuan."
"How much? 9.10 yuan? Young man, isn't that price a bit steep? Just two days ago at the big market, they were only 4.55 yuan a pound! In just two days, it's doubled to 9.10 yuan?"
The woman's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing Jiang Tao's price.
Jiang Tao patiently explained, "Ma'am, you may not know, but there's been a big snowstorm in Guangxi, and the Tangerines can't even get out.
We're paying over 7.27 yuan a pound at the wholesale market!
Selling them to you at 9.10 yuan really isn't overcharging. If you don't believe me, you can ask around elsewhere."
"9.10 yuan is way too expensive! Forget it, I won't buy!"
Muttering under her breath and shaking her head, the woman walked off toward Liu Zhiyuan's stall, the closest to Jiang Tao's.
Failing to close the first customer didn't discourage Jiang Tao. He turned on the megaphone and started broadcasting.
"Tangerines, sweet and tangy Tangerines, authentic Guangxi Tangerines, 9.10 yuan a pound!"
The megaphone's catchy sales pitch looped, drawing sidelong glances from nearby vendors selling apples and bananas.
Tangerines at 9.10 yuan a pound? That was a first for them!
Jiang Tao lit a cigarette and glanced at the woman who had walked away from his stall.
She lingered at Liu Zhiyuan's stall for about half a minute, then moved on to Shan Yufei's.
After spending a dozen seconds at Shan Yufei's stall, she headed to Zhang Chao's.
After checking all the stalls, the woman finally confirmed with absolute certainty that Tangerines had indeed gone up in price!
Before leaving home, her granddaughter had specifically asked for these, and not buying them would definitely upset her.
In the end, she had no choice but to give in to the market, exchanging a crisp 100-yuan bill for an 11-pound crate of Tangerines.
Among the four, Zhang Chao was the first to make a sale.
With the megaphone broadcasting, it saved them from having to haggle.
Jiang Tao switched to a straightforward "take it or leave it" approach—those who wanted to buy would buy.
"Sir, how come these Tangerines got so expensive all of a sudden? Last market day, they were 4.55 yuan a pound, and now they're 9.10 yuan!"
"Miss, the roads in Guangxi are blocked by heavy snow, and the Tangerines can't get out. We're paying over 7.27 yuan a pound for them now. We don't want to sell them this expensive either, but we have no choice!"
The woman in front of Jiang Tao had come from Zhang Chao's stall, asking around. In the end, she too had to give in to the market, spending 200 yuan for two crates before leaving.
Initially, Jiang Tao had thought the sudden price hike would hurt business.
After all, it would take time for consumers to accept the skyrocketing prices.
But the reality far exceeded his expectations.
His truck, loaded with 300 crates of Tangerines, was completely sold out before noon!
In just one morning, he made over 30,000 yuan!
This situation left Jiang Tao a bit puzzled.
This seemed to go against market logic!
"Forget it, why overthink it? The faster they sell, the more I sell, the better it is for me!"
"No matter the reason, I need to hurry back and haul another load!"
Unable to figure out the reason, Jiang Tao stopped dwelling on it. He opened the truck door, hopped in, and prepared to drive back to Xiaoshahe to restock.
Ding dong!
As soon as he got in the truck, Jiang Tao received a WeChat message from Liu Zhiyuan.
[Brother Jiang! It's on the news! Check it out, Tangerines are trending!]
Seeing Liu Zhiyuan's message, Jiang Tao opened Weibo to take a look.
Sure enough, there was a trending topic about Tangerines on the hot search list.
And it was ranked pretty high!
The 8th trending topic of the day was titled: Citywide Hunt for Tangerines!
Clicking in, he found a news article reporting on the price trends of Tangerines.
It wasn't just Jiang Tao and his group raising prices—major supermarkets across the capital had doubled their Tangerine prices too.
Fruit supermarkets, markets, and wholesale markets all saw price hikes for Tangerines.
And they were all in severe shortage!
Seeing this, Jiang Tao's grin was harder to suppress than an AK!
Calming himself down, Jiang Tao sent a message in the WeChat group he'd just created with Liu Zhiyuan and the others, then headed back to restock first.
For lunch, Jiang Tao grabbed a quick bite and packed a portion of stir-fried pancakes with meat and a serving of braised pig's head for each of the other three.
After eating and drinking their fill, they got back to work!
Around 2:00 PM, Liu Zhiyuan and Zhang Chao sold out their loads and went back to haul more.
By 2:30 PM, Shan Yufei had sold out his truck.
By 4:30 PM, Jiang Tao sold out his second load of the day and went back to load another.
They kept busy until 6:30 PM.
As the sun set and the crowds at the Shahe Market dispersed, Jiang Tao and the others reluctantly called it a day.
By the time they returned to Xiaoshahe, it was around 7:30 PM.
Jiang Tao invited Liu Zhiyuan and the other two to a relatively decent restaurant in the urban village.
Today's first battle was a resounding success—a great start.
As the largest shareholder and biggest beneficiary of this Tangerine project, Jiang Tao was more than willing to treat his buddies to a meal.
Stewed chicken with mushrooms, boiled pork slices, braised pork knuckle, pickled fish, roast duck…
The small dining table was filled with the restaurant's signature dishes.
"You guys worked hard today. Eat up, drink up, then go home and rest well. Tomorrow, we keep going!"
"Let's make a big haul before the year's end and head home for a great New Year!"
"Come on, cheers!"
"Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
Liu Zhiyuan and Shan Yufei had equally bright smiles on their faces.
Only Zhang Chao's smile carried a hint of bitterness.
What kind of situation was this?!
His buddies were all making money, and he was the only one left out!
But he couldn't blame anyone else.
Back then, Brother Jiang had given him the opportunity, and he didn't seize it!