The Happy Farmer Wanderer-Chapter 97 Unexpected Business Opportunity_1

"Listening to that is a bit disgusting, isn’t it? Making a fortune without a conscience, profiting from the sweat of the weak!"

As Lü Zong toyed with a tea pet in his hand, he gestured towards a bulky man with a square face sitting on the sofa.

"Brother Gong, go take a look, help out this young brother here. As for the money, just a token amount will do. Dammit, I run a restaurant here honestly earning my keep, and this son of a bitch dares to take shortcuts!"

The bulky man seemed somewhat slow, he nodded and looked at Li Qing.

Li Qing quickly took out the money from his pocket, first placing two thousand yuan on the table.

"Lü Zong, what do you think... is this enough?"

Although he had four thousand on him, he was reluctant, so he only took out two thousand.

In Li Qing’s original plan, the perfect outcome would have been to settle everything with one thousand yuan.

But looking at the atmosphere here, he felt that if he really offered a thousand yuan, he might have to endure a beating first.

"Two thousand? You do have a generous hand, just for hitting someone, no need for that much," Lü Zong said with a knowing smile.

Li Qing: ...

Fuck!

Miscalculated!

He thought that, given the appearance of these ruthless folks, they would demand more than two thousand.

Turns out, he offered too much.

Li Qing immediately felt a pang of pain.

Seeing the pained expression on Li Qing’s face, Lü Zong shook his head and chuckled softly, "Feeling the pinch?"

Sun Haohao, anxious, quickly tugged at Li Qing’s sleeve, as if afraid Li Qing would say the wrong thing.

"No, not at all, thank you for your care, Lü Zong!" Li Qing muttered.

Lü Zong laughed heartily, "With our Brother Gong going, you can rest assured. I’ll take care of this for you." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Thank you, Lü Zong!" Li Qing quickly said.

Suddenly, Lü Zong’s brow furrowed, and he pointed at Li Qing and asked, "Right, you said you were from Sanhe Village, right?"

"Isn’t that right, Brother Gong?"

The slow-witted man nodded.

Li Qing’s heart skipped a beat. He was from Sanhe Village; could there be some complication?!

"Are there many people in Sanhe Village who grow Wenguan Fruit?" Lü Zong inquired.

This time he was asking Li Qing.

Li Qing was slightly taken aback, the question leaving him somewhat bewildered.

"Not... not many," Li Qing answered truthfully.

"I heard there’s a family in your village with a Wenguan Fruit orchard, is that true?" Lü Zong pressed further.

Li Qing was somewhat startled.

How did the conversation seem to end up being about him?

He needed a favor and it didn’t seem like he could easily bluff his way through.

Now, pretending to be unaware could lead to trouble later.

After thinking it through, Li Qing decided to come clean, "What Lü Zong is asking about seems to be my family’s."

"Ah? Your family’s?" Lü Zong’s surprise was evident.

This time his face clearly showed real joy, not the fake smile he had before.

Li Qing didn’t know what purpose Lü Zong had in asking these questions, so he could only nod stiffly.

"Are those Wenguan Leaves, no, the trees for sale?" Lü Zong asked.

Li Qing laughed somewhat unnaturally, "Lü Zong, you’re asking a bit late. I’m almost... sold out."

"Hey, you little runt, how come you’ve sold out? Did you sell it to that woman?" Lü Zong suddenly shouted.

Li Qing didn’t know if he was referring to Yu Baishuo, so he asked, "Is Lü Zong talking about Boss Yu?"

"Yes, exactly, that woman!" Lü Zong said, pointing his fingers a few times.

Li Qing didn’t expect things to happen by such a coincidence.

At a loss for words, Li Qing just stood there woodenly, waiting for what would come next.

"Damn, we locals just don’t have timely information, always a step behind in everything we do!" Lü Zong lamented, "I have to admit, that woman is impressive."

"How much did you sell it for?" Lü Zong asked again.

"Four hundred per jin," Li Qing answered truthfully.

"The price is fair, but if you had sold to me, I could have given you two more yuan per liang," Lü Zong said, shaking his head.

Li Qing didn’t take such hindsight seriously.

Now he might say forty-two, but when it actually came time to sell, it might not even be forty.

Lü Zong shook his head and lamented once more, "Always a step behind in everything!"

"To just watch as the chance to make a fortune slips away, just like that, gone!"

Li Qing: ...

This made Li Qing slightly shocked. Were the profit margins for Wenguan Leaves really that high?

"All of you, just a bunch of meatheads! Times have changed; you can’t just rely on muscle, you need brains!" Suddenly, Lü Zong started scolding the big men in the room, "I send you to the countryside to gather some leaves, and every time you’re outdone by that woman, a week’s work and you bring back barely ten jin of rotten leaves, and still manage to lose a thousand yuan!"

Ten jin for a thousand...

Li Qing’s mouth twitched slightly.

Talking about forty-two just before, the discrepancy was truly vast.

"You guys, make room for the young man, show some awareness," Lü Zong suddenly shouted.

"It’s fine, it’s fine. Lü Zong, I’m okay standing up!" Li Qing hastily said.

"Sit down first, I’ve got something to talk to you about," Lü Zong said with a smile, playing with a tea pet in his hand.

Before Li Qing could react, a man named Palace Brother forced him down onto the sofa with a strong shove.

Although it was an invitation to sit, the force was real!

Lü Zong then gestured to Sun Haohao, "Xiao Haozi, you sit too. Keep our young brother company, he’s called Li... Li..."

"Li Qing!" Sun Haohao chimed in to help Lü Zong out.

"Ah, right, Xiao Li."

Lü Zong scratched his temple, and then stuffed the two thousand yuan that Li Qing had just placed on the table back into his hand, "The fact that you could turn those Wenguan Leaves into cash just as you were buying them in the city shows that your nose is sharper than those of my idiot brothers here."

"Leave the rough stuff to me. You, take this money to buy Wenguan Leaves for me!"

"I don’t care what price you buy them for, but the price I give you will be forty-two yuan per liang."

"How about it? Think it over!"

Li Qing felt a bit lost for words, "Any amount is okay?"

"Anything is fine, but if it’s too little, you’d feel embarrassed to bring it to me, right?" Lü Zong smiled warmly.

But to Li Qing, there seemed to be a chill behind it.

"Then this money..." Li Qing held up the cash in his hand, "Lü Zong, you should keep it. Let’s keep our accounts clear."

"Ah, but that’s exactly it, keeping our accounts clear. The previous deal is settled, and this is your operating capital," Lü Zong said, patting Li Qing’s shoulder. "Why do I feel like you’re a bit scared of me? Don’t be. This face was given by my mom, I can’t help it! I don’t want to smile creepily, sometimes I’m even afraid to look in the mirror at night."

Li Qing: ...

It clearly wasn’t practical to refuse the deal.

But accepting it was like grabbing a hot potato.

However, if he were to buy Wenguan Leaves, he actually knew a place to get them!