This was just the net revenue from selling the cherries, and there were still many other fresh, high-end fruits in the store, all priced much higher than outside.
Su Yaxian's Guoran Supermarket catered specifically to high-end clients. Most of the people who came here were wealthy and focused on the freshness and quality of the fruit; a slightly higher price was not a point of concern for them at all.
Lin Xiaolong finally understood why Su Yaxian had wanted to buy up his cherries exclusively.
Because this business was simply too lucrative.
Tens of thousands in net profit a day was something Lin Xiaolong would never have even dared to imagine in the past.
Yet now, such a thing was happening right before his eyes, forcing him to believe it and vastly broadening his horizons and understanding.
Seeing Lin Xiaolong looking dumbfounded, Su Yaxian waved a hand in front of his eyes. "Handsome, are you regretting that your price was too low?"
Lin Xiaolong waved his hands. "No, I just didn't expect people in the city to be so rich."
"It's not that city people are rich, it's that most people who buy fruit from me are wealthy. Because my fruit supermarket targets high-end clients, ordinary families wouldn't dare buy from me; they all go to the vegetable market," Su Yaxian said.
Just as they were speaking, a BMW SUV pulled up right in front of the entrance.
Then, a woman in her thirties stepped out of the car, dressed in a black professional suit, looking very much like a hotel manager.
"Yaxian," the woman called out, greeting Su Yaxian as soon as she got out.
Upon seeing the woman, Su Yaxian immediately went up to greet her. "Sister Liu? How do you, busy person that you are, have time to come to my place?"
"That Moments post of yours made my mouth water, how could I not come and take a look?" Sister Liu said with a smile, exchanging greetings with Su Yaxian before walking over to look at the cherries.
At the sight of them, Sister Liu was instantly stunned.
After picking one up and tasting it, she immediately went over to Su Yaxian. "Yaxian, how many of these cherries are left?"
"They're all right here, about a thousand pounds or so. I estimate they'll all be sold out before closing time," Su Yaxian said.
"A hundred a pound, right?"
"That's right."
"Alright, stop selling them, I'll take the lot. Have them all delivered to the hotel for me," Sister Liu said.
"You want all of them?" Even Su Yaxian was startled at this.
"Yes, I want all of them. Come over here, how much is it? I'll transfer the money to you right now," Sister Liu said decisively.
"What does your hotel need so many cherries for?" Su Yaxian asked.
Sister Liu chuckled softly. "These cherries are one of a kind. I've never seen any like them, and they taste beyond amazing. Nowadays, every restaurant finishes off a meal by sending guests a fruit platter, and those platters are just filled with grapes, watermelon, and the like—people are sick of them. If I can send guests a plate of these cherries, tell me, won't the guests remember our hotel?"
"Sister Liu, you're planning to use my cherries to advertise for your hotel, aren't you?" Su Yaxian laughed.
"Smart girl! Hurry up and have them all delivered to the hotel. Just these cherries—even if the hotel doesn't use them, I can package them up as gifts myself and attract a lot more high-end clients," Sister Liu said excitedly.
"Alright, that saves me the trouble of retailing them."
Su Yaxian immediately arranged for Zhang Yong to load the remaining cherries into the van and deliver them to Sister Liu's hotel.
However, she did keep two crates to sell to customers who kept trickling in.
After all, people had rushed over after seeing her Moments post, and it would be very disappointing if they couldn't buy any at all.
As soon as Zhang Yong drove the van away, Su Yaxian immediately posted another update on Moments, letting everyone know that the cherries were about to be sold out.
This way, she would spare those planning to come and buy them a wasted trip.
The remaining two crates were nowhere near enough to meet demand; they would probably be completely sold out in less than half an hour.
Lin Xiaolong finally witnessed what it meant to be a hot commodity.
It hadn't even taken two hours to sell all two thousand-plus pounds of cherries.
Sister Liu alone had bought over a thousand pounds.
At this rate of making money, even if you scattered sixty thousand yuan on the ground, picking it up wouldn't be this fast.
"Handsome, why didn't you ask for Sister Liu's number just now? Deliver the goods directly to her next time, and you'll make even more money." Su Yaxian gave Lin Xiaolong's arm a playful tap.
Lin Xiaolong smiled faintly. "Sister Yaxian, how could I possibly do a thing like that? That money is what you ought to make. If it weren't for you, I might still be selling them at sixty yuan a pound at the entrance of the residential complex."
"Well, it looks like my judgment wasn't wrong," Su Yaxian said. "Can you guarantee you'll still have this many tomorrow?"
"Of course I can guarantee it," Lin Xiaolong said.
"Good. Sister will go to your place tomorrow; I want to see just how you manage to conjure up cherries like these."
Lin Xiaolong smiled faintly, neither confirming nor denying.
Although Su Yaxian was very pretty and charming, there was no way he would ever tell her the secret of the spiritual liquid.
"Sister Yaxian, you go ahead and get busy, I need to head back. I've still got a ton of things to do at home," Lin Xiaolong said.
"Head back?" Su Yaxian snorted. "What are you talking about? We've been busy all this time, you have to at least have lunch before you go."
"I wouldn't want to impose on Sister," Lin Xiaolong said politely.
"Kid, are you thinking you won't sell the cherries to me tomorrow?" Su Yaxian asked deliberately.
"How could that be?"
"Then come have lunch with me, or else I'll think you have other motives."
"Alright then." Lin Xiaolong had no choice but to agree.
Actually, he quite enjoyed eating with a beauty. After all, having a beauty present was not only pleasing to the eye, but it also made him feel quite important.
It was just that his own outfit was rustic to begin with, and he still had dirt on him from picking cherries; he was afraid he would make Su Yaxian lose face.
However, judging by Su Yaxian's demeanor, she didn't mind at all.
"Handsome, get in the car."
Su Yaxian had Lin Xiaolong get into her Mercedes-Benz, and they drove straight to the county's newest and most popular high-end establishment, the Yuntian Hotel.
The greeters knew Su Yaxian. Seeing her walk in with a young man who, although handsome, looked utterly rustic, they all wore looks of astonishment.
Su Yaxian didn't mind at all and directly had them find a booth on the west side of the first-floor lobby.
"Sister, it's just the two of us eating, there's no need to come to such a nice place, is there?" This was Lin Xiaolong's first time at a high-end hotel like this, and one look told him the food here would certainly not be cheap.
"You've helped me make so much money, how can I not treat you to something good? What if you decide to sell your cherries to someone else instead?" Su Yaxian teased.
"I wouldn't. I'm a man of my word," Lin Xiaolong said.
"I know, but the food here is quite palatable. When treating a handsome guy, naturally one shouldn't be stingy."
Su Yaxian had the waiter bring over the menu and handed it to Lin Xiaolong. "Order whatever you like, don't be polite."
"Rest assured, I won't be polite, lest you worry I'll sell my stuff to someone else."
Lin Xiaolong took the menu, intending to bleed Su Yaxian for all she was worth.
Yet as soon as he looked at the menu, he suddenly had no idea where to start.
Damn it, this was pure robbery! A simple plate of shredded potatoes in hot and sour sauce could sell for sixty yuan—it was highway robbery.
Seeing Lin Xiaolong flipping through the menu in hesitation, Su Yaxian snatched it right back. "I'll do the ordering."
With a few quick strokes of her pen, Su Yaxian ordered six dishes, making Lin Xiaolong's heart ache.
All six were major dishes, coming to a total of over a thousand yuan.
A meal costing over a thousand yuan for two people certainly wasn't much compared to what they had earned today.
Yet compared to Lin Xiaolong's previous life, it was far too extravagant.
After all, back when he was considered a fool, his family's living expenses for an entire month didn't even reach a thousand yuan, and now, a single meal cost this much.
The lives of the wealthy were truly extravagant.
Still, Lin Xiaolong didn't say anything, so as not to let Su Yaxian mock him for being stingy.
"Alright, just serve them right away," Su Yaxian instructed.
"Very well," the waiter answered respectfully and walked away.
"This is the hotel where Sister Liu works. She's the manager here, and this place is wildly popular. The people who come here to eat are all wealthy," Su Yaxian told Lin Xiaolong.
"Then doesn't that make me an exception?" Lin Xiaolong said, speechless.
"Handsome, don't sell yourself short. You'll become a wealthy man soon enough," Su Yaxian said.
"Sister."
"What?"
"You have a good eye."
"Give you an inch and you're already shining."
The two of them chatted and joked while waiting for the dishes, sipping tea.
Soft music played throughout the spacious lobby. Although there were many people, there was no sense of clamor.
As the two of them were talking and laughing, Sister Liu hurried over. Seeing Su Yaxian together with the young man she had previously seen at Guoran Supermarket, she paused in surprise.
She had noticed Lin Xiaolong at the time, but because he was dressed so plainly with dirt still on his trousers, she had assumed he was just a casual laborer helping out with moving fruit and hadn't paid him any mind.
Seeing him dining with Su Yaxian now, she couldn't help but take a closer look at Lin Xiaolong.
With this look, she suddenly realized that this boy was actually quite a handsome young man.
"Yaxian, why didn't you give me a shout when you came?" Sister Liu complained, their easy familiarity showing that they shared a good relationship.
"We're just having a meal, and you're so busy, why bother you?" Su Yaxian smiled."That won't do at all. You did me a huge favor. You have no idea how popular the cherries I bought today were. A lot of people kept asking me where I got them, and some even wanted me to sell them directly to them," Sister Liu said, beaming with joy. "I just wonder who on earth grew these cherries. They are simply amazing."
"Amazing, right? And the person behind them is right here beside you," Su Yaxian said, glancing at Lin Xiaolong.
Sister Liu looked at Lin Xiaolong in surprise. "This handsome guy grew them?"
"That's right, they're all from his family's orchard," Su Yaxian said.
"Incredible, absolutely incredible! Handsome, here is my business card. Next time you come to the hotel, just look for Sister Liu, and I'll give you a ten percent discount," Sister Liu said.
"Only a ten percent discount?" Su Yaxian teased.
"If you supply the cherries directly to me, a thirty percent discount is no problem at all," Sister Liu laughed.
"Sister Liu, I'm sorry, but Sister Yaxian and I have an agreement. I'm supplying her exclusively," Lin Xiaolong immediately chimed in.
Hearing this, Su Yaxian giggled. "See that? It's not like I'm stopping him from supplying you."
"Exclusive supply? Yaxian, did you use your feminine wiles on him?" Sister Liu laughed.
"Why don't you try it, Sister Liu?"
"Get along with you. I'm so old now, nobody would look twice at me," Sister Liu said with a smile. "I won't joke with you two anymore. Just call me if you need anything."
With that, Sister Liu walked away. Shortly after, she had a waiter bring over two glasses of freshly squeezed juice.
The waiter began serving the dishes one after another. Just as the two of them were about to dig in, a loud, exaggerated voice rang out right beside their ears.
"Well, well, if it isn't Su Yaxian?"
The two of them looked over and saw a man and a woman sitting face to face in the adjacent booth.
The woman was in her twenties, wearing heavy makeup. Although she had some looks, the sheer thickness of her makeup gave her a distinctly cheap and vulgar air.
It was she who had just spoken.
Sitting opposite her was a balding man in his forties.
"Zhao Fen?" Su Yaxian asked, her delicate brows slightly furrowed as she looked at the woman. "Are you eating here too?"
"Of course. Why else would anyone come here if not to eat?"
Zhao Fen remained seated and cast her gaze toward Lin Xiaolong. "Is this your boyfriend? My goodness! Why is he dressed so crudely? He's even got dirt on him. Did you pick up a migrant worker for a boyfriend?"
Hearing Zhao Fen speak to Lin Xiaolong in such a manner, Su Yaxian immediately grew angry. "Zhao Fen, what kind of man I choose for a boyfriend is none of your business!"
"Oh! So it really is true! Well, I'm sorry, we shouldn't discriminate against migrant workers." With that, Zhao Fen let out a shrill, mocking laugh as if she couldn't contain herself any longer.
***
Zhao Fen and Su Yaxian had been high school classmates.
Both were considered beauties in their class, but Zhao Fen fell far short of Su Yaxian in every respect.
Zhao Fen had a deeply jealous nature. Lacking Su Yaxian's looks, temperament, and academic prowess—she lagged miles behind in grades—she had made a habit of picking fights with Su Yaxian over petty matters ever since their high school days.
Unfortunately, Su Yaxian easily brushed off every single attempt, leaving Zhao Fen to make a fool of herself time and time again.
This bred a deep-seated resentment in Zhao Fen's heart, and she constantly schemed for a day when she could outshine Su Yaxian and vent her pent-up frustration.
However, Su Yaxian eventually went on to attend a rather prestigious university, whereas Zhao Fen could only manage a vocational college.
The two had never gotten along, and after heading off to university, their paths rarely crossed.
Once they entered society, contact practically ceased altogether.
She never expected to run into her here at the Yuntian Grand Hotel today.
In her drive to get ahead in the world, Zhao Fen had latched onto the balding man in his forties sitting opposite her as her husband.
The man was named Liu Defu. Standing at around one meter sixty, he ran a small company and managed to rake in several hundred thousand a year through shady schemes and deception.
Yet in Zhao Fen's eyes, this made him an immensely successful figure.
To her, age was no obstacle, and height was no gap—so long as there was money, everything was A-OK.
Having unexpectedly run into Su Yaxian today, she was hardly going to let such a rare opportunity slip by. She intended to use the chance to humiliate her rival thoroughly.
She had initially feared that Su Yaxian might rely on her looks to land some impressive husband.
Who could have imagined that she would actually end up with a migrant worker for a boyfriend?
Although the young man was undeniably handsome and made one's heart stir, good looks couldn't be swiped like a credit card.
Besides, she refused to believe Su Yaxian could be living all that well.
So what if Su Yaxian was talented and went to a good university back then? Once graduated, she was still just working as an employee at someone else's company.
No matter how high her salary was, ten thousand a month was the absolute limit—barely over a hundred thousand a year. She was completely out of her league compared to Zhao Fen's husband.
It would be a miracle if she didn't squeeze the life out of Su Yaxian given such a golden opportunity today.
"Su Yaxian, you really have a heart of gold. Knowing how hard it is for migrant workers to find wives, are you running a charity program for them?"
"As expected of a top-university graduate, your civic virtue is just so high, solving problems for our migrant worker friends! On behalf of all migrant workers, let me thank you. It's thanks to your self-sacrificing dedication that more migrant workers are willing to come help us build towers, pave roads, and clear sewers, making our urban lives cleaner and more comfortable. You are simply too great."
"I just wonder, does your little migrant worker boyfriend take a bath when he goes to sleep at night? Looking at him, I bet he doesn't. I wonder if there's any sweat or foot odor—I simply can't stand those things."
"And coming out to eat at such a nice hotel, shouldn't you at least change into clean clothes? I'm not discriminating against migrant workers, you understand, I just feel that migrant worker comrades should dress a bit more cleanly. After all, you have to consider the feelings of the other guests."
As she droned on with her venomous remarks, Zhao Fen deliberately fanned the air in front of her nose with her hand, as if Lin Xiaolong's scent was utterly unbearable to her.
The woman went on and on, tossing out the term "migrant worker" at every turn. Her words reeked of contempt for the working class, while intentionally trying to make Su Yaxian's stomach turn.
Su Yaxian was no pushover either, and her patience had worn thin long ago.
The moment Zhao Fen finished speaking, she snatched a cup off the table and made to throw its contents right at her.
However, a hand reached out from across the table and caught her by the wrist.
Lin Xiaolong looked at the furious Su Yaxian and smiled, shaking his head.
"Sister Yaxian, if a dog bites a person, is the person supposed to bite the dog back?"
Su Yaxian froze for a second, then burst out laughing.
She had expected Lin Xiaolong to fly into a rage after hearing Zhao Fen's insults, but she never imagined he would remain as calm as if he hadn't heard a single word.
Yet the remark he dropped nearly made Su Yaxian lose her composure entirely.
"Xiaolong, you're right. How could a person possibly get angry at a dog?"
Just two people and two sentences were enough to make Zhao Fen bounce out of her seat.
"A migrant worker is a migrant worker after all, completely devoid of class! Su Yaxian, you've really hit rock bottom, reduced to finding yourself a migrant worker husband."
"I'm happy, I'm thrilled, I like it—what of it? Going to bite me?" Seeing Zhao Fen snap, Su Yaxian immediately fired back in a cool, unhurried tone designed precisely to drive her crazy.
"You—!" Zhao Fen looked ready to leap across the table.
Her husband, Liu Defu, grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
After all, Liu Defu was in his forties and considered an old hand in society. Seeing that his wife hadn't scored any points against the others and instead looked ready to foam at the mouth with rage, he immediately moved to cut off her further embarrassment.
With his background in scamming and conniving through the world, how could he fail to see that Lin Xiaolong and Su Yaxian were deliberately pushing her buttons?
Besides, ever since he and Zhao Fen had walked in, his eyes hadn't strayed far from Su Yaxian.
Compared to Su Yaxian, Zhao Fen was nothing more than a common, painted-up face.
Seeing a super-beauty like Su Yaxian dining with a punk who looked every bit like a migrant worker left him feeling deeply aggrieved.
If a guy like that could win her over, wouldn't a successful man like himself find it a breeze to reel her in?
If he really managed to hook a beauty like Su Yaxian, Liu Defu wouldn't hesitate for a second to kick the shrew beside him to the curb.
Still, until he actually landed the prize, he needed to put up a front of supporting Zhao Fen to display his supposedly magnanimous side and leave a good impression on Su Yaxian.
"Afen, who is this?" Liu Defu asked, taking an open, sweeping look at Su Yaxian.
Zhao Fen had been itching to flare up again, but seeing her husband hold her back, she immediately flashed a smug, mocking smile and said in a strange, taunting tone, "Darling, this is my high school classmate, Su Yaxian. Back in high school, this classmate of mine had her nose so high up in the air she wouldn't look at anyone. I never imagined she'd end up in such a pathetic state, actually finding a migrant worker for a husband. I'm embarrassed just looking at her."
"Hehe, Afen, you shouldn't talk like that." Liu Defu turned his gaze to Su Yaxian. "Miss Su, my name is Liu Defu, Afen's husband."
"What does your name have to do with me?" Su Yaxian retorted.
"Is that any way to speak to my husband?!"