Dongzhen!
Dongzhen was a small town on the east side of Sanhe Village, with a population of over two hundred thousand.
Covering a distance of more than ten kilometers, Zhao Tiezhu rode his bicycle for over an hour to reach the outskirts of Heping Market.
At eight o'clock, the morning market was still in full swing. A bustling crowd filled the area, with various stalls scattered along both sides of the road.
There were vegetables, fruits, breakfast items, seasonings, and more, mostly brought in by farmers from the surrounding suburbs.
Zhao Tiezhu parked his tricycle by an empty vegetable stall and set up the newly bought electronic scale.
He opened a corner of the thin quilt to reveal tomatoes and cucumbers with vibrant colors, sat down on the edge of the tricycle to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and let out a long breath.
The grand money-making plan was underway!
He glanced around and noticed a few idle vendors looking at him with odd expressions.
The middle-aged couple at the neighboring vegetable stall in particular cast looks filled with mockery and disdain.
They had a large variety of vegetables, and a medium-sized truck was parked behind them.
They must have been successful vegetable vendors.
Yet what gave them the right to look down on him?
As he was observing, an elderly woman in lavish clothes stopped in front of him. She looked at the tomatoes, leaned down to sniff them, and asked, "Young man, how much are these tomatoes?"
"Eighteen yuan a jin!"
"What? Are you robbing people?"
The old woman instantly flared up, her sharp voice echoing in all directions.
The surrounding vendors and passing pedestrians couldn't help but have their attention drawn to the spot.
People who came to the morning market were looking for freshness and bargains; who had ever heard of vegetables costing eighteen yuan a jin?
"How much a jin? Eighteen yuan? Is this kid out of his mind?"
"First time I've ever heard of tomatoes priced so high. He must be out of his mind to make money!"
"Hmph, he's just acting for attention. There are no tomatoes this expensive in the entire market. Let's go, next stall!"
The middle-aged woman at the neighboring stall wore a disdainful smile and sneered, "Young man, do you know why no one sets up a stall next to mine? Because in the entire morning market, our vegetables are the best."
"You're selling yours even higher than ours, how could anyone possibly buy them?"
Her tone was dripping with triumph.
The middle-aged man chimed in, "I'm saying this for your own good. You'd better lower your prices right now!"
They sang in harmony, trying to pressure Zhao Tiezhu into leaving.
As vegetable farmers, they could tell at a glance that Zhao Tiezhu's produce was several grades better than theirs.
Hearing this, Zhao Tiezhu roughly guessed that they were afraid he would steal their market share, which was why they were trying to scare him off.
He said calmly, "I know the quality of my vegetables. Whether to buy or not is the customer's decision!"
Then, he shouted at the top of his lungs: "Tomatoes and cucumbers for sale, eighteen yuan a jin! You won't lose out, and you won't be conned!"
Even a fine fragrance fears a deep alley, let alone vegetables this expensive. He had to cry out to attract customers.
He would use curiosity to draw them in and quality to make them stay!
The middle-aged woman dismissed him with a sneer: "Hmph, even the most luxurious Dongrun Grand Hotel in Dongzhen wouldn't buy vegetables this expensive. Let's see if you end up lowering your price!"
The middle-aged man followed up with, "I don't mind telling you, we are the biggest vegetable suppliers for Dongrun Grand Hotel, and even we wouldn't dare price them this high!"
"Eighteen a jin? In your dreams!"
Their faces were plastered with arrogance. Seeing that they couldn't chase him away, they stood by with mocking expressions to watch him make a fool of himself.
Zhao Tiezhu merely sneered without refuting them, continuing to shout at the top of his voice: "Freshly picked tomatoes and cucumbers, straight from the countryside, eighteen yuan a jin! A guaranteed bargain!"
His full-throated voice echoed continuously through the morning market.
Some curious people gathered around to check out the situation.
"Eighteen yuan for tomatoes? Way too expensive! Let's go, let's go!"
"Oh, they really look nice and smell good, but they're just too pricey!"
"Young man, I like them, but can you go a bit lower?"
Quite a few people realized that Zhao Tiezhu's vegetables genuinely came from the countryside, but they couldn't accept the price.
Zhao Tiezhu refused to budge even a single penny, insisting firmly on eighteen yuan.
While many people inquired, not a single one actually spent money to buy.
Passersby came and went, shaking their heads as they left.
Another wave of customers dispersed, and the middle-aged vegetable vendor nearby chuckled, "Well, well, young man, reality will make you drop all your pride! You should know that no matter how high your price is, someone has to actually buy it for it to turn into money!"
"You wouldn't want to pedal your tricycle all the way here early in the morning only to go home with unsold goods, would you?"
His increasingly arrogant smile was particularly grating.
The other stalls had all managed to sell at least a little something, and the looks they cast toward Zhao Tiezhu were filled with smugness.
Facing their smugness, Zhao Tiezhu didn't care in the least. If worst came to worst, he could wheel his cart to sell them at hotels.
In short, he had to sell them today.
Just as everyone was watching the spectacle, a delicate woman wearing a white shirt, a gray skirt, and grayish-blue leather shoes walked over.
She had a pretty face, a slender figure, and the exposed skin on her arms and neck seemed to glow with whiteness.
An absolute beauty!
In the crowd, she stood out instantly as extraordinary, drawing every eye.
Zhao Tiezhu frowned slightly because, in his impression, a beauty like this wouldn't normally appear in a morning market.
Judging by her clothes, she wasn't short on money and had never done a day of hard labor in her life. Why would she come to a morning market to buy cheap vegetables?
Finding it strange in his heart, he still shouted loudly: "Tomatoes, cucumbers, straight from the countryside, eighteen a jin, selling out to go home!"
Her attention was caught by his voice, and she walked toward his tricycle.
The middle-aged couple nearby kept chattering away:
"I bet this kid is just doing this to get the beauty's attention. His motives aren't pure!"
"Ha, isn't this the owner of Taoyuan Restaurant? Word has it she's being squeezed out of business by Dongrun Grand Hotel and is practically going under. Where would she get the money to buy such expensive vegetables?"
They looked down on Taoyuan Restaurant just as much, holding a spectator's attitude as they watched the scene unfold.
Zhao Tiezhu treated their words like hot air. He watched as the woman picked up a tomato, held it to the tip of her nose to sniff it, and then gave a cucumber a gentle squeeze.
Afterward, the woman asked in a slightly husky voice, "Mister, the appearance of your tomatoes and cucumbers is indeed very good, but why are you selling them for eighteen yuan?"
Although the quality and aroma were rich, she wanted to know the reason for the high price.
Noticing that her eyes were heavily bloodshot and her eyelids dark, Zhao Tiezhu casually picked up a cucumber, snapped off a piece, handed it to her, and said, "You can taste the cucumber. It should have some effect on your red, swollen eyes and sore throat!"
Huh?
The woman was clearly startled. She hadn't expected Zhao Tiezhu to spot her ailment without answering her question directly.
Seeing this, the middle-aged man nearby said disdainfully, "Boss Qin, you'd better watch out. For a cucumber to grow this big, it must have been pumped full of chemical fertilizers and growth hormones. Don't give yourself a bad stomach, hehe!"
It sounded like a warning, but in reality, it was a trap for Zhao Tiezhu.
Competitors were enemies, especially when someone was selling vegetables so expensive it made theirs look like trash.
Who would ever admit to being inferior to someone else?
The beauty glanced at the middle-aged man and said coldly, "Yao Si, when I, Qin Peiyao, do things, I don't need you telling me what to do! You cut off my family's supply just so you could do whatever you wanted? Hmph!"
Then she took out a tissue, carefully wiped the surface of the cucumber piece, and gently placed it in her mouth to chew.
As the refreshing taste spread and the juices flowed, the dryness in her throat vanished instantly.
Swallowing it down even relieved the fatigue in her eyes.
Her eyes slowly widened, and she began to eat small bites quickly.
At that exact moment, a mocking voice rang out: "Qin Peiyao, can you finally bring yourself to eat? Oh my, you really are starving enough to eat anything. Are you eating a hick's unwashed vegetables straight into your stomach?"
Hearing the voice, the joy and enjoyment on Qin Peiyao's face instantly turned into disgust.