Chapter 76

Zhou Fengshou chuckled awkwardly. “Brother Hei, are you joking with me? The Black Market only offers one yuan per jin.”

“How about one yuan and three cents?” Shen Yiyi asked again.

Zhou Fengshou hesitated. “…” He had initially planned to say sixty cents, but after hearing her price, he suddenly felt too embarrassed to mention his own budget.

Shen Yiyi continued: “One yuan and one cent?”

Zhou Fengshou looked troubled. “Brother Hei, that’s still too high.”

“Then how much can you offer?”

“…Seventy cents.” Based on his original offer of sixty cents, he reluctantly added another ten cents.

Shen Yiyi shrugged. “That’s much lower than the Black Market price. Forget it, I won’t sell to you.”

Zhou Fengshou choked on his words, then tried using the persuasion tactics Li Chen had taught him. “Brother Hei, think it over. The authorities have been cracking down hard recently. If you take it to the Black Market, the risk is huge, and you can only sell small amounts at a time. You might as well sell to us.”

“Then I’ll wait until the crackdown is over before selling.” Shen Yiyi replied, turning to leave.

“…” Zhou Fengshou couldn’t bear to see the thousand jin of grain slip away. He hurriedly said: “Can I go discuss it with my brother?”

After much effort, Shen Yiyi had finally steered the conversation toward Li Chen. He let out a sigh of relief and said: “Last time, you told me your brother wanted to meet me?”

Yes, yes, yes.

“That’s him.” Zhou Fengshou nodded repeatedly, looking a little embarrassed. “Brother Hei, sorry, but my brother is the one in charge. I have to ask him first. Can you hold onto that thousand jin of grain for us?”

“That’s too much trouble.” Shen Yiyi’s face showed impatience, as if he was making a great sacrifice. “How about this—just have him come meet me, and we can talk directly.”

Zhou Fengshou was delighted—this was the best outcome!

Brother Chen was so smart; he would definitely be able to negotiate the price down.

He immediately said: “Right now? My brother doesn’t live far. If I go get him, it’ll take about fifty… no, forty minutes to come back.”

He was afraid Shen Yiyi would grow impatient and leave.

“Then hurry up!” Shen Yiyi, with his face disguised as Lao Hei, looked completely annoyed. “I’ll be waiting for you in that empty house on Xinbao Alley.”

Zhou Fengshou hopped onto his bicycle and hurried away.

Shen Yiyi went to the empty house in Xinbao Alley, took out a mirror, and checked her disguise. The exposed skin on her body was a mix of dark yellow and black. Her wig looked incredibly realistic, the fake beard was securely attached, and there were yellowish patches on her cheeks. The wrinkles on her forehead were also prominent…

She put on a mask and a pair of vintage sunglasses.

The disguise was a little heavy-handed, but that didn’t matter. As long as no one recognized her, it was enough.

After all, in this line of work, disguising oneself wasn’t anything unusual.

Oh, right—there was also a voice changer.

Just as she finished preparing, Li Chen arrived.

He entered alone. Zhou Fengshou was nowhere to be seen.

Shen Yiyi sat in the corner, feeling a bit uneasy, worried that he might recognize her.

But clearly, she was overthinking. With the way she was dressed, even her own mother wouldn’t recognize her. Besides, the lighting in the corner was dim, making it difficult to see more than just a vague silhouette.

As soon as Li Chen stepped in, his gaze landed on the shadowy figure in the corner. However, since the person remained silent, he took the initiative to greet them. “Hello?”

As soon as he spoke, a hoarse voice responded with a simple “Mm.”

And then… nothing else.

Li Chen narrowed his eyes slightly and decided to get straight to the point. “I heard you have a thousand jin of grain to sell?”

Shen Yiyi let out another “Mm.”

She had carefully calculated the amount—neither too much nor too little. Packed in sacks, it would amount to around eight or nine bags, which wouldn’t draw too much attention. “Your brother said you’re the one in charge. So, how much can you offer per jin?”

Li Chen replied: “That depends on the quality of the rice.” His meaning was clear—he needed to inspect the goods.

Hearing this, Shen Yiyi glanced at him. He was indeed more cautious than Zhou Fengshou.

Zhou Fengshou had placed his trust in Shen Yiyi simply because he had received a few wristwatches from her. Or perhaps he was trying to curry favor. Without even checking the quality of the rice, he had been ready to name a price.

With that thought, Shen Yiyi focused her mind and transferred a small amount of rice from her storage space into the carrying basket. Then, she reached in, grabbed a handful, and scattered it onto the table.

Although there were some small stones mixed in, the rice grains were crystal clear, full, and lustrous—clearly of top quality.

Li Chen glanced at it, neither surprised nor pleased, and stated a price. “Seventy cents!”

???

Wasn’t that the same price Zhou Fengshou had just offered?

Although Shen Yiyi had only used her conversation with Zhou Fengshou as a means to lure Li Chen out—rather than genuinely trying to drive up the price—she still found it odd. She didn’t actually care how many cents Li Chen offered, since she didn’t have any real costs; it was all pure profit for her.

But.

Shen Yiyi didn’t believe for a second that Zhou Fengshou hadn’t told Li Chen about their earlier negotiation. Li Chen absolutely knew that she had rejected seventy cents as too low.

“Too little.” Shen Yiyi said, maintaining her Lao Hei persona. She snorted: “Listen, this is all the grain I have left. If the price doesn’t satisfy me, I won’t sell!”

“If you weren’t going to sell, you wouldn’t have called me here.” Li Chen said confidently, as if he had seen right through her. “You will sell to me.”

Shen Yiyi: “…”

Okay, sure, she did intend to sell the grain to him. But wasn’t he a little too arrogant?

His words triggered her rebellious streak. She wanted to see whether Li Chen was truly capable or just using his reputation to intimidate others. So she simply said: “Then I won’t sell!”

Li Chen chuckled, showing no trace of panic. Suddenly, he said: “Lao Hei, you didn’t come to me just to sell grain, did you?”

He was right. Shen Yiyi hadn’t sought him out just to sell a mere thousand jin of grain—she wanted to establish a long-term partnership.

Using Lao Hei’s identity.

Shen Yiyi neither confirmed nor denied it. “Why do you think that?”

Li Chen began his analysis. “A thousand jin of grain. Even if I gave you one yuan per jin, and assuming you have no costs, you’d only make a thousand yuan.”

Only?

Shen Yiyi curled her lips slightly. “A thousand yuan is a lot. Why wouldn’t I come to you just to sell grain for that money? Why would you suspect I have another motive?”

“A thousand yuan is a lot.” Li Chen nodded. “But not for you.”

???

Shen Yiyi was confused.

It was true that she didn’t think much of a thousand yuan, because she had an abundance of supplies in her space. She could turn them into cash whenever she wanted.

But he didn’t know she had a storage space!

“How do I know that a thousand yuan isn’t much to you?” Li Chen sounded as if he could read minds.

“Previously, you sold two wristwatches to Old Zhou for 160 yuan each. But when you sold fifty watches, you lowered the price to 150 each. That’s a ten-yuan difference per watch—a huge price flexibility—meaning you lost a total of 500 yuan in profit! I heard that you didn’t even hesitate at the time, which proves that losing 500 yuan didn’t matter to you.”

“I did it to encourage him to buy more so I could earn more in the long run!” Shen Yiyi made up an excuse, unwilling to admit she was being generous simply because she had an abundance of watches.

This only further validated Li Chen’s point. “Wristwatches are small, have high profit margins, and are easy to sell at high prices. Grain, on the other hand, is bulky, has low profit margins, and while easy to offload, isn’t as simple to sell in large quantities.”

“Comparing the two—if you really just wanted to make money, you wouldn’t be here selling grain. You’d focus on selling watches one by one and earn far more. Especially since you manage to get fifty watches every month.”

“This is basic logic. I believe you understand it. So the real reason you’re here selling grain… is because your true interest isn’t in the grain, but in me.”

Shen Yiyi: “…”

It felt like… she just got played.

Her emotions became rather complicated. Did he just insult her?

Shouldn’t she be unhappy about this? But then again… this intelligent man was hers!

Li Chen had completely seized the upper hand. “So, what do you want from me?”

Ahem!

She was Old Hei right now! Not Li Chen’s wife!

Shen Yiyi’s lips curled into a smile. “Looks like I didn’t choose the wrong person after all.”

Li Chen raised an eyebrow, signaling her to continue.

“I want to work with you.” Shen Yiyi got straight to the point. “Any supplies I have, I can prioritize and offer to you at a discount.”

Li Chen asked: “What kind of supplies?”

Shen Yiyi answered: “The most in-demand grain and the most profitable industrial goods!”

This actually surprised Li Chen. “Are your supply channels clean?”

“Absolutely clean!”

And just like that, the two of them reached an agreement for cooperation—calmly, yet with an unspoken sense of satisfaction.