Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!-Chapter 749 - 725: Poaching the Deal
"Alright! I’ll buy a set of three samples!" Hou Ze agreed without hesitation.
One must admit that the merchants of Trapped Snake Island really knew how to do business, even the waiter handled things tactfully by reading the room.
This way, they could retail goods at high prices, and customers with limited funds could still buy the products. It was far better than merely looking and touching, wanting one or two pieces but having to spend a large sum of Immortal Jade to order an entire box!
It was indeed no exaggeration when they said the samples were ten times the price. A whole box order cost three Spirit Stones each for the lowest-level fire stones, but now it took thirty Spirit Stones to buy just one, totaling one hundred and ninety Spirit Stones, for three fire stones packed in a small box along with a thick booklet.
"Please remember, sir, always store the fire stones in the box before placing them in the storage bag, otherwise, they may wear down or even burn the storage bag;
Moreover, it’s fine if you store three at once, but if dealing with more than ten, even if each is individually boxed, it’s not recommended to use storage bags for transportation as it can easily cause a fire. Remember that!" The waiter saw him out, patiently reminding him as well.
Hou Ze thanked him again, just about to leave, when he saw the caravan from the Chaotic Stone Sea heading straight for the Flame Trade.
"When will there finally be a supply of fire stones?" The leader was indeed a female cultivator, her voice cold, asking the waiter before even entering, "Since last year, your shopkeeper has been evading it in every way.
I’m beginning to suspect that your firm hasn’t struck a deal and hasn’t acquired a sales channel for fire stones, otherwise, no matter how bad the year or difficult the mining, you couldn’t possibly produce only a few hundred pieces the entire year, right? Only a few dozen reach me, what can I do with that?"
As she complained, she followed the waiter, who wore a servile smile, into the shop, while Hou Ze, not wanting to intrude further, stepped aside to wait patiently.
Leng Yutang explained the whole story clearly, the waiter’s mention of "bad year" was surely Sand Hill City closing due to cold poison for over three years, a lie Silver Valley’s crooked merchants used when they couldn’t restock new sources.
As gathered from inquiries and confirmed by the waiter, the entire Trapped Snake Island had only this one business monopolizing the fire stone trade. As a businessman himself, Hou Ze knew this field was all about profit, and the Flame Trade’s shopkeeper likely had deep ties with Silver Valley’s corrupt merchants.
Perhaps the shopkeeper was even a hidden partner exploiting the Furious Fire Bear Race!
Even if not, business was about fair competition; whoever had the connections, channels, and means made money, intercepting contacts wasn’t shameful.
Indeed, the merchant house that survived over three years on its stockpile hadn’t much merchandise, and could only send people away with endless assurances and smiles.
"Then I’ll give you one last chance, within a month at the latest, I must see the goods I’ve ordered!" Ruan Yanluo, in a fit of anger, could only issue an ultimatum.
Since the entire Trapped Snake Island had only one shop selling fire stones, they had a monopoly, raising prices whenever they liked, claiming no stock and making others wait, she couldn’t break through the barriers and arrays set by the Demon Realm Alliance and fight Lee, the shopkeeper, could she?
Even if she really did kill him, goods wouldn’t magically appear.
"Comrade, you’ve been deceived; they have no fire stones to sell at all!" Hou Ze took the opportunity to secretly communicate: "If you want to buy fire stones, please step aside for a word."
Ruan Yanluo looked up and saw a small golden monkey waving at her from a tree branch not far away.
Having delivered the goods; received all payments besides fire stones, she had time to spare. Thinking it over, she gestured for the caravan to rest, and followed the little monkey to a secluded floral pavilion.
"Comrade, why do you say the Flame Trade is deceiving me? Ever since the Demon Realm Alliance opened the teleportation array between Trapped Snake Island and Moon Snail Mountain, we’ve partnered without any issues."
Opposite her stood someone quite tall, and Hou Ze indicated to sit by rubbing his sore neck, "From the beginning, the Flame Trade has been deceiving customers.
If you don’t believe me, please inquire carefully. Silver Valley doesn’t produce fire stones at all; Sand Hill City is the true source! It’s ore, not agriculture, there’s no such thing as abundant or scarce years, merely how much can be grabbed from Sand Hill City."
"Hmm, Lee, the shopkeeper, explained it before, saying there were mountain fires in the mine. Small fires in abundant years ease mining; substantial fires in scarce years make entry impossible, hence the scarcity." Ruan Yanluo, as a businesswoman, was long accustomed to telling people what they wanted to hear.
She was merely chatting unless shown substantial fire stones for an official transaction, she wouldn’t trust anyone.
Hou Ze grinned and said, "We are all business people, what rhetoric haven’t we heard before? Listening to what I have to say doesn’t cost you anything, so please allow me to explain fully.
I’m just a small shopkeeper in the Market. On a supply trip, I encountered evil cultivators and narrowly escaped death, saved only by a benefactor. This benefactor is a member of the Furious Fire Bear Race in Sand Hill City, oppressed by the joint pressure of Silver Valley’s five biggest corrupt merchants, forced into mining slavery, living very hard lives. Now, with help from a noble person, they are no longer robbed of their mines, so the businesses that partnered with Silver Valley naturally don’t have any goods."
Beneath her veil, Ruan Yanluo’s pretty brows twitched, "In that case, could you point me in the right direction?"
Out in the wilderness, fights were common, and fire stones were in high demand, harder to acquire than Spirit Stone Mines due to high profits; surely the competition for mines was fierce.
No matter how they fought, she’d do business with whoever had the goods; no one cared whether the fire stones were looted or mined.
"The grudge between Sand Hill City and Silver Valley has nothing to do with us business people. At the same price and with the same quality, you can get goods anywhere you want..." Hou Ze said, taking out a Communication Stone and showing her a piece of footage Jiang Yuan personally filmed of mining ore, "Look, there’s no mountain fire, this is the real process of Fire Stone mining."
The footage seemed genuine, and as she carefully observed those burly Bear Demons whose fur looked like flames mining actual Fire Stones, she reluctantly believed a bit.
"I’m not as advanced in cultivation as you are, and don’t dare to travel the Wilderness during the day." Hou Ze sincerely released his aura, letting the other party perceive his non-threatening Realm, and helplessly said, "Therefore, I must wait for the Wilderness to settle at night to travel. Besides, Fire Stones can’t be transported in a Storage Bag and require discussion with our benefactor on how to transport and trade them."
If you are willing to trust me, you could leave a contact method, and at the latest, I’ll confirm with you tonight. Words are just empty; meeting in person to inspect the goods and exchange money and goods hand to hand is the way for long-term cooperation between us.
If you don’t trust me, waiting for Xinhuo Merchant to deliver would be useless; even if it takes a month or even a year, it’s a waste! In business, the most crucial thing is to have what others don’t have to seize the opportunity for a big profit, don’t you agree?"
"What you say is absolutely right. Trusting you doesn’t cost anything, and if you really have the goods, it solves my urgent needs." Ruan Yanluo took out a Communication Stone and smiled, "Xinhuo Merchant limits each order, so for our first collaboration, how many boxes can you spare for me? Do you need Immortal Jade for the transaction?"
Hou Ze immediately understood that by "boxes," she was referring to those special thousand-pound boxes from the merchant. Leng Yutang only said there was still a stock left, but didn’t specify how much.
"Firstly, Spirit Stones would suffice; Immortal Jade is too conspicuous. Secondly, as you just saw, producing Fire Stones is indeed not easy, so the quantity is not large. With many buyers inquiring, I need to discuss with our benefactor and confirm one by one if they are willing to deal in person before knowing how many can be sold to you..."
"Sounds good, then I’ll await your good news!" Seeing his verbosity, Ruan Yanluo knew he was merely an errand runner and couldn’t make any decisions, so she left her contact information and immediately got up to leave.
"Cheep cheep!"
A small golden monkey saw from the treetop that she truly left, and then it reminded him.
Hou Ze let out a sigh of relief and smiled, "At least we’ve caught an empty-handed white wolf, having found our first client. As long as everything goes smoothly with Leng Yutang, we’ll earn our first ticket tonight!
Heh heh, how did my timid act just now work out? Doing this kind of exclusive deal, especially intercepting others’ exclusive deals, carries great risk!
Pretending to be foolish appropriately can lower the other’s guard and attention, letting them think that we are just errand boys backed by someone big, so they won’t bother us easily. A child holding gold in the market is dangerous, but if the child has a strong backer, who dares to covet the gold?"
Seeing the little monkey still swinging on the pavilion’s swing and reluctant to leave, he helplessly said, "I also love Trapped Snake Island’s pleasures, but here they only recognize Spirit Stones!
Come on, let’s head back. I must thoroughly discuss what happened here with Yutang, trying to close the first big deal by tonight. Once we have money, heh heh, we’ll open a shop on Trapped Snake Island, and you can play however you want!"
The little golden monkey, hearing this, swung steadily and jumped onto his shoulder, grinning excitedly.
.........
When night fell, Jiang Yuan returned from mining in Elder Dragon’s cave to hear from Leng Yutang that Hou Ze had found the first big client, leaving him stunned and then somewhat relieved.
Indeed, there’s strength in numbers; otherwise, where would he find such a business-savvy helper?
He needed to quickly streamline everything from source to sales, then let Hou Ze take the lead and go for it.
After all, with his unique attributes, he tried not to get involved with too many businesses, shopkeepers, or owners to avoid inadvertently causing anyone’s closure - how awkward would that be.
However, seeing the marked prices in the brochure, even Jiang Yuan with his good temper couldn’t help but swear. The Five Great Merchants of Silver Valley were blatantly treating Sand Hill City as slaves!
From City Lord Ming, trading one Spirit Stone for twenty Level Three Fire Stones, yet flipping Level Three Fire Stones for several pieces of Spirit Stone!
They didn’t know what Xinhuo Merchant’s purchase price was, but they foolishly used it as a reference, buying seven Level Three Fire Stones for one Spirit Stone.
"Did you not know before how much the Furious Fire Bears were bullied?" Hou Ze looked incredulously at his equally indignant friend.
"Don’t forget, before my expulsion from the city, I was just an ordinary Bear Demon, how could I know the trade secrets controlled by Lord City Lord?" Leng Yutang shook his head repeatedly, "Sand Hill City’s location is too remote, and Fire Stones are difficult to transport. Activating a Teleportation Array costs a lot of Spirit Stones, who would bear that cost for anything other than delivery?
Although they said nicely it was expulsion, leaving the city gate with food and water, it was essentially abandonment, and many Angry Fire Bears afflicted by cold poison couldn’t even make it out of the desert.
I was lucky, encountered a master crossing the desert halfway, and by following him on his wandering cultivation, I managed to survive. With no money and no power, it’s tough for a disconnected and suppressed Bear clan from the outbacks to find their own path!"
Jiang Yuan thought for a moment that Hou Ze could at least open a shop in the Market, which was not a low starting point.
In modern terms, the Furious Fire Bear race is like the impoverished people living deep in the mountains for generations with no contacts, no transportation, and no information channels, trying to transport their specialties to high-end restaurants in first-tier cities. How difficult is that?
