The Happy Farmer Wanderer-Chapter 138: Shooting Yourself in the Foot_1
Hu Youqing’s behavior was quite distasteful, but when Li Qing heard the prices he was offering, he instantly felt at ease.
Although he was particular, only wanting the tenderest of leaves, the price was indeed high.
Three hundred per pound!
While Hu Youqing caused a big commotion, his price was only thirty per pound.
At that rate, it wouldn’t really affect Li Qing.
"Let’s have a look."
Li Qing asked Gao Li to park the car to the side, and the two of them squatted on the edge of the square to watch Hu Youqing drumming up business.
By now, the square already had a sizeable crowd.
Some people had come over to inquire.
But many were already there with their Wenguan Leaves.
The news about Li Qing collecting Wenguan Leaves had spread, yet almost none of the Hu Family came to sell to him.
Now that Hu Youqing was openly snatching Li Qing’s business, a swarm of people suddenly came pouring out.
"Qingzi, those folks with powerful and populous clans are just so arrogant," Gao Li said bitterly, "We have to go up mountains and down valleys to gather, while they make business right at their doorstep."
Li Qing didn’t have a single retort to that.
The largest expanse of Wenguan Forest in Sanhe Village belonged to his family, but the other families also had one or two trees each, intended as ornamental plants, and the combined quantity was indeed considerable when the neighborhood chimed in.
In just a short while, there was a small mound of leaves piled up beside Hu Youqing’s truck.
It looked to be about thirty or forty pounds already.
Just then, a commotion suddenly erupted in front of Hu Youqing’s stall.
"Uncle Three, don’t you think you’re being a bit too unkind here?"
"That Li family kid is paying thirty for an ounce, and here you are paying thirty for a pound. Claiming to be one’s own people, and yet you’re so heartless. You rotten, vile cur, I actually listened to you and held onto my Wenguan Leaves without selling them. If I’d known this would happen, I might as well have fed them to dogs."
A fifty-something-year-old woman pointed at Hu Youqing’s nose and cursed vehemently.
Seeing this, Gao Li burst into schadenfreude laughter, "Qingzi, look quick, it’s a dog-eat-dog world, biting and only getting a mouthful of fur."
Li Qing couldn’t help but feel a want to laugh.
Hu Youqing thought he could push his business aside like this, but that probably was a bit naive.
Li Qing found the woman somewhat familiar but couldn’t quite place which branch of the Hu family she belonged to.
Her words instantly caused an uproar among the onlookers, who began to berate Hu Youqing for his conscienceless dealings.
"Everybody calm down, settle down, hear me out!" Hu Youqing spread his arms and shouted loudly.
"Hear me out!"
He had to shout several times before the rumblings of discontent around him finally subsided a bit.
Perhaps everyone was eager to hear what kind of excuse Hu Youqing could come up with.
Li Qing was also somewhat curious.
Hu Youqing spoke out loudly, "That Li family brat may be offering a high price, but think about the few Wenguan Trees every household here grows. How many leaves can you pick from them? At most, that’d be just an ounce or two."
"What I’m collecting includes the branches, the first four or five leaves, along with the tender stems. From one tree, you could easily get a pound or two, right? This is the difference between big apricots and regular apricots. You can sell a big apricot for a dollar or two per pound, but with regular apricots, you can only sell the kernels."
"Qingzi, it seems he’s not conducting quite the same business as you are?" Gao Li suddenly came to a realization.
Li Qing nodded, "It’s the same business, but what we’re collecting is slightly different."
"Hu Youqing’s customers probably hire people to pick out the tender leaves to sell at a high price, while the larger leaves sell for less, dealing with the two types separately. His purchase price is lower, so he’s likely to make a larger profit on the inside."
Gao Li rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "These businessmen really are cunning!"
After he finished speaking, he glanced at Li Qing and said with a laugh, "Qingzi, I think you are still pretty decent."
Li Qing smiled and continued to look towards the square.
After Hu Youqing had finished his speech, there weren’t many who really bought into his words.
Most of them cursed under their breath as they took their Wenguan Leaves and left, and a few even wanted to take back what they had just sold.
But there were also some who gave Hu Youqing face.
This matter, each household had its own calculations, and the divergences were quite significant.
Instead, Hu Youqing seemed somewhat dissatisfied with the result. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
He pointed at those who were leaving and yelled, "Selling to that little bastard of the Li family gets you the same bit of money, selling to me is about the same price, why help outsiders instead of me?"
"That little bastard got Youyu locked up, and you don’t think about taking revenge but still help him, what kind of Hu family are you?"
Li Qing’s eyebrows fiercely twitched.
He scanned the crowd, picked up a broken brick not far away, and walked toward Hu Youqing.
"Mr. Hu, come, let’s have a proper chat," Li Qing, holding the brick, stood in front of Hu Youqing.
Perhaps because he had the upper hand here with more people on his side, Hu Youqing looked down on Li Qing and, with a cocky tilt of his neck, shouted at him, "You little bastard, come on, if you have the guts, smash it here!"
Li Qing raised his leg and kicked Hu Youqing away.
"You think I wouldn’t dare?"
The kick was tricky, landing right on the bladder area.
Hu Youqing groaned in pain, clutched his stomach, and fell to the ground, his face turning beet red, and he didn’t get up from the ground for a long while.
There were too many onlookers here, and Li Qing didn’t want to make a big scene.
He tossed the brick he was holding to the ground and said fiercely, "Next time I hear you bad-mouthing me, I’ll definitely kill you! I managed to get Hu Youyu locked up, so you don’t scare me in the least."
Hu Youqing pointed at Li Qing, howling fiercely, "Did everyone see that? This little bastard is now shitting on our heads. Hit him, what are you waiting for?"
But no one made a move.
The crowd was large, but they were clearly hesitant.
Li Qing gave Hu Youqing another ruthless kick to the stomach, "Shut up, why don’t you!"
"Old man, you really think you’re something, huh?"
"Ow, my stomach’s burst!" Hu Youqing screamed, holding his stomach, and began to roll around on the ground.
Li Qing didn’t pay any more attention and walked straight out through the crowd.
The Hu family was clearly somewhat wary of him because of the incident with Hu Youyu.
These two kicks had some justification, as they came right after Hu Youqing’s insults.
But excess is as bad as deficiency, and if pushed too far, these people might really attack him.
"Qingzi, will you buy these tender Wenguan leaves?" Suddenly, someone chased after him and asked.
Li Qing’s mouth curved slightly, and he couldn’t help but feel amused inside.
It seemed everyone was still quite pragmatic.
"You can sell the tender leaves to me first, at the price of thirty per two grams, which is definitely better than bundling them to sell at thirty per jin. If I decide to buy the larger tender Wenguan leaves, I will notify you all," Li Qing turned around and told the crowd.
"Qingzi is somewhat more decent after all, alright, I’ll go home and pick out the leaves now," someone praised.
"I’ve been worried that Qingzi wouldn’t buy them, but now that’s settled, I’m relieved."
The others echoed one after another.
Watching the sudden change in attitude of the Hu family, Li Qing said with a smile, "My feud with Hu Youyu and Hu Youqing is personal; it doesn’t need to involve everyone. You should sell if you want to sell."
