Chapter 6 The First Bucket of Gold

  Xiao Ping had thought about it long ago, these vegetables irrigated with spiritual liquid must take the high-end route and cannot be sold casually in the vegetable market. He positioned his clients in high-end hotels and restaurants, only these places would be willing to pay a high price for special ingredients. If Xiao Ping could make a name for himself in these high-end hotels and restaurants, he wouldn't have to worry about sales channels anymore.

  With this intention, Xiao Ping rode his bike to the Garden Hotel, the most luxurious hotel closest to the city's central village. This is the oldest five-star hotel in the city, not only with a beautiful environment but also with top-notch hardware and software facilities. It is said that many leaders and foreign heads of state who come to this city will choose to stay at the Garden Hotel. Xiao Ping chose this as his first stop, naturally hoping that his green vegetables would make a big splash.

  Since it's selling vegetables, of course, they can't go through the main entrance. Xiao Ping rode his tricycle to the side door of the restaurant and smiled at the security guard: "Hello, Security Uncle, can I go in to find someone?"

  The security guard eyed Xiao Ping warily and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

  "I want to find a chef." Xiao Ping was also fearless, opening his mouth and wanting to find the head of someone's kitchen.

  Xiao Ping's confident appearance actually intimidated the security guard, who hesitantly asked: "Do you know Director Sun? Or was this pre-arranged?"

  Xiao Ping shook his head honestly: "I don't know him, and we didn't make an appointment. I came to sell the green vegetables I grew..."

  The security guard didn't wait for Xiao Ping to finish speaking and changed his expression, waving his hand loudly: "What a joke! We don't accept any sales pitches, get out of here!"

  Xiao Ping came to sell vegetables, but he was determined to succeed. He wouldn't be deterred by the security guard's words. Although the other person's attitude was very bad, he still persisted and smiled: "Brother, help me out and do me a favor. This is high-tech new variety of green vegetables, absolutely not available on the market, your chef will definitely be very interested!"

  The security guard didn't believe Xiao Ping's words and waved his hand impatiently: "Get out, if you stay here any longer I'll call the police to catch you!"

  Xiao Ping urged him on without letting go of the path: "Farewell... this is really a new variety of green vegetables, don't believe me take a look!"

  Just as the two were entangled, a middle-aged fat man with a greasy face walked in from outside with a heavy heart. Seeing the tricycle parked at the door, he frowned and stopped in his tracks, loudly asking the security guard: "Whose car is this? It's almost blocking the door, move it quickly."

  This fat man is Sun Lin, the head chef of the hotel. The security guard hastily pointed at Xiao Ping and said: "Good Chef Sun, the car belongs to him, I'll drive him away immediately!"

  Xiao Ping would not waste such a good opportunity, and hurriedly stepped forward to intercept the middle-aged fat man: "Director Sun, please take a look at our new variety of green vegetables, it won't waste much of your time!"

  Xiao Pingbian opened the canvas covering the tricycle, revealing all the vegetables to the other person. Sun Zongchu looked at them for a moment and his expression changed slightly. He picked up a bunch of green vegetables and asked while examining them, "Did you grow these?"

  "That's right, this is a new variety of organic green vegetables, and only our store has them on the market." Xiao Ping seized the opportunity to introduce: "This dish not only looks good, but its taste is also exceptional. As long as you take a bite, you'll know I'm not exaggerating at all."

  Xiao Ping's introduction was quite ordinary, but his dishes looked very appealing. Sun Lin thought for a moment and nodded: "Okay, you come with me. If this dish is really as good as you said, I can buy some from you!"

  "Okay!" Xiao Ping hastily responded with a cheerful tone and pushed the cart to follow Sun Lin into the hotel.

  Is it easy to make a dish in such a big hotel? Before long, the stir-fried green vegetables were served in front of Sun Lin. Sun Lin took only one glance and involuntarily praised silently in his heart.

  A good dish emphasizes the integration of color, fragrance, and flavor. Although Sun Lin still didn't know how this dish tasted, just from the "color" and "fragrance" aspects, he was already very satisfied. Sun Lin couldn't wait to take a bite, his face full of intoxication, and after a while, he sighed deeply: "This flavor... is simply absolute!"

  Xiao Ping saw Sun Lin's expression and knew that the business was settled. He laughed happily and said, "Director Sun, I didn't cheat you, did I?"

  Sun Lin nodded and said: "This dish is indeed good, how do you plan to sell it?"

  "Fifty for one catty." Xiao Ping said out a price he had thought of long before.

  "Fifty... your dishes aren't cheap!" Sun Lin hesitated for a moment before slapping the table and saying, "Alright, I'll take everything!"

  The greens sold for 50 yuan per catty are indeed not cheap, but for a large hotel like Huayuan Restaurant, it's nothing. More importantly, a famous foodie will be coming to Huayuan Restaurant soon, and Sun Lin is racking his brains over what vegetarian dish to prepare. Xiao Ping, who came to sell the greens, happened to solve his problem. Sun Lin believed that this dish would definitely win the foodie's favor, so he bought all the greens without hesitation.

  Sun Lin's straightforward attitude made Xiao Ping very happy, and he immediately continued: "The total weight of the goods in the car is 230 kilograms. I'll give you a whole number, let's calculate it as 200 kilograms, so the total is 10,000 yuan, right?"

  "Not bad, I'll write a note later and have someone take you to the finance department to get the money." Sun Lin handed Xiao Ping a business card: "You young man are quite good at doing business. If there's any good material in the future, contact me. As long as the thing is good, the price is not a problem."

  "Sorry, I'm just a small potato and don't have a business card to give you." Xiao Ping took the card with both hands and carefully put it away, then smiled and said: "But rest assured, if there's something good, I'll definitely contact you first."

  Both parties were very satisfied with the deal, and after chatting casually for a few more sentences, Sun Lin wrote a note and had someone take Xiao Ping to find the finance department to get the money. By the time Xiao Ping left the Flower Garden Restaurant, his pocket had an extra stack of 100-yuan bills, exactly 10,000 yuan.

  Perhaps to others, 10,000 yuan is not a big deal, but for Xiao Ping, it's undoubtedly a large sum. In the past when he sold newspapers, he had to work extremely hard in the wind and rain every day, and it would take more than half a year to earn 10,000 yuan. Now, in just over 20 days, he has earned 10,000 yuan, which is simply a world of difference.

  Xiao Ping had long thought about how to spend the money he earned, and this 10,000 yuan was not intended to be left behind. This is not because Xiao Ping has just earned a little money and has a nouveau riche mentality, but because there are too many places where the money needs to be spent.

  Xiao Ping first went to buy a mobile phone. In the future, business will definitely get bigger and bigger, and it's really inconvenient without a contact method. He spent less than 1,000 yuan to buy a knockoff Apple phone, which has all sorts of functions, can take pictures, record audio, watch movies, and is absolutely value for money.

  Next, Xiao Ping went to the antique market again and used his old method to pick out a lot of jade stones, preparing to bring them back home for the Lian Yao Hu to absorb. Xiao Ping's success today was all thanks to the Lian Yao Hu, so now that he had made some money, he naturally wanted to make additional investments. He hoped that after the Lian Yao Hu absorbed these jade stones, it would produce even more spiritual liquid, which would not only allow him to water more vegetables but also continue to use the spiritual liquid to strengthen his body and improve his health.

  When Xiao Ping returned from the antique market, he only had a thousand or so yuan left, which was what he had set aside for rent and living expenses before his next harvest. Xiao Ping found that although he had earned more, his spending speed had also increased, it seemed that to live a good life as he had hoped, he still needed to continue working hard.

  Xiao Ping rode his tricycle back to his residence, where Liu Jianguo and Wang Fang were already waiting for him. Knowing that Xiao Ping had gone out to sell vegetables today, the couple was even more anxious than he was, fearing that his business would not go well. Only when they saw that the tricycle was empty did they breathe a sigh of relief. Wang Fang, being a woman, was naturally interested in gossip and couldn't help but ask Xiao Ping in a low voice: "Xiao Xiao, how much money did you make from selling vegetables today? Was it a good amount?"

  Wang Fang said as she stretched out two fingers, meaning 2,000. Xiao Ping has always been a low-key person and didn't mention the actual number, but just smiled slightly: "Not just that, it's going to be more than that."

  "Is it really 3,000?" Wang Fang asked in surprise, and after seeing Xiao Ping nodding, she couldn't help but say excitedly: "Xiao Xiao, you've finally made a name for yourself. As long as you plant more vegetables, you can earn 4 or 5 thousand yuan per month, which is not worse than those who work in big companies!"

  Wang Fang was genuinely happy for Xiao Ping, but she didn't know that her words were overheard by Wang Jian, who had just gotten off work. This narrow-minded guy looked unhappy all over his face and stormed back to his own room.

  Wang Jian always looked down on Xiao Ping, thinking that this newspaper-selling patient was completely incomparable to himself. Later, when Xiao Ping's body recovered, it really made Wang Jian's psychology unbalanced for a while. However, after learning that Xiao Ping planned to grow vegetables, Wang Jian's self-feeling began to improve again, thinking that working in the company was still better than growing vegetables. Unexpectedly, Xiao Ping's vegetable-growing business could earn 5,000 yuan per month, which made Wang Jian's last sense of superiority disappear without a trace.

  As he recalled Li Wanqing and Xiao Ping's cheerful faces, Wang Jian's gloomy expression gradually turned sinister, and he couldn't help but mutter to himself: "Just you wait, Xiao Ping, you'll get what's coming to you!"