Rolling over on the soft and comfortable bed, Jiang Yuan gradually recovered from shock and nervousness, then suddenly realized something was off. The time in the game and reality seemed way too different!
Glancing at his phone, he was sure he had spent almost nine hours in the game, with the Wilderness arriving at exactly six in the evening. Yet in the real world, less than ten minutes had passed!
Could it be that a minute in the real world equals an hour in Wilderness World?
"Next time I enter the game, after eating and resting enough, I must keep track of time to compare." He ordered some delivery on his phone. After "working" for a day, he was really exhausted, so taking a shower and waiting for the delivery was a way to save some energy.
Less than half an hour after the last meal, he ate again to fill his stomach, and Jiang Yuan fell into a dreamless sleep until dusk.
"Bang!"
The sound of the door closing in the living room woke him up. Seeing that he had slept for five hours, Jiang Yuan sat up in a daze, instinctively looking at the game icon in his mind, worried that everything he experienced was just a dream during a nap.
Fortunately, the icon hadn't disappeared, and the same broken storage bag from the game was still floating in the bottom right corner.
With a thought, the space grid unfolded, showing tools and items like boards and stones stuck in locked gray storage slots that couldn't be moved, as items from reality couldn't be brought in. However, the hundred-pound cherries remained vivid in color, and Jiang Yuan directly grabbed a handful from the inside.
"Just like in the novels, where you can bring agricultural products out from farming games as a special ability!" All lingering drowsiness vanished instantly, and he jumped up to find a plastic bag, grabbed half a bag, and opened the door. "Yang Jie, you're back?"
Yang Hongye was lounging listlessly on the living room sofa, her handbag tossed aside casually. Seeing him so energetic, she smiled wryly, "Maybe I should quit my job too and follow you to post online and earn money from entertainment companies. At least I wouldn't have to be someone's underling out in the sun and wind."
She glanced at the fruit in the plastic bag, her eyes widening, filled with light. "4J grade premium cherries? You really shelled out the cash, huh? These must be two or three hundred per pound!"
Jiang Yuan was floored, how much?!
Due to his special constitution, his savings never exceeded four figures, and while living in a second-tier city, his experiences were limited.
Especially with those expensive brands, he couldn't recognize a single one and never could understand why a tiny loaf of bread could sell for eighty or ninety bucks or why a seemingly average, not very practical bag could be worth tens of thousands.
"Uh... a friend brought them over. I thought I'd share some for you to try." He handed the plastic bag over but couldn't resist glancing at his remaining stock, his heart thumping with excitement.
Two or three hundred seemed a bit outrageous, but even if we calculate at fifty bucks a pound, if he could set up a stall and sell these hundred pounds of cherries, he'd make five thousand!
Moreover, the system clearly stated that in spring, cherries mature once a day. If he did nothing else but pick and sell cherries daily, he'd be making a fortune!
"What kind of friend is so generous?" Yang Hongye looked at the perfectly shaped, large, and fresh cherries but felt embarrassed to take them.
Such quality imported cherries were only seen in premium fruit boutiques when she delivered gifts to clients.
Jiang Yuan replied vaguely, "A friend in wholesale, try it and see how it tastes."
He'd been heavy-handed, with about three pounds in the plastic bag.
Yang Hongye took two, washed them, and after one bite, her eyes lit up even more, "Mmm, you get what you pay for. They're large, sweet, and rich in flavor! So delicious!"
After two cherries, her well-made-up face revealed a shrewd expression typical of a businesswoman. "Jiang Yuan, ask your friend what the lowest wholesale price they can give is. I deal with customer maintenance, send gifts to clients every so often. If you can get such high-quality imported cherries at a low price, I can help you resell and make at least a few months' living expenses!"
Jiang Yuan suddenly realized there was a new avenue, no need to set up a stall at the market.
"I'll make a call, what price do you think would be reasonable for us to source at?" He'd never been involved in business dealings, so he asked to get a sense.
Yang Hongye placed the fruit back into the plastic bag, pondered a moment, and said, "I'm not really sure how much profit there is in such high-end fruits. The box of imported cherries I got a few days ago was three eighty per pound and not even as big as these. Sellers definitely get them from wholesalers at a lower price, wholesalers then mark them up for fruit shops. I think if you get them at two hundred a pound, you'd make quite a bit."
This gave him an idea. If the boutique's retail price was three eighty per pound, the procurement price was probably around two hundred. Quoting two hundred to get them leaves little room for profit. If it earns too little, Yang Hongye probably wouldn't have much motivation to sell.
Since no capital was needed, he might as well share a bit of the profit. She selling one more box is better than him setting up on the roadside!
Jiang Yuan went back to his room, pretending to make a call. Two minutes later, he emerged enthusiastically, "Yang Jie, with this quality we can get them for one fifty a pound, ready for pickup at any time."
Yang Hongye leaped up from the sofa, "Great, I'll call the boss. Selling to companies at three hundred a pound to give to clients, a fifty-fifty split in profits!"
"Uh... Jie, my friend said that, given the friendship price, no packaging boxes provided..." Speaking such blatant lies for the first time and quoting so high, Jiang Yuan nervously pursed his lips.
She waved it off coolly, "I understand, they don't want to disrupt the market, right? If they delivered it in the original imported packaging, once the price got out, their business would be over. That's no big deal. I've sent gifts so many times, there are all sorts of tricks. Buying some good quality boxes for packaging doesn't cost much, and with the 'special supply' label, nobody would have anything to say about these cherries."
With renewed energy, she hopped up and down with her bag back to her room to make a call.
A moment later, Yang Hongye came out of the room, talking rapidly as she changed her shoes by the door, instructing, "Got it set at two eighty per pound, I'll take the cherries to the market downstairs to do a pesticide residue test and buy two nice packaging boxes. You get twenty pounds from your friend ASAP.
Our boss is going to his mother-in-law's for dinner later, and will take two boxes to check the quality. Cherries are seasonal fruits, eaten only during this period. If our boss finds the quality acceptable, he'll line them up for big clients. Judging by our boss's connections, he'll surely send out twenty to thirty boxes..."
"We'll split the profits fifty-fifty, Yang Jie, we're about to strike it rich!" Jiang Yuan hadn't expected the deal to go through so quickly, his face flushed with excitement.
She was slightly stunned but quickly waved it off, "You take seven, I take three, Jie just helped arrange the connection for some pocket money. Besides, this is just the beginning; cherries won't sell for long, a few tens of thousands are hardly considered getting rich.
But for you, maintaining a good relationship with that friend, any resources they leak your way are far better than the endless cycle of working, getting laid off, and job hunting."
Quick with words and swift in action, Yang Hongye shut the door forcefully and went to conduct the tests.
Jiang Yuan stood dazed for a few seconds, then turned to the bathroom to wash his face with cold water and pinched his thigh hard, the pain making him grimace but grinning foolishly into the mirror, it wasn't a dream after all, they were going to be rich!
"Dong dong!"
His phone's WeChat showed a transfer from Yang Hongye, a full three thousand bucks.
Accompanied by her signature brisk and capable voice message, "Never do business on credit for the first time, make sure to confirm quality and conduct transactions on a hand-off basis. Once my boss transfers the money, you'll have funds on hand, and can maintain relationships by dining or singing together according to their preferences, making future business smoother."
Food safety inspections passed smoothly, an hour later, they met in the underground garage, transferring cherries from the temporary foam boxes Jiang Yuan found into the gift boxes Yang Hongye bought.
"This is the first gold we've earned together, let's work hard and aim for cherry freedom when we're rich!" Frugal as ever, Yang Hongye still hadn't eaten the half-bag of cherries Jiang Yuan gave her.
According to her, at two eighty per pound, that bag was nearly a thousand bucks, which could be resold to buy plenty of local cherries to eat freely.
Seeing her drive off to deliver the goods, Jiang Yuan looked at his WeChat balance now increased by three thousand, and realized the remaining two thousand six hundred profit had to be split with Yang Jie, secured in her network. Just by picking some fruits and reselling them, a mere fifth of this amount was already more than what he usually earned toiling for a month!
Age-old wealth moves people's hearts—now, with real money enticing him, the game world after the Wilderness arrived seemed far less daunting.
He even had a bit of anticipation, wondering what treasures he could find while exploring the Wilderness tonight?
Meanwhile, he silently pondered, hoping not to attract attention too early, as long as he operated solo in the game to export and resell items, it didn't count as working for others, hopefully ensuring longevity without the risk of crashing the business?