I See through Everything

Whether on the Yinfu Platform, Weibo, the Ah B Platform, or Tencent’s platforms, the buzz around Hailufeng’s White Truffles was intense.

Taking advantage of their proximity, a number of well-informed, high-end restaurants in the Pearl River Delta Region had already dispatched people to rush over.

After all, the truffle harvesting season was still more than a month away.

During this time of year, all truffles on the global market were frozen stock from the previous year. That stock was nearly depleted, and besides, the flavor of frozen truffles could never compare to fresh ones.

Many high-end restaurants had been out of stock for nearly half a year, forcing them to take all truffle-related dishes off their menus.

Now, hearing that cultivated White Truffles were available, many of these high-end restaurants could no longer sit still.

On the evening of October 1st.

The first wave of procurement managers and owners from high-end restaurants in the Pearl River Delta Region arrived by car at Ciyun Mountain Park.

Fortunately, the exhibition was set to run for a total of seven days, open from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM daily.

Thus, the guests who had rushed over in such a hurry weren’t met with closed doors.

Unlike the other guests who were still figuring out the situation, the father-son pair, Chen Wei and Chen Jiajun, met up with their company’s procurement manager, Ah Le, and quickly found Li Zhou, who was still on-site.

"Manager Li, hello. I’m Chen Wei, the owner of Hongli Catering Company. We spoke this afternoon. This is my son, Chen Jiajun, and this is our company’s procurement manager, Lin Qingle."

"Hello, Boss Chen, Mr. Chen, and Manager Lin. Let’s go to the business tent out back to discuss this in detail. This way, please."

Behind the exhibition area stood several large, temporary tents. After all, with events scheduled here for several days and gold, silver, and jade products on display, someone needed to stand guard twenty-four-seven.

Inside the business tent, Li Zhou’s assistant was boiling water to make tea.

"Boss Chen, are you looking to procure White Truffles, tomatoes, strawberries, glass eels, and white eels?"

Chen Wei nodded. "Yes. I believe your company’s products would be an excellent fit for our restaurants. I’m just wondering about the price—is there any room for a discount? If the price is right, I’m hoping to set up a long-term order."

Li Zhou smiled and shook his head. "Our prices are fixed, I’m afraid. That’s something I can’t change. However, I can offer you a bonus: an extra 5% of product on top of your purchase."

"A bonus? 5% more product?" Chen Wei glanced at his son and Ah Le.

This sales strategy had always been a core principle for Hailufeng Company—they would rather add bonus goods than lower the standard market price.

The reasoning was simple: they wanted to avoid giving customers the impression that their products were cheap.

After all, it was easy to lower prices, but raising them was difficult and risked provoking customer resentment.

Chen Wei’s group of three discussed this in low voices for a moment before asking Li Zhou about the specifics of the bonus goods, wanting to make sure it wasn’t a bait-and-switch.

"Please rest assured," Li Zhou said. "Our bonus goods are identical to the products we sell, in terms of both specifications and quality."

As the procurement manager, Ah Le knew it was his turn to speak. He had already estimated the needs of their seven restaurants during the drive over. "To ensure freshness, we’ll need a delivery every three days: 35 kilograms of premium White Truffles, 1,050 kilograms of Black Pearl Tomatoes, 2,100 kilograms of Red Heart Tomatoes, 500 kilograms of Vanilla Strawberries, and 500 kilograms of Cheese Strawberries."

"Not a problem. Will you be sending your own refrigerated trucks for transport, or would you like our company to handle the delivery?"

Ah Le considered it for a moment. Figuring Hailufeng Company was swamped and worried about potential delays, he shook his head. "We’ll handle it ourselves."

Li Zhou was even more pleased to hear they didn’t require delivery. "Excellent. Our company is located in Nanhu Village in Magong Town. I’ll give you a detailed map with directions in a moment."

Ah Le quickly added, "Also, our company needs to procure 500 kilograms of white eels and 2 kilograms of food-grade glass eels. This won’t be part of the long-term contract, though. It’s a trial order for developing new dishes."

Another salesperson who had entered with Li Zhou quickly jotted down the order and calculated the total price.

In truth, the order was quite expensive.

The 35 kilograms of premium White Truffles would cost 105,000 yuan.

The 1,050 kilograms of Black Pearl Tomatoes would cost 8,400 yuan.

The 2,100 kilograms of Red Heart Tomatoes would cost 14,700 yuan.

The 500 kilograms of Vanilla Strawberries and 500 kilograms of Cheese Strawberries, both priced at 99 yuan per kilogram, came to a total of 99,000 yuan.

Add to that 40,000 yuan for the 500 kilograms of white eels and 46,000 yuan for the 2 kilograms of glass eels, and the grand total came to 313,100 yuan.

Even with the 5% bonus product, the price was still incredibly high—only a high-end restaurant could afford such ingredients.

Ultimately, however, the cost would be passed on to the diners.

The kind of people who ate at high-end restaurants often preferred expensive products. It gave them a story to tell and a sense of prestige, making them feel a cut above the rest.

This was precisely why Jiang Miao had focused on high-end agricultural products from the very beginning. While the market was niche, it allowed for low-volume production with high profit margins.

High profits would eliminate many headaches during the company’s early stages of development.

Once Chen Wei signed the contract on behalf of Hongli Catering Company, it was as if the exhibition’s Ren and Du Meridians had been unblocked. High-end restaurants seeking partnerships began arriving in a continuous stream.

On the night of October 1st alone, they signed over four million yuan worth of orders.

Early the next morning, Li Zhou returned to Magong Town to give Jiang Miao the good news.

Jiang Miao was in the middle of breakfast, eating while listening to Li Zhou’s report on the exhibition.

Just then, Li Zixuan approached and whispered something in his ear. Jiang Miao’s eyebrows shot up, and his expression quickly turned to delight.

"Accept their offer. Zixuan, you’ll be in charge of following up on this matter. I’ll go speak with Shuya about it in a moment."

"Yes, sir." Li Zixuan gave a slight nod.