Chapter 283: Bought Everything
Hearing his master’s order, the hidden guard who had appeared was momentarily stunned, his eyes flickering with surprise.
“What are you standing around for? Just follow the master’s orders and buy everything, immediately!”
Ah Zan, seeing the guard’s hesitation, quickly urged him. The hidden guard regained his composure, cupped his fists in acknowledgment, and walked toward the two stalls.
“How much are these cool melons? And these red fruits?”
“Honored guest, cool melons are four taels of silver per jin, and these red fruits are called tomatoes, three taels per jin.”
Hu Liu didn’t even lift his head as he replied, busy taking silver and handing over fruit while doing calculations.
“What if I buy everything?”
Hearing these words, Hu Liu, who had been swamped with work, froze in shock, then snapped his head up to look at the man who had just spoken—Lu Yi. His eyes were filled with disbelief and barely restrained excitement.
Not just Hu Liu—his fellow merchants and even the customers around them all turned their heads in astonishment, staring at Lu Yi in surprise.
“You want everything? We don’t just have what’s on display—you’re really sure about this?”
Wu Er, having just returned, rushed over in excitement upon hearing such a fantastic offer, pushing past his fellow merchants to join Hu Liu.
Lu Yi remained expressionless—perhaps as a hidden guard, he was simply used to keeping a low profile.
He gave a slight nod. “How much do you have?”
“A lot! We have two carts of cool melons and six carts of tomatoes, aside from what’s already here. Are you really sure you want all of it?”
Hearing this, even Lu Yi, who had remained impassive, showed a slight flicker of surprise.
That was indeed a huge quantity. The cool melons could last a few days, but he wasn’t sure how long the tomatoes would stay fresh.
However, his master must have anticipated this when he sent him, knowing there were multiple carts in that courtyard. Since his master wanted to bring everything to the capital, having extra wouldn’t hurt.
Even if the tomatoes didn’t last long, this wasn’t really about business—his master was just trying to impress that beauty.
“Alright, but I plan to resell these, so I need a discount.”
From a distance, Ye Lu had been watching Lu Yi negotiate with Yu Luo’s men.
But as soon as he heard the word “discount”, his eyebrows shot up in frustration!
“Why the hell did I send Lu Yi?! If I’d known, I would have sent you instead! How could he try to save me money?! How could he haggle with her men?! Ugh! I messed up!”
Ah Zan, watching his master’s flustered reaction, had to hold back a laugh.
“Master, this is a huge deal, and not cheap. Lu Yi is just looking out for you—saving even a little is still good. If you end up making a profit, you can keep buying from her long-term. Then you’ll have plenty of chances to interact with her!”
Hearing this, Ye Lu’s frustration melted away, his brows relaxing.
“You’re right! This is the smarter approach. If I buy everything at full price, she’ll just think I’m a fool throwing money away. This way, it actually looks like a real business deal!”
He nodded to himself. “Yes, yes—this is much better. I’ll keep doing business with her in the future!”
“If that’s the case, we can sell the tomatoes at two taels per jin, and the cool melons at two taels and five qian per jin.”
Wu Er’s eyes gleamed as he boldly raised the price even higher.
The other merchants immediately tensed up, sweating nervously.
This was their biggest deal yet—if Wu Er scared off the buyer with his high prices, what would they do?
But it was too late to take it back now.
Just as even Zhang Hu was beginning to sweat anxiously, Lu Yi—after a brief pause—nodded in agreement.
“Alright. Here’s two thousand taels as a deposit. Deliver everything immediately to the city outskirts—I’m taking it all at once.”
Wu Er hurriedly accepted the silver notes and handed them to Zhang Hu, his face beaming with excitement.
His smile was so wide it created wrinkles, and he eagerly bowed to Lu Yi.
“Of course! We’ll have everything ready in half an hour. The only problem is weighing everything—it’ll take some time.”
“No problem. Three miles outside the city, by the Western Canal, there’s a dock with weighing scales. Just load the goods onto the ships—they’ll measure everything there. And since these fruits spoil quickly, I’m taking the water route to avoid bumpy roads.”
“Perfect! We’ll head back right now to gather everything—see you at the dock!”
Lu Yi nodded and walked off coolly.
As soon as the deal was sealed, Wu Er and his fellow merchants cheered—they were so thrilled they almost hugged each other.
Wu Er turned around, spreading his arms to embrace someone, but when he realized the person next to him was the stone-faced Zhang Hu, he immediately dropped his arms and awkwardly turned to hug someone else instead.
“Hey, hey, hey! What about us? We’ve been waiting here forever—and now you’ve sold everything to that guy?!”
A group of frustrated customers suddenly spoke up.
At first, they had hesitated to buy the expensive fruits, worried their masters would scold them for the cost.
But now that everything was gone, they regretted their hesitation!
They didn’t want to miss out—after all, these were luxuries usually reserved for nobles!
Zhang Hu’s serious face finally showed a hint of amusement.
“Ladies and gentlemen, don’t worry! We’ll be back next time. For now, you can at least buy a little to try—we still have a few left, but not much!”
Though these were small sales, they were at high prices, and Zhang Hu knew it was important to build a loyal customer base.
As soon as he said this, the remaining customers went into a frenzy.
Those who had hesitated earlier now scrambled to buy whatever was left—even if it was just a tiny amount.
In just a few minutes, everything displayed on the wooden boards was gone.
Then, someone noticed the carts still had more fruit—and with a loud shout, the crowd rushed toward the carts!
