"How many thousands of dollars?" Li Chao asked back.
Xiang Yang looked at the small jar in his hand and wondered, "Could it be that this small jar costs tens of thousands?"
Li Chao smiled bitterly, "You bought this tiger ear mushroom. You know better than me how much the raw material costs per pound. My hotel chef put a lot of effort into pickling this batch of tiger ear mushrooms. He even flew to Europe to ask his teacher to do one of the steps. I won't mention the hardship and cost of the process. Anyway, this thing is not for sale here. The price cannot be measured in money. If there is no special reason, I may not sell it even if I have money."
Xiang Yang weighed the jar and said, "Thanks to Brother Chao, I really have to taste the tiger ear mushroom sauce."
Li Chao said, "Of course I have. I have already given you the goods. Eat them sparingly and give some to your uncle and aunt to try. If I find out that you gave it away, I will be really angry with you."
Xiang Yang immediately shook his head, "That's not possible."
Watching Li Chao leave in the back seat of the business car, Xiang Yang stared at the can of tiger ear mushroom sauce in his hand in a daze.
No one knows better than Xiang Yang how much a pound of Tiger Ear Mushroom is worth. When this thing was shipped, it was only more than a thousand yuan per pound, but now after simple processing by Li Chao, it has become as rare as a special product.
"Xiaoyang, what are you thinking about?" Xiang's father came over and asked.
"I didn't think about anything." Xiang Yang asked casually, "Dad, is it easy to collect seafood these days?"
"It's not easy to buy." Father Xiang frowned and said in a deep voice: "Several seafood buyers in the town have suddenly raised the purchase price of many aquatic products by a large margin in the past few days. No one in the neighboring villages is selling seafood to us anymore."
Xiang Yang smiled and said, "As expected, they will provide better welfare to the fishermen and increase the price of aquatic products. However, this is not because they have a change of heart, but because we are here. They want to defeat us and then exploit the fishermen for a longer period of time."
"Now there are fewer seafood every day, and the profit has dropped a lot, but it is not so easy to defeat us." Xiang's father said happily.
"What about the villagers in our Yanlong Village?" Xiang Yang asked.
"Not only high-end seafood, but also some low-end seafood purchase prices have been increased by one to three yuan by the three seafood purchasers in the town. The overall purchase price is much higher than our current purchase price. Many fishermen are anxious and secretly transport seafood to the town to find the three seafood purchasers, but they were all driven back. The other party still said that since our Yanlong Village has its own shipping channels, we don’t need them, and don’t even think about enjoying the benefits they bring to the entire Huhai Town."
A murderous look flashed across Xiang Yang's eyes, "It's really a murderous act."
"Luckily you explained the stakes to the villagers that day. Now even the children in the village know that the three seafood buyers in the town raised the seafood purchase price in order to drive me, Xiang He, away. As long as I, Xiang He, am driven away, the seafood purchase price of the entire Huhai Town will fall back to the original level. The villagers are not fools. They will not give up their long-term interests in the future for such a small profit. At least everyone supports me now."
Xiang Yang nodded calmly without saying anything.
In fact, Xiang Yang knew that this was only temporary.
In a short period of time, the fishermen in Yanlong Village will remember that the seafood buyers in Huhai Town provided better welfare to the entire Huhai Town and increased the price of aquatic products in the entire Huhai Town. The reason was not that the seafood buyers had a change of heart, but because the Xiang family stood up and the seafood buyers wanted to force the Xiang family away.
But what about half a month later
What about a month later
What about two months later
People are forgetful and greedy. By that time, the fishermen will probably no longer remember this truth. They will only think that among the 22 villages in Huhai Town, only the seafood from their Yanlong Village is sold at the lowest price, and then they will be resentful.
Xiang Yang said: "Just keep collecting seafood as you should, I'll take care of the market. By the way, since everyone understands the truth, then no one should gossip for now, right?"
Father Xiang said, "There hasn't been any in our village yet, but there are rumors in the neighboring villages. Yesterday, a few young people in the neighboring village were gossiping and Xiaohui heard them. Xiaohui beat them up, and the head of Yanlong Village even went to the home of Zuo, the village head, for this matter. Your uncle even paid several hundred yuan for medical expenses."
"Huh?" Xiang Yang's face darkened. "Which village are you from?"
The crew members behind Xiang Yang were also a little angry, and they seemed to be crying with Xiang Yang about the same hatred for his enemy.
Father Xiang said, "Forget it. After all, the fishermen in their village do earn more than those in our village. It's normal to have a competitive mentality. We shouldn't get upset when they say a few words."
"Is this a matter of emotion?" Xiang Yang said, "I understand that they want to compete with each other. He earns a lot and he is powerful, so he can compete with others as he pleases. But our village is in a strife with others, and they come to fishermen. After that, they openly make sarcastic remarks in front of our villagers. Is this understandable?"
Father Xiang also nodded, very angry. "The fishermen of the entire Huhai Town have been ripped off by those three seafood buyers for 10 to 20 years. They never thought that if my Xiang family hadn't stood up, their seafood would be sold for so much money per pound. Everyone knows that the income of the fishermen in Huhai Town has increased because of my Xiang family, but they turned around and used our purchase price to pressure me. My shipping price is so high, can I still pay money to gain publicity? I did something that was beneficial to the entire Huhai Town, and they did nothing. In the end, they made money and they were glorious, but in the end I had to be criticized by others. Am I the one who got sucked in?"
"That's the reality. There are only two ways to fight back. One is that we lose money and gain publicity, and the other is that we quit."
Xiang Yang immediately rejected it and said, "This is impossible."
Father Xiang sighed, "Of course not. The first method is a broken move that will kill one thousand enemies but injure eight hundred of your own. The second method is even more of a loss of life. The three seafood buyers in the town will definitely be the happiest when these two methods are used. It will not benefit us at all. That's why I told you not to get upset with them."
Xiang Yang shook his head. "But it's no use for us to do nothing. If we do nothing, we will be boiled like a frog by those three seafood buyers in town. So, Dad, don't get involved in the seafood purchases during this period. Leave it to me!"
Father Xiang's eyes lit up, "Do you have a good idea?"
Xiang Yang subconsciously wanted to shake his head, but in the end he nodded, "Yes, I have a way."
In fact, Xiang Yang didn't have any good solution. The purchase price of various aquatic products given by Xiang's father was already the highest price Xiang Yang could offer. However, the other party's price for each aquatic product was a few dollars higher than the price given by Xiang Yang. It was obvious that the other party was doing a business that lost money but gained publicity, and its purpose was to deliberately target the Xiang family.