After drinking a few rounds of baijiu and eating their fill, everyone became more relaxed and began to chat freely.
It was actually Wang Yan’s first time participating in social dining. After observing silently, he found that the ambience was no different from that of a graduation party.
Both were held in similar banquet halls. Some people would stay reserved while some people would indulge in bragging. The conversations usually revolved around either flattering or mocking someone. It was hard to tell whether or not a person was really speaking their mind.
At most, the stuff that they bragged about here was more exquisite than that of graduation parties.
Wu Fanlin liked to talk about cars; Brother Wang always seconded others’ jokes; Chi Haomiao’s topic of conversation often revolved around women.
Huang Xu spared equal attention for everyone. His words were sarcastic at times and he thought that he was humorous, but in fact, he was subconsciously demonstrating his sense of superiority.
Lin Baizhou was relatively the steadiest guy. He spoke gently as he chatted with Wang Yan about liquor.
“Xiao Yan, are you used to the taste of Kweichow Moutai Flying Fairy?”
“I’m fine with anything.” Wang Yan smiled and said, “To be honest, I’m not old enough to know how to enjoy liquor yet. I’ll drink whatever that’s served. I’m just here to join in the fun.”
‘Yes, I’m fine as long as it’s expensive enough,’ Wang Yan added in his head.
Huang Xu beamed with joy when he heard Wang Yan’s reply. He said, “Big Wang, Kweichow Maotai is awarded the honorable title of National Liquor. It tastes good and it’s cheap. Today, I have chosen Flying Fairy 53.0% to be served in order to thank you. A bottle of it costs almost 4000. Ain’t I good to you?”
Wang Yan was stunned.
Huh?
How could it be so cheap?!
Wang Yan didn’t know much about liquor, but he had a very deep impression of Flying Fairy.
Three or four years ago, his uncle-in-law was invited to a banquet for some reason. He brought Wang Yan and Yao Yao along. At that time, the liquor which the adults drank was exactly Flying Fairy 53.0%. It cost more than 9000 Yuan a bottle. Its price left a huge impact in teenage Wang Yan’s mind.
What was happening now?
Why was the liquor in the state guesthouse cheaper than that of a five-star hotel in a third-tier small city?
Lin Baizhou was good at observing the expressions of others. He noticed Wang Yan’s confusion and asked with a smile, “Xiao Yan, do you think it’s too expensive or too cheap?”
“It’s too cheap. I didn’t expect it.” Wang Yan shook his head in disbelief.
Huang Xu wanted to retort. He moved his lips but no words were uttered. He didn’t dare to. He was so aggrieved that he wanted to vomit blood.
Lin Baizhou had anticipated Wang Yan’s response. He explained with a smile, “You are young and have not drank much. You might not be aware of the glory and decline of Flying Fairy.
This liquor can be regarded as the representative of locally made high-end liquor. More expensive liquors are in short supply. The cheaper liquors are unbecoming for major events. Hence, Flying Fairy is the best choice for liquor to be served at events.
Around 11 years ago, the price curve of Flying Fairy reached its peak. During the period when it was exorbitant, I even tasted a bottle of Flying Fairy 53.0% at the price of 12,000 Yuan in a hotel.
Then, for some unspeakable reason, the biggest customer of high-end baijiu suddenly stopped consuming baijiu. As a result, the conflict that had accumulated for many years in the high-end baijiu market suddenly broke out, and the price collapsed.
I have a friend who is a distributor. Let me tell you something interesting:
This year, the factory price of Flying Fairy is 999 Yuan. The wholesale price is about 850 Yuan. When a dealer sells it to a customer, it is very likely that its price will drop to 800 Yuan.
That is to say, if I go to the market and buy a bottle of Flying Fairy, I will be able to get it for just over 800 Yuan, which is more than 100 Yuan lower than its factory price. Isn’t that odd?”
Lin Baizhou spoke steadily and his narration was fascinating. While Wang Yan was digesting his words, he was also exclaiming in his mind – a man like Lin Baizhou was really f*cking charming!
This kind of charm was induced by knowledge and experience. One could tell his social status through his speech and manners.
Wang Yan was very envious. He found another direction to work hard in.
To be a god-tier tycoon, he had to be knowledgeable.
Putting aside his exclamation, Wang Yan collected his thoughts and asked tentatively, “Regarding the price inversion… Is it because there are many stocks piled up?”
“You’re smart!”
Lin Baizhou clapped his hands in praise and slowly expounded the reason for the price inversion, “The market was good in the early years, but the factory price was low. Distributors and dealers all bought a lot of stock. According to my knowledge, there was a large batch of Flying Fairy 53.0% which was sold at around 600 Yuan in the early days. It was the cheapest stock that the distributors managed to lay their hands on.
The reason why the supply of Flying Fairy couldn’t keep up with the demand in the beginning was largely because the dealers were crazily hoarding the goods. It was a form of market manipulation.
When the market collapsed and there was no improvement for a long time, the dealers couldn’t bear the cost pressure and had to mix the old products with the new ones in a sale. Price inversion was gradually formed because of it.
Only the state guesthouse dares to sell Flying Fairy at around 4000 Yuan, which is more than four times the market price. You can’t find another more expensive mass-produced baijiu here.”
Lin Baizhou’s clarification of the price of Flying Fairy, which was based on facts, put Huang Xu in a great mood. He couldn’t help but give a thumbs up and praise, “Baizhou, you’re f*cking awesome!”
Wang Yan had learned a lot; he also knew that the price of the liquor ordered was already the highest. He was very pleased too.
“Brother Huang, Brother Lin, here’s to both of you. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. And thanks for the warm hospitality. Cheers!”
After taking the shot, Wang Yan did some mental calculation.
A bottle of liquor cost around 3,600 Yuan. The critical multiplier was 40 times, which meant that he would get 144,000 Yuan in his system.
For every bottle of liquor that everyone drank, he would get 144,000 Yuan for free. The alcohol would burn others’ stomachs while warming his heart. This chivalry was worth mentioning!
‘Brother Huang, I’m so touched!’ Wang Yan shouted in his mind.
Just as he was feeling over the moon, the waiter served another delicacy.
A bowl of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
It is one of the main dishes in Fujian cuisine. The ingredients used were exquisite and it was time-consuming to prepare it. It was crowned the best dish in the world.
The abalone alone needed to be soaked in cold water for three days, then soaked in 80 degree hot water for two days, and finally simmered for another three days before it was truly ready.
Dozens of raw ingredients were required to prepare Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
Each cuisine in the state guesthouse was served in individual servings. Everyone got a bowl of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. Wang Yan couldn’t wait to scoop the food up and chomp on it.
Instantly, he felt an explosion of taste on his tongue.
The meat was soft, tender and had a rich aroma. However, it was not greasy at all. Both the texture and the aroma were top-notch. It was indeed worthy of the reputation of being the world’s most expensive dish!
Wang Yan was in a good mood to begin with. Now that he was able to enjoy such delicious food, his entire body felt warm and satisfied. The system was also activated.
[Ding! You are greatly touched by the delicious food. Hence, you have activated a secret reward.]
[A two-sided food card. This is a single use card.]
[You can use this card on anyone. You can choose one of the two effects:]
[Tasty effect: the target will feel like they are enjoying a top-notch delicacy regardless of the taste of the food that they are eating. It is so delicious that they can’t stop eating.]
[Shitty effect: the target will feel like they are eating shit regardless of the taste of the food that they are eating. It is so disgusting that they would cry in agony.]
[Duration of this card effect: 3 days]
Wang Yan was very happy to receive a new reward, but he was a little puzzled. How should he use this card without any negative side effects?
If he chose the delicious effect, his target could become an obese glutton in three days’ time.
The shitty effect would basically cause anyone to turn anorexic.
It was undoubtedly a badass card, but it was a pity that he had no use for it now.
The only person Wang Yan was annoyed with was Huang Xu. This brat had almost killed Lin Weiwei. Wang Yan didn’t tell anyone about it, but he actually took the matter to heart.
However, his irritation hadn’t reached the point of hatred. At most, he would have fewer interactions with Huang Xu in the future.
The minor conflict he had with Chen Yuhang was even less worthy of mentioning . He would let bygones be bygones. Chen Yuhang also didn’t say or do anything stupid in front of Wang Yan today, so there was no need for Wang Yan to keep thinking about him.
Therefore, for the time being, this card was useless to Wang Yan.
Fine, he would just keep it. Who knows, maybe one day the card would be of great use. There was no harm in having more cards.
After keeping the card in the system storage, Wang Yan saw the [Extraordinary Badass Card] again.
One was a card which could transform him into a badass while the other was a card to toy with someone. All that was missing was a card to deal with emergencies, and his collection would be perfect.
Adoring the two shiny cards that were not of use for the time being, Wang Yan suddenly got an inspiration.
He mused, ‘Hey, it seems like collecting items in the system is also quite fun?
‘It feels much more interesting than collecting skins in LOL.
‘Why don’t I… become a miser from now on?’
If he could refrain from using the cards, he would try his best to not spend them, collecting as many as he could. Every time he clicked into the panel, there would be several rows of colorful cards lined up in his storage. When he saw his collection, he was sure that boundless confidence would instantly surge up in him. He would gain the courage to fight against the heavens and the earth.
He would be as free as a husky when its master wasn’t at home.
Thinking about it, wasn’t it cool?!
Nowadays, it was all about inheritance and treasure. A person was not befitting to be called a god-tier tycoon if they didn’t even own a treasure basin or a collection vault.
Other rich people thought that they were awesome just because they collected some antiques and artworks. All of them paled into insignificance when compared to him!
‘Ok, it’s settled then,’ Wang Yan concluded in his mind.
‘In the future, please call me Dorae-wang!’