Wealthy People
In order to arrive at Ta Shan City, where the Jade Blue Sea was located, from Ju Mu Village, they first had to pass through the Green Sea Plains. From there, they would continue west and pass through Death City, which was in the middle of Death Desert, thus Death City was their next destination.
The reason Death Desert had the name death in it was because of the danger. Without a certain degree of strength, it would be very difficult to pass through. Even if one’s strength was very high, there was still the possibility of dying.
Within Death Desert, there were many areas of grave danger. Within them, lived many death-attributed sand dragons. These were dragons that could not be killed that caused everyone to scratch their heads. Unless it was a top-tier expert, anyone who ran into one would die.
If it were a normal person, they truly would not dare pass through Death Desert, thus even though it was known that death-attribute dragon stones sold for the most in Death City, not many people went there to do this business.
Without strength, it was very difficult to safely traverse Death Desert. As for those who did have that power, how could they care about that small amount of money. Without speaking of anyone else, in his previous life, Xin Yun did not engage in that sort of trade later on in life.
With 100 death-attribute dragon stones on hand, Xin Yun returned to the storage facility. When the two reached the facility, A Da was already there with a few hundred beautiful sheepskin bags piled up at his side.
Casually picking up a sheepskin bag and opening it up, Xin Yun nodded in satisfaction. He then said to Yi Luo Xiang and A Da: “Okay, we are short on time, so let us start. We will immediately begin filling up these bags.”
Hearing Xin Yun, A Da opened his mouth. Just as he was about to ask what a few questions, he recalled what Xin Yun had said, thus he turned around and opened up the sacks carrying the mushrooms. Taking some mushrooms, he placed them inside the bag.
Based on Xin Yun’s designs, this sheepskin bag appeared to be very large, but it was quite narrow. It looked as though it could hold one jin of mushrooms, but they could only hold a little more than half of that, roughly six or seven liang. After three hours, 300 jin of mushrooms was placed into 500 bags!1
After filling the last bag with mushrooms and closing it up, Xin Yun happily let out a sigh. Picking up a bag at random, he looked at it then nodded in satisfaction. Pretty good… it truly was pretty good!
This sheepskin bag will filled with dried pine mushroom. At a glance, it would appear to have one jin of mushrooms, but it only had six liang. This was a scam based on eyesight.
This method was not invented by Xin Yun. In his first life on Earth, there was a product- Coke, that used this method. The bottle appeared to be very pretty, and its shape was very distinct. It was like the outline of a female, but it reduced the volume of the bottle. This reduced the amount of drink in each bottle by a large amount.
The sheepskin bags had two distinct sides. The front had an opening stitched with an exquisite pattern. Through the design, one could see the mushrooms inside the bag. They could also smell the unique aroma of the mushroom. This allowed people to see that these were quality goods at a glance!
Of course, the purpose of these openings was not just to allow everyone to take a look at the goods. The most important thing about the exquisite designs was that it allowed for the price to be increased. Just by placing them in a bag, the mushrooms seemed different. It could be said that their market value doubled!
Of course, if that were all, it would not be enough. On the back of the sheepskin bag, there were some words written in black ink praising the mushrooms in the bag, so much so that it was almost overboard.
These normal mushrooms purchased in Ju Mu Village were depicted as having come from a forest where dragons lived, from near the living areas of emperor-level dragons, from within ten-thousand year old pine trees, and that they risked their lives to collect, all of these descriptions were used. Well over one hundred small characters were written to promote these as grand items!
Aside from the all-encompassing introduction, Xin Yun deliberately gave these mushrooms a name- Ten-thousand year old pine mushrooms, which raised the value of these mushrooms to the highest possible extreme.
Just as Xin Yun was nodding in satisfaction while looking at the bags of mushrooms, A Da glanced at Xin Yun and said with a trembling voice: “I’ve got it boss. I have finally understood it. Putting them in these bags, it looks like there is a lot, but there is not that much. Like that, 300 jin of mushrooms can be sold as 500 jin. Haha… like that, 200 jin of mushrooms have appeared out of thin air!”
With a slight smile, Xin Yun nodded and said: “That’s right, this is what it means to say there is no treacherous business. As a business person, chasing your interests is the iron law, but… your vision is still too narrow!”
Speaking to this point, Xin Yun picked up a bag of mushrooms and proudly said: “Although this is not some massive city, and it can not even be considered a large city, there are still plenty of wealthy people. Hehe… thus the bags do not simply serve to increase the amount of mushrooms we can sell. We must also increase the price!”
“Ah! Increase the price…” Hearing Xin Yun’s words, A Da’s mouth was opened wide, as he nearly began salivating…
Calmly nodded his head, Xin Yun continued: “Un… there are a total of 500 bags of mushrooms, which we could have originally sold for 24000 copper. That would average out to roughly 50 copper each, right?”
“Un, un, un…” Hearing Xin Yun speak, A Da repeatedly nodded. Even if he could not do anything else, investigating the market values and doing calculations were things that A Da could definitely accomplish. There would be no mistake with this account.
Seeing A Da’s excitement, Xin Yun smiled and continued: “This price is merely the cost of normal dried pine mushrooms. Our mushrooms are ten-thousand year old pine mushrooms, so this price must be increased. It must be increased drastically!”
“Ah!” Hearing what Xin Yun had said, A Da could not help but let out an odd shout. Unable to believe it, he said: “Weren’t our mushrooms picked up in Ju Mu Village? How could they be ten-thousand year old pine mushrooms? Where did we risk our lives collecting them? Also, the amount is too great, so it can not be considered anything rare…”
Calmly glancing at A Da, Xin Yun firmly said: “Whether it is or not, you do not need to worry about. You just need to remember, as a merchant, so long as you say it, that’s all that matters!”
Faced with what Xin Yun had said, A Da blinked his small eyes and was unable to say a single word. Seeing A Da’s ridiculous expression, Yi Luo Xiang began laughing and said: “Don’t worry. So long as we say it is, even if they are not, they will be. There is no way of verifying this sort of thing. Even if there are people who have their suspicions, they will have no way of exposing us. Although there certainly will be people who will not believe us, we do not need everyone to believe. So long as the people buying it believe, that will be fine. Is that not the case?”
Xin Yun smiled and said: “That’s right. What Yi Luo Xiang said is logical, but it is still not the full story. Truthfully… our mushrooms will be sold for wealthy people to eat, right?”
Hearing what Xin Yun said, A Da suddenly nodded and said: “That is obvious. Even if it were normal dried pine mushroom, it would not be something that normal families would be willing to spend on, much less now that we have promoted them to ten-thousand year old pine mushrooms!”
“Un…” Nodding, Xin Yun continued: “Since our mushrooms are being sold to wealthy people, we must analyze the mind of the wealthy person. Tell me, what is a wealthy person?”
Hearing Xin Yun’s words, A Da was dazed then stupidly said: “What is a wealthy person? A person with lots of money is naturally a wealthy person. Is there a need to ask that?”
Hearing A Da’s response, Xin Yun smiled and did not comment. Turning around, he looked at Yi Luo Xiang. Under Xin Yun’s gaze, Yi Luo Xiang pondered a little then said: “A so-called wealthy person should wear beautiful clothes and use expensive things. They should live in expensive residences and visit high-end shops. They are people who will never need to worry about money.”
Nodding his head in praise, Xin Yun smiled and said: “You are correct, but it is still not precise nor concrete.”
“Ah!” Puzzled, Yi Luo Xiang looked at Xin Yun with doubt and said: “Then you tell us, what exactly is a truly wealthy person?”
With a smile, Xin Yun extended a finger and said: “You two should remember. A so-called wealthy person is someone who, regardless of what they are buying, will not buy what’s right. Instead, they will always buy what’s expensive. The more expensive it is, the more welcome it is. If that is not the case, how could they possibly show off the fact that they are wealthy?”
1: 300 bags made, 500 bags filled…