A small plot of land in a mountain village

"Auction begins————"

The porters placed fifty baskets of fragrant cherries behind Zhang Niu and opened a box of cherries for everyone to inspect, assuring them that they were all genuine and there was no need to worry about buying inferior goods.

After Zhang Niu's actions, everyone was relieved that the cherries weren't as pure as last time. This scene was the liveliest one ever in the wholesale market.

The fat man stood below smoking a cigarette, not going up to help. Zhang Niu had to solve this all by himself. He had said what he needed to say, and now it was up to Zhang Niu to decide whether things would turn out well or not.

"Thirty-three thousand!" the vendor below shouted first.

Thirty-six thousand.

The bearded man and his companions all had money on hand, but none of them rushed to call out prices. The vendors had formed several groups, and they were the ones busy calling out prices. The wealthy people decided to observe first.

"Forty-five thousand," Sister Min called out after looking at it for a while.

This was the first time Minjie had ever participated in a fruit auction at the market. She roughly estimated the price of the cherries and decided to buy fifty baskets even if they were expensive.

This price made many vendors hesitate, wondering if they should raise the price further.

"Fifty thousand one hundred thousand." Seeing no one respond, the bearded man shouted in a loud voice.

Zhang Niu didn't expect that the price would soar to 51,000 in just a few minutes.

After shouting, the bearded man swept his cold gaze across the vendors. It was clear he was trying to stop them from raising prices. He wanted the cherry market tycoon.

"Fifty-one thousand, once"

"Fifty-seven thousand!" the voice boomed. This must be a wealthy person.

The unique auction attracted many onlookers, and the bidder was a young man—quite bold!

People started gradually raising the price, and Sister Min suddenly added six thousand, making it "sixty-three thousand".

"Wow!" I didn't expect this girl to ask for such a high price. She's definitely a woman who can hold her own against men. This woman is something else. The fat man next to her kept glancing at Sister Min with his lewd eyes.

"Sister Min, did you see that? That fatso keeps staring at you, look at him like a lovesick fool." She covered her mouth and said with a smile.

Minjie naturally saw the fat man's lecherous look. She'd seen plenty of people like that before, so she simply ignored him.

After Sister Min announced this price, many vendors were considering whether to raise it, as it was indeed too high.

"Sixty-three thousand, once."

Zhang Niu remembered that this beautiful girl was the one who bought the first hundred baskets last time.

"Sixty-three thousand twice."

It seemed everyone was giving way to the pretty girl, and no one raised the price. These days, even in auctions, some people will back down.

Meanwhile, Meixian below stared at Zhang Niu with her beautiful eyes, wondering why this guy hadn't called for a third time yet. It was really infuriating.

"Sixty-three thousand, three times, sold."

"Wow! Min-jie, we've bought all 100 baskets!" Mei-xian jumped up and shouted, but then immediately put on an icy expression. Many vendors around secretly marveled at how quickly this girl could change her tune.

Meixian bought a basketful, went up to pay, and said to Zhang Niu indifferently, "Hmph, you're quick."

These words left Zhang Niu completely bewildered. What was going on? It was all so inexplicable.

After payment, movers will come to help. It's a long story, but it all happened in the blink of an eye.

"Sixty-three thousand."

Zhang Niu had just announced the start of the auction when the starting price jumped from 30,000 to 63,000. This rich man was asking for 63,000 right off the bat.

Zhang Niu never expected that the price would reach 63,000 in just the second round. Wouldn't it break 100,000 today? He was secretly pleased and couldn't help but feel a little smug.

This time, everyone put in extra effort, which made Zhang Niu very happy.

The second batch of cherries was taken by Big Beard for 75,000.

These are just appetizers. There are still about twenty more sets to go, so we can take our time. The onlookers didn't expect that cherries could cost 75,000 yuan. That price is astronomical.

The next eight sets were all bought by the owner of a resort, each priced at 81,000. It's clear that the resort has a lot of money; they bought all eight sets of cherries and took them home immediately.

Minjie never expected the price to reach 80,000. This cherry blossom face mask is truly something only the wealthy can afford. She secretly stuck out her tongue.

This auction was an unprecedented spectacle, drawing huge crowds who came in to watch the excitement. Those unaware of the situation might have thought a fight was taking place inside.

A white car pulled up outside the Great Forest Wholesale Market, and a pair of slender feet emerged from it, wearing white sneakers and trendy denim shorts. Clearly, the person who got out of the car was a stunning beauty.

A long-legged beauty got out of the car, followed by a young man carrying a camera. "Coco, this should be the place to report the news."

It turns out this long-legged beauty is named Coco.

"Hmm, it should be here." Staring at the giant gate in front of him.

Just as the two finished speaking, a middle-aged man walked up from beside the giant gate. "You must be from the newspaper, right? I'm the informant."

Unexpectedly, the informant was still waiting here, which saved a lot of trouble. "Yes, we are employees of the newspaper. These are our identification documents." He took them out and showed them to the middle-aged man.

"That's good. The cherries that fetched such high prices at auction are right here." Seeing the identification reassured him; he figured he was going to get paid for the tip, but he still held out his hand. "Pay up, and lead the way."

The way he held out his hand surprised Coco and her friends; they'd never seen anyone so shameless. Coco suppressed her anger and still pulled out three hundred yuan and handed it over.

The middle-aged man who received the money didn't care if you were angry or not; money talks. "Come on, follow me!" he said, putting the money into his pocket.

If this tip is false, you'll be put on the news and made famous. And that tip-off fee isn't easy to get.

"Li Min, what are you dawdling for? Come on up!"

The two followed the middle-aged man to the auction site for cherries.

"Sold for 87,000."

Just as Coco and her companion stepped outside the crowd, the sound of a deal being closed came from inside.

"The information I provided is right here; the rest is none of my business." With that, he quickly left.

Coco's mind was filled with thoughts of 87,000. What kind of fruit is this? It's incredibly expensive! When I get back, my editor will definitely give me a promotion and a raise. I'd better hurry up and take some pictures.

"Hello, is this [newspaper name]? I have some amazing scoop in this area, in the Great Forest. Remember to bring your tip fee when you come; the person is right at the door."

The middle-aged man had just brought one person in when, hiding in a corner, he started making another call.

It seems that making money by calling newspapers to report news is quite simple.

"Coco, there are so many people here, how are we going to squeeze in?" Looking at the dense crowd, Li Min didn't know what to do.

"That's easy, just learn from your senior sister," Coco said with a smile.

Just as they were about to unleash their ultimate move, the dense crowd outside suddenly dispersed.

"It can't be that bad, can it? The event just ended when we arrived. Li Min, hurry inside, maybe we can still see the cherry seller in person."

"Hey Fatty, let's go, it's on me, bro." The big-bearded guy who'd just finished patting Cherry from Group Five came up cheerfully to greet them.

Now that Zhang Niu was penniless, he could naturally leave. "Alright."

The cherry vendors only managed to buy three out of the twenty or so sets, which is quite good. The beauty salon bought four sets, and there were a few more scattered sets, mostly bought by wealthy people. The bearded man only managed to buy five sets by pressuring others.

"Hey, look at that girl, those legs are really beautiful!" someone commented, watching Coco struggle to squeeze in from the front.

The fat man, with his tinted glasses, thought, "Those long legs, smacking my lips, they're really beautiful." As Coco walked past, the fat man whistled.

Who knew that after this whistle, Coco turned around and said, "You fatso, you're asking for it! Go home and see how disgusting you are!" She even gave the fat man the middle finger and turned to leave.

"Ha ha ha ha--"

"Fatty, you're really amazing! You can't tell that this long-legged beauty is a hot babe. How about I have my men bring her over for us to try?" The bearded man immediately suggested a crooked idea.

Only a big-bearded guy would say something like that.

"Excuse me, do you know what happened at that auction?" Coco asked a vendor as the auction ended.

Looking at the beautiful cocoa in front of him, the vendor went to great lengths to make a good impression.

I learned from the vendor that these were cherries being auctioned, and I even took him to a place where I was able to photograph the fragrant cherries.

Although I didn't get much material, with the few bunches of cherries I got from the bag and the news I heard, tomorrow's newspaper can publish "Mysterious, exorbitantly priced fragrant cherries appear in the provincial capital".

Coco kept fantasizing that tomorrow's newspaper would definitely sell like hotcakes and that it would be on the front page.

A pair of large, rough hands waved in front of Coco's eyes. "Senior sister, senior sister."

"What are you doing, you little rascal? Trying to take advantage of me?" These words were so hurtful that Li Min quickly moved away.

The following morning, the Tai Kwong Daily published the article "Mysterious, Exorbitantly Priced Fragrant Cherries Appear in Provincial Capital" on its front page, along with photos of the colorful cherries.

"Mommy, are these the cherries from my older brother's house?" The baby received today's newspaper outside early in the morning. He can barely recognize a few words, and he can even recognize the word "fragrance".

He bounced in like that.

"Oh, is that so?" They thought the baby was just making things up.

"Mom, look, these cherries look like the ones from my older brother's house." She pointed to the brightly colored cherries.

"Wow, these really are fragrant cherries. Fifty baskets for 80,000, that's an astronomical price!" Zhang Niu thought. The price of these fragrant cherries has really gone up. Then he remembered that he still had two baskets in his refrigerator, and the taste hadn't changed yet. Those were 1,600 a basket.

Li Guang, who had just come out, saw his wife's surprised look and asked, "What's wrong? Why didn't you cook breakfast this morning?"

"Look at what's written in this newspaper." Li Guang thought it was some strange thing that had happened somewhere, but when he took a look, he was shocked. "This... isn't this Zhang Niu's fragrant cherries? Eighty thousand taels of silver! My God!"

Many people knew that a new variety of fruit had appeared in the market that day—milky cherries. Priced at over a thousand yuan per basket, this price prompted many wealthy people to buy some to try. For them, the price was nothing.

Many shrewd businessmen wanted to find the seller, buy the cherries directly, and resell them for a profit. However, many others believed it was just hype; they didn't even know if the cherries actually existed—a classic case of sour grapes. (To be continued. For more chapters and to support the author, please log in and read the original version!)