Chapter 7: Inquiring About the Market

It was still dark outside, but light footsteps were already echoing in the living room.

Li Dong leaped out of bed and quickly dressed before heading out the door.

Li Chengyuan was about to leave when he saw his son fully dressed and coming out. He paused and asked with concern, "Did I wake you up? You have a day off tomorrow; go back and get some more sleep. It's only a little past two."

"No, I woke up on my own," Li Dong replied hastily, splashing cold water on his face. "Dad, I want to go with you!"

His mother was still asleep, so Li Dong spoke softly.

Typically, his father would go to buy goods first, followed by his mother opening the stall, allowing Li Dong to sleep a bit longer.

"What are you coming for? Go back to sleep; it's cold outside…"

"Dad, I want to see where you buy the goods. We've been selling fish for years, but I've never been to the supply place. I can always catch up on sleep during the day."

Without waiting for a response, he pushed his father out the door. Li Chengyuan had no choice but to let his son accompany him.

April nights weren't too cold, but the dew made it a bit chilly.

Li Dong tightened his coat. Li Chengyuan had already taken out the pedal tricycle used for transporting goods and gestured for Li Dong to get on before pedaling towards the outskirts.

The father and son traveled in silence for the most part. Silence was common between them.

After about twenty minutes of riding, a cluster of lights and faint voices appeared in the distance.

Li Chengyuan found a spot to stop the tricycle and began to introduce the area to Li Dong.

"This is Dongping Market. This is where we usually get our goods. Not just us, but all sorts of vegetables and fruits are sourced here. Big trucks deliver goods at night and leave by dawn."

"Sometimes, country traders also come here to sell their goods. If you come early, you might find good stuff—cheap and easy to sell."

"But you need to be careful; these guys can be shady. They've pulled tricks like mixing dead shrimp with live ones…"

"And sometimes, when wholesalers come late, they sell at high prices because they're afraid of running out of stock. If later wholesalers come with lower prices, the early buyers end up losing money if they can't sell at high prices…"

Li Chengyuan continued to explain, not so much to have his son take over his business but to give him life experience.

These experiences were known only to seasoned vendors. Otherwise, with so many new stalls failing, people wouldn't understand why the market was so tough.

No matter what Li Dong did in the future, having more experience was always beneficial.

Li Dong listened obediently while occasionally surveying the seafood in the trucks.

Li Chengyuan had familiar suppliers and stopped by a truck at a corner after a few minutes.

"Old Wang, got any good goods this time? The shrimp you sold yesterday were half dead, and I had to cover a hundred yuan in losses…"

From a distance, Li Chengyuan called out loudly. A few people were squatting by the truck looking at goods, and a short, stout middle-aged man turned around, laughing and cursing, "I knew it was you with your big mouth. Are you happy now that you've messed up my business? I told you some of the shrimp were dead, but I gave you a discount…"

As the two chatted, Li Chengyuan began to inspect the goods. Li Dong's family's stall was small, and they didn't need to buy from multiple suppliers; this one was enough.

Li Dong didn't remain idle either. While his father was checking the goods, he wandered around, looking for sellers of crayfish.

After checking seven or eight vendors, Li Dong found that crayfish weren't popular at Dongping Market. There were a few, but they were rare.

Together, the few available probably didn't total five hundred jin. This was the largest seafood wholesale market in Dongping County, yet the daily crayfish sales in the county were so low.

Even though it wasn't the peak season for crayfish, the number of people eating them in a city with nearly forty thousand people seemed too few.

Li Dong felt disappointed. Did he have to go to the countryside to procure them?

Although Dongping was inland, it had many rivers and lakes, making crayfish easy to breed and raise.

There were plenty of crayfish in the countryside, but few people sold them. Rural people preferred to feed them to chickens and ducks, with the remaining few eaten at home. Very few specialized in farming crayfish.

"Sigh!"

Feeling frustrated, Li Dong wondered if his plans were off to a rough start and whether he needed to find another way to make his first pot of gold.

Just as he was frowning, Old Wang, who had been talking to his father, came over and handed Li Dong a cigarette with a smile. "Kid, are you from the Li family?"

"Yeah, thanks!"

Li Dong took the cigarette naturally, lit it with a match, and took a deep puff. He then realized he had forgotten to smoke since his rebirth.

It was a good thing. In his previous life, he had smoked a lot in sales, leaving a lingering smell on him that he couldn't wash off, causing him to lose several deals.

"I see you've been looking around. Are you planning to take over your dad's stall?" Old Wang, noticing Li Dong's adept smoking, couldn't help but smile. He looked like an old smoker himself.

"Not really, just checking things out. By the way, Uncle Wang, I noticed there aren't many crayfish here?" Li Dong asked casually, hoping Old Wang, being an expert, would know more.

Exhaling a smoke ring, Old Wang smiled and said, "Crayfish don't sell well here; the price isn't high. I've heard they sell well in Pingchuan, but we don't have connections there, and it's too far. Too much trouble."

"Do you have any ideas?"

Li Dong was intrigued. It seemed that even businesspeople had their own networks and knowledge. He didn't expect Old Wang to know about the market in Pingchuan.

Fortunately, the wholesalers in Dongping mostly stuck to their own area and lacked ambition to venture into the provincial capital, or he might not have had a chance.

"Not really. I had some good-tasting crayfish at a barbecue stall last night and thought if the market was good, I'd get my dad to buy some to make a bit of money."

Li Dong downplayed his intentions and continued, "Uncle Wang, if I bought a few thousand jin of crayfish, would I be able to sell them in Dongping?"

"Ha, it might be a bit difficult. But crayfish are durable. Even if they're out of water for a week, they won't die. A few thousand jin shouldn't result in a loss, but you probably won't make much profit. It's labor-intensive."

Old Wang was dismissive of Li Dong's idea but didn't discourage him. It was normal for young people to have many ideas, and it wasn't his business if the venture failed.

"I'm willing to give it a try. Uncle Wang, since there aren't many crayfish wholesalers, getting a few thousand jin might be challenging, right?" Li Dong continued probing.

"Ha-ha, you're mistaken. There are plenty of crayfish in the countryside; they just don't want to stock up because the profit is too low. If you really want them, it's not hard for Uncle Wang to get you ten thousand jin."

Old Wang thought to himself that even a mosquito's leg was meat. If Li Dong could really take ten thousand jin of crayfish, the profit would be quite substantial.

Hearing Old Wang's words, Li Dong's spirits lifted. It seemed he was on the right track to making money.

He quickly called Old Wang aside and whispered, "Uncle Wang, I do have some ideas. Can you tell me the wholesale price of crayfish?"

"Red-shelled ones are 2.5 yuan per jin, blue-shelled ones are 1.5 yuan per jin. How much do you want?" Old Wang, being an expert, gave the prices off the top of his head.

Li Dong wasn't interested in the blue-shelled ones, as they didn't sell well. The red-shelled ones were only 2.5 yuan, a far cry from the 30 or 40 yuan prices in his previous life.

However, he wasn't sure about the market in the provincial capital. Though he knew the prices there would be higher than Dongping, he didn't want to take risks. He thought for a moment and said, "Uncle Wang, give me your phone number. I'll think it over and call you when I've made a decision."

"My dad has it…"

"Don't! Please don't tell him. You know how he is—he's cautious. If he finds out, he definitely won't agree. I want to try it myself first. If it works out, I'll let my dad know later."

Old Wang, being shrewd, knew that money-making opportunities should not be missed. He quickly handed Li Dong a business card.

Even if the deal didn't work out, it was just a business card. If it did, making a few thousand yuan in profit was still good. Crayfish were cheap in the countryside.

After chatting with Old Wang for a bit longer, he got busy with customers and had no time to chat further with Li Dong.

Li Dong knew not to put all his eggs in one basket. While his father continued to

 negotiate, he visited a few other vendors selling crayfish, obtaining several more business cards.

When he returned to Old Wang, his father had already finished buying goods.

Seeing Li Dong, Li Chengyuan smiled, "How was it? Did you see a lot of different seafood? Our stall is small and the variety is limited. If we had more money, we could open a proper store."

Li Dong smiled and responded vaguely, thinking that even the current small stall kept them busy, and a larger one would be exhausting.

Given his parents' characters, they'd never hire help. Regardless of whether it was profitable, it would be better to end the business as soon as possible.

After chatting a bit with his father, Li Chengyuan had to return to the market to set up the stall. Li Dong didn't go with him and headed home first.

He planned to explore the provincial capital today. He had lived in Pingchuan for twelve years and knew it well. Finding a connection wouldn't be difficult.

If he could make money, he needed to prepare the goods.

As for the capital, he had his own ways of handling it. During this period, he had to make a good profit before the summer season officially started.

Once the news from Pingchuan spread, Dongping's merchants wouldn't miss the opportunity.

No matter how many resources or channels he had, he couldn't compete with them. He needed to seize this period, even if it meant working hard.

With that thought, Li Dong quickened his pace.