Her Cultivation Diary-Chapter 2009 - 1761: Courageous

Tao Zhuangzhuang stumbled out of the house, and the steamy heat outside swept over him, making him break out in sweat instantly.

Even more anxious than him were the villagers waiting outside.

They weren’t exactly lining up for anything, but they felt uneasy because the results hadn’t been settled, so they couldn’t help but gather here, chatting away.

Seeing the biggest grape grower in the county step out with a rather peculiar expression, everyone immediately gathered around:

"Old Tao, how are the grapes from your vineyard?"

"Can they reach 40? Your grapes look really good. If they can’t even reach 40, then ours stand no chance."

"I guess it’s doubtful, Old Tao’s vineyard has over a hundred acres, amounting to ten to twenty thousand pounds. One person is equivalent to how many households in the county."

"We ought to at least aim for 35, right? The party secretary said prices are going down because there’s more produce, I get that... but we’ve invested a lot too!"

"Exactly! When we set up stalls now, no one buys because they think we’re overcharging, they don’t even taste them!"

"It was better to sell the old variety of grapes before, three yuan a pound, I saw lots of people buying them..."

"You know Old Chen, right? He didn’t really tend to his few acres of old vineyard, yet harvested a lot this year. The other day, someone from the city bought over a hundred pounds, saying a few friends were planning to make wine..."

Everyone chattered away, each with their own thoughts, afraid that Tao Zhuangzhuang’s price was too high, yet also worried that if he couldn’t get a high price, then theirs would be even worse.

Listening to all the chatter, Tao Zhuangzhuang appeared more puzzled:

"The price they offered is quite good, they said as long as the tests meet the standards, they can start grading and live streaming sales immediately."

But the other party raised the price so eagerly that he couldn’t help but wonder if they’d use the test results to lower it later on.

But, that seems unnecessary!

He had already accepted the previous maximum offer of 40.

As Baiyu County’s largest grower, seeing so many people flocking to grow the same grape this year, he already anticipated price drops.

The only thing he didn’t expect was that the agreed buyers would bail, and the ones found at the last minute only wanted to pressure prices...

Now there’s finally a reliable streamer willing to take over, but he’s genuinely worried about this high price of 50 yuan per pound given the current market situation.

If it doesn’t sell and scares off the followers, how will he sell the lower grade ones?

...

Meanwhile, in the room, Yan Ran and the others tasted Tao Zhuangzhuang’s grapes, feeling thrilled:

"This family really put in the hard work, you can tell just from the taste that the test report won’t be bad."

They were lucky to become graduate students under Professor Song during his free time; whether they learned any skills was another matter, and the professor didn’t want them to tarnish his reputation, fearing to ruin his name.

But having such a renowned figure as their mentor, they did enjoy a lot of perks regularly.

They’d sampled local specialties from all over the place.

If it weren’t for Song Tan’s exceptional quality being too outstanding, they wouldn’t have settled here honestly.

But unexpectedly, this Sunshine Rose in front of them tasted very much like the one their professor brought back last year.

"If there’s someone discerning enough to supply a premium supermarket, with this quality, it can still sell for a hundred yuan this year."

Song Tan thought for a moment, "Boss Chang should be able to sell it; he’s cultivated his customers well."

But Old Zhao wouldn’t work, their target groups are different. It’s not that they don’t know good quality, it’s just that economic conditions are tough.

Lun Chuan thought about it, "Should we introduce it to Boss Chang?"

Song Tan was indifferent—bringing in business earns money, but it wasn’t purely for money.

At this moment, she called someone back:

"Boss Tao, please come in, let’s discuss the grape sales further."

Upon hearing this, Tao Zhuangzhuang, who was about to announce the price among the crowd, tensed up again, while the villagers listening felt even more complicated emotions.

They had privately noted the quality of the Tao family’s produce, so why discuss it further?

Sigh.

It’s really difficult.

But when Boss Tao entered the room and heard Song Tan’s words, a wave of joy overwhelmed him, then he felt confused again.

This confusion made Song Tan a bit puzzled: "You can just give Qiaoqiao a red envelope if a boss comes directly to pick up the goods, we won’t take a commission."

Logically, that should be more profitable, so why the hesitation?

Boss Tao hesitated for a moment and instead asked, "Can my grapes sell through live streaming?"

Song Tan was quite confident.

The grapes were indeed very good if she could say they met the standards, but she didn’t promise anything:

"That can’t be guaranteed, but if Qiaoqiao’s capabilities weren’t trustworthy, the leadership wouldn’t have arranged for us to come."

"Why?" she asked curiously, "When offline it’s a direct bulk purchase, not only is there no commission, but also no after-sales or packaging costs, and the money comes in directly."

She couldn’t see any downside to all these advantages, so why was the other party hesitating?

Did Qiaoqiao have such an allure?

Tao Zhuangzhuang gave a bitter smile, "If you’d come a few days ago, I’d have been immensely grateful."

He was anxious and irritated at the time; even his cheeks were swollen, and he couldn’t sleep soundly.

But now that everything has settled, having accepted Qiaoqiao’s terms, he was hesitating instead—

"I want to try live streaming."

What?

Everyone looked over curiously.

Tao Zhuangzhuang’s cheeks were a bit flushed, and he clenched his fists tightly, but after biting his lip, he still spoke his mind:

"Could I stand in front of the camera during the live stream? I don’t need to speak, just want to make my face known."

He sighed, "Last year, the buyers directly contracted the vineyard, paid promptly, they’re genuine businessmen, we even signed contracts, the cooperation was great."

But, they suddenly couldn’t come.

Even such high-quality grapes nearly rotted on the ground.

It’s great if the big streamer’s introduced buyer pays promptly, but what if they don’t come next year either?

By taking this chance, he wanted to see if his grapes had a market online, and also to make himself known, in case he thinks about selling online next year.

So that even if no buyers come offline, there would still be another survival route.

Listening to this, Song Tan understood.

This was the problem with having an overly narrow sales model in the past.

She had sold online, to Old Zhao, and even accepted two fruit merchants last year...

That was precisely her concern.

No matter how good Boss Tao’s grapes were, with such a price, no one was buying. Even a good wine fears being stuck in a deep alley!

It’s just that she was confident her fruits were exceptional. But Boss Tao, ignoring the confident in-person buyer, chose to take the risky chance of live streaming which might not even sell...

Song Tan thought it over and could only praise: "You really have guts."

Who would have thought that the bold Boss Tao would blush black-faced and bashfully say:

"If the live streaming doesn’t succeed, could you introduce the buyer again? I’ll still give a 5 yuan per pound commission."

Everyone: ...