Chapter 111 Cooperation

Xie Kuling ultimately ordered 1,000 catties of each type of fruit.

The Qingfeng faction's dining hall mainly serves meals; fruit is only used to make desserts and drinks, and the demand is not high.

Yang Hao arrived the next day. After seeing the fruit on the fruit tree slope, he immediately ordered more than 6,000 catties of each kind of fruit.

Some of these fruits will be placed in the old Xiaoping'an Supermarket, while the majority will be placed in the new Xiaoping'an Shopping Mall.

Yang Hao and Li Chang'an signed the contract and then left.

Li Chang'an, Jingjing, and the other spirits picked all the fruit and put it in a storage box.

The fruit supplied to Qingfengpai can be delivered all at once today. Qingfengpai has storage boxes to keep the fruit intact.

For Xiaoping'an Supermarket, the delivery rate is a little over 400 jin per day, and like other vegetables, a dedicated driver comes to pick up the goods every morning.

After counting the remaining quantity, it was just in time for the vegetable harvest on the terraced fields.

The next day was the 18th, the day Li Chang'an would be live-streaming the sale of vegetables. This time, he arrived half an hour early.

Netizens quickly clicked on the message after seeing it.

[They arrived half an hour early today, is there something new?]

[It's been so long ahead of schedule, looks like there are a lot of new products! Have fans been voting on what to plant during this time?]

They had already figured out Li Chang'an's habits. Whenever there were new products, Li Chang'an would release them a little earlier so that he could clearly introduce the vegetables he was going to sell and wait for netizens to be ready before putting the products on the shelves at 11:00 a.m. sharp.

However, Xianshan Farm hasn't released any new items in a long time. The last time it was released was because a netizen wanted Li Chang'an to grow some cherry tomatoes. Later, they found that the cherry tomatoes grown in Xianshan tasted similar to tomatoes.

Li Chang'an stopped planting cherry tomatoes; tomatoes were enough.

In any case, netizens have already accepted that the tomatoes from Xianshan Farm are fruits.

Li Chang'an was adjusting the camera, and out of the corner of his eye, he could clearly see the comments from the netizens.

He withdrew his hand, stood up straight in front of the camera, and nodded, saying, "There are some new products today."

After he finished speaking, he took each basket and introduced the vegetables inside.

The types of premium vegetables, spirit rice, and spirit vegetables that Xianshan Farm sells are now fixed, but before each sale, Li Chang'an will still give a brief introduction and then leave some time for netizens to add to their carts.

After introducing the vegetables in the last basket, Li Chang'an put down the basket and took a sip of tea.

Some netizens have already checked out the Xianshan Farm app and discovered some new things they've never seen before after refreshing it.

[Wait a minute, everyone hurry to Xianshan Farm, there are new fruit categories!]

[Fruit categorization? Hasn't Xianshan Farm always had that? They have watermelons, strawberries, and stuff like that.]

No, no, I didn't explain myself clearly. There are new items in the fruit section.

Other netizens had already seen the fruit categories, and they noticed that mulberries, lychees, bayberries, apricots, plums, and peaches had been added.

Each fruit has been carefully photographed, showing it from various angles and how it looks after being cut open.

Wow, a huge new fruit selection! So many fruits!

The bayberries are so big and red, and the peaches look delicious and so round, like something out of an animated film.

Li Chang'an had finished his tea and, at the opportune moment, took out a basket containing fruit and said:

"This batch of fruit is not large, and the quality is average. The honey plums, peaches, and eagle beak peaches are relatively large, and the purchase limit is three catties. Lychees, bayberries, apricots, and Sanhua plums are limited to two catties each, and mulberries are limited to one catty each."

"As for the price, let's set it at three yuan and eighty cents for everything."

What? Three yuan and eighty cents? Am I hearing things?

[The price seems similar to what we pay here, but I still have this feeling of "what's the difference between this and giving it to me for free?"]

Peaches here are only five or six yuan a pound, they're even cheaper than here... Am I hallucinating?

What exactly does "average quality" mean?

Li Chang'an thought for a moment and said, "It's not as good as watermelon or strawberry."

Watermelons and strawberries are grown on spiritual soil, and both Tianxuan Star Lord and Yuheng Star Lord have said that they contain spiritual energy, so they taste much better than those from the Cangxuan Realm, and they also have other benefits that are good for the human body.

The fruits on Jiarong Mountain are only slightly sweeter than those in Cangxuan Realm, and possess a negligible amount of spiritual energy; they have no other distinguishing features besides being delicious.

Since the quality and quantity of these fruits would not impact the outside fruit market, Li Chang'an did not plan to sell them at a high price, and the wholesale price for Qingfengpai and Yang Hao was two yuan.

After Li Chang'an finished speaking, he took out the fruit from the basket and began to introduce it.

While netizens were still in shock at the prices, they soon saw one beautiful fruit after another.

These fruits are similar to those in the photo; they are large and brightly colored.

The mulberries were plump, the apricots were soft and round, and the lychees and peaches, once peeled, revealed their juicy flesh. The plums and nectarines made a crisp sound when eaten...

Although Li Chang'an said that the quality of these fruits was average, netizens could still tell that these fruits were definitely among the highest-end and finest on the market.

But such fruit is only considered "average" by Li Chang'an, and it only sells for 3.8 yuan per kilogram.

But upon closer reflection, it's understandable that Li Chang'an's comparison was between strawberries and watermelons.

After all, the watermelons and strawberries from Xianshan Farm have never been used as meal replacements, and their quality is absolutely unavailable on the market.

The video clearly describes the flesh, texture, and taste of each fruit, and before viewers knew it, some found themselves drooling.

After introducing the various fruits, Li Chang'an glanced at the time.

Five minutes until 11 o'clock.

He put down his basket, smiled, and said, "Everyone, get ready to rush to buy! If all goes well, the next fruit sale will be on the 3rd of next month."

[Are they selling them only once every two weeks? Ahhh, I hope I can snag one!]

[The quantity is so small! Only 180,000 jin (90,000 kg) of peaches were harvested in total. Is there any possibility of increasing the quantity in the future?]

Li Chang'an shook his head regretfully: "I've already planted all the fruit trees I wanted to grow, and I don't plan to plant any more."

The hillside where fruit trees are planted is almost completely covered, with each type of fruit planned out. However, there is no more space to plant fruit trees on the top of the hillside, which is a rock face.

Unless the trees in other places are cut down, but those places generally don't have the same level of sunlight as Fruit Tree Slope.

Moreover, if more fruit trees were planted, Jiarong Mountain would look completely different.

That's not what Li Chang'an wanted to see.

The amount of fruit we have now is enough for him and the members of Xianshan to eat, and occasionally we can give some away as a treat for the fans.

Besides the fruit we're growing today, are there any other fruits you're growing?

Li Chang'an said, "There are also grapes, dates, pomegranates, chestnuts, and the like. I estimate they'll be available in two months."

The viewers in the live stream cheered immediately, and it was soon 11 o'clock.

In no time, all the vegetables and fruits were sold out.

The terraced fields on Wolu Mountain are being continuously expanded upwards, adding thousands more acres, and the amount of vegetables to be sold in each live broadcast has also increased significantly.

Nowadays, Li Chang'an's live streams can generate at least 1.8 million orders per session.

Fortunately, with two spirit boats and spirit kites delivering goods, they are managing to cope for now. However, if the number of orders increases, there will be delivery pressure.

After printing out the shipping labels, Tianxuan tallied the addresses of the buyers.

"Currently, Xianshan Farm is only open to customers from Xia Kingdom for registration and purchase. Centered on Ling'an City, the closer to Ling'an City, the fewer orders there are."

People in Ling An City and those living nearby can buy vegetables at Xiao Ping An Supermarket, and occasionally some people will come directly to Qingfengpai for a meal.

They have a much greater chance of eating vegetables from Xianshan Farm than other netizens. Since purchasing from Xianshan Farm guarantees next-day delivery, most people won't be as enthusiastic about buying as other netizens and will be more easygoing.

Li Chang'an pondered for a while.

In that case, if large supermarkets in several nearby cities sell products from Xianshan Farm, the number of orders in these areas will be less.

For deliveries to supermarkets, Lingyuan Bird can carry the food storage boxes to deliver them. There are at most one or two supermarkets in a city, so the delivery pressure is not great.

It seems like it's time to add some partners.

*

After delivering all the packages for the vegetables sold via livestream, Li Chang'an chose an afternoon to leave Xuanling Immortal Mountain with Tianxuan and Chajing to conduct an inspection in the neighboring Qinwang City.

This is the second region he has chosen for cooperation.

If a partner supermarket is established in Qinwang City, the number of orders in the vicinity will decrease further, and the delivery pressure will not be too great.

If it weren't for the limited time away from Xuanling Immortal Mountain, and the fact that traveling to too far places would mean spending most of the time traveling back and forth, Li Chang'an would have preferred to cooperate with the furthest region first.

For now, we can only proceed from near to far.

Li Chang'an drew a disguise talisman, and the three of them looked like ordinary passersby in the eyes of outsiders. They could even be seen once and then forgotten.

The first shopping mall they visited was called Jinxing Shopping Mall.

Jinxing Shopping Mall is one of the older shopping malls in Qinwang City, having been open for over a decade. It started as a small supermarket, but later gained a steady stream of customers thanks to its excellent service, diverse product range, and high cost-performance ratio, eventually developing into a full-fledged shopping mall.

However, given that it's been around for a few years, the exterior of Jinxing Shopping Mall looks somewhat dilapidated, but it's very clean.

Upon entering the mall, I noticed a broken tile on a section of the path near the entrance. I wondered if it had just broken recently, as the staff hadn't had time to call someone to replace it.

It was a little past six in the afternoon, and there were many people shopping in the mall.

The air conditioning in the mall was on full blast; as soon as you walked in, the cool air hit you, and you felt much more refreshed.

Migrant workers who had just finished work at some nearby construction sites also walked towards the mall. They shook off the mud and dust from their clothes and shoes at the entrance, and when they entered the mall, staff members led them to the rest room to rest.

That rest room is open to the public, providing a place for people in distress to spend the night, for tired people to rest, and for cleaners and other workers to cool off and have a drink when they pass by.

Li Chang'an stood outside the break room for a while, and then saw two workers come out with tools. They said something to the staff, and then the staff had someone bring new tiles. The two workers replaced the broken tile at the entrance.

A manager came over and slipped red envelopes to the two of them, and the three of them started pushing and shoving each other.

Li Chang'an withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward.

The shopping mall has seven floors in total. There are two underground floors, which are used for parking and dining. The five floors above ground are occupied by various brand stores on the first and second floors, some chain stores on the third floor, a cinema on the fourth floor, and a children's playground on the fifth floor.

Li Chang'an, Tianxuan, and Chajing strolled leisurely through the mall.

Tea Master was in high spirits. He looked around all the famous brand stores and finally stopped at a tea shop, where he chatted with the owner about tea.

Li Chang'an and Tianxuan: ...

The two had no choice but to say goodbye to the tea spirit and continue their stroll.

There is a Jinxing Supermarket on the second floor of the mall. Its decoration seems out of place with the surrounding brand-name stores, but it was specially decorated by the mall owner to commemorate his past and to reminisce about the place he came from.

The overall decor features warm colors, and the lighting is soft and just right, not too glaring. Especially in the fresh food section, there's no red lighting to make the meat look fresher; instead, there's simple white lighting that allows the details of the meat to be clearly seen.

The surrounding area was also very clean and tidy. Robots were constantly working in the seafood area, mopping up the water that splashed out of the fish tanks to prevent guests from slipping and falling.

In the grain sales area, rice, beans, and the like are sealed in transparent boxes. If you want to buy them, you can put your shopping bag under a small opening and press a switch. The rice and beans will then flow out of the opening. This prevents shoppers from reaching in to touch the goods or putting in anything they shouldn't.

There is a small box next to it containing samples, which guests can take out and examine in detail.

Most importantly, the area where fruits and vegetables are displayed is very clean. Even before the supermarket closes, staff are checking the freshness of the fruits and vegetables, promptly removing those that are not fresh and offering them at a discount, while discarding those that are damaged or unsellable.

After wandering around the supermarket three times, Li Chang'an was basically satisfied.

But just to be on the safe side, he visited other large and small shopping malls in Qinwang City for the next two days.

They've visited several chain fresh food supermarkets.

These supermarkets each have their own advantages, but they are slightly lacking in some details.

After several trips and much deliberation, Li Chang'an finally decided to first contact the owner of Jinxing Shopping Mall to inquire about potential cooperation.

If the other party is unwilling, he will ask the next one.

However, when the owner of Jinxing Shopping Mall received Li Chang'an's call, he remained silent for a long time. Li Chang'an thought he didn't want to cooperate and was about to hang up when he heard his assistant exclaim in surprise:

"Boss! Boss, what's wrong?!"

Along with the sound came what sounded like something falling to the ground.

Then came the boss's groan of "Ouch!" and his incredulous question to his assistant: "Is it really Li Chang'an?"

The assistant nodded vigorously: "Really! Absolutely true!"

Then, Li Chang'an heard his boss's voice more clearly; it seemed that the boss had finally taken the phone from his assistant.

"It really is Mr. Li from Xianshan Farm? That's wonderful! Thank goodness, Mr. Li! I can't believe I've encountered such good fortune after all these years!"

"Mr. Li, I want to cooperate! I want to cooperate! I'll have the contract prepared right away!"