Perhaps because brown sugar is more expensive than white sugar, brown sugar in supermarkets never sells as well as white sugar.

Suddenly, a man in a van came to pick up goods. The person in charge treated Zuo Ling like a big customer, bowing and scraping and being extremely friendly.

Before leaving, he gave Zuo Ling two bags of vacuum-packed pickled chicken.

After leaving the brown sugar factory, I hadn't walked far when I was drawn in by the aroma.

Someone was baking mud-covered balls on the street... Beggar's Chicken!

Zuo Ling bought one, and after eating the whole chicken, she still had to lick her fingers clean.

The little boy nodded vigorously as he ate at the waterfall.

I bought all the beggar's chickens on the stall; there were only 60 of them.

I asked the stall owner if he could bake 500 of them tomorrow.

The stall owner shook his head decisively; he could only bake a maximum of 200 a day.

Swallowing hard, I thought, "Never mind, leaving something to remember me by is the only way to make it a timeless classic."

Even Zuo Ling's wealth and power can be ineffective at times.

I heard that Xiaozhoushan organic rice is the finest of rice and was once presented to the emperor as a tribute.

Zuo Ling, who had never been interested in southern rice, became intrigued and drove his van to the rice mill.

They heard they came to buy rice, but they couldn't even get in the door.

The security guard was incredibly arrogant.

"Young lady, our rice is specially supplied; it's not for ordinary people."

Seeing that Zuo Ling seemed completely clueless, the gatekeeper felt a strong urge to show off:

"I can tell you don't know anything. Come here, come here, let me explain..."

It turns out that Xiaozhoushan organic rice is a product of the 'rice-fish symbiosis system'.

The terraced fields, planted at an altitude of around 400 meters, are where locals maintain the traditional farming method of rice-fish farming.

The spirit of the fish permeates the rice, making it smooth and round.

Rapeseed cake is used to cultivate seedlings, the sun kills pests, weeds are removed manually, no chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used, mountain spring water is used for irrigation, there is long sunshine hours, large temperature difference between day and night, high altitude, and frequent mist.

Mature organic rice has golden grains, a fragrant aroma, a sweet taste, a soft texture, and is never cloying; it is the finest of rice varieties.

This rice was always a special supply, and only high-ranking officials and nobles could enjoy it.

Xiaozhoushan is such a small place, how much rice can it produce? Rice itself isn't expensive, what's expensive is its rarity.

Many rice products on the market that claim to be from Xiaozhoushan are actually quite far from Xiaozhoushan.

Since the rice mill couldn't buy it, Zuo Ling drove directly to the heart of Xiaozhoushan to buy it from local farmers.

Carrying two bottles of Moutai liquor and two pieces of cured meat, he went to knock on the village chief's door.

Moutai liquor! A renowned liquor in China.

The village chief stared blankly at the Moutai liquor, wondering what business he had with me. Why such a grand occasion?

"Village chief, I've heard that Xiaozhoushan organic rice is delicious, and I'd like to buy some. Could you please help me?"

The village chief was relieved and accepted the offer without any qualms.

"Sure, sure. But, young lady, even if I help you, you have to be able to afford the price."

There are a fair number of people who come to Xiaozhoushan to collect rice.

Many people with a good appetite want to try it, and their organic rice from Xiaozhoushan has no trouble selling.

"How about 200 yuan per jin?"

The village chief's eyelids twitched. "200 yuan a pound, that's as good as gold!"

Zuo Ling added another sentence:

"Village chief, I bought Xiaozhoushan organic rice. Could you please help me identify it?"

The village chief thumped his chest loudly: "Don't worry, girl, anyone who dares to take advantage of the situation will have their legs broken."

The women spread the word: "200 yuan per kilogram for rice?"

Soon, many villagers carrying bags of rice arrived at the village chief's house.

As Zuo Ling expected, several people who wanted to take advantage of the situation were chased away by the village chief, who scolded and beat them, leaving his old face as black as the bottom of a pot.

Rice priced at a staggering 200 yuan per kilogram, and you still dare to be so heartless? You've completely disgraced our village.

Zuo Ling received a total of more than 5,000 kilograms of organic rice.

The village chief explained:

“The village has an agreement with the government, and most of the produce has to be handed over. What everyone has is for their own consumption. You can only buy these if you offer a higher price.”

In the village chief's eyes, Zuo Ling must be out of his mind to spend such a high price on rice.

In his opinion, any kind of rice will fill his stomach.

Looking back, Zuo Ling realized that spending over a million yuan to buy 5,000 jin of rice was indeed a huge waste.

I bought 16 tons of rice and flour, as well as a lot of beans and cooking oil at a grain and oil store in Kyoto, and it only cost me 390,000 yen in total.

She became arrogant after suddenly becoming rich overnight.

I repeatedly told myself that I should only do something so stupid once, and never do it again.

If Zuo Ling, a northerner, hadn't come to this rice-growing region, she would have had no idea that oil tea existed.

At first glance, I thought it was tea.

I only learned from the introduction that it is oil tea that can be fried into oil.

It is said that tea oil is the best cooking oil.

Each type of oil has its own reputation for benefits passed down through word of mouth, but whether these claims are accurate is impossible to verify.

Regardless of whether the news was true or false, Zuo Ling went directly to the camellia oil factory, intending to load a truckload of camellia oil.

When I asked the price, it was 120 yuan per jin (500g), pure pressed juice, no adulteration.

Zuo Ling immediately sensed something was wrong; it was just cooking oil, yet it was being sold at such a high price.

The manufacturer was being very polite:

"The tea oil market is indeed very high. You can go out and ask around. I only gave you this price because you said you wanted to buy a whole truckload. The price will be higher if you buy less."

Having just bought the exorbitantly priced rice, Zuo Ling regretted it and didn't want to be ripped off again.

He said, "Sorry," and turned to leave.

Along the way, I saw small workshops with signs for oil mills hanging by the roadside.

I went down to inquire and found that tea oil was 50 yuan per jin (500g), with discounts available for bulk purchases.

Zuo Ling was stunned. How could the prices be so different?

The woman who came to the oil mill to have oil fried said indignantly:

"The high prices charged by manufacturers have nothing to do with us camellia oil growers. They won't pay us a single extra penny for the camellia fruit. We really hope that the price of camellia oil will come down so that everyone can afford it, and then our lives as camellia oil growers can improve."

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