But Jiang Xiaocai's inherent refusal to admit defeat was completely aroused. He bit his lip, his brow furrowed once more. Suddenly, his eyes rolled, and an idea instantly formed in his mind.
After some inquiries, he learned that a sugar merchant named Wang, living outside the city, was desperate to sell a batch of sugar. Furthermore, the price was said to be incredibly low, practically giving it away for free. This news, like a ray of light in the darkness, shone directly into Jiang Xiaocai's heart, and he instantly felt he had found the key to success.
"Boss Wang, I heard you have some candy to sell?" Jiang Xiaocai finally found Boss Wang after much effort. He lowered his voice deliberately, pretending to be mysterious, as if he was revealing some great secret.
Upon hearing this, Boss Wang's previously dull eyes suddenly lit up like twinkling stars in the night sky, and he perked up instantly. He eagerly leaned forward and demanded, "Really? Where is this big buyer?"
"In... in Jiangnan." Jiang Xiaocai panicked and made up a story. As soon as he said it, he realized something was wrong and quickly added, "But I have to inspect the goods first, otherwise people won't believe it. After all, with such a big deal, you have to be cautious, right?"
Boss Wang was so focused on getting rid of this hot potato that he didn't have time to think carefully. He nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, okay! Then I'll take you to see the goods now."
Boss Wang brought Jiang Xiaocai to the warehouse where the sugar cane was stored. Jiang Xiaocai took a closer look and saw that the sugar cane was slightly yellow in color, and was obviously not as white as snow as normal sugar cane. He leaned in to smell it again, and a strange smell hit his nose. Without thinking too much, it was obviously an inferior product that had deteriorated due to moisture. But Jiang Xiaocai knew in his heart that he couldn't let Boss Wang see that he had seen through the truth. So, he pretended to know nothing and deliberately picked on it and said, "Boss Wang, your sugar doesn't look right. The color is not white enough and the taste is a bit strange. Given this quality, I can only give you half the price at most."
Boss Wang was secretly delighted, but pretended to be at a great disadvantage. He frowned and said bitterly, "Little brother, your price is too low! Although my batch of sugar has some minor flaws, it's not worth half price! The most I can give you is a 20% discount, no less. If it is any less, I will lose everything."
Jiang Xiaocai pretended to hesitate for a long moment, a look of extreme embarrassment on his face. He lowered his head in thought, then glanced up at Boss Wang, as if a fierce internal struggle was going on. After a long moment, he finally, "reluctantly," agreed.
Jiang Xiaocai then unhesitatingly took out all his lucky money, but even then, it still fell short of Boss Wang's asking price. Gritting his teeth, he secretly pawned the jade pendant his mother had given him. The pendant held immense significance for him, a symbol of his mother's love, but now, driven by his "great cause," he could not care less. Finally scraping together the necessary funds, Jiang Xiaocai happily purchased the low-quality candy.
"Hahaha, I'm rich! I'm rich!" Jiang Xiaocai stood in a warehouse overflowing with sugarcane, looking at the mountains of sugarcane, his mouth wide open with excitement. He seemed to see countless exquisite sugar painting stalls waving at him, as if he had become the most famous sugar boss in the capital. He smugly muttered to himself, "Once I sell all this sugar, I can buy ten sugar painting stalls! By then, everyone in the capital will know my name, Jiang Xiaocai!"
However, Jiang Xiaocai had no idea that he had unknowingly fallen into a trap carefully set by Boss Wang. This was not just some ordinary cane sugar that he was eager to get rid of, but a low-quality product that had been severely damp and completely spoiled. The quality of this sugar was so poor that even the most ordinary bun shops on the street despised it and would not buy it at all. It turned out that Boss Wang had already found out clearly that Jiang Xiaocai was the young master of the prime minister's mansion. He believed that Jiang Xiaocai was young, inexperienced, stupid and rich, and he could take advantage of his greed to make a fortune. Poor Jiang Xiaocai was so happy that he thought he had seized a once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity, but he had no idea that he was about to face a huge trouble, and this trouble might make him deeply understand that the business world is like a battlefield, far from being as simple as he imagined...
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