64 Probe—Cutting Someone’s Money
“What, you’re not selling your watermelons?” Boss Liu looked at the watermelons with a dark expression. “Boss Shi, my car has already driven over and the price has been negotiated. You’ve picked the watermelons in the fields and are still loading them into the car. You are now telling me that your watermelons are not for sale. Are you playing with me?”
Shi Xianlin and the others said in embarrassment, “I’m really sorry, Boss Liu. We really don’t want to sell these watermelons anymore. Sorry for wasting your trip.”
But in his heart, he said, “This morning, I begged you like a dog. Now, hmph, someone will accept my watermelons if you don’t. The price is even higher than yours. I don’t have to beg you!”
Boss Liu did not understand.
He asked, “Why aren’t you selling it? The watermelons are already in the vehicle, but you’re getting people to unload them. Can’t you talk nicely?”
Among the four of them, Shi Bangliang had the most watermelons.
He said, “Boss Liu, let me put it this way. The price you offered is too low. We don’t want to sell it to you now.”
Boss Liu suppressed his anger and asked with a dark expression, “You’ve already plucked the watermelons. If you’re not selling them to me, who are you selling them to? After these watermelons are plucked, they won’t last long.”
“You don’t have to worry about that, Boss Liu.” Shi Bangliang was furious at the thought of the watermelons in the ground being despised by Boss Liu and letting them lower the price themselves. “How long our watermelons stay is our own business.”
Boss Liu narrowed his small eyes and shot him a sharp look. Then, he sneered and said, “Hehe, it seems that you’ve found your next target.”
Because they had found their next target, these people were fearless.
These country bumpkins valued money.
In the morning, these people were still humbly trying to please him. They were even willing to lower the price themselves to let him buy watermelons.
But after the morning, these people had changed their minds.
In the morning, Shi Lichun changed his mind. Now, these people had changed their minds.
There must be some inside story behind these people’s change of heart.
“Boss Liu, you’re joking. We don’t have our next target.” Shi Xianlin smiled awkwardly and said, “We just feel that the price you offered is really too low. We farmers work all year round for a little harvest and a little income.”
“So, you really found the next buyer, and that person offered a higher price than me?” Boss Liu said coldly, “Which rich and generous businessman is doing a loss-making business with you? Or is that person deliberately going against me? Otherwise, why didn’t he come earlier or later? He only came when I came.”
The melon farmers did not say anything.
Previously, they did not dare to offend Boss Liu seeing that no one else may buy the watermelons next year.
However, Shi Lichun’s niece had said that as long as their watermelons were of the same or better quality than this year’s, her friend would have their watermelons the next year.
Now, they were relieved and bold.
Although they had sold all the watermelons to Boss Liu in the past few years, they all knew that Boss Liu had bought them at an extremely low price.
But they had no choice.
There were too many people planting watermelons, but too few people came to buy them.
They all wanted to sell the watermelons early.
Shi Xianlin and the others were unlikely to betray Gu Qingming, afraid that they would cause trouble for her.
Boss Liu saw their expressions and revealed a hint of anger. He snorted and said, “Alright. Since you’re unwilling to sell them, I won’t buy them. However, I drove two big trucks over. You can’t let me return empty-handed, right? The transportation fee for my trip is almost a thousand dollars.”
Shi Bangchun immediately said disapprovingly, “Boss Liu, there are always profits and losses in this business. If you earn money, you won’t give us a cent. If you lose money, you can’t let us pay for you, right?”
Boss Liu really thought that rural people like them were easy to bully.
“I’ll lose money because you went back on your word!” Boss Liu said arrogantly. “If you hadn’t promised me that you would sell it one moment and not sell it the next, would I have lost so much?”
Shi Bangliang retorted, “We don’t know anything about going back on our word. We’re farmers. We only know that we’ll sell to the one who offers a high price!”
Boss Liu shot Shi Bangliang a sharp look and asked in confusion, “Oh, I wonder how much that boss bought your watermelons for?”
“80 to 90 cents to a piece!”
Shi Bangliang said proudly, “Boss Liu, with such a huge difference in price, it’s a no-brainer to choose the higher price, right?”
Boss Liu’s pupils constricted.
This price… was a little unreasonable.
An ordinary watermelon vendor would never give such a price.
Boss Liu sneered and said, “Boss Shi, have you been cheated? It’s definitely impossible for your watermelons to be sold for such a high price. Don’t you know that the price of this year’s watermelons is between 30 to 50 cents? Giving a price of 80 to 90 cents is obviously ridiculously high, but you actually believe it!”
However, Shi Xianlin and the others did not hesitate at all.
“She won’t lie to us,” Shi Bangliang said without hesitation. “We believe her!”
Boss Liu looked at their serious expressions and was in disbelief.
What kind of vendor could make these bumpkins trust that person so much?
“In that case, I won’t say anything else.” Boss Liu snorted and said, “But don’t come to me if you’re deceived in the future!”
“Then you don’t have to worry, Boss Liu!” Shi Bangliang said coldly.
Half of Shi Xianlin’s watermelons were weighed and loaded, but money had yet to change hands.
But for the sake of money, he insisted on moving these watermelons out of the car.
5,000 catties of watermelon was only about 1,000 dollars.
If he sold it to Gu Qingming’s friend, not to mention 1 or 2 dollars, even if it reached 80 cents, it would be about 5,000 dollars. The difference of a few thousand dollars was the hard work of their family.
So, what was wrong with going back on one’s word?
Didn’t Boss Liu go back on his word?
Shi Lichun’s watermelons were originally said to be 50 cents, but didn’t he say that he would only buy them at 45 cents later?
If his niece hadn’t stopped him, Shi Lichun would have sold them to him.
It turned out Shi Lichun’s watermelons could be sold for a high price of 2 dollars. Once they were sold, the difference would not be thousands, but tens of thousands.
After Shi Xianlin and the rest left, he looked at the surrounding villagers.
In the crowd, a sharp-faced man looked in Boss Liu’s direction and his eyes flashed.
After the crowd dispersed, he timidly walked up to Boss Liu and smiled ingratiatingly. He asked, “Boss Liu, do you want to know who stole your business?”
A hand shot out, index finger hooked.
The implication was clear. He wanted money.
Boss Liu thought for a moment, before taking out a hundred dollars and giving it to him. He asked, “Who is it?”
Although the watermelon business was not the main thing, it could still make him some money.
Now that his chance to earn money had been snatched away, he was furious.
Severing someone’s path to wealth was like killing his father!
“It’s Shi Lichun’s niece from the city!”