Chapter 49 Reputation

Chapter 49: Chapter 49 Reputation

Chapter 49 -49 Reputation

Fan Mao, “The 4,000 units of grain I promised you have been milled into rice. Our transaction is officially complete.”

Fan Mao, “My promise still stands. If you need food in the future, you can come to me, and we’ll negotiate the price.”

After completing the promised grain transaction, Bai Yi felt significantly lighter all over.

*Sure enough, carrying debt always made me uncomfortable, but now it’s much better.

Still, a favor is owed, so next time I must be careful not to owe favors!*

After a moment of self-reflection, Bai Yi glanced at the numbers displayed on the panel, unable to suppress the smile on her face.

By evening, the harvest from the territory was finally tallied up.

Excluding the 4,000 units promised to Jun Lin and the portion set aside as seed, there was a net profit of 5,510 units of rice.

It was much less than expected.

This was partly because some weight was lost when the husk was milled off the rice, and also due to a lack of water that led to underdeveloped grains.

Having more than 5,000 units of output still made Bai Yi quite happy.

“Let’s sell 500 units of rice and 200 units of Blood Flesh per day as calculated before.

No, 200 units is too much; it might raise suspicion, so let’s make it 100 units!

Yes, that’s it, I’ll put up an ad in the channel now!

But I need to think of a name, hmm, let’s use the company’s old one.

Ha, they’re getting a bargain!”

Fan Mao, “In response to the company’s call, I’ve been lucky recently and acquired quite a bit of food, so I’m bringing it out to support everyone.”

Fan Mao, “As lords of the same region, we should help each other…”

……

Su’s Sanctuary

“Young Master Su, someone is indeed selling food. It’s that Fan Mao you were interested in last time.”

Zero was quite surprised. She really hadn’t expected the first one to be Fan Mao.

“What are they selling?”

The Second Young Master Su raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

“They said rice and meat.”

“Meat? Did that lucky dog pick up something again?

No rush, didn’t we figure out last time that Fan Mao is in the mountains?

There’s only so much food he can find in those mountains; it won’t affect the bigger picture.

Buy it all!

Have people collect everything! The price hasn’t peaked yet; we’ll profit in a few days!”

Once people have a fixed impression, no matter how much evidence is presented later, their minds will automatically fill in the gaps to support their own beliefs.

In his impression, Fan Mao was just a guy who got lucky.

He always seemed to stumble upon a bunch of resources, yet his strength didn’t even register on the rankings!

As for those anonymous ones in the top ten rankings?

Impossible, absolutely impossible!

There were plenty of anonymous lords in the rankings, and since the update, rankings could remain anonymous individually. Many lords chose to showcase just one list.

Now, more than half of the top ten were anonymous.

But other people, more or less, showcased their unique aspects, like the Corpse King’s Talent, the high rarity weapons that Jun Lin almost never lacked in the market, and Landon I’s ability to acquire rare resources…

But what did Fan Mao have?

The luck of finding money on the street?

Even if he was really on the list, someone who didn’t dare to show their name couldn’t be that powerful, right?

……

Fan Mao, “Today we’ll sell 500 units of rice and 100 units of Blood Flesh, no need to rush.”

Fan Mao, “I’m buying some wood and scrap iron. If you have any complete obsolete appliances or large machinery parts, you can prioritize trading.”

Fan Mao, “Other high-value items can be messaged privately.”

Bai Yi set the planned trading price for the food, a unit of rice for 2 units of wood or 1 unit of iron, and put it up.

But to Bai Yi’s surprise, before she even finished setting the trade for Blood Flesh, a notification appeared that the rice had already been traded.

*Was my promotion that effective, or did I sell it too cheaply?*

Bai Yi paused her actions with some suspicion, stepping back to check the previous transaction information.

A closer look confirmed her suspicions.

She had set a limit of 50 units per trade per person.

Within five seconds of listing, apart from a few buyers with tight pockets who each bought a little here and there, the rest had all bought the full 50 units.

But this was just rice!

From the intelligence Bai Yi had gathered in recent days, staple foods like rice could basically only recruit soldiers of the green Level or lower.

For those who could make use of such soldiers, their strength couldn’t be that high, and their resources were limited, at least not enough to spend 100 units of wood so comfortably.

Although for Bai Yi, this was just a fraction of the stock, she was among the top tier in zone 33, so she couldn’t be taken as an example.

But for those ranked lower, 100 units of wood might represent a substantial portion of their assets.

As for mid-to-high-ranking lords, they predominantly used soldiers of blue Level or a blue-green mix.

In this world dominated by Mutant Creatures, strong soldiers often meant a high demand for Blood Flesh.

In fact, it could be said that only those soldiers with a recruitment need for Blood Flesh represented true combat power.

But for them, rice could only be used as regular food and wasn’t urgently needed.

At least they wouldn’t rush to buy it the moment Bai Yi listed it.

Rushing to buy Blood Flesh would make more sense, but rice was a bit lacking in comparison.

This group of buyers was intriguing.

Especially one name among them that Bai Yi remembered recently—

It was the company’s hidden ally, suspected to be the water army leader, Heavenly Venerate Han.

With that, the origins of the other names were easy to deduce.

“The company buying my grain? What’s their plan?”

Bai Yi first felt a bit surprised, then quickly realized a possibility.

*Are they trying to buy up all the low-priced grain to continue creating a food scarcity environment?*

*Looking at their previous operations, there’s an explanation. They might be deliberately guiding the current situation of collective food scarcity among mid-to-lower-level lords.*

*Therefore, the company’s so-called consignment of high-priced grain may not really be consignment at all…”*

Bai Yi felt more clear-headed than ever at that moment.

To deduce all this, she benefited from her knowledge in this domain.

In fact, this method was not new. In feudal times, landlords exploited the civilians on their lands this way.

The strategy was eating from both ends, leaving families with nothing, yet the families still had to be grateful to them.

At the time, Bai Yi couldn’t comprehend how anyone could be turned around so completely.

Now, a living example was right before her, and she had to face this matter head-on.

This landlord-like behavior perfectly hit Bai Yi’s sore spots.

“Alright, alright, so you want to buy? I’ll let you buy your fill!”

Now she brushed off a whopping 5,000 units of rice.

In six days, the mountain rice paddies would be harvested, which were over twice the size of the territory’s farmland.

With ample Water supply, roughly estimating based on this output,

Bai Yi conservatively estimated an output of nearly 30,000 units.

Pushing right before the cold disaster, the new batch of grain in the territory could also be harvested.

She couldn’t believe there was anyone who could outcompete her in grain!

“Even if I have to sell everything, I will compete with you!

Buy it, I’ll let you buy until you’re bankrupt!”

As for the source, she had already set up a Luck King persona; at worst, she’d claim she stumbled upon a grain silo!

The silo was full of rice, and even Jesus couldn’t argue with that!

……

About farming: In a past life, influenced by the example of a farming master, most lords later have some small plots. Even if they don’t produce much, mimicking the master always makes people feel they’ll someday become a powerful as well…

——Memoirs of Jun Lin