Wu Jun had just seen Wang Qidong off when his phone rang again. He answered it without a second thought.
A three-minute call netted him 5,000 yuan and an order for another 20 bags of rice.
The dozen or so restaurants he had visited yesterday were starting to respond. Calls to place orders came in one after another. A few of them were even from the restaurants he had visited the day before. Getting the rice into the restaurant market was going surprisingly smoothly.
Based on the responses from these thirty-odd restaurants, Wu Jun came to a conclusion: pitching Hongyun Rice to restaurants was as easy as picking money up off the street.
You didn’t need a silver tongue or have to grovel. You just went in, offered a free sample bag, and said, ’If you like it, give me a call. If not, just pretend I was never here.’ Anyone could do a job like this.
That was why Wu Jun hadn’t been in a rush to hire any salespeople for the past few days.
’With a business that makes money this easily, wouldn’t hiring salespeople be the same as just handing them free cash?’
A bunch of his own relatives were struggling, each working themselves to the bone just to make a living. An opportunity this good should naturally go to those closest to him. Charity begins at home, after all.
He decided to act on the thought immediately. Wu Jun created a group chat on WeChat and added a bunch of his relatives.
Chen Xingyang posted an emoji with a question mark above its head: "Who made this group?"
Ma Siyu posted an eye-rolling emoji: "Are you dense? Didn’t you see that the ugly guy is the one who added everyone?"
Eldest Aunt Ma Chunmei sent a message: "Our little Jun is handsome, not ugly at all! Siyu, you should go a little easier on him."
Ma Siyu posted a smug emoji: "Eldest Sister, your eyesight must be getting worse. Which one of your eyes sees him as handsome?"
Ma Siyu was removed from the group chat...
Ma Chaoyun: ...
Dong Lizhu: ...
Ma Qiumei: ...
Qian Na posted a grinning emoji: "Cousin Wu Jun, did you gather us all here to show us a picture of your girlfriend?"
Duan Xiangyan: "Is it that young woman from the supermarket? I knew it! The moment I first saw her, I thought you two would make a great couple."
Ma Dongmei: "Son, you’ve finally come to your senses! Don’t learn from the one you just kicked out. You’re long overdue for marriage! Quick, add my daughter-in-law to the group so she can say hi to everyone."
Seeing the conversation get wildly off-topic, Wu Jun felt his face darken with exasperation. He sent a message: "I brought everyone here to announce something, just to save myself from having to call each of you. Meet me at the entrance of the Shimen Grand Hotel at 8 PM tonight. We’re having dinner together. Everyone come."
Right after he sent the message, another call came in, so Wu Jun left the group chat.
Xu Fei came out after finishing the dishes to greet the customers who had just walked in. Meanwhile, Wu Jun’s phone kept ringing every few moments as he was busy taking orders.
Over the course of the morning, the supermarket sold a dozen or so bags of rice, while Wu Jun took phone orders for over 100 more. His total revenue was just shy of 30,000 yuan, nearly matching a full day’s earnings back when the supermarket was at its busiest.
At noon, just as Wu Jun and Xu Fei were finishing lunch, Wu Guangkun called to say the warehouse was out of stock.
Wu Jun said a quick word to Xu Fei, then turned and left, driving his pickup straight to the warehouse in Xiao’anshe.
The roads weren’t too busy at noon, and he arrived at the warehouse entrance in under twenty minutes.
After parking the truck, Wu Jun opened the door and got out. Wu Guangkun came over to greet him, holding half a piece of flatbread in his hand.
"Second Uncle, is this all you’re eating? Let me order some takeout for you." Seeing the flatbread in Wu Guangkun’s hand, Wu Jun reached into his pocket for his phone.
"No, no," Wu Guangkun said, turning and pointing toward the warehouse entrance. "I’ve got some cold dishes and beer inside. I’m already full, so I couldn’t eat any more even if you ordered it."
Wu Jun said, "Alright, just make do for today then. In the future, you can eat whatever you want. We won’t be short on money for food."
"Let’s not worry about that now," Wu Guangkun said, his face etched with worry. "Jun, there isn’t a single bag of rice left in the warehouse. Young Wang just called to say he only has a dozen or so bags left in his truck. We’ve completely sold out for today. What are we going to do?"
’Wang Qidong had left early this morning, so I just sent him straight here. I didn’t have time to get rice from the game. Right now, I’ve got over sixty tons in the game’s warehouse.’
’But I can’t just pull it out with my Second Uncle standing right here. Even though he’s completely trustworthy, I don’t plan on telling anyone about Resource Tycoon.’
"How about this," Wu Jun said. "Since the warehouse is empty, there’s no need for you to stick around, Second Uncle. Finish your meal, go home, and take a nap. I’ll contact the manufacturer. You can come back to work once the delivery arrives."
"Alright, I’ll do as you say." Wu Guangkun was certainly not going to object to getting an afternoon nap, so he happily agreed.
After Wu Guangkun finished his flatbread, cold dishes, and two bottles of beer, Wu Jun drove him back to his apartment building. He watched his uncle go upstairs before turning around and heading back to the warehouse.
He called Wang Qidong to check his location. He had just finished a delivery and was having a meal with two of the loaders at a small restaurant near the Water Park.
The Water Park was five or six kilometers from the industrial park, so they wouldn’t be back anytime soon. Certain that he wouldn’t be interrupted, Wu Jun went into the warehouse and locked the door from the inside.
Taking out the phone linked to Resource Tycoon, Wu Jun withdrew the entire stock of 67 tons of rice from his inventory.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! Like dumplings being dropped into boiling water, nearly 3,000 bags of rice materialized on the warehouse floor.
He operated his phone and tapped [Summon Farmer].
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! The 23 Farmers from the game were summoned.
Wu Jun directed the group of Farmers to stack the 67 tons of rice neatly, then recalled them back into the game.
The Farmers were astonishingly efficient, finishing the entire job in less than ten minutes.
Once that was done, Wu Jun unlocked the warehouse’s main door from the inside. He had stock to sell again.
The supply of packaging bags from the game was running low, so Wu Jun sent another WeChat message to Chen Xingyang, asking him to make 10,000 more.
He had made almost 30,000 yuan from the early morning sales, and then over 30,000 more throughout the rest of the morning. Wu Jun directly transferred the payment for the 10,000 bags to Chen Xingyang. The money he’d earned in half a day was gone in an instant.
’Man, money really goes fast...’ Wu Jun mused, clicking his tongue as he looked at the balance of less than 10,000 yuan on his phone.
RING RING RING...
Wu Jun had just finished sighing when his phone rang. He answered it casually, "Hello, this is Wu Jun, the main distributor for Hongyun Rice."
"Hello, Mr. Wu. I’m calling from the Biyuanchun Restaurant at the Water Park. I’d like to order ten bags of Hongyun Rice. Are you able to deliver them now?" a woman’s voice asked.
"Yes, we can. They’ll be there in ten minutes." ’What a coincidence,’ Wu Jun thought. Wang Qidong happened to be right there at the Water Park, and he still had rice in his truck. Wu Jun agreed without a second thought.
"That fast!" The woman on the other end was taken aback. ’Is this some kind of super-express delivery?’ "Well, thank you, Mr. Wu. I have to go now, so I’ll hang up. It was a pleasure doing business with you."
"You too." Wu Jun hung up and immediately dialed Wang Qidong. As it happened, Wang Qidong had just paid his bill and was leaving the restaurant. Wu Jun gave him the address and told him to make the delivery.
Wang Qidong returned half an hour later, after completing the delivery to Biyuanchun Restaurant.
"Mr. Wu, we’re a bit short on rice today. There’s not enough..." Wang Qidong’s sentence trailed off as he walked into the warehouse. He saw the thirty-odd neat stacks of rice and swallowed the rest of his words.
’The efficiency of this Hongyun Rice manufacturer is unreal,’ he thought. ’When I left an hour ago, there wasn’t a single bag left in the warehouse.’
’It’s only been about an hour, and they’ve already nearly restocked the entire warehouse!’