Chapter 30: It’s All a Ruse

"Plant a seed in your heart, da-la-di-da-la."

Returning from his venture to the wet market and having finished opening his positions in live hog futures, Chen Zhou found himself humming a nursery rhyme involuntarily. To him, his intelligence reports were like seeds—sown by his own hand, waiting for the day they would blossom and bear fruit.

He felt a slight pang of reluctance regarding the stocks he still held, even though they still offered a slim chance of breaking even.

"I've been trapped in these for so many years; I've developed an attachment to them."

Forget it. If you aren't willing to lose the bait, you can't catch the wolf.

Beyond the ingredients and experience he had gained that day, Chen Zhou had also brought back a glass pot from the market. It was a 5-liter capacity, costing sixty yuan. Although he bought it in person, the price was about the same as online. Perhaps the cost of such items was mostly in the shipping anyway.

After finishing his chores at home, Chen Zhou checked the time—it was only a little past 10:00 AM. He still had time to go to the Da Ren Tang Pharmacy to pick up the herbal packets for his sour plum drink.

As he headed downstairs, he couldn't resist checking the futures prices for a moment. Thirty minutes after the market opened, live hogs were essentially moving sideways. On the forum, some netizens had posted rumors about a decrease in July slaughter numbers.

"Supply is shrinking and prices are rising; this trend is a blind buy."

"You idiot! Just because pork prices rise doesn't mean futures will follow! You still have to look at market expectations!"

If not for the explicit提示 from his intelligence reports, Chen Zhou would have surely thought both sides made sense. However, both the lessons of Old Zhang and his own experience told him not to be greedy.

"The intelligence said there's a chance for a 15% profit. I shouldn't wait for the full 15%; I'll close out once it's close enough."

This wasn't his primary line of work, anyway. The catering business was much more certain; delicious food is simply delicious.

...

At Da Ren Tang Pharmacy, Chen Zhou locked up his electric scooter just as a woman in her fifties walked out, clutching a large box. Dressed fashionably, she clearly had a substantial pension, showing strong spending power even at a pharmacy.

Chen Zhou stepped inside. A young shop assistant greeted him proactively.

"Handsome, our sour plum drink packets are on special: buy one get one free. One packet can brew three jin of tea. Are you interested in taking a look?"

That was exactly what Chen Zhou had come for.

"I am. On a hot day like this, I could really go for a glass of sour plum drink."

The assistant smiled and began introducing the various ingredients. "We have dried tangerine peel, hawthorn, smoked plum, black dates, mulberries, mint, and rock sugar. They are all herbs from our own stock."

Chen Zhou was curious about the specific proportions of the recipe. The assistant replied, "Don't worry, handsome. This is an ancient palace secret recipe. Besides, the pre-packaged price is definitely cheaper than buying them individually. We’re practically selling these at a loss."

"That works," Chen Zhou calculated briefly. He didn't intend to buy too many. "I'll take thirty packs."

The assistant blinked. "Buy thirty, get thirty free? That makes ninety in total."

Buyers and sellers were rarely on the same page. Chen Zhou smacked his lips. "My fault for not being clear. I’ll buy fifteen packs, so that’s forty-five yuan, right?"

The assistant understood now. "Right, you’ve calculated correctly."

Just as Chen Zhou was about to pay, the young woman suddenly added, "Oh, handsome, I forgot to tell you—you absolutely must not use a home iron pot to boil this. It’s acidic; if you use an iron pot, the flavors will clash!"

"Thank you." Chen Zhou gave the assistant a grateful look. The girl was quite warm-hearted. The intelligence report had indeed mentioned this precaution, which was precisely why he had bought a glass pot.

Seeing Chen Zhou being so polite, the assistant couldn't help but offer a sly, mysterious smile. "And you, hey—" She stooped down and heaved a large box onto the counter, then introduced it grandiosely.

"Take a look at this two-liter multi-functional health pot. It uses high-borosilicate glass and has a 1200-watt high-power heating element. It's perfect for brewing sour plum drink, and you can also use it for porridge or soups. It’s only 598 now, and we’ll throw in some non-woven fabric sachets."

598... That price was a hard pass. Chen Zhou had bought a 5-liter pot for only 60, and it could be heated right on his gas stove. Furthermore, she didn't even bother calling him "handsome" anymore.

Chen Zhou waved his hand. "No need, I have a pot at home."

The assistant’s brows furrowed slightly as she pulled out another box. "We also have one for 258. It’s cheaper, but it also uses..."

"Payment sent!" Chen Zhou quickly scanned the QR code and hurried out of the pharmacy.

On the way home, he thought to himself that the pharmacy probably only held the sour plum drink promotion just to sell those health pots. You had to admit, physical stores had plenty of tricks up their sleeves.

...

Back home, because of the stifling heat, Chen Zhou spent a while cooling off in the living room with the air conditioner on.

"Fortune," his cat, was a creature that knew exactly where to go to stay comfortable. Not long after the air conditioner was turned on, it shuffled over to the air vent. Ever since he started his street stall, Chen Zhou had been home alone during the weekdays; having a cat for company wasn't half bad.

He picked up a few pieces of cat food and began training Fortune to recognize its name.

"Come here, Fortune."

"Meow~"

Brewing the sour plum drink was straightforward. First, rinse the ingredients, soak them briefly, and then start the boil. He remembered to use purified water, as tap water had a high calcium and magnesium content and left a strange taste after boiling.

Then, he turned on the range hood the moment he ignited the gas stove, as there was no air conditioning in the kitchen. Once the water in the pot began to boil, Chen Zhou looked through the glass door at Fortune in the living room. "You certainly look comfortable."

A steamed bun stall owner usually didn't eat buns for lunch. Chen Zhou would simply stir-fry two small dishes, which also served as a meal for his wife and child. If the weather was too hot, he would sometimes just order takeout.

...

Over the next two days, the sour plum drink officially took its place at the steamed bun stall. Because his refrigerator was too small, the chilled version of the drink had to be sold in limited quantities.

However, once Chen Zhou brought the glass pot out on his cart the next day, there were actually more people buying the room-temperature version. People loved sour plum drink. They loved its translucent amber hue and its sweet-and-sour taste.

But most of all, they loved being able to see that it was made with real ingredients. At the bottom of the transparent glass pot, tiny, flocculent bits of fruit settled—the stall owner was clearly putting his heart into it.

A bit later, Chen Zhou awaited the food blogger mentioned in his "Diner Dynamics" report. Even from a distance, he recognized them instantly.

The middle-aged man walking in front had a steady gait and a stylish hairstyle. But the young man trailing behind him had a camera mounted on his head, catching a glint of light under the streetlamp. His profession couldn't be more obvious.

The two slowly approached the stall. Chen Zhou finally saw their faces clearly.

They looked familiar... Chen Zhou had seen them in the market news when he received his first food intelligence report. It was Teacher Li, the one who had recently had a falling out with his MCN agency.