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Chapter 618: Chapter 522: The Great Swindler (Subscribe Please!)_1
Upon arriving at the restaurant, they reserved a large private room.
Tang Qing passed them the menu.
"Each of you can order something, this lunch is on me. In the future, I hope you can take care of our Jiaxue in class." If money could buy people’s favor, Tang Qing was more than willing to do so.
The one thing he was not lacking now was money.
"Hehe, we can manage that, but one meal isn’t enough." One lively female classmate giggled.
"No problem, just let me know whenever you want to eat." Tang Qing laughed. But he simply spoke for courtesy’s sake, everyone present were university students, none would fuss over a single meal.
"Didn’t expect you to be a little tycoon." The girl’s eyes sparkled.
But remembering the brands Tang Qing and Lin Jiaxue wore, it made sense. Sheng Tang’s tailor-made clothes weren’t cheap.
It’s just a pity.
This wildflower already had an exotic blossom next to it.
"Nah, it’s just a few meals, I can afford it." Tang Qing waved it off, not wanting to delve into the topic.
Soon after, the menu had made one round, each ordering a dish. Seeing that Tang Qing did not seem to be short on money, nor did Lin Jiaxue seem to feel any pain from the expenditure, they didn’t hold back with their orders. At the same time, they envied Lin Jiaxue to death.
But only Lin Jiaxue knew Tang Qing’s net worth.
That massive industry, to her, was an astronomical figure. Money to cover this meal might not even amount to the price of a bottle of fruit wine. Even till now, the ten thousand living expenses her mother gave her remained untouched, because there was nowhere to spend it on. Tang Qing had covered her food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.
The reason why mother Lin gave her so much was because she felt that Lin Jiaxue needed her own independence, she couldn’t always spend Tang Qing’s money. She would occasionally need to take care of socializing expenses on her own.
Having finished ordering.
The female service staff asked, "Sir, ladies, what would you like to drink?"
"Bring a pot of jasmine tea, what about you all?"
Tang Qing replied, before turning to ask the others.
"We’d just drink some juice." Zeng Rou suggested.
"We have this newly launched fruit wine, tastes excellent and doesn’t get you drunk. Wonder if everyone is interested in trying it?" The waitress suddenly pitched, seeing as fruit wine has become a hot brand in liquor, showing a potential trend of replacing fruit beer.
Overnight.
Many fruit wine brands appeared on the market, all vying for retail space. The kickbacks their restaurant received was the highest, hence the enthusiasm in promoting their products.
"Fruit wine?" Tang Qing asked quizzically.
"Yes, although it isn’t imported, the taste is still quite good and it’s only eighty-eight yuan per bottle," explained the waitress.
"Well then, let’s try a bottle. If it’s good, we can order more." Tang Qing showed interest, wanting to taste what other people’s fruit wine tasted like.
"Very well, please wait a moment."
The waitress left cheerfully.
Soon afterwards, the room became lively again.
"Have you guys heard? Recently, that imported fruit wine on the market sold for a sky-high price."
"Definitely, heard it’s trading privately for at least upwards of eight thousand RMB, and even more expensive. Can’t always get your hands on it, such a shame! If I bought a bottle when it just launched, I would have made a killing."
"Would love to try it."
"Me too, but even my annual living expenses wouldn’t cover it."
"Exactly, blame the winemaker, selling it at such a high price. What a profiteer."
"Yes, a big profiteer."
"..."
The conversation veered into strange territory.
The girls began to criticise and condemn the ’big profiteer’ winemaker.
Tang Qing, the ’big profiteer’ himself, could only hang his head and drink his tea embarrassedly, because, after all, the price was set by him. The factory price was two thousand yuan, while domestic retailer price was four thousand. The profit in between was given to the distributors, who were in charge of promotions, transportation, sales, and all related work.
Additionally, there were various tariffs and unseen expenditures.
Although the fruit wine sold domestically for four thousand yuan per bottle, on average, his uncle made only a few hundred yuan.
Lin Jiaxue, who was at the side, saw Tang Qing bowed down, quietly sipping his tea and couldn’t help but laugh. She knew Tang Qing’s uncle was the largest distributor of this type of fruit wine in Asia. This price and Tang Qing were actually related.
Due to this connection, she was able to enjoy the wine without restrictions. Thinking about the cellar in Tang Qing’s villa, filled with fruit wines worth hundreds of thousands, Lin Jiaxue still found it unbelievable.
In such a short time, her life had undergone such a huge change.
Remembering how, two days ago, Huang Qi was willing to pay ten thousand per bottle but Tang Qing was unwilling to sell, and now looking at the man beside her - who was excellent in all aspects, charming in every way - Lin Jiaxue’s eyes welled up with tears.
"Tang Qing, don’t you agree? That ’big profiteer’ is just too detestable. Just bits of fruit in water sold at such high prices, ordinary people can’t afford it." Seeing Tang Qing remaining silent, Zeng Rou wanted to drag him into it, condemning this sort of behaviour collectively.
Though she had tasted it, she too could only have a sip. Wanting to buy more was unfortunate, as there was no one willing to sell. Even if they wanted to purchase it in large quantities directly from the source, it was an imported item. Even with all the connections in the world, people might not sell to them.
Currently, this type of fruit wine was in a state of shortage all around the world.
Zeng Rou’s thoughts were filled with resentment for the wines she had tasted before.
She remembered their taste.
Zeng Rou swallowed involuntarily.
Tang Qing gave a bitter smile, echoing, "You’re right, there should be criticism, but it depends on the situation. Their wine is genuinely good. Otherwise, consumers wouldn’t buy it worldwide. You get what you pay for. As business people, who would do something unprofitable, right?"
He had to defend himself a bit.
"You’re making some sense...Sigh, I wish I could have a taste someday." One of the girls looked longingly.
"..." Tang Qing ran out of words.
He couldn’t possibly let each of them have a glass just for the sake of being generous. He wasn’t that idle, and this isn’t the way he would flaunt. It was better that fewer people knew he had that kind of fruit wine.
As for Chai Ren and Liu Qian, according to him, they got quite a few shares from his second uncle. Many jewelers who went to Thailand went to see his second uncle, and oddly, they mostly wanted fruit wine. Tang Kai controlled the quantity pretty well, only releasing a fixed amount each month to balance the market supply, avoiding public resentment.
The dignitaries in Thailand turned to Wangsa. This had brought fame to Wangsa’s family again. Watching the skyrocketing sales, Wangsa was smiling all the time.
As for Tang Liang and Wei Jun,
They were feeling both pain and joy.
Compared to Tang Kai and Wangsa, they didn’t have a strong background. Facing the big shots in their sales regions, they had to try to meet everyone’s demands even if it was tiresome.
But what could they say looking at the insane growth of their monthly financial accounts? Earning money was inevitably tiring.
After a while,
All dishes were served.
Tang Qing looked at the bottle, resembling his fruit wine by a good seventy to eighty percent, and gave a bitter smile. The domestic counterfeiting ability was indeed too strong. It hadn’t been long before the counterfeit appeared so blatantly in the market.
He poured himself a glass first and took a sip. The taste was okay, and the ingredients were carefully selected, reaching the peak quality of regular fruit wine. But it couldn’t be compared to the stuff produced in the training area.
They were not in the same league.
But the girls who hadn’t tasted the original thought it was okay. Being sweet and sour, its flavor was indeed better than fruit beer. Only Lin Jiaxue and Zeng Rou tasted a little and didn’t have more.
By comparison,
The price indeed corresponded to this quality.
And,
Tang Qing felt a bit relieved that he didn’t show off. Considering their judging standards, it was better that they lived happily. Those satisfying looks seemed quite harmonious.
"Jiaxue, are you free this weekend? How about we travel together to the scenic spots around Shanghai?" While having their meal, they discussed travel plans. Zeng Rou immediately proposed.
Lin Jiaxue looked at Tang Qing. A few days before, she had already toured the area under the guide of Shen Yi, so she didn’t have much interest. But she would listen to Tang Qing.
All the girls at the table then turned their eyes to Tang Qing, their expressions varied.
Tang Qing was indifferent.
"We are busy this weekend. My high school friend will visit." Tang Qing didn’t want to run around either. This weekend, Li Kai would bring his wife to visit the Villa, and even Wang Yan would be there. He was still troubled and didn’t have any travel plans.
Hearing it was about high school friends visiting, they didn’t say anything more.
Soon,
The meal ended.
Everyone felt a bit stuffed.
After reaching the cashier,
"Sir, the total is eight hundred and fifty-three RMB. Let’s round it to eight hundred and fifty." The cashier bowed politely.
Tang Qing took out his wallet and passed over nine hundred.
Yes.
Tang Qing had a wallet now.
Been reborn for almost a year, Tang Qing finally started using a wallet. He used to get cash directly because he didn’t spend much. But now he spent money frequently, feeling wrong without a wallet.
He just wasn’t used to it.
His ideal scenario was not taking out money at all, leaving right after eating, and outsourcing the task of paying. This would be cool. Seeing a thick stack of red banknotes in Tang Qing’s wallet, many girls were gazing with envy.
The cashier returned fifty. Tang Qing put away the money and was about to leave.
"Tang student."
This voice stopped Tang Qing.
Turning his head, he saw Qiu Jie coming down the stairs, his face full of smiles and surprise. Accompanying him were his daughter-in-law and a man who looked like Qiu Jie, probably his son.
Tang Qing was curious.
Why did Qiu Jie always come to this restaurant? There were so many places to eat near Fudan University. Was it because of its food? That was doubtful.
Or did he know the owner?
Tang Qing was right. This restaurant was related to Qiu Jie’s relatives. He usually treated guests here not only because it was trustworthy but also because it offered a good discount.
