Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 849 - 471: A Spot for 800 Bucks

Chapter 849: Chapter 471: A Spot for 800 Bucks

"Oh my, I’m so stuffed!" Zhou Peipei reclined on the bench, devoid of any ladylike demeanor, leaning against Ji Yunyun who was similarly unbothered by appearances, clutching her stomach with a pitiable look toward Yan Fei. "Hero Yan, could we talk this over? Can we come again for dinner tonight? Save a cob of corn for me!"

"Hero Yan will definitely agree, right?" Ji Yunyun chimed in just as quickly, her face sporting an oddly mischievous smile. "Don’t worry, after we eat, we’ll leave. We absolutely won’t disturb your precious time tonight..."

If their classmates saw the girls in this moment, they’d be shocked. Yan Fei had seen how Zhou Peipei conducted herself at school—always walking with her eyes fixated on her textbooks. But now, they had both turned into absolute thugs. In high school, they liked to joke around, but they would never have spoken so freely as they did now.

It seemed that university truly could change a person!

"You can come and eat anytime, I’ve got plenty to share. You are both welcome to come by more often!" Yan Fei said with a smile.

At school, Miss Xu Xiaoyan got along with just a few of her dormmates well enough to call them friends, and there weren’t many whom she would. It was better than her old high school classmates wanting to hang out—it relieved her of boredom and livened up the house.

Seeing Yan Fei’s genuine response, the two thug-like girls felt a bit embarrassed to continue their act. "Hero Yan, what are you doing this afternoon? Why don’t you and Xiao Xing come visit our campus? You haven’t been to our school yet, right? Today I’m throwing caution to the wind—I’m skipping my afternoon classes to take you on a campus tour!" Ji Yunyun offered.

"Actually, I do have something this afternoon. I saw in the newspaper that Provincial City is hosting a National Commodity Trading Fair, so I’m planning to ask about registration. If I get in, I’ll bring my beef jerky and might even find a few buyers," Yan Fei shared his plan.

"Here, here, let us see the newspaper. We’ll offer you some advice..." Ji Yunyun, always so ’enthusiastic’, stretched out an arm, pretending to be so paralyzed that she couldn’t get up.

Yan Fei stood up, handed over the newspaper, and then sat back down to whisper to the girl, "How many classes do you have this afternoon? Can you get away?"

Without hesitation, Xu Xiaoyan replied, "I can, it’s just one class. I can go or not. I’ll ask my classmates to cover for me..."

Yan Fei then politely inquired of the other two girls, "Do you both have classes this afternoon? We’re going to register; want to come along?"

The politeness was obviously insincere as the two girls, who were pouring over the newspaper, looked up and rolled their eyes at him simultaneously, "Your words and your heart are not in alignment—so insincere. We don’t want to be a third wheel!"

"No worries if you don’t want to go. By the way, Beibei, when you head back to school, could you drop by our dorm and ask someone to cover for me? Just tell Yangyang I’m sick and can’t make it," Xu Xiaoyan said nonchalantly. "We’re planning to take the bus from the zoo, and going to the school would be out of the way."

"Fine, we owe you for the food! Miss Xu San, if you tell me to do something, I guess I have to do it! For your sake, I’ll make the extra trip," Zhou Peipei readily agreed. Since their schools were close and on the way, it was no big deal. And they were used to ignoring her odd comments.

Xu Xiaoyan smiled sweetly, "Thanks to our Beibei, I’ll give you a few extra cobs of corn tonight!"

"Humph!" Zhou Peipei rolled her eyes. "Don’t think we’re just talking. For food, we’d even put up with being a third wheel. Just you wait..."

"Registration for the fair only closes tomorrow. Why the rush?" Ji Yunyun, still looking at the newspaper, said aloud, then answered her own question, "Oh, tomorrow Hero Yan has to go home to get the samples, right? Remember to bring plenty of beef jerky. As long as there’s something for us to eat, we’ll come and cheer you on!"

Pondering as she read, Ji Yunyun suddenly thought of a new idea, "Right, you should call home now and have someone take some photos of that beef. If you bring the beef directly, in this heat, it will spoil before the fair ends if there’s nowhere to store it. With photos, you can exhibit them the whole time. Anyone interested can look at the samples..."

Having grown up in a family business, Ji Yunyun’s mind was filled with practical ideas, certainly more than Yan Fei had thought of, like getting some photos ready for promoting his product.

"Actually, presenting some beef isn’t a bad idea. Put it on display, stand behind it with a cleaver, and there you have a butcher!" Zhou Peipei murmured from the side, half-joking while also offering a suggestion. "You can’t just take pictures of the beef, right? Better to take some of the impressive cattle, to make people feel strong just by looking. Too bad our place isn’t a grassland, otherwise grassland photos would make an even better impression..."

"Who says we don’t have grasslands? I’ve got fifty acres of pasture planted with Medicago sativa at home. It hasn’t been harvested yet so photos would definitely look great," said Yan Fei, now grateful for the reminder since he actually had dozens of acres of pasture land.

It was just that he hadn’t thought through it when he first saw the news; he was focused on whether he could participate. Yet, thinking of how Guo Jingya ’boasted’ about her restaurant, he should have understood what ’promotion’ was all about.

"Fifty acres of pasture? What kind of pasture? That’s practically a small grassland!" The two girls immediately perked up with interest, eagerly pressing for details about what kind of pasture it was.

When Yan Fei answered that it was Medicago sativa, the two of them thought of something, their faces alight with longing and complaint, "Hero Yan really keeps things close to his chest, sharing good stuff with us but always holding back. It’s really dull."

The other chimed in immediately, "Exactly, that’s not cool, bro. If we had known earlier, we could have taken some pictures. It would look like we were on the green grasslands, definitely very beautiful!"

Bros?

Yan Fei couldn’t help but deride them inwardly. You two are girls, how are you bros?

The group stayed in the room for a while longer before the two ’bros’ had to leave for class at school.

After seeing them off, Yan Fei made a call from the public phone booth at the zoo entrance to his home, asking Heizi to go to the photo studio in town to take more pictures and to develop them in the county city that evening so they could pick them up tomorrow morning.

Then he and Xu Xiaoyan boarded a bus, using the address left in the newspaper to find their way.

This was already the third National Commodity Trading Fair held in Provincial City, which had garnered some experience. The registration venue for the fair was quite high-end, located in the lobby of a large hotel in the Provincial City.

The entrance of the hotel was adorned with a big red banner, and inside the lobby were several tables covered with red cloth, accompanied by a few staff members wearing red sashes diagonally. It all looked rather festive. The staff, seemingly chosen for their good looks, were a mix of handsome young men and women.

There wasn’t a shortage of people registering, but Yan Fei could tell that most were from this province and the others were from nearby regions, just by casually listening in at the hotel entrance.

Despite its advantageous geographical position at the heart of the country and being a transportation hub, Provincial City’s economy still lagged behind coastal cities. A less developed local economy was a real problem, failing to attract many enterprises from outside.

Yan Fei felt a bit disappointed, but since he was there, he decided to go ahead and register. It wasn’t too expensive; he had heard that the registration fee depended on the location, with the highest being only eight hundred yuan, and the less desirable spots costing only two to three hundred yuan.

It was an unavoidable situation since the mainland’s economy couldn’t quite compare to that of the coastal cities yet. Everything was just getting started. The province was organizing this event ultimately to give the local economy a boost. As long as the costs of publicity were covered, the fees were reasonable, genuinely serving the people.

Besides, many of the small enterprises that came here were attracted by the low costs. If there were wealthy businesses, they’d just use television and newspaper advertisements. The organizers would invite those big enterprises, sometimes even waiving the fee!

The others registering were all carrying briefcases and Old School Mobile Phones, some even had an assistant to help carry them. Yan Fei and Xu Xiaoyan, being so young, looked just like students, so the staff members with sashes—mistaking them for onlookers—didn’t bother to approach them.

Choosing a desk that seemed less crowded, they approached and Yan Fei asked, "Can beef jerky and beef participate in the fair?"

The staff member behind the desk, who had been eagerly anticipating a response from the boss in front, hadn’t taken much notice of Yan Fei and Xu Xiaoyan. Only after hearing Yan Fei’s question did he reply, "Yes, yes..."

Then he added, "You’re asking for someone else, right? In theory, any enterprise can participate in the trade fair, but you also have to consider your actual situation. If the production doesn’t reach a certain scale, or if the products are difficult to transport, we don’t recommend participating in this trade fair. Otherwise, if you come and don’t gain much, it’s a lot of wasted money."

This was a bit like judging a book by its cover. If Yan Fei had brought a briefcase and an Old School Mobile Phone, he likely wouldn’t have received such a response. But seeing them as mere students, probably inquiring on behalf of others—a common trait of small enterprises or those barely qualifying as such—the staff member had become a bit desensitized, hence his reply.

In truth, it made sense, given attending a trade fair nowadays meant sending several capable personnel to manage the booth, and if there was no business generated, it would indeed be wasteful.

Yan Fei wasn’t phased by his words and after thinking for a moment asked, "So, do you still have any eight hundred yuan spots available?"

"There are some available, but not many..." The staff member had initially spoken out of formality, but he had a duty to respond sincerely when asked a direct question.

"Then I’ll take one of the eight hundred yuan spots to sell beef and beef jerky," said Yan Fei as he pulled out money from his pocket, ready to register.