Overbearing Immortal Doctor
Chapter 396: 396: Soybean Price Increase

Chapter 396: Chapter 396: Soybean Price Increase

The residents of Stone Town were not poor and had long achieved moderate prosperity, making the people of Anping Village look somewhat out of place and even eye-catching.

Fortunately, they didn’t have much money and weren’t likely to be swindled, just subjected to some disdain and discrimination.

While the women were shopping, the men were buying soybeans at the grain market. Given their large purchase volume, the owner specially arranged a rickshaw for transporting their goods.

After a few days, the grain shop owner’s rickshaw was significantly worn out, but at the same time, he had gained substantial profits.

The villagers who had bought soybeans and sauce vats first had started making soybean paste, but some who were slow to respond or overly cautious had yet to purchase soybeans.

When these people checked the soybean prices and came to Stone Town to buy soybeans, they were surprised to find that the prices had risen.

For the villagers of Anping Village, who had to spend every penny meticulously, the most unacceptable thing was the price hike.

Price hikes not only meant spending more money but also made them feel foolish.

Others bought soybeans for three yuan per catty, but now it’s their turn, and the price has risen to three and a half yuan. Weren’t they being taken for fools?

To people with plenty of money, fifty cents wouldn’t even buy a piece of candy, but for people from Anping Village, this was no small matter, especially since their purchase volume was large.

Despite their best efforts to plead, the shop owners were firm on the price and even charged them a delivery fee.

Desperate, the villagers went to other grain shops, only to find that the price hike was universal. All the shops had increased their prices by fifty cents.

This was clearly well-coordinated, but who would go out of their way to make life difficult for the generally non-confrontational Anping Village?

If the price hike was purely market-driven, how could it increase by fifty cents in just two days?

Unwilling to spend more, the villagers returned home empty-handed, only to face their wives’ scorn, which made them angrier.

After contemplating, they turned to Zhang Dadan for help, as he was the capable person in the village.

The villagers who hadn’t yet bought soybeans all gathered at Zhang Dadan’s house and explained the price hike situation to him.

Although the supply-demand relationship determines commodity prices, Anping Village’s soybean purchases were not enough to affect the market balance.

The sudden price rise in Stone Town’s soybeans overnight was definitely not due to market factors, but rather malicious manipulation.

The biggest beneficiaries of soybean price hikes would undoubtedly be the grain merchants, but they were competitors, unlikely to be united in such a matter.

Could it be… Zhang Dadan suddenly had a bad premonition. If the town’s sauce factory demanded the grain merchants to raise prices, they probably wouldn’t dare resist.

The sauce factory was large and required a massive amount of soybeans. The grain merchants selling soybeans in town had a particularly good relationship with the factory.

By having villagers produce soybean paste, it already created commercial competition with the town’s sauce factory to some extent.

Did the sauce factory raise soybean prices in the short term to protect its own interests and force them to continue buying their soybean paste?

Thinking this through, everything made sense!

Suspecting this, Zhang Dadan took a few villagers to find the previous soybean dealer again.

The grain shop owner, who was leisurely drinking tea in his shop, was startled when he saw Zhang Dadan leading three or five strong men swaggering to his shop entrance. Were these people here to cause trouble in their anger?

The owner stood up in a panic, walked up to Zhang Dadan, and cautiously asked, “Are you here to buy soybeans?”

Liu Chengcai, standing behind Zhang Dadan, suddenly rushed forward and fiercely said to the owner, “Why did the price of your soybeans go up?”

Damn it! They were indeed here to cause trouble! The owner cursed internally but smiled and said, “What do you mean? Isn’t it normal for prices in business to rise?”

Liu Chengcai was momentarily speechless, angrily shouting, “You… you… you’re deliberately making things difficult for us!”

The owner, seeing his incoherence, became even more disdainful, mentally cursing them as country bumpkins with no worldly experience.

Initially, the owner had some fear seeing Zhang Dadan and the others, but realizing they were upright people, he regained his composure and grew arrogant.

“I’m the owner; I can raise prices if I want. Who am I making things difficult for?” the owner continued to taunt arrogantly.

Seeing the owner’s insolence and no room for negotiation, Zhang Dadan chuckled internally, stepped in front of Liu Chengcai, and patted his shoulder, signaling him to move back.

The owner, seeing Zhang Dadan’s burly stature and angry demeanor, became fearful again and took a few steps back.

“What… what do you want? I’m telling you, this is Stone Town, not Anping Village. You better behave!” the owner threatened weakly, his tone fierce yet timid.

Zhang Dadan, seeing his fear, shook his head and laughed before quickly walking up and putting his arm around the owner’s shoulder, asking, “Are you threatening me?”

“Cough!” The owner, frightened, coughed dryly and quickly signaled to his assistant, who slowly retreated to the back of the shop.

“Brother, let’s talk calmly, don’t get agitated!” the owner tried to sound composed despite his fear.

“Talk calmly? We were ready to talk calmly, but you had quite the temper; what were we supposed to do?” Zhang Dadan teased.

The villagers accompanying Zhang Dadan saw the owner’s legs wobbling and his whole body trembling, and they burst into laughter.

Damn it! They thought this owner was some kind of underworld boss, but he was just a coward putting on an act!

Seeing the villagers laugh at him, the owner felt immense anger but was helpless. They were outnumbered, and he was alone. Was he just going to be beaten up for nothing?

But don’t celebrate too early, you bunch of bumpkins. Today, your Grandpa Zheng will make you bleed!

“Everyone… let’s talk it out, no need to get angry,” the owner tried to compromise fawningly.

The villagers with Zhang Dadan, seeing the owner yield, immediately scolded from a high position, “Mr. Zheng, you are truly despicable!”

The owner, hearing their insult, felt even more furious but clenched his teeth to suppress his anger.

“Oh! It seems you’re not convinced! Dadan, should we give him a lesson?” Liu Chengcai laughed.

His companions, upon hearing this, eagerly cracked their knuckles, giving sinister grins as they stepped closer to Mr. Zheng.

They figured the owner feared tough people. If they showed some strength, he would not dare to raise prices and might even give them a discount!

Seeing their evil smiles, Mr. Zheng grew more fearful and backed away repeatedly, stammering, “What…what are you doing? Let’s talk calmly… let’s talk calmly!”

“Mr. Zheng, now you want to talk calmly? Weren’t you quite arrogant earlier?” Liu Chengcai scolded.

“I will sell you soybeans at three yuan per catty, okay?” Mr. Zheng pleaded, looking aggrieved, though inside he was furious.