Early the next morning, Yan Fei and his companion took a taxi to the domain of Senior Brother Liu where they grew mushrooms.
Senior Brother Liu still looked the same, without any semblance of a boss. Recently, the harvest seemed good, and he even found a young man to help out. But Yan Fei and his companion soon learned that this was actually a relative’s child learning the trade from him.
There wasn’t much to offer in terms of hospitality on Liu’s part, and although he and Senior Brother Wang Jiuming were both referred to as "senior brothers," Liu wasn’t really accustomed to hosting guests. Without wasting time, Yan Fei went straight to the point, "Senior Brother Liu, my mushrooms are also harvesting well now. Do your customers need a lot of stock? If so, I might as well provide my goods directly to you for resale. Rest assured, you can set the price; I won’t let you work for nothing."
The current crop, minus what was provided to two restaurants, wasn’t enough for him to bother seeking new sales channels for the remaining mushrooms; he considered it a way of returning the favor for Senior Brother Liu’s eager assistance in the past. Once the mushroom production increased, he would definitely look for new sales routes, but that would be addressed in the future.
Actually, the sales of Agaricus bisporus were mediocre locally because people in the area weren’t used to eating them, and fresh mushrooms don’t last long before they start to discolor. The short shelf-life meant direct sales to end customers, such as restaurants, were the best strategy. Establishing a market presence was challenging due to the short shelf-life, especially in wet markets where local consumption habits were not in favor of such mushrooms.
This was something Yan Fei was considering, to process and sell dried Agaricus bisporus instead. With the current transportation constraints, drying them would eliminate worries about the goods being delayed en route.
Wan City had its own mushroom cultivation, with a tradition of growing Shiitake mushrooms in the western counties that also had some history. Some of the processing experience could indeed be leveraged. Now, as the cattle farm business expanded, Yan Fei had more opportunities to connect with people from the western counties, gradually making local resources increasingly available for utilization.
Upon hearing Yan Fei offer his mushrooms for him to sell on his behalf, Senior Brother Liu immediately felt uncomfortable.
It wasn’t a problem about being unable to sell the mushrooms; it was the thought of clearly taking advantage of his junior brother that he couldn’t reconcile with.
After all, he wasn’t a true businessman, still heavily imbued with scholarly pretensions. He refused outright without much consideration, "That won’t do, it definitely can’t be like that... I’ll just give you the contact information of those who come here to buy mushrooms, and you can deal with them directly!"
Yan Fei was very straightforward, "Right now, I’ve planted over ten acres, and local farmers are also starting to cultivate under the guidance of my workers. With increasing yields in the future, what if they come to buy from me and not from you? Currently, my production is still small, so I might as well give it all to you for sales; it saves trouble. Once my output increases later, I will seek new channels without affecting your business much."
"Even then, it’s not acceptable. If I did that, I would..." Senior Brother Liu still refused.
"It won’t be for long. With school starting, I don’t have the time to fuss over such a small amount of product. Stop declining my offer. Whatever the purchase price others give, just pay me a bit less, and don’t shortchange yourself. As for transporting the goods, don’t worry, I have my own vehicles. I assure you that within half a day of picking, they’ll be delivered to you. We’ll arrange the details over the phone in advance for the purchase..." said Yan Fei, as he began to make arrangements.