After making the call, Luo Keke picked up her phone again and checked the cash balances in all her bank accounts.
Thankfully, the combined balance across more than a dozen bank cards still amounted to several hundred million yuan, which was more than enough for her to stock up on daily necessities for now.
However, realizing that the era she was about to enter was completely different from the modern world, Luo Keke hurriedly turned on her computer and began researching what kinds of supplies would be useful in that period.
Luo Keke stared intently at the computer screen, her fingers flying across the keyboard as all sorts of information about that era popped up on the search engine.
As she browsed, she took out a notebook and wrote down the essential items.
The first things that came to mind were the basic necessities of life: firewood, rice, cooking oil, and salt. Then there were food, clothing, transportation, and all kinds of household goods.
Supplies were scarce in that era, so ordinary necessities such as soap, toothpaste, and toothbrushes would certainly be hard to come by. She would need to stock up on them in large quantities.
Then there was fabric. Brightly colored, high-quality cloth would be extremely valuable in an era when supplies were tight. Not only could she use it to make clothes for herself, but she might also be able to exchange it for other things she needed.
Luo Keke remained completely absorbed in her thoughts, scribbling rapidly in her notebook as she listed everything she needed to stock up on.
About an hour later, she finally stopped writing, closed the notebook, and stood up before leaving the group headquarters.
She quickly entered the elevator and lightly pressed the button for the underground parking garage on Basement Level One.
As the elevator slowly descended, it soon reached the first basement level. The doors gradually opened, and Luo Keke stepped out and walked straight toward her car.
She skillfully opened the door, slipped into the driver’s seat, started the engine, and, accompanied by the low rumble of the engine, slowly drove out of the underground parking garage of the Luo Group.
She then sped toward the largest grain and food market in Shanghai…
After arriving at the food market, Luo Keke found a company that sold grains and walked straight inside.
The shop was neatly stocked with all kinds of rice, including northeastern rice, Thai fragrant rice, black rice, glutinous rice, brown rice, cornmeal, wheat flour, sweet potato starch, and more.
“Boss, how much are your northeastern rice and Thai fragrant rice?”
The owner of the grain and cooking oil shop was a middle-aged man in his forties. Slightly overweight, he was dressed in a gray business suit.
“Oh my! Miss, you certainly have good taste. Anyone can tell you’re an expert who knows quality when you see it! Are you buying retail or wholesale?”
“Wholesale,” Luo Keke replied. “How many pounds do I need to buy to qualify for wholesale prices?”
“One hundred pounds minimum. Northeastern rice is 2.8 yuan per pound, and Thai fragrant rice is 7.3 yuan per pound…”
“Northeastern rice, 2.8 yuan, and Thai fragrant rice, 7.3 yuan? Don’t take me for a three-year-old. Other stores offer lower wholesale prices than yours…”
The owner shook his head.
“The quality at those other stores definitely isn’t as good as mine. Just look at this northeastern rice. Every grain is plump and pearly, smooth and glossy, practically the finest of the finest.
“When you cook it, the natural fragrance of the rice fills the air, rich and enticing. Once cooked, the rice is soft, chewy, and sweet, with a flavor that grows richer the more you chew. Once you’ve tasted it, you’ll never forget it.
“And then there’s this Thai fragrant rice. It has a completely different flavor. The grains are long and slender, as graceful as a Jiangnan beauty. It carries a distinctive, refreshing fragrance, and the cooked rice smells wonderful and has a smooth, delightful texture, full of an exotic charm.”
Seeing how highly the owner praised the rice, Luo Keke leaned closer to inspect it carefully. The quality of both varieties really was as good as he claimed.
She suddenly remembered that although her space contained vast farmland, she was someone who had never done a day of farm work and had no idea how to plant crops. She might as well buy more now.
With that thought, she said, “I’ll take 50,000 pounds of each. Give me your best price.”
The owner was startled.
“Miss, are you sure you want that much?”
“I’m sure.”
Seeing that Luo Keke was serious about purchasing such a huge quantity, the owner immediately broke into a broad smile. He knew he’d encountered a major customer.
“Then I’ll give you a special price. Northeastern rice, 2.4 yuan per pound. Thai fragrant rice, 6.8 yuan per pound. How does that sound?”
“Boss, can you go any lower? Besides these two kinds of rice, I also want glutinous rice, black rice, flour, and other things,” Luo Keke said, refusing to budge.
In business, whoever gave in first was the one who lost.
When the owner heard this, he realized she was an even bigger customer than he’d thought. He smiled immediately.
“All right. Northeastern rice, 2.2 yuan per pound. Thai fragrant rice, 6.6 yuan per pound. What else do you need? Give me a list with the types and quantities, and I’ll put everything together for you at the lowest possible prices.”
Luo Keke took out the notebook she’d prepared earlier, quickly glanced at it, and said, “I want 5,000 pounds of glutinous rice, 10 tons of black rice, 10 tons of flour, 10,000 pounds of cornmeal, and 5 tons of sweet potato starch. Boss, you’d better give me a good price. Who knows? I might have more large orders for you in the future.”
The owner’s eyes narrowed into crescents from smiling, and he hurriedly nodded.
“Of course! You’re so straightforward, Miss. I certainly won’t take advantage of you.
“Glutinous rice, 3 yuan per pound; black rice, 4 yuan per pound; flour, 2 yuan per pound; cornmeal, 2.5 yuan per pound; sweet potato starch, 3.5 yuan per pound. These prices are practically a clearance sale. You won’t find a better deal anywhere else in the entire market.”
Luo Keke frowned slightly and deliberately put on a dissatisfied expression.
“Boss, I don’t think you’re showing quite enough sincerity. Glutinous rice at 2.8 yuan, black rice at 3.5 yuan, flour at 1.8 yuan, cornmeal at 2.3 yuan, and sweet potato starch at 3 yuan. If you agree, I’ll place the order immediately.”
The owner looked troubled. After hesitating for a while, he gritted his teeth.
“All right, all right! I’ll agree. Consider it making a friend. We’ll go with your prices. But when do you need all these goods? And where should I have them delivered?”
Luo Keke quietly breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, a perfectly satisfied smile appeared on her face.
“If possible, I’d like this entire batch delivered this afternoon. Just arrange for your people to send it directly to this address.”
With that, she efficiently picked up a pen and clearly wrote the address on the order form.
The address she provided was a long-unused warehouse owned by the Luo Group. Because the Luo Group had a large volume of shipments, the warehouse had been sitting empty for more than half a year.
Since it was empty anyway, she might as well use it as a temporary storage location for her supplies.
Luo Keke paid half of the total as a deposit, then left the grain company and headed straight to a grain and cooking oil store.
The store was quite large, with shelves filled with all kinds of cooking oils.
She immediately spotted Jinlongyu oil in a prominent position. Besides the common soybean oil and corn oil, there were also olive oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, and many other varieties.
Luo Keke knew that in an era when supplies were scarce, all these different kinds of cooking oil would be precious commodities. Not only could they satisfy different cooking needs, but they could also serve as valuable goods for barter.
She walked up to the shelves and carefully examined the quality of each type of oil.
“Boss, how much are these oils?”