Chapter 2 The Feeling of Earning Money While Lying Down

Chu Lin promptly took a small bag of live prawns out from the game, then hailed a cab and headed straight to the “Truly Fresh Seafood Grand Restaurant” in this district.

Just yesterday, when he was purchasing seafood wholesale, he had heard from Manager Zhong, a seafood wholesaler, that the young lady from overseas had returned to take over the Truly Fresh chain. She was carrying out sweeping reforms and personally overseeing the selection of new suppliers.

For a single restaurant, seven hundred and sixty pounds of prawns a day would be impossible to sell. But Truly Fresh was a chain, with a branch in every district of Min City and others in neighboring cities. In a seafood restaurant, almost everyone would order prawns; seven hundred and sixty pounds of large prawns would absolutely be consumed.

Many seafood suppliers now had their eyes on this lucrative opportunity—Manager Zhong, for one, was eager for a piece of the pie. The key issue was that Chu Lin was neither a long-term nor stable supplier, nor was he their first choice. His only advantage was that the size, taste, and texture of his prawns were unrivaled on the market.

He’d also heard that Miss Lin, the young lady of the Truly Fresh family, was personally selecting suppliers to counter the market expansion of another seafood restaurant chain, raising their standards for ingredients.

This was an opportunity.

The flagship Truly Fresh Seafood Grand Restaurant was on Feifu Road, and Miss Lin managed operations from there. After arriving, Chu Lin explained his purpose to a staff member, who led him to wait outside the general manager’s office.

Soon after, a balding middle-aged man exited with a heavy sigh. Chu Lin recognized him at once—it was Manager Zhong, whose real name was Zhong Lei, from whom Chu Lin used to buy seafood. Zhong was notorious for providing a high proportion of dead or subpar goods.

Clearly, Zhong had also come to win Truly Fresh’s business, but judging by his expression, he hadn’t succeeded.

“Hey, Xiao Chu, what are you doing here?” Zhong Lei spotted him and, perhaps to vent his frustration, raised his voice deliberately for those in the office to hear: “Don’t forget to pick up your order from me later. Come late and there’ll be nothing left—everyone’s fighting for the good stuff.”

Chu Lin saw right through his intentions; the negotiations with Miss Lin hadn’t gone well, and Zhong wanted to imply that she lacked discernment. But Chu Lin wasn’t about to let him have his way.

This was the perfect chance to make a good impression on Miss Lin.

So he smiled and replied, “Manager Zhong, I’m really sorry, but your goods have too high a rate of spoilage, and the quality is mediocre. I can’t buy from you anymore. I’m planning to become a supplier myself.”

A silvery peal of laughter rang out from inside the office.

Zhong Lei’s face turned an embarrassed shade of purple, and he snapped, “Kid, don’t think you can run before you can walk. Not just anyone can be a wholesaler. If even my supply couldn’t meet the requirements, do you really think you can?”

“That’s not your concern, Manager Zhong,” Chu Lin replied, heading toward the office.

The moment he stepped inside, his attention was drawn to the woman within. Young and beautiful, her brown hair framed a strikingly handsome face, and her fiery-red business suit accentuated her stunning figure.

A woman like this would catch any man’s eye at first glance.

Chu Lin glanced at the nameplate on the desk and lowered his profile as he introduced himself, “Miss Cai, hello. My name is Chu Lin, and I’m here to offer my prawns as a supplier to Truly Fresh.”

Perhaps because of what had just transpired outside, Cai Yao looked him over before asking, in a businesslike tone, “Mr. Chu, tell me about your supply.”

“I currently have only one product: live prawns, about seven hundred pounds daily.”

Cai Yao’s brows knitted. “Mr. Chu, our requirements for suppliers at Truly Fresh are very high—not just in quality, but also in variety and quantity.”

The meaning was clear enough: she was about to refuse.

Chu Lin had anticipated this. He immediately replied, “Miss Cai, I understand your standards. However, what I offer are premium prawns, raised with special methods—the very best of the best. I can say without exaggeration that in all of Min City, even nationwide, there are no prawns superior to mine in size, taste, or texture.”

A bit of boasting was called for here. Besides, he was only speaking the truth.

As he finished, he deliberately placed the bag of prawns on her desk and opened it so the contents could be seen.

Cai Yao glanced inside and was startled by the size of the prawns. She had never seen such large, pristine specimens—the shape and color were perfect.

Could he really be telling the truth?

She shot Chu Lin a thoughtful look, then called in a chef and handed him the bag.

“These prawns are enormous,” the chef exclaimed in surprise as he took the bag.

“Chef Liu, please prepare these as poached prawns,” Cai Yao instructed.

“Yes, Miss Cai.” Chef Liu hurried off, but before long, he returned with a plate of steaming prawns, his face alight with excitement. “Miss Cai, you must secure this supply! Not only are the prawns huge, but I’ve never tasted anything with such exquisite texture and flavor.”

Cai Yao was taken aback by Chef Liu’s reaction. She knew his standards—he would never praise anything unless it was truly exceptional.

Without hesitation, she peeled one and tasted it. Instantly, she savored the plumpness of the flesh and the freshness of the flavor, the subtle sweetness lingering on her palate.

Such quality simply could not be found on the market.

These prawns must be secured.

“Mr. Chu, tell me your terms,” Cai Yao said at once.

Chu Lin smiled, as he had expected this. “Miss Cai, premium prawns are sixty yuan per pound on the market. Given my quality is even better, I think sixty yuan per pound is fair wholesale. As for payment, I’d prefer settlement every day.”

He knew very well that daily payment was rarely granted to suppliers, but seeing that she was determined to secure the product, he decided to push his luck. Even if she didn’t accept, perhaps he could at least reduce the payment cycle.

To his surprise, Cai Yao agreed without hesitation. “Sixty yuan per pound, daily settlement—it’s acceptable. However, as long as you have this product, you must supply it exclusively to Truly Fresh. This will be written into the contract.”

And at that price, the prawns were a bargain.

Chu Lin hadn’t expected her to agree so readily. But with exclusivity, it was less hassle for him, and he immediately nodded.

Cai Yao acted swiftly. Before long, a contract was prepared and handed to Chu Lin. He reviewed it, found no issues, signed his name, and stood. “Miss Cai, since the contract is signed, I’ll go fetch the prawns right away.”

Upon leaving, Chu Lin was given the location of Truly Fresh’s distribution warehouse, where he was to deliver the prawns.

Feeling cheerful with the contract in hand, Chu Lin left the restaurant, only to find Zhong Lei still waiting outside.

Damn.

People said he was a shrewd and petty businessman—was he really so sure Chu Lin would fail, just waiting to see him make a fool of himself?

That was exactly Zhong Lei’s mindset. He didn’t believe that this small seafood shop owner, who used to buy from him, could possibly supply Truly Fresh.

Chu Lin gave him no chance to speak. As he walked out, he deliberately patted the contract in his hand. “I never expected it would be so easy to win the Truly Fresh supply contract!”

“???” Zhong Lei’s face froze on the spot.

What the hell?

He got it?

Was this some kind of joke?

His mood soured even further.

Chu Lin hailed a cab back to his seafood shop, pulled down the rolling shutter, entered the game, and packed all the live prawns into seafood crates—twenty-four crates in total, all carried out of the game world.

He then contacted a familiar driver at the market named Liu Fa, an honest man in his forties. The old tricycle he used to buy supplies couldn’t possibly handle seven hundred and twenty pounds; he needed a proper delivery vehicle.

“Xiao Chu, that’s a lot of prawns—making a big delivery?” Liu Fa asked as he parked and began loading the crates.

“Liu, we’re headed to the Truly Fresh distribution warehouse,” Chu Lin replied with a smile.

Once all seven hundred and twenty pounds of prawns were loaded, Liu Fa started the vehicle and drove to the warehouse.

A staff member was waiting to receive supplier deliveries. After cross-checking the information with Chu Lin, he called others to unload the twenty-four crates.

Clearly instructed to be thorough, the staff member inspected each crate.

Chu Lin willingly cooperated—after all, in business, everyone worried about fraud, and unscrupulous suppliers were all too common.

When the inspection was done, the staffer looked up in astonishment. “Brother, these prawns are something else. I’ve seen plenty of suppliers, but none with prawns this good.”

He then had the crates weighed—seven hundred and thirty-five pounds, a little more than Chu Lin expected. The payment was forty-four thousand, one hundred yuan.

Once the delivery was complete, Chu Lin took the invoice to Truly Fresh’s finance office for settlement. The money was credited to his account within moments.

“Your account ending in… received 44,100.00 yuan…”

Seeing the notification, he felt elated.

With a contract personally signed by the young lady of Truly Fresh, even the finance department didn’t dare delay payment.

Earning forty thousand in a single day, Chu Lin’s previously meager balance was suddenly flush with cash.

More than forty thousand a day—earning a million a month was no longer just a dream.

When Chu Lin returned to his shop, he paid Liu Fa one hundred and fifty yuan for the trip.

Afterward, he asked, “Liu, can you reserve your truck for me every day before ten o’clock?”

The Atlantis map refreshed twice a day—once at night and once in the morning. Chu Lin needed to make deliveries to Truly Fresh every day, so having a vehicle was essential.

“Of course, Xiao Chu. You keep giving me business, and I’ll be waiting for you every day before ten,” Liu Fa replied cheerfully. As a small-scale delivery driver, his work was unstable and job opportunities rare.

With the arrangement settled, Chu Lin returned to his little seafood shop.

He had no interest in running the shop anymore. In this old market, diligent work might net ten thousand yuan a month at best, but one prawn delivery to Truly Fresh equaled four months’ income.

However, pulling so many prawns out of the game world, with nothing going in, was risky if anyone noticed. Luckily, his shop was in a remote corner of the old market, with poor facilities and no surveillance cameras nearby. Liu Fa’s truck coming and going helped cover his tracks.

So long as he made deliveries early each morning, there shouldn’t be a problem in the short term.

Still, he’d need more seafood crates—he didn’t have enough in stock. He placed an order by phone and had them delivered to his shop.

Once the deliveryman left, Chu Lin pulled down the shutters and transferred all the crates into the game world.

Afterward, he took out his phone to play “Leisure Civilization,” the game he’d been studying.

A day passed in a blink.

That night, the game prompted him again:

[Current Atlantis map is Level 1. One species—live prawn—can be routinely refreshed. Animals have been refreshed!]

Chu Lin entered the game immediately.

The ground was teeming with live prawns.

He quickly packed them all into the seafood crates.

The next morning, as soon as twelve hours had passed, he received another notification of newly spawned prawns.

He entered the game, loaded the fresh prawns into crates, then headed to his shop. After shuttering it, he brought all the seafood out of the game.

He called Liu Fa again, who arrived promptly and helped load the prawns, delivering them to the Truly Fresh distribution warehouse.

This batch weighed in at seven hundred and twenty-eight pounds—another forty-three thousand six hundred and eighty yuan in the bank.

Over the next ten days, the Atlantis map refreshed two batches of prawns daily. Chu Lin made ten more deliveries to Truly Fresh, earning a total of four hundred thirty-two thousand four hundred and twenty-five yuan.

His account balance soared past half a million. He truly felt for the first time what it meant to make money while lying down.

…