HCB Ch. 34 - Chapter 34: Black Market Scam Collection - Collector's Edition
Ch. 34 - Chapter 34: Black Market Scam Collection - Collector's Edition
Chen Shu waited idly for school to end, having already completely mastered all the high school knowledge.Ring ring ring!
The dismissal bell rang, and Chen Shu was the first to walk out of the classroom, heading to the regular class area.
"Little Fatty Zhou!"
"Brother Pi!" Zhou Xiaoming ran over excitedly. "I saw Zheng Yi's miserable state. Brother Pi's efficiency is really high!"
"Of course. I'm coming to your house tonight—I want to talk business." Chen Shu rubbed his hands together.
He had unlocked Body Type Potions and naturally needed raw materials to brew them. Unlike Strength Potions, Body Type Potions only yielded two to four bottles per batch.
If he went to the 666 Potion Company to brew them, his profit would be minimal, not to mention it would be too high-profile.
A high school student proficiently brewing two types of potions was already somewhat shocking.
"Tonight?" Zhou Xiaoming looked startled. "Isn't it too early to meet my parents?"
"Hm?" Chen Shu's mouth twitched. "Are you looking for a beating? Speak properly."
"No... Brother Pi, I mean I haven't told my parents yet," Zhou Xiaoming said with an awkward smile. "Besides, we have evening self-study tonight."
Chen Shu directly dragged Zhou Xiaoming toward the school gates. "No problem, I'll have Zhang Dali tutor you tomorrow."
Zhou Xiaoming,"..."
Have Zhang Dali tutor me? Can we not joke around? I don't want to become last in the grade!
The two went to Zhou Xiaoming's family shop, and the result was easier than Chen Shu had imagined. Although he didn't have a Potion Master certificate, his money offensive worked; Zhou Xiaoming's parents agreed to reserve specified dimensional space materials for him, though the price would be 10-20% higher than market value. Both sides hit it off immediately. As long as Chen Shu could pay, the shop was willing to sell the materials. Unfortunately, since their family shop didn't sell potions, they naturally wouldn't buy his either.
The next day, Chen Shu didn't go to school as usual, heading directly to the 666 Potion Company instead. He had already completely mastered high school beast taming knowledge and felt there was no need to review it further. Besides, as a Beast Tamer, studying outside of school was perfectly reasonable, right?
He quietly arrived at the potion company's pharmaceutical department, where everyone else ignored him.
The company hadn't publicized him widely—after all, Chen Shu didn't have a Potion Master certificate. If exposed, he might be fired.
"Master Chen, why are you here today?" Assistant Xiao Mao asked in surprise.
"Yeah, I had some free time. Are there Power Flowers in reserve?" Chen Shu asked.
"We have fourteen right now. Should I bring them all?"
"Yes, bring them all." Chen Shu nodded.
Although the company said they had three Power Flowers supplied daily, since he hadn't come, they naturally couldn't reserve everything for him, or the Strength Potions would be out of stock.
The 666 Potion Company sold potions to various major shops, so demand naturally exceeded supply.
A day passed, and Chen Shu used up all fourteen Power Flowers. From six of them, he produced seventy-eight bottles of Low-Grade Strength Potions. Per his contract, he owed the company five bottles per flower, totaling seventy, which he handed over. The remaining eight Power Flowers were all used to make Medium-Grade Strength Potions, which he stored in his system space.
Assistant Xiao Mao had grown accustomed to this crazy potion-making speed and put the seventy bottles into storage.
In the evening, Chen Shu left the company and headed straight for the black market. He needed to sell his potions to fund his next venture: buying materials from Zhou Xiaoming's family shop to brew the new Body Type Potions. He currently had fifty-two bottles of Medium-Grade Strength Potion in his system space, not counting the fourteen his golden slime had already consumed before developing a resistance to them.
Chen Shu arrived at the sides of the black market streets, found an empty spot, and began setting out his potions.
"Come look, come see! Fresh Medium-Grade Strength Potions!"
Chen Shu set up a street stall in the black market and began hawking loudly.
"Absolutely genuine! If fake, I'll compensate ten times over!"
Although his voice was loud, very few people came by. Passersby all looked at him with disdain.
Seriously? I'm a model student, and they think I'm a scammer?
"Young man, your scam technique is too crude," the neighboring stall owner said.
"These are real Strength Potions," Chen Shu said helplessly, his mouth twitching.
"Who's going to believe your 'ten times compensation if fake'? When the time comes, are you just going to give them eleven bottles?" the person continued.
Chen Shu turned to look and recognized the person, suddenly remembering: "Aren't you the guy who sells mud?"
When Chen Shu and Zhang Dali first came to the black market, Zhang Dali had spent ten yuan to buy a piece of mud.
"What do you mean mud! That's an Earth Dragon King Beast Core!"
The boss explained seriously, "Want to learn some techniques from me?"
"Techniques? What techniques?"
"Black market stall techniques, of course. I guarantee you'll make three thousand a day!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the boss pulled out an old book with "Black Market Scam Collection (Collector's Edition)" written on it.
"Uh..." Chen Shu's mouth twitched slightly.
Could you be any more outrageous?!
You even published a book, and it's the collector's edition??
"Forget it, these are genuine products. I'm not like you scammers."
"Not bad, not bad." The boss nodded. "Although your scam technique sucks, your acting is good."
"..." Chen Shu was speechless.
Suddenly he thought of something and said, "May I ask what to call you, boss?"
"Call me Old Wang. Everyone calls me that."
"Alright, Brother Wang Ba, I'd like to ask you for a favor." Chen Shu said.
"I'm Old Wang, not Old Wang Ba..."¹ The stall owner was speechless.
"Okay, Brother Wang Ba." Chen Shu nodded, then suddenly lowered his voice: "Can you help me find some people to pretend to buy things and create some buzz?"
Old Wang shook his head, no longer caring about what the other person called him.
"Will this work?" he asked, then rubbed his hands together. "Getting people is no problem, but you know everything requires funding."
"One hundred yuan per person." Chen Shu said generously. "You just get the people. After it's done, I'll give you a thousand."
"Do you have that much money?" Old Wang looked doubtful.
"Here's five hundred as a deposit. I'll pay you another five hundred after that!" Chen Shu directly pulled out five hundred yuan. "Remember to find more people."
Old Wang's expression brightened as he happily stuffed the five hundred into his pocket.
Ten minutes later, Old Wang indeed brought a crowd to his stall.
Most were stall owners, just ordinary people selling fake goods.
Although the black market only allowed Beast Tamers above Level 5 to enter, it wasn't hard for ordinary people to sneak in.
"Little Chen, these people are all elites of the black market! How about it?" Brother Wang Ba gushed.
Chen Shu looked over at the crowd and nodded.
The crowd immediately surrounded his stall in layers. These old hands didn't need any training from Chen Shu—they naturally knew what to do.
"Medium-Grade Strength Potion, I want one bottle!"
"Give me a bottle! Give me a bottle! I came all the way from downtown!"
"Boss, I want five bottles, wrap them up for me!"
The crowd's acting was perfect, absolutely Oscar-worthy, with no flaws to be found; they truly deserved to be old hands of the black market. The only problem was—none of them were pulling out any money.
"For crying out loud, you could at least go through the motions! This is way too fake," Chen Shu thought, holding his forehead as a headache set in. In truth, it wasn't that the shills didn't want to pull out money, but that their pockets were cleaner than their faces. After all, who would work as a shill if they had money?
¹Old Wang is 王 (Wáng). Chen Shu deliberately calls him 王八 (wáng bā), which is a severe and common insult. While literally meaning "turtle," it implies the man is a cuckold or a pimp, and is culturally equivalent to calling someone a "bastard." The humor comes from Chen Shu repeatedly using this offensive term under the guise of a polite mistake.