Chapter 96: Truffle Auction

  Although they had obtained a business license and held an opening ceremony, life in the farmhouse was actually no different from before. Everyone was still planting vegetables, feeding chickens, raising fish, and diligently completing their work. The only difference was that Xiao Ping hired a part-time accountant who would come to the farm once a month to issue invoices, make reports, and handle tax matters. Many private enterprises operated in this way, and it wasn't considered irregular.

  The first month of the lunar calendar has passed quickly, and Xiao Ping finally received a call from Pierre. The Frenchman excitedly told him that the truffle auction had been arranged and asked Xiao Ping to go to the provincial city as soon as possible.

  Xiao Ping took the newly-made iron skin stone brim to the provincial capital the next day. He first arrived at Tongrentang, a familiar place, and sold the forty or so kilograms of iron skin stone brim he had brought with him for 100 yuan per kilogram, safely putting another 20,000 yuan in his pocket. However, Xiao Ping was afraid that continuous sales of this precious medicinal material would attract too much attention, so he decided to suspend the sale of iron skin stone brim.

  After leaving Tongrentang, Xiao Ping rushed to Pierre's Western restaurant. The Frenchman was already waiting for Xiao Ping and came over as usual to give him a hug.

  Xiao Ping dodged to the side with agility, avoiding Pierre's bear hug, and asked before he could complain: "How is the preparation for the auction going?"

  "Hey, just mentioning this makes me angry." Pierre said indignantly: "Those colleagues of mine are all stubborn, many people don't believe that China can produce high-quality truffles. I had to use a lot of effort to persuade over ten top chefs to attend the auction. This is still because they gave me face, otherwise..."

  Xiao Ping interrupted the Frenchman's words, saying: "I know you're familiar with people in this line and have a big face, so there's no need to emphasize that. Let's talk about how the auction is arranged."

  Pierre was used to Xiao Ping's attitude and looked at him helplessly, saying: "The auction will be held the day after tomorrow, and it will be in my restaurant. However, don't have too high expectations, there won't be many people coming, so I'm afraid the price won't be very high."

  "It's okay, after all, we're not just doing this business once. As long as we make a name for ourselves, more people will come to the auction next time and the price will naturally go up. Losing some income temporarily is no big deal."

  Pierre also nodded and said: "Right, right, in your Chinese words, this is called... casting a long line to catch a big fish!"

  Time flies, and it's the day of the auction. Xiao Ping, as the owner of all the items to be auctioned, has arrived early at the Raffles Western Restaurant to do some preparatory work for the upcoming auction.

  Xiao Ping only dug up all the truffles buried in the Lian Yao Hu before arriving at the restaurant. The method taught by Pierre was indeed very good, and all the truffles looked as fresh as when they were first dug up. Not only were they hard and heavy, but that special aroma had not weakened in the slightest.

  The Frenchman gazed at the truffles as if he were a sex-starved wolf who hadn't seen a woman in three years, his eyes gleaming with lust. He held one of the truffles against his high nose and took deep breaths, exclaiming loudly: "Ah, this intoxicating aroma is truly irresistible!"

  To be honest, Xiao Ping didn't think the truffle smelled very good. He couldn't bear to look at Pierre's appearance, so he simply handed over the task of arranging the dishes to the Frenchman and went to stroll around the dining hall himself.

  As the auction was about to begin, guests started arriving one after another. Perhaps because Xiao Ping was the only Asian face in the crowd, he drew particular attention. A middle-aged foreigner with a full head of blond hair and a somewhat fierce appearance approached him, using awkward Chinese to greet Xiao Ping: "I'm Ramsay, an American, representing Shen City Red House Western Restaurant. Are you also here to bid on truffles?"

  Since he was a potential client, Xiao Ping replied politely: "I'm Xiao Ping, uh... I guess so."

  Ramsay's Chinese wasn't great, and he hadn't caught anything off about Xiao Ping's response. He just assumed that Xiao Ping was also dragged to the auction by Pierre like him. The American looked at the almost empty restaurant with disdain, raised an eyebrow and asked Xiao Ping, "Do you think everyone can really buy nearly perfect truffles as Pierre said?"

  The conversation between Ramsay and Xiao Ping caught the attention of another guest. This guy had a head of black curly hair, a high and straight nose, and was quite handsome in appearance. However, at this moment his expression was similar to Ramsay's, also suspicious and disdainful. Without waiting for Xiao Ping to respond, he interrupted: "What's there to ask? It's obviously Pierre talking nonsense. Everyone knows that China only produces truffles in Yunnan Province, but the quality is really too poor, we don't use them at all. Pierre actually said there was a high-quality white truffle auction, who doesn't know that white truffles are only produced in Italy? When did China start producing white truffles? It's simply nonsense!"

  Xiao Ping also had no interest in arguing with these two self-righteous guys, and only smiled faintly: "I think there's no need to rush to a conclusion, just wait a little longer, and it will be clear whether Pierre is bragging or not."

  As they were talking, Pierre had already personally pushed a serving cart out of the kitchen. On it were two large silver dinner plates with domed lids, and without asking, everyone knew what was inside. Seeing the Frenchman being so serious, the chefs who didn't have much hope initially became interested. Everyone gathered around to see how good Pierre's so-called top-grade truffles were. Xiao Ping watched from the side and couldn't help but secretly laugh in his heart - the French really know how to put on a show, he hadn't misjudged him when he asked him to handle the auction.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, what you see in these two plates is the truffle I told you about." Pierre smiled with a hint of pride, standing up straight and facing his fellow colleagues: "Actually, everyone knows that I didn't just invite these people. Here, I want to thank you all for your trust in me, and at the same time, congratulate you on having the opportunity to bid on this exceptional truffle. As for others..."

  That chef named Ramsay was short-tempered and before Pierre could finish speaking, he loudly said: "Pierre, stop talking nonsense! Let everyone see your so-called top-grade truffles and let the facts convince them!"

  "Right!"

  That's right!

  "That's it!" The others chimed in, urging Pierre to hurry up.

  The Frenchman smiled elegantly and lifted the lids of two silver plates. Two truffles, almost identical in size and shape but different in color, suddenly appeared before everyone's eyes. Everyone's expression instantly became serious as they crowded forward to carefully examine the shape and color of the truffles, even leaning in to smell their aroma.

  Pierre then took out a piece of truffle from each of the two silver plates, cut it in half with his hands, allowing everyone to see the pattern inside and smell the special aroma of the truffle more clearly.

  Those chefs were all connoisseurs, and at this time they all saw that Pierre was not exaggerating in the slightest. These were indeed top-grade truffles. It was the quick-tempered Ramsay who spoke up first, loudly saying to the Frenchman: "I want ten kilograms of each type of truffle, I'm willing to pay a high price!"

  "Me too!"

  "Me too!" The other chefs also cried out, unwilling to fall behind, and the scene instantly became chaotic.

  In this chaotic scene, Xiao Ping had a satisfied smile on his face, knowing that the auction would undoubtedly be successful.

  Horizontal line

  Thanks for the rewards from "Dingfengbo0328", "Saodiqingyi" and others.