Translated by: daryldyh
Edited by: wetchick
0 chapter in queue. Regular chapter 1/2. Sorry for the late post, I got sick for the past couple of days.
In just a few hours, Jiang Hu Stories was spread around the entire city. Lots of people who had not gotten their copies and could only listen to rumours, making them eager to buy one from other people.
“Hey brother, how about selling me your Jiang Hu Stories? I’ll buy it for 10 copper taels!”
“10 copper taels only? No way! ‘The Legend of the Condor Heroes’ is so well-written that I’m going to read it a couple times more when I get home! I will not sell it!”
“This brother, would you mind lending me your copy of Jiang Hu Stories? I don’t mind paying you! How about 20 copper taels? Sell it to me!”
“p.i.s.s off. Why would I sell it to you if I haven’t finished reading it yet? I don’t need that little amount of money.”
“I know right, the money is definitely not appealing enough… How about 50 copper taels? 50 copper taels!”
“No! I’m not selling it no matter how much you offer!”
Initially, people wanted to buy it for 10 copper tales. However, its value quickly inflated over time. 20 copper taels, 50 copper taels, 1 silver tael and even 2 silver taels…
Some businessmen quickly bought hundreds of copies for 50 copper taels each, after which they sold it for 2 silver taels each!
“Jiang Hu Stories for sale! The quant.i.ty is limited! First-come-first-serve basis, 2 silver taels for each copy!”
“2 silver tales? So expensive?!”
“What do you expect? Don’t tell me you don’t know how high the demand is right now! The price is not negotiable. So are you going to buy or not?”
“Yes, I am! Don’t get mad. Give me 5 copies! I’m going to introduce them to my friends. Aiya make it 10!”
Just like that, the businessmen earned a ton by selling the copies which were supposedly free.Hahaha such easy money! All hail the ninth prince!
……
Most people did not know that the series was free and did not know where it came from, since the resellers only sold a couple hundred copies which were all sold out within an hour. Suddenly, a man within a crowd shouted, “I know where Jiang Hu Stories came from! It’s from the building with a giant golden plaque!”
“Really?” Upon listening to his words, everyone started to get excited! Since it was out of stock everywhere, the enormous building certainly still had some left. Even if it didn`t, they could produce it on the spot! Let’s go!
……
The headquarters of the Grand Alliance.
Hong Xiaobao was settling something with Qingqing. Suddenly, a guard rushed in hastily, saying, “Your Highness, bad news! We are surrounded by people from the Jiang Hu!”
“What are you talking about? We are surrounded?” Hong Xiaobao turned toward Zhao Four and asked curiously, “What are they here for? Aren’t the papers sent to Warm Fragrant Building?”
Zhao Four gulped and said, “Erm… The Warm Fragrant Building only had around a hundred copies left for regular customers. The rest were all dispatched. The newspapers obviously could not meet the demand. I even heard that each copy was sold for up to 5 silver taels. The people outside are here to buy them…”
Five silver taels for one?! Everyone was shocked, even opening their mouths widely.
“It certainly seems to have quite a large impact…” Hong Xiaobao mumbled and spinned back and forth, thinking for a solution.
“Xiaobao, since the people are so crazy for this. Why don’t we print more of them?” Fang Xinghan whispered beside Hong Xiaobao. “Five silver taels for solely one copy. If we start printing now with all our efforts, we could print up to ten thousand copies. Even if we can’t sell them off completely, we would still have tens of thousands of silver taels in hand by the end of the day…”
Although Fang Xinghan spoke silently, everyone knew what he said and nodded, staring at Hong Xiaobao, waiting for him to make a decision. However, Hong Xiaobao was an experienced leader—he had a different viewpoint on this.
“No no no no no.” Hong Xiaobao shook his head repeatedly. “We cannot print too many copies. Otherwise, the value of Jiang Hu Stories will drop. En, Qingqing, get some people to help you to print 200 more copies. Remember this, only 200 copies! After that, send the papers to Warm Fragrant Building.”
What? 200 copies only?!
Everyone was shocked and could not figure out what Hong Xiaobao meant. Qingqing asked, “Brother Xiaobao, are you sure it’s enough? Why not we print a little bit more, like 500 copies?”
The demand for Jiang Hu Stories was so high. Wouldn’t he have wasted such a great opportunity had he only printed 200 copies?
“No no no, believe me.” Hong Xiaobao chuckled and said, “You have to understand the nature of humanity. The reason people are willing to spend 5 silver tales for each copy is because it is extremely rare! If the amount goes too high, it would be worthless. Think about it, if the product is always in stock, who would pay 5 silver taels for one copy? It may only be worth around 2 silver taels by then.”
“This…” Everyone looked at each other and felt that what Hong Xiaobao said made the most sense.
“So, we can’t fulfill their wishes now.” Hong Xiaobao laughed like an evil man and said, “They are willing to spend 5 silver taels for one copy and we purposely don’t produce too many of them to meet the demand. What happens next? The reputation of this series will be spread all around the world! Reputation!”