Behind Li Xiang, many villagers were watching from the side. Quite a few of them also held up their phones and joined Li Xiang’s live stream.

At the scene were large quantities of plastic bags, cardboard boxes, and the products themselves.

The goods were not yet packaged. Li Xiang’s idea was to sell and package them live, allowing buyers to remotely inspect the quality of their purchase beforehand.

As the camera panned across the wide, open scene, the stream’s popularity slowly began to climb.

There are a lot of strange live streams online. They only show one small corner of a place, never daring to reveal the full picture.

For example, some streams selling snacks like candy or cookies claim to ship directly from the factory. Their stream is set up in what looks like an assembly-line workshop with an endless supply of snacks, but in reality, it’s just a small rented room with a handful of snacks endlessly looping on a conveyor belt.

What do you call that? It’s a strategy used by many famous generals in ancient warfare. For example, what if the enemy army is large and your own is small? You come up with a plan: have a few dozen cavalrymen cut down tree branches, tie them to their horses’ tails, and ride back and forth. In ancient times, the roads were all dirt, so this would kick up a massive amount of dust, creating the illusion of a grand army.

Using wartime stratagems on their own fans.

If they’re willing to fake something like that, how can you guarantee the quality of their products?

Li Xiang never did things that way. He made a point of panning his phone around to let everyone see that everything, from the products to the setting, was the real deal.

Previously, Li Xiang had posted a video of himself digging for winter bamboo shoots. In the comments, He Zhixiang had posted a photo of himself with Li Xiang as proof that he was a genuine farmer, not just posing for a shoot.

This time, He Zhixiang was back to show his support.

The advertisement Li Xiang had done for him previously had been quite effective. This time, he wanted to check out the stream’s popularity. His own coffee was currently being harvested, and if Li Xiang proved to be a strong seller, he hoped to get his help promoting the coffee beans.

He Zhixiang sent a "Volcano" and a "Unicorn," gifts worth about two thousand yuan in total, and immediately shot to the top of the rankings, becoming the number one supporter.

Just as he was feeling pleased with himself, a fan suddenly sent a "Supreme Cannon," a gift worth over six thousand yuan, immediately pushing him down the list.

Unwilling to be outdone, He Zhixiang immediately sent several more gifts in a row, worth over eight thousand yuan, and retook the top spot.

Then, not to be outdone, the fan dropped twenty thousand yuan’s worth of gifts in one go.

’Whoa.’ He Zhixiang decided to stop competing, having realized his rival was a woman. ’What if she has a thing for Brother Li Xiang? If I keep outbidding her, I might ruin his chances.’

The villagers were dumbfounded.

’Holy cow, they haven’t even started selling anything, and Xiang Ya has already made so much money! There’s a real fortune to be made in this line of work.’

’We should have our kids come over more often during their school breaks to learn a thing or two from Brother (or Uncle) Li Xiang.’

Some people gossiped in private, saying the number one supporter was a rich woman who wanted to be Li Xiang’s sugar mama.

Li Xiang: "..."

Seeing so many fans sending gifts, Li Xiang quickly tried to stop them. "I really appreciate the thought, everyone, thank you so much. But today is mainly about selling our local products. If you’re able, it would be a bigger help to buy some of our goods. This is the first time our village is doing something like this, and I’m just trying to help the farmers and contribute to the community. I’m not taking any commission."

In fact, the villagers had wanted to give him a commission. The village chief, Li Jinyu, had proposed a 10% fee for his trouble.

The villagers all agreed, but Li Xiang politely refused.

Li Xiang said, "I was born and raised in Li Family Village. Now that I’m doing something for everyone and giving back to the place that raised me, it really wouldn’t be right to take money for it." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Granny Li Xiang also said not to take any money, so in the end, Li Xiang was promoting the goods for everyone for free.

After this explanation, the fans became even more enthusiastic, showering Li Xiang with praise.

"Brother Xiang is a man of noble character!"

"Brother Xiang, a legend for the ages."

’Holy shit, there it is again.’

’I really hate hearing that. What the hell is "Brother Xiang, a legend for the ages"? Isn’t that the kind of shit you write on a funeral couplet? Still, I don’t mind their twisted sense of humor. As long as they’re buying, it’s all good.’

Li Xiang hadn’t bought any traffic, but the stream’s popularity kept skyrocketing. It was probably because the woman in first place and the man in second competing for the top spot had alerted the platform’s operators.

’The platform takes a cut, after all. When there’s money to be made, they’re naturally going to push more traffic your way.’

The first crop of new bamboo shoots had just come out, so the price was naturally a bit more expensive. Later harvests would be larger, and the texture wouldn’t be as good, so the price wouldn’t be as high.

It was the same principle as with tea: the earliest spring teas are more expensive than the ones picked just a few weeks later. As for tea harvested after the prime season, practically no one wants it.

In Li Xiang’s stream, the winter bamboo shoots were priced at 10 yuan per half-kilogram, with a premium of 12 yuan per half-kilogram for the larger ones. It was an absolute bargain for the quality.

This whole batch had been freshly dug up in the last few days, so the quality was top-notch. Meanwhile, in the big cities, when new shoots hit the market, they were selling for eighteen, or even over twenty yuan per half-kilogram.

Coupled with the famous scene from his previous stream where he’d caught a bamboo pit viper with his bare hands while digging for shoots, both new and old fans were incredibly supportive.

Before long, Li Xiang’s stream leaped into the top three of the hourly popularity rankings.

Over 1,500 kilometers away, some of Li Xiang’s former colleagues were browsing TikTok and "stumbled into" his live stream. Seeing so many people online and orders flying in like snowflakes, they were stunned.

"Holy crap, it’s only been a few days and Li Xiang is already this successful? He broke into the top three on the hourly popularity chart?"

Some of them recalled how they had once publicly mocked Li Xiang, saying he would definitely fail. Their cheeks burned with shame.

"Li Xiang is a total badass. He’s on his way to financial freedom. Unlike us, still slaving away like cattle and happily backstabbing each other."

Chen Huanhuan rested her chin in her hands, staring at the screen. "I’d love to go visit Li Xiang’s place, but I just don’t have the time."

’If I’d been a bit braver back then, maybe I could’ve made him mine.’

...

The sales on the first day were incredible. They sold over 3,000 kilograms of winter bamboo shoots, 250 kilograms of dried mushrooms, 450 kilograms of nine-times-steamed and nine-times-sun-dried Solomon’s seal, and 400 kilograms of sweet potatoes.

In less than three days, all the goods were sold out.

When the final accounts were settled, they had sold a whopping 7,500 kilograms of winter bamboo shoots alone. Including the other products, the total sales revenue reached 439,082 yuan.

The villagers were ecstatic. Although it only averaged out to seventeen or eighteen thousand yuan per family, the money had come so easily.

Normally, these elders and children left behind in the village had no way to earn this much money. They could only wait expectantly for the young people working in the cities to send remittances home.

If things went well, they’d send some money back. If not, they might come home empty-handed. Sometimes, it was a blessing just for them to return safely.

Stick with Xiangzai, and you’ll eat well.

Li Jinyu breathed a sigh of relief. He had previously leaked the news that he "wanted to groom Li Xiang as his successor for village chief" precisely to gauge the villagers’ opinions. Now, it seemed there would be no more resistance.

Li Xiang’s prestige would probably even surpass his own.

It’s worth mentioning that on the first day of sales, Li Jintang’s family hadn’t brought any winter bamboo shoots over. The couple just bickered at home. On the second day, green with envy watching others make money, they had a huge, screaming fight.

Finally, on the third day, a bruised and swollen Li Jintang swallowed his pride and came over. His wife had beaten him, and he had no choice but to haul over a cart of winter bamboo shoots and mushrooms to beg Li Xiang for help.

Of course, Li Xiang couldn’t bring himself to refuse. It wasn’t a big deal to help them sell a bit. He could consider it a favor to the village chief, especially since the man was the chief’s third brother.

Afterward, Li Jintang couldn’t help but feel ashamed, remarking with great feeling, "That kid is a real stand-up guy."