Chapter 150: Regret! Regret so bitter my intestines are turning green!

The few of them nodded vigorously.

"I am truly sorry. A group of guests just arrived a moment ago, and all of the thousand bottles of wine currently in stock have been fully reserved by them," Li Zhengyi said, wearing an apologetic expression as he felt a sharp pang of inner torment.

Having customers but no wine felt agonizingly painful, almost as if someone had just robbed him of his silver.

It was as though the group had been struck by lightning. Only two dreadful words echoed in their minds: *It's over!*

One of them anxiously stepped forward and blurted out, "Shopkeeper, please, see if there is any way you can manage to procure some for us!"

"Indeed! Even ten or eight bottles will do!"

"If all else fails, even one or two bottles will suffice! We see that you still have a few bottles on display on the shelf there—we are willing to pay a higher price!"

The men gazed at Li Zhengyi with hopeful eyes.

Li Zhengyi put on a troubled look. "The wine on the display shelf is not for sale. After all, the customers arriving later need to see what the wine looks like, don't they?"

"Shopkeeper, I beg you, please give us some! Otherwise, we won't be able to face our masters when we return!"

"At most, I can manage to piece together another hundred bottles," Li Zhengyi said with great difficulty.

This truly was the final batch of a hundred bottles. As for the remaining few dozen, his Third Sister had explicitly commanded that they were never to be touched.

"Very well! A hundred bottles, I'll take them all!"

The man standing next to him immediately threw a punch at his shoulder. "Get lost! If you take them all, what are the rest of us supposed to do? We will split them evenly!"

"Right, we split them evenly!"

In the end, they decided on an equal division. Among the six of them, each obtained sixteen bottles.

The customers inside the shop couldn't help but sigh inwardly. This wine was truly in high demand!

The customer who had just bought a single bottle earlier spoke up, "Gentlemen, I just purchased a single bottle right here. What do you think?"

"Give it to me! A hundred taels!"

The customer's eyes lit up instantly. A profit!

"Agreed!"

The other men shot a resentful glance at the one who had spoken first, then turned to the seller. "You agreed much too quickly! I could have offered an even higher price."

"I could have raised the price as well!"

The customer: "..." What a loss!

The remaining customers turned green with envy. Right before their very eyes, they had watched this fellow effortlessly turn a profit of twelve taels!

That was twelve taels! In just the span of a few moments!

Nothing could be more agonizing than this!

Those who had a few coins in their pouches bitterly regretted why they hadn't purchased a bottle themselves just now.

As for that customer, his only regret was why he hadn't bought a few more bottles in the first place!

Everyone present had their own distinct regrets.

The errand boys stationed outside the Li family's shop by rival merchants to observe the situation were utterly dumbfounded.

Just like that, with a simple resale, he had pocketed a profit of twelve taels of silver?

Even they were green with envy.

The Li family's wine was simply in astronomical demand.

Wait, hadn't their own shopkeeper placed an order for wine here at the Li family's establishment? They needed to hurry back and report this at once!

This was an extraordinary opportunity to make a fortune!

The men scampered back in a flash to relay the news to their respective shopkeepers.

Upon hearing the report, Shopkeeper Wang bolted straight to his feet. "Are you telling me the truth?"

"It's the absolute truth, Shopkeeper! I even heard them say that people were offering higher prices!"

"Shopkeeper, how many bottles of the Li family's bottled wine did you actually bring back?"

"This is a prime opportunity to cash in! You could casually turn around and make a dozen or even dozens of taels in profit!"

The errand boy spoke with intense excitement, while Shopkeeper Wang listened with a heart-wrenching ache.

Clutching his chest, Shopkeeper Wang groaned, "Enough, say no more!"

He was the very person who had wanted to buy the Li family's bottled wine earlier but had balked at the steep price.

Now, hearing that reselling them yielded effortless profits and mountains of silver, his heart ached so fiercely he could barely breathe.

"Shopkeeper, what is wrong?"

"Shopkeeper, should I go and contact those outside buyers right now?"

Shopkeeper Wang flew into a rage. "Contact who?! I don't have a single bottle of the Li family's bottled wine here in the first place!"

The errand boy was instantly struck dumb. His lips twitched for a moment before he stammered, "How could you not have any?"

What was the shopkeeper thinking? How could he possibly have failed to order the Li family's bottled wine?

At that moment, several other shopkeepers were sharing the exact same sentiment as Shopkeeper Wang.

Why hadn't they bought some of the Li family's bottled wine back then?

Regret! They regretted it so bitterly their intestines had turned green!

...

A sharp-witted buyer who arrived later made inquiries outside, discovered which merchants had obtained wine from the Li family, and tracked them down one by one.

He immediately offered exorbitant prices from the outset, leaving the merchants who had only taken jarred wine and refused the bottled wine feeling utterly choked with frustration.

Upon discovering that none of them had taken any bottled wine, the buyer looked at them with utter bewilderment.

He simply could not fathom why they had neglected to take any, when it was blatantly obvious that these were treasures.

The merchants: "..." They *knew* they were treasures, but back then they had considered them too expensive and wanted to wait for the Li family to lower their prices.

They had believed that if none of them bought any, the Li family would eventually have no choice but to drop their prices and sell to them.

As it turned out, they never got the chance to wait for a price drop; instead, they had missed out entirely on such a magnificent money-making opportunity!

A windfall like this, and they hadn't managed to reap a single crumb of it.

A miscalculation!

One merchant suggested, "Perhaps you could try seeking out Miss Jiang. Miss Jiang might still have some in her possession."

The errand boy nodded. "I was just about to go there." He had pinned his final hope entirely on Jiang Yan.

When the errand boy approached Jiang Yan to inquire about the wine, he immediately declared that she could name any price she pleased—as long as she had it.

Jiang Yan was somewhat startled by his exceptionally wealthy and grand tone.

"I do happen to have some on hand. Would a hundred taels per bottle be acceptable to you?"

"Acceptable!"

The errand boy never expected that Jiang Yan would only raise the price to a hundred taels.

Jiang Yan knew that by letting these people take the wine away and spread the reputation of the Li family's brew, that was what she valued most.

Therefore, she refrained from ruthlessly fleecing them.

"How many bottles can Miss Jiang spare?"

Jiang Yan smiled faintly. "I only have a hundred bottles here."

The errand boy gasped in utter shock! He had already made inquiries: the dozen or so people who had rushed there first had only managed to secure slightly over seventy bottles each.

Combined with the hundred bottles from Miss Jiang, he had unexpectedly become the person holding the largest share of the wine.

Beaming with joy, the errand boy could already envision how lavishly his young master would reward him.

Though his purchase price was somewhat steep, his young master's prestige would be elevated to dazzling heights!

The extra silver spent was entirely worth it!

Once they brought this wine back, as long as the young master wished to cash in, he could still turn an enormous profit.

Of course, the young master would never sell them; he would only take them out to show off and gift to others.

Once the wine from the Li family's estate was delivered, the errand boys of various households meticulously counted every single bottle to ensure none were missing.

The number they received was already pitifully small; they could not afford to lose a single drop.

Catching sight of the errand boy who possessed over a hundred bottles, the others cast envious and astonished glances his way.

"You... how on earth did you get so many?"

"Wait, weren't you supposed to have come with me?" Speaking thus, he cast a glance at his own meager collection of a dozen or so scattered bottles and sank into deep contemplation.

The Liu family's errand boy smugly declared, "Naturally, I thought of another method."

"What method?"

"I won't tell you."

The crowd glared at him with fury, never imagining that the ultimate winner would turn out to be the Liu family!

The group came in a hurried rush and departed just as swiftly, leaving behind only the Li family's bottled wine warehouse, now standing completely empty.