C20 One Bowl of 9999 Rmb!

"I'm sorry, but I only have one serving left!"

Chen Fann firmly turned down Yellow Hair, but Yellow Hair seemed hell-bent on getting his way. He persisted, his voice icy as he addressed Chen Fann, "Kid, don't play hard to get. If there's only one serving, then it's mine."

"Why should you get it? We were here first. There's something to be said for first-come, first-served!"

Liu Mengyu stood up, challenging Yellow Hair.

"Why? Because I, Yellow Hair, have the cash."

With that, Yellow Hair pulled out a hundred-yuan note from his pocket and slapped it down on the table.

"Kid, hand over that Osmanthus Cake and this hundred yuan is yours!"

"Heh, you think a hundred yuan will intimidate me? What do you take me for, a beggar?"

Yellow Hair clearly hadn't anticipated Chen Fann's retort, knowing full well the market price for an Osmanthus Cake was barely over ten yuan.

"Kid, you think I don't know how much the cake costs? Trying to jack up the price on me?"

Confronted with Yellow Hair's aggressive stance, Chen Fann just shrugged.

"There's no force here. If you can't afford it, you're free to walk away."

"You..."

Seeing Chen Fann's indifferent attitude, Yellow Hair's fury was instantly triggered. He dug out two more hundred-yuan notes from his pocket.

"I'll throw in an extra two hundred. That makes three hundred yuan total. This Osmanthus Cake is mine today!"

Truth be told, under normal circumstances, if someone offered three hundred yuan for a single Osmanthus Cake, Chen Fann would be over the moon with such a profit, easily tenfold the usual. But today was different; he had to keep his cool. Not only had the system tasked him with selling it for an exorbitant 9999 yuan, but he also couldn't betray his conscience for a mere three hundred. Liu Mengyu had specially brought her grandfather to support him; how could Chen Fann just leave them hanging?

"Wow, Brother Yellow Hair, talk about throwing your weight around! Dropping three hundred yuan on an Osmanthus Cake? Kid, you better get moving and prepare it for Brother Yellow Hair!"

Yellow Hair's lackey couldn't resist singing his praises after laying eyes on the three hundred yuan.

"Exactly, you little punk. If I were you, I'd be on my knees, bowing my head to Brother Yellow Hair. Take a good look at your sorry excuse for a shop—not a single customer all day. Brother Yellow Hair here is actually doing you a favor by patronizing your business!"

The flattery from his cronies swelled Yellow Hair with pride.

"I'll offer 1,000 yuan!"

To everyone's surprise, Liu Mengyu threw out a bid. She then pulled a purple wallet from her pocket and meticulously counted out ten crisp hundred-yuan notes.

"You... jerk!"

Yellow Hair was genuinely cowed. The three hundred yuan was supposed to feed him for the next few days, yet this woman casually whipped out a grand. If he dared to bid higher, he'd be the laughingstock, especially since he couldn't muster more than a thousand yuan anyway.

"Little miss, you really set on crossing swords with Grandpa Yellow Hair?"

Yellow Hair was visibly fuming. Liu Mengyu gave him a dismissive glance and retorted sharply, "Crossing swords with you? I own this shop. It's my right to sell to whoever I please, just as it's my right to spend whatever amount I want. Do you really think you have a say in this?"

Liu Mengyu's argument was airtight, and Chen Fann felt a surge of excitement. Though this thousand yuan was a far cry from the 9,999 yuan target set by the system, it sparked a glimmer of hope. He realized that there might be more than one way to complete his mission.

"Yellow Hair, if you're broke, better step aside. I've got actual customers to attend to!"

Chen Fann's comment only fueled Yellow Hair's rage. He felt belittled. Sure, he might be Xu Yuan's lapdog on a normal day, but in his mind, there was a clear pecking order. Xu Yuan and even random strangers might look down on him, but Chen Fann? No way. He knew all about Chen Fann's dire straits—his family was drowning in debt, living even more miserably than himself. Now, out of nowhere, Chen Fann had scraped together some cash to rent this shop with its dismal business and scant foot traffic. It was a ticking time bomb to bankruptcy. What gave him the right to look down on Yellow Hair?

Yellow Hair couldn't stomach the indignity, his pride wounded by the encounter.

But the issue was his lack of funds. Competing with this woman financially wasn't an option without finding another way.

"Yellow Hair, bro, we gotta move. Remember the job the boss lined up for us!" one of his underlings urged, noticing Yellow Hair lost in thought. With a darkened expression, Yellow Hair suddenly seized the underling's hand.

"How much cash you got? Give it here!"

Caught off guard, the underling hesitated before mumbling, "I... I've only got a little over two hundred..."

"And you?" Yellow Hair pressed, turning to the rest.

One by one, the subordinates confessed their meager holdings—most had between three to five hundred yuan. Combined, they scraped together a sum of one to two thousand.

Demanding their cash, Yellow Hair clutched the collective funds and approached Liu Mengyu with a sneer. "Seems like you're flush with cash, girlie. But don't you dare look down on me. You've riled me up today, and I'm not backing down. Let's see who chickens out first!"

Liu Mengyu was exasperated by Yellow Hair's antics. It was beyond her wildest dreams to be embroiled with a petty thug, feeling it beneath her dignity.

She couldn't even bear to give Yellow Hair a direct glance, yet his perception of victory only inflated his smugness.

"Scared, little girl? Should've thought twice before crossing me. You're way out of your league trying to take on Yellow Hair!"

Liu Mengyu had resolved to stay silent, but Yellow Hair's relentless taunts were almost comical. He had barely scraped together a grand with help, while Liu Mengyu's allowance from a decade ago dwarfed that amount tenfold. They were simply not in the same league.

Deciding she had enough of this farce, Liu Mengyu was determined to put an end to the conversation.

"Let's do this—I'll bid 9999 for this osmanthus cake. If you can top that, it's yours. I won't compete with you after that."

The moment she finished speaking, everyone in the room was dumbfounded, especially Yellow Hair. He was on the verge of tears, with none to shed. After pooling all the cash from his underlings, they barely scraped together 2000 yuan. And here she was, casually dropping a bid of 9999. How could he possibly compete with that?