Chapter 176: Encountering Sunset Over the Mountain
Chen Lin realized the chef wasn't keen on answering her question, so she refrained from pushing further, intending to change the topic. However, the chef continued talking about honey voluntarily.
He spoke of the magical effects of honey, claiming that the honey vendor was an expert in seclusion.
This left her slightly puzzled. She couldn't tell if the chef was joking or having a mental lapse.
Having been in this industry for years, she had interviewed many related individuals, and it had been a while since she felt unsure about how to proceed.
"Just so happens, a new batch of honey is about to be shelved. If you're interested, I can recommend you to join the circle," Chef Li warmly offered, pulling out his phone.
Chen Lin was a bit bewildered. Wasn't she here to interview about the dish? How did the conversation shift to some "magical honey"?
How could there be such miraculously effective honey in this world?
Was that vendor some kind of legendary alchemist? However, driven by curiosity, Chen Lin agreed to join the so-called circle.
The circle was called "Bee Whisperer's Hut."
For some reason, the name gave her a strange feeling.
"Could it turn out to be a group of hysterical patients?" Chen Lin couldn't help but think divergently.
Chef Li, engrossed in his phone, lifted his head with a sunny smile. "I've submitted your request, but it might take a while to get approved. The boss appears and disappears, so there's no telling when you'll get a response."
"It's okay, I can wait."
Seeing his sincere, heartfelt smile, Chen Lin almost believed his nonsense for a moment.
"Gotta stay mentally alert in this magical reality," she silently reminded herself, contemplating that this little incident might make an interesting addition to her article, like seasoning in food.
"Oh, lucky you," Chef Li happily exclaimed, "the boss is here, and your request has been approved!"
Chen Lin picked up her phone and indeed saw a notification: "You have become a member of the 'Bee Whisperer's Hut' circle."
What surprised her was the circle had over a thousand people! That many non-standard humans gathered together would hardly fit even in a large psychiatric hospital.
As she entered, the circle members were engrossed in discussions. The message feed refreshed rapidly, and her joining notification hardly caught anyone's attention.
She skimmed through the conversation content, which mainly fell into two categories: discussions about the "miraculous honey" with exaggerated claims and appeals for the boss to hurry and stock the new honey, sounding like a group of campaigners.
An idea flashed in her mind: Could these people all be fake accounts?
She recalled an online report about someone getting pulled into a group where everyone except him was fake, and they united to deceive him.
However, such a high-cost scam usually corresponded with high profits. Selling just honey wouldn't warrant such an expense.
Those things only fetched a few bucks.
So, the possibility of hysteria seemed more likely.
After scanning the patients' comments for a while, Chen Lin clicked into the product section.
According to the patients, the honey was about to go on sale but wasn't available yet. However, information about several types of honey was already listednames, effects, prices, and such.
Looking at the prices, Chen Lin couldn't help but exclaim inwardly. The boss was quite bold; a 500ml bottle of honey was priced at thousands of bucks.
Were the bottles made of gold?
The names were also peculiarthings like "Dreaming Moonflower," "Feathered Attire Flower," "Thousand Illusions Flower"... she hadn't even heard of these.
And the claimed effects were even more absurdaiding sleep, beautifying, bringing joy...
Normally, honey did have some effects, aiding sleep or beauty, but the descriptions needed to be restrained during promotions, not overly exaggerated, understood by both buyers and sellers.
But these descriptions were bolder than some traditional Chinese medicines.
"Who on earth is this boss?" Chen Lin scrolled to the member list; the top was the circle's owner, called "Bee Whisperer," with a blue bee icon as a profile picture.
However, the eyes in the icon weren't the typical compound eyes of a bee; they had hypnotic concentric circles.
The signature was a line from a song: "We crossed the mountain and encountered the evening glow, seeking the unknown flowers."
Pretty artistic, but at this moment, in Chen Lin's eyes, he was either a scam mastermind or a cyber psychosis case.
Completely offbeat with anything artistic.
"Tomorrow morning at nine, the official sale starts," Chef Li kindly reminded her, "new honey will be available. Don't miss it."
"Okay," Chen Lin replied with a smile.
...
After dinner, back at the hotel, she took a shower, changed into pajamas, sat at the desk, opened her notebook, and started writing in her diary.
The diary's content was crucial for her subsequent articles.
"Qingcheng is a city full of ancient charm, offering many traditional delicacies. Local chefs display creativity, innovating on traditional dishes...
"Discovered a small eatery today, secluded and with few customers, yet it offered the best dining experience I've had in a while...
"There are many unexplored places in this city waiting for me. I might stay here for ten days or even half a month."
Over a thousand words flowed out in one go.
Closing the notebook, she took a sip of water.
Suddenly, the words "Bee Whisperer's Hut" popped into her mind for no apparent reason.
Maybe life was too ordinary most of the time, and encountering such bizarre incidents occasionally made it intriguing for her.
She picked up her phone, entered the circle, and read for a while.
She had to admit, the mix of genuine and fake discussions among the circle members occasionally brought a smile to her face.
...
The next morning, at nine.
Chen Lin had finished breakfast and returned, waiting for the honey to go on sale in the "Bee Whisperer's Hut."
She wanted to see how the boss would manage this further.
Exactly at nine, the shopping section displayed five types of honey, each with a stock of only a few hundred bottles.
According to circle members, this was the inventory for each sale, and once sold out, it took a while for the next batch.
Chen Lin intended to buy two bottles.
She planned to purchase the Feathered Attire Flower honey, but before she could, its stock depleted sharply to zero in just a minute!
The Dreaming Moonflower honey stock plummeted simultaneously.
Chen Lin thought this was an excessive form of marketing strategy.
But upon closer inspection, something clicked.
The prices of these two honeys were only a few hundred bucks, contrasting sharply with the other priced in thousands. So, their quick sales were normal.
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