Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World

In truth, Baek Wonyeon had purposely avoided calling them.

After all, Mr. Kim was here to discuss things with him. If he brought the other two along, they'd try to steal his chances, and Baek Wonyeon wasn't about to let that happen.

Kim Haru gave a small hum, indicating he was listening.

Baek Wonyeon didn't mind Kim Haru's indifferent attitude at all, nor did he care that Kim Haru had brought along a stranger. After reporting on the basic status of the three types of plants, Baek Wonyeon shifted the conversation to what Kim Haru had mentioned when he contacted him for help.

"Sir, what would you like me to help with? Don't worry, as long as I can assist, I will definitely do my best. And even if I can't help, we still have the entire research institute. You have no idea how much people here admire the plants you've cultivated. If it weren't for Secretary Jang telling us that you don't like crowds, they would have come to meet you a long time ago."
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Kim Haru quickly shook his head in refusal.

For now, the three researchers he interacted with were purely focused on their work, with no hidden agendas. Kim Haru felt comfortable dealing with people with such personalities, but even so, he couldn't handle large crowds.

Better to take things slow.

"I'd like to make some tofu," Kim Haru said, as they arrived at the legume research room. He directly brought out 75 pounds of freshly harvested soybeans. The beans were plump and fragrant, a smell unique to legumes. Baek Wonyeon's eyes widened in amazement at the sight.

"Tofu? Great, great, you've come to the right person," Baek Wonyeon rubbed his hands in excitement. "Do you want all of these soybeans turned into tofu? Would you prefer firm or soft tofu? Any special requests? I can even adjust the flavors.

Whatever flavor of tofu you like, I can make it!"

Who knew how long it had been since Baek Wonyeon had the chance to use the lab's equipment? It wasn't a lack of energy resources, but a lack of soybeans. Now that he had so many in front of him, there was no way he was going to miss this opportunity!

Kim Haru thought for a moment, then took back a portion of the soybeans, leaving only 50 pounds.

"Make tofu from these. Plain flavor will do."

One pound of soybeans could make about five pounds of tofu. With 50 pounds of beans, he could produce around 250 pounds of tofu. Tofu could be sold to a wider range of customers than soybeans alone. As for the remaining 25 pounds of soybeans, Kim Haru planned to keep them for himself.

Turning this many soybeans into tofu wasn't something Kim Haru could manage on his own. The sheer amount of work would exhausted him, and he still might not finish it. Only the research institute had the right conditions to handle this.

Looking at Baek Wonyeon, Kim Haru stated the terms he had already thought through: "You can take 10 pounds of the finished product."

To be honest, Kim Haru wasn't sure if this offer was fair. He wasn't a businessman, after all. If Baek Wonyeon thought it was too little, they could negotiate further. As long as Kim Haru felt it was reasonable, he would agree.

Upon hearing that he could actually take some of the tofu as compensation, Baek Wonyeon became even more excited and immediately waved his hands in refusal. "No, no, I couldn't possibly take your goods. You're our institute's special consultant, and you're free to use any of the institute's resources.

If it weren't for your soybeans, I wouldn't have any reason to use this equipment in the first place. Being able to personally make so much tofu is already incredibly satisfying. I really can't accept any payment."

No matter how much Kim Haru insisted, Baek Wonyeon wouldn't take the offer.

Kim Haru wasn't someone who liked to argue back and forth, so seeing that Baek Wonyeon was genuinely against taking any payment, he decided to drop the matter.

He left Hwa Jian at the institute to wait for the tofu to be finished and bring it back to the shop for sale. Seeing that the time was just right, Kim Haru headed toward the gathering point for the searching team.

He hadn't walked far when Hwa Jian caught up with him.

"Sir, how should we price the tofu?"

Oh, right, I haven't decided how much to sell the tofu for yet.

Tofu is a processed product made from soybeans. After thinking it over, Kim Haru decided on a price of sixty crystal cores per pound.

"If that's too expensive, feel free to lower it," he added.

Kim Haru wasn't someone who often bought groceries, and he was even less sensitive to pricing. Worried that he might have set the price too high, he made sure to give Hwa Jian the authority to adjust the price before he left.

Hwa Jian nodded, but in his heart, he had no intention of lowering the price.

Too expensive? This was tofu! How many people in the Pyeongseong Safe Zone had eaten tofu since the apocalypse? Even the safe zone commander likely hadn't tasted it. They barely had enough soybeans to eat, let alone the resources or time to make tofu.

His boss didn't really understand the market prices, but Hwa Jian wasn't about to let his boss's profits suffer in the slightest!

No price cuts. Absolutely no price cuts.

If it were up to Hwa Jian, he would even suggest raising the price. The shop's ingredients were all too cheap as it was.

But before he could say anything, Hwa Jian watched his boss's retreating figure and silently dismissed his selfish thoughts.

His boss was willing to sell such precious vegetables at such low prices and even set limits on how much customers could buy. Wasn't that proof enough that his boss's goal wasn't to make money from the vegetables? His boss had a heart set on saving the world!