Chapter Ninety-Three: A Visit

Who said you were my maids?

Qin Zhen stared, bewildered.

Were maidservants not supposed to be standard for wealthy households? He only had a few taels to his name. He did not even own a proper manor, ha, and his home lacked so much as a decent piece of furniture. How could he possibly afford maidservants?

“Everybody says so.”

Xiao Qingwen blurted it out at once.

“All those uncles and aunts said my sister and I were the benefactor’s child bride and bed-warming maids...” She paused, then asked curiously, “Benefactor, what is a child bride? What is a bed-warming maid?”

At that moment, Qin Zhen was utterly speechless.

Heaven and earth could bear witness.

He truly had no such intentions.

They were only children! Not to mention them, wasn’t Qin Zhen himself still just a child?

Looking at Xiao Qingwen’s innocent, tender face, Qin Zhen opened his mouth, but no words came out.

No, he would have to find a chance to make things clear to these two little girls.

“Ha, I’m dying of laughter!”

At that moment, Li Han’s rough voice rang out from outside, neatly rescuing Qin Zhen from his embarrassment.

He strode in with his usual unrestrained swagger, followed by the others returning from their stalls.

“What’s going on? Why all the racket?” Qin Zhen stepped forward to meet them.

“We’ve got trouble,” Chen Shu said with a dark expression. “Huang Dalang heard that we’re going to hold a shopping festival, and now he wants to put on some kind of festival too, just to steal our business.”

“Is that all? Let him do it.” Qin Zhen clearly did not take it to heart.

“It’s not that simple. I heard Huang Dalang not only plans to do it himself, but also called over all the big-name merchants in Seaside City. He’s brought in every trade under the sun. Not only is he copying our discounts and promotions, he even hired an opera troupe to perform onstage.”

Chen Shu’s face grew even more grave.

“By noon today, the Huang family had already put up their banners. We’re offering everything at half price, right? They went straight to one tenth off.”

“They’re trying to wage a price war and crush us with money.” Qin Zhen finally realized how serious the matter was.

The greatest gap between him and the Huang family was their foundation.

The silver in the Huang family’s warehouses far exceeded his own. They could absolutely drag him into a price war, using rock-bottom prices to seize his customers, eat away at his market share, and eventually drive him out.

And it was not just the Huang family. Huang Dalang had even brought in merchants from the other major families of Seaside City. This was plainly an attempt to use the silver of Seaside City’s merchants to beat Qin Zhen to death.

Damn it.

He really knew how to imitate.

Before this, Qin Zhen had already anticipated that the Huang family would not sit still, and that Huang Dalang would certainly find some way to stir up trouble. But he had never imagined that the man would be this shameless: not only had he copied Qin Zhen’s entire marketing strategy, he had also splashed out a fortune to poach people in broad daylight.

It reminded Qin Zhen of the promotional wars from his former life, of the scenes where companies threw money around to snatch customers from one another.

Back then, he had been one of the countless customers, watching happily as the major brands battered each other bloody. But now that he was the merchant, he finally understood how powerless such a business war was for a small trader like him.

He could never outspend Huang Dalang.

That fat bastard had dragged in half the merchants of Seaside City to set this trap. It was not something a fledgling youngster like Qin Zhen could hope to match. If he wanted to keep his customers, or even steal some away from Huang Dalang, he would have to come up with something new.

In other words, Qin Zhen needed something that existed only in his hands, and nowhere else.

“Don’t panic. I still have a way.”

Compete with him in ideas?

That was like a frog leaping off a cliff and trying to become Batman.

Utterly absurd.

“Zhen’er, you really have a way?” Li Han was stunned.

They had all been despairing, and yet Qin Zhen still had a plan? Just how was his mind working?

“If you’ve got a way, spit it out already!” Chen Shu said anxiously.

Earlier that day, people from the Huang family had even deliberately come swaggering over to the Little Fisherman Village stalls to show off. Chen Shu had been disgusted beyond words. Right now, all he wanted was to strip Huang Dalang of his arrogance and teach that old bastard that Little Fisherman Village was not to be trifled with.

“In a few days. No rush.”

These past few days, they had been setting up stalls from dawn till night, and the goods they had brought were nearly sold out. It was the perfect time to take a breather. There was no need to smash headlong into Huang Dalang right away.

By the time Zhao Ming arrived with Little Fisherman Village, the venue should also be finished being renovated. It would not be too late to strike back then.

“You’ve all worked hard these past few days. Rest a little first!” Qin Zhen patted Chen Shu on the shoulder and comforted him. “Uncle Chen, don’t be in such a hurry. A man like Huang Dalang, who burns money just to make a scene, won’t last long. He’s the one who wants a direct confrontation. If we refuse to take the bait now, the ones who’ll be anxious are them. We still make a profit even at half price. As for the Huang family, they’re selling at one tenth off, heh. Let’s see if that doesn’t bleed them dry.”

“I just can’t stand that bastard’s smug face!” Chen Shu said through gritted teeth.

“Don’t worry. Once our goods arrive in a few days, we can test our strength against him then.”

Hearing Qin Zhen say that, the anger in Chen Shu’s chest finally eased a little.

He asked in a low voice, “By the way, tell me. What exactly is your plan for beating Huang Dalang?”

Qin Zhen only gave a smile full of meaning.

“You’ll know when the time comes.”

Over the next few days, under Qin Zhen’s arrangements, everyone kept a low profile and threw themselves into the renovation of the shop. The old stalls were left behind, with only a lonely sign for the shopping festival standing there by itself.

The shrinking numbers each day seemed to tell the common people that the festival was drawing near.

“Our young master truly sees all! Qin Zhen hasn’t even dared to show his face these past few days, and nobody is even visiting the Little Fisherman Village stall anymore!” the Huang family steward flattered.

“And our shops are packed to the brim. The people are snatching things up like crazy!”

Huang Dalang looked fully confident.

He had long since used tactics like these again and again, and they always worked. He had driven away who knew how many people who had tried to compete with the Huang family for business.

The reason the Huang family had been able to hold sway in Seaside County for so many years was simple: they stopped at nothing.

Using money to smash people down was still considered one of the gentler methods.

If Qin Zhen insisted on remaining the Huang family’s enemy, Huang Dalang had plenty of ways to make him kneel and beg for mercy.

“I’m only worried that the Fang family will interfere. Young master, I heard the Fang family lent Qin Zhen ten shops. If he goes to the Fang family for help at the critical moment...”

“The Fang family? They’re nothing but a grasshopper at the end of autumn.”

At the mention of the Fang family, Huang Dalang’s face filled with disdain.

“If they know what’s good for them, I might even throw them a few scraps. If they insist on opposing me, then I’ll make sure the Fang family is buried in the ground too.”

Before he had even finished speaking, a servant came to report.

“Young master, a member of the Fang family requests an audience.”

“Oh?”

Huang Dalang was somewhat surprised.

In ordinary times, the Huang and Fang families had no dealings whatsoever. Why would the Fang family come knocking at a time like this?

He asked, “Who is it?”

The servant replied respectfully, “It is Fang Lan’s uncle, Fang Song.”