“I won’t get involved in the Hou family’s paper mill. At worst, I’ll just give up the Xu family’s business.”

When Xu Zheng returned home, the leaders of the other three paper manufacturing businesses were already waiting in the main hall. They were a little anxious when they heard his words.

"Master Xu, you absolutely mustn't! The Hou family is pushing the price down so low just to make us back down. Are you saying they're going to let the Hou family eat this pie all by themselves?"

The man twirled the ring in his hand and said...

"You can do whatever you want, but the Xu family will not get involved. Ruizhong, see them out."

A beautiful young girl emerged from around the corner. She was dressed in gorgeous clothes, her hair adorned with blue and green embellishments, her almond-shaped eyes were round and delicate, her eyelashes were long and curved, and her bright red lipstick gave her a sly look.

"Given Father's temperament, shouldn't he always get what he wants? Why isn't he trying anything this time?"

Xu Zheng turned to look at his daughter, who resembled him, and said...

"This time it's out of the question. The Ministry of Revenue can't touch the powerful backers behind them."

"oh?"

The girl sat down next to her father, picked up an apple, took a bite, and said...

"Such a powerful backer?"

"It's because your father wanted to rely on that person but couldn't."

The girl rolled her eyes, revealing a row of small white teeth, and said...

"They must have gone to the Ministry of Revenue to pull strings. That old guy has taken so many kickbacks from our family over the years, he's never stopped, he's even more greedy than you."

"You have no manners!"

Xu Zheng still had some favoritism towards this daughter, but of course, this favoritism was only relative to that towards other wealthy families.

Xu Qiushui gave a haughty snort, took a big bite of the apple in her hand, and said...

"Father, is the brothel fun?"

"That sounds fun, do you want to visit a brothel?"

"I heard many ladies went, and besides, Zhao Nian'ang's account of the war is truly excellent."

"In the brothel, there is romance; romance is not just about applying makeup before a mirror, but also about drawing swords, mounting horses, and gleaming in the cold light. Iron armor and cold clothes illuminate the city walls, and in Pingyang City, people gather together to defend the city."

"Father, is Pingyang County really as described here?"

Xu Zheng nodded and said

"Go and see if you want to."

"Yes! Thank you, Father!"

For some reason, the price of paper in the border town suddenly dropped ridiculously low. The Hou family's Xuan paper was 20 wen a ream, while other families usually paid at least 30 to 40 wen a ream. Today, all paper was suddenly 20 wen.

Hou's Xuan paper is rather rough, not as fine as that of other families, so the bookstore has been quite deserted these past few days.

"Manager, what do you think? Should we call all the owners together to discuss this matter?"

Liu Xu and Ruyi nodded. It had only been a few days since the Xu family sent someone to get the prescription. Logically speaking, Xu Zheng should have been the one to initiate the price reduction, but the Xu family hadn't raised the price.

"It's just rolling it up, right? Let them roll it up, it's not worth the cost anyway," Huo Xiaolong said in Cen Ang's arms.

"Roll what?"

"Nothing..." I forgot, there's no such thing as involution now.

“These three families have deep resources, so by this calculation, they can probably last for about three months.” Liu Xu lightly moved the abacus, calculating the limit of these three families.

"Mom, have we not sold our soft paper yet?" Huo Xiaolong asked, looking up.

"Yeah, soft paper is hard to make, and there's only enough for the people in our building."

"They sell Xuan paper, we sell soft paper, which is more expensive than Xuan paper!"

"More expensive?" Ruyi asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Yes, let’s do the opposite of them. Making money from men is so boring. What we at Fengyue Tower are best at is making money from women. We’ll make money off them!” the little dumpling said, holding a roll of soft paper.

Cen Ang raised an eyebrow, picked up Huo Xiaolong, and placed him on the table, saying...

"My good daughter is indeed clever. What do you and Madam Hou think?"

"Can."

"Can."

Actually, it doesn't matter if they can't sell them. The Hou family isn't afraid of hoarding them. Even if the Great Swallow can't be sold, they can still go through the grasslands. That's the advantage of location.

"Don't you think they'll lose money selling like that, Long'er?" Hou Xiangxiang asked, following behind the running Huo Xiaolong.

"I'll compensate you." Huo Xiaolong held a praying mantis between two fingers. It was a tender green color, and she planned to put it on her bedside table so it could help catch mosquitoes.

"Then why are they still selling?"

"Because it can drive our paper mill out of business."