Chapter 512: Restoring Reputation
What? Hu Xiner's speech made the whole audience silent.
But after a brief silence, everyone became even angrier.
A young scholar shouted, "Don't believe her, everyone. Even a dog can't stop eating shit, so how can Zhao Si stop making dirty money?"
"That's right, Zhao Si is really too much. Even after all this, he still wants to deceive us!"
"Humph, it turns out this woman is in cahoots with Zhao Si. They're all big liars. Come with me and smash his shop!"
…
The crowd was noisy and some people were even eager to rush over and smash the store.
Hu Xiner had just deliberately made such a big noise in order to attract people's attention, but if she continued to keep it a secret, the situation would be out of control.
She said directly: "If you don't believe me, I have my own way to prove it."
Most of the people looked at her with questioning and disgust, and the sounds of ridicule and humiliation were endless.
But some people noticed something was wrong.
"Hey, those guys seem to be carrying comics?" a young man muttered to himself, "What on earth are they doing?"
Behind the crowd, two men dressed as waiters looked at each other and smiled knowingly, and one of them hurriedly ran into the alley.
In that alley, there was a middle-aged man with a long beard. He had a long face and looked very upright, but at this moment he put his ear against the wall, listening to the movement outside, inexplicably looking a little sneaky.
The waiter laughed excitedly and said, "Manager Wu, everything has been ordered. There are so many people who hate Zhao Si. We didn't even try to incite them, and they all rushed over to force Zhao Si to close the shop!"
It turned out that the man in the alley was the owner of the bookstore opposite.
Moreover, the fact that so many people gathered in front of Mu Xin's comic shop was also due to his contribution.
"Hmph, a mere Zhao Si wants to fight me?" Shopkeeper Wu smiled with satisfaction.
When Zhao Si first started selling books a few years ago, he was in this neighborhood.
At that time, the comics had a great impact on the sales of his books and made him hate Zhao Si. He even had someone put a sack around Zhao Si.
If we were to ask who least wanted Zhao Si to get rich, it would definitely be Shopkeeper Wu, who had a grudge against him.
The clerk, wanting to curry favor with the shopkeeper, fanned the flames, saying, "Zhao Si is so ungrateful! He actually opened a comic book shop right next to ours and stole our business! He deserves what he's gotten himself into."
Shopkeeper Wu frowned. "What's going on over there? Why is there no movement?"
The guy scratched his head: "This... is impossible. When I looked at it just now, they were just about to run over and tear off the roof."
Shopkeeper Wu also started his business from scratch and his bookstore is one of the best in Xinzhou City. Being able to build the bookstore to such a large scale, he is certainly no ordinary person and he always thinks a little more than others about everything.
Seeing that something was not right, he ignored the servant and walked out quickly.
Unexpectedly, when he walked to the door of Mu Xin's comics shop, the scene before him was like a bolt from the blue!
Hu Xiner was seen holding a torch high in her hand with a determined look on her face.
There were actually several piles of books beside her. Upon closer inspection, they were all comics, and there were probably thousands of them.
Although these comics are crudely made, the cost is extremely cheap, from ink to paper.
But Zhao Si sold his comics at a high price. A comic book cost five hundred wen, and whenever he released a new product, he would drive up the price to an exorbitant level.
Even if it was an old cartoon, he could still turn white into black. Someone once said that even if Zhao Si was asked to sell half a steamed bun that a beggar had just bitten, he could still coax the beggar into buying it at a high price.
This shows his sales skills.
And the comics now in front of everyone, if sold according to Zhao Si's selling price, would conservatively be worth 500 taels of silver.
Five hundred taels can buy a nice house in a prosperous area of Qingzhou, and can also support the expenses of an ordinary family for several years.
Those from poor families stared blankly, while those with bad intentions were inevitably tempted and plotted how to steal these comics.
Even Shopkeeper Wu was deeply moved when he saw those comics.
He secretly thought that, in fact, Zhao Si was not hopelessly bad. As the saying goes, there is no business without fraud. Zhao Si's fraud just proved that this boy was very suitable for doing business.
If Mu Xin's comic book shop really went bankrupt, Manager Wu would be willing to recruit Zhao Si. If he could recruit such a talent, wouldn't he be able to just lie down and count money for the rest of his life?
While Shopkeeper Wu was imagining his wonderful life in the future, Hu Xiner made another move.
While the crowd was stunned by the mountain of books, she asked her servants to bring a lot of straw and kerosene, and then she set the mountain of books on fire with her own hands.
There was a sudden cry of surprise from the crowd: "What are you doing?"
"My God, that's all money."
Those who were cynical just now and scolded Zhao Si for only caring about money were now all staring with wide eyes because the mountain of books was burned.
Many people showed heartbroken expressions on their faces, and they wanted to stop Hu Xiner, the spendthrift woman, immediately and take the books home themselves.
She doesn't want this book, but they really need it!
In fact, except for those literati, most of the ordinary people who came to watch the fun were money-loving. They scolded Zhao Si only because they felt that Zhao Si's behavior violated their interests.
Who doesn't have a few ignorant children at home? What if these expensive and lousy books lead them astray?
but……
"It would be such a shame to burn these books, wouldn't it?" Zhao Si's lips trembled, and his heart ached so much that it was almost bleeding. If Hu Xin'er hadn't asked someone to hold his hands down in advance, he might have jumped into the fire to save the books.
Hu Xin'er clapped her hands and laughed, "A thousand rotten books brought the shop back to life. Isn't that exciting?"
Zhao Si watched his money being burned, tears welling up in his eyes. "What if our shop can't be opened?"
Hu Xin'er shook her head confidently: "That's absolutely impossible. If you don't believe me, just look outside!"
Zhao Si followed her gaze and saw that everyone was standing there in a daze, watching the mountain of books being engulfed by flames.
At this moment, they all forgot their purpose and also forgot that they originally wanted to insult the comic book shop.
In the hearts of ordinary people, there is usually a very simple love of money. Even those who are indifferent to fame and fortune have the most basic value judgment on things.
That is why they were shocked when they saw the books burning.
Hu Xin'er looked at her masterpiece and couldn't help but feel a little proud: "This is our sincerity!"
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