Li Shoucai quickly led the villagers to pour the silver frost charcoal onto a tarpaulin, allowing buyers to see the quality of the charcoal at a glance.
"How dare you be so ignorant of the rules!"
"Do you still want to sell charcoal here?!"
A short, stout man stepped forward and shouted at Lu Qiqi and the others.
Li Dalang couldn't stand people like this. They were all hard-working charcoal sellers, and it was unreasonable for the price of their high-quality charcoal to be lowered by inferior charcoal.
Li Dalang said, "You sell your charcoal, what business is it of ours how we sell it!"
The short, stout man scoffed at Li Dalang's words, saying, "This is how it's always been for charcoal sellers here. Buyers know the rules of this business. It's none of your business to cause trouble here!"
Several farmers who sold charcoal behind the short, stout man stood up to support him.
Not to be outdone, Li Dalang's side also stood up, encouraging and boosting the morale of the villagers behind him.
Lu Qiqi had anticipated that her actions would affect the charcoal vendors across the street, but she hadn't expected them to be so self-righteous, treating the chaotic charcoal market as the norm.
This reminded Lu Qiqi of a time when she bought fresh fruit and found two large bottles of ice water inside, yet she still had to pay the price of the fruit.
It was learned that the shop owner was also being manipulated in this way by his/her supplier. This was the case throughout the entire market, and it had been going on for years without being able to be changed. He/she could only go with the flow.
The thought of this made Lu Qiqi feel extremely frustrated. She was determined to change this unhealthy market here!
Lu Qiqi said, "You think you're right to sell inferior goods as superior ones? I've never seen such unscrupulous people selling things!"
The short, stout man's face darkened immediately after Lu Qiqi insulted him. "You little brat, if you dare to talk nonsense again, I'll slap you to death!"
"You dare!"
"You even dare to hit girls, you're inhuman!"
Upon hearing the short, fat man's curses, Li Changlong and Li Shoucai immediately stepped forward to protect Lu Qiqi behind them, staring intently at the short, fat man like eagles protecting their chicks.
Lu Qiqi continued, "You hide black charcoal under white charcoal and sell it at a low price, making it impossible for high-quality white charcoal to be sold. You have no choice but to learn from your methods, which is disrupting the market."
"We're simply dumping all the white charcoal out to sell; we're just trying to fix the unhealthy market. How does that make us ignorant of the rules?"
Unable to win the argument with Lu Qiqi, the short, stout man tried to rush over and attack her. He thought that once he beat these arrogant people into submission, they would dare to spout nonsense here again!
Lu Qiqi could also see the other party's motive for about to make a move, and whispered worriedly, "They're going to make a move."
Li Changlong and Li Shoucai could easily guess the little schemes of these monkeys. They stared at each other with serious expressions, determined not to lose face and to let the other party know that they were not to be trifled with!
Just as tensions were about to rise, a strong voice rang out from the alley, "Well said! You have guts! You have courage!"
Both sides turned to look into the alley, where they saw a middle-aged man dressed in black approaching with two servants.
"Manager Chen!" The short, stout man was the first to react; this was one of their biggest clients.
Lu Qiqi recognized the person as Manager Chen, who had been drinking tea at Zhu Ji's residence.
Manager Chen walked straight past the short, fat man who was trying to curry favor with him, and stopped in front of Lu Qiqi and the others' charcoal stall.
Manager Chen, "How much is your charcoal?"
Lu Qiqi didn't know if Steward Chen still remembered her, so she said directly, "Four hundred coins for fifty catties, and three coins for each basket."
Manager Chen remained silent, but instead sized up Lu Qiqi.
Lu Qiqi thought he also thought it was too expensive, but even if he did, she didn't plan to lower the price.
She places orders based on what she can accept, and buys mixed charcoal from competitors if she can't accept it. These are all choices made after weighing the pros and cons. She would never do anything to elevate herself or belittle others in front of customers.
Seeing that Manager Chen looked somewhat hesitant, the short, stout man immediately stepped forward and said with a smile, "Manager Chen, I'm Little Fatty. You bought charcoal from me last year, remember?"
Manager Chen frowned slightly as his thoughts were interrupted, and looked at the short, stout man.
"Do you need another cartload of charcoal this year? I know the rules, don't worry!" the short, stout man continued with a fawning smile.
Now Lu Qiqi finally understood. It turned out that the charcoal sellers dared not act recklessly towards large customers who bought large quantities of charcoal, and would deliver the best charcoal to their homes on a chosen day.
Customers who buy in small quantities have no choice but to buy a mixture of black and white charcoal.
This two-way sale of goods left even a modern person like Lu Qiqi in awe.
"You don't know the rules!" Manager Chen said, and two servants behind him dragged the short, fat man away, leaving the man with only a long, shuddering sigh.
Once the troublesome person was dragged away, Steward Chen said, "Your charcoal is quite good. Send me two cartloads to your residence."
This was their first order for selling charcoal at their stall, and they never expected it to be such a big order. Lu Qiqi and the villagers were overjoyed.
Lu Qiqi smiled and said, "Thank you, Steward Chen. I will have someone deliver the charcoal to your residence right away."
"I should be thanking you!" said Steward Chen.
Li Changlong couldn't understand why Manager Chen was thanking Lu Qiqi. They were the ones buying charcoal from them; who ever sees a buyer thanking a seller?!
This was the first time he had ever seen anything like it in his life!
Lu Qiqi knew why Steward Chen was thanking her, and immediately asked with a smile, "Has the prescription been verified?"
"Not only was it verified, but it also solved a huge problem for me," Chen Guan said with a smile as he thought about how the matter was perfectly resolved. "This is all thanks to your method for preventing swine fever, otherwise I would have lost everything this year!"
Lu Qiqi only learned from Manager Chen that it wasn't just Wu Wei's pig farm that had experienced swine fever; Chen's pig farm also showed signs of developing the disease.
Fortunately, Lu Qiqi's prescription for preventing swine fever was timely, which allowed Chen's pig farm to reduce its losses, with only a few pigs dying.
This is nothing to a pig farm with thousands of pigs!
Upon hearing this, Lu Qiqi smiled and said, "It's good that it works. I hope the Chen family will not forget their original agreement and will promote the prescription for free so that the people of Dajin will no longer be affected by swine fever and develop lesions."
“Of course,” Manager Chen readily agreed. “I never expected that a young girl like you would have such abilities. It’s truly impressive!”
Fortunately, he did not refuse Lu Qiqi's prescription back then, otherwise he would have regretted it for the rest of his life!
"I have already reported your prescription to the higher authorities, and I will surely be able to present the generous gift soon!" After saying this, Steward Chen stopped exchanging pleasantries with Lu Qiqi and returned to his residence with his servant and the villagers who had brought charcoal.
Lu Qiqi did not refuse. It was her own achievement, so receiving a generous reward was naturally a good thing.
Who would complain about having too much money? She certainly wouldn't!
Lu Qiqi actually hoped that she could become so rich that she would become the richest person in the world, so that her trip would not have been in vain!
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