56 The Target of Public Criticism
◎People gather for profit, and disperse when the profit is gone.◎
In addition to cooking, Song Jinyi's favorite thing to do is to do accounting. She enjoys fiddling with the abacus and writing down the numbers one by one in the account book.
When she looked up, she caught a glimpse of Li He, who was sitting in front of her, looking out the door, pouting and mumbling something from time to time.
She continued to count the money and asked casually, "What's wrong? Who offended you again?"
When Li He heard Song Jinyi's question, she immediately said, "Sister, Xie Wuyang goes out to play every day, and you don't pay attention to him."
Song Jinyi giggled twice. It turned out to be because of this. "It's already closed now. It's okay for him to go out for a walk."
Although she said that, she wrote a few words, then thought again, Li He was indeed right, Xie Wuyang had no relatives or friends in Yunzhou City, and he had never been seen to travel around before.
Now he goes out every few days, which inevitably makes her think too much.
Before, because the store was busy, he was a man, not short in stature, and was wrapped up tightly in the winter, no one would think of causing trouble for him, so she didn't detain him much.
Now that Li He mentioned this, she really had to take care of it.
"Okay, when he comes back I'll torture him and ask him what he's been doing."
When Li He heard that she was going to cause trouble for Xie Wuyang, she didn't mention it.
But before she could rest for two days, something else happened. She couldn't find a suitable opportunity and had to put the matter behind her.
Not far from Songji Sweet Water Shop, a new sweet water shop opened opposite. Song Jinyi and Xu Ruolan had taken a look around before, and the products sold there were very similar to those in Songji Sweet Water Shop.
And the price...seems to be intentionally slightly lower than her Songji Sweet Soup Shop.
For example, Song Jinyi priced the hawthorn cake at 15 wen per piece, while the other party charged 14 wen; she priced the tangerine peel and wolfberry tea at 8 wen, while the other party charged 7 wen.
All products are one cent cheaper than hers.
Although it is only one penny, there will always be people who care about the difference and run to his house.
This newly opened sweet water shop almost came over to her and challenged her, saying, "I want to go against you."
After getting a share of the pie from the other side, Song Jinyi roughly calculated that in just a few days, her turnover dropped by fifty cents compared to before.
She bent her fingers, and her knuckles tapped lightly on the table, making a regular sound. It would be bad for her to continue wasting time like this.
"Chestnuts for sale, fresh chestnuts, hot chestnuts..."
Li He heard someone selling hot chestnuts outside, so she went to check it out and saw steam rising from the basket, along with the aroma of chestnuts. She swallowed her saliva, turned around, took Song Jinyi in her arms, and gently shook her arm, coquettishly saying to her, "Sister, I want to eat that."
Song Jinyi nodded happily because she wanted to eat too.
The chestnut vendor was very enthusiastic and took the initiative to open two boxes for Song Jinyi and the others to try. The taste was indeed good.
As she was paying, she caught a glimpse of a group of people from afar. One of them left a deep impression on her. It was Mr. Zhou, the owner of the sweet water shop across the street.
There were several people following him, all of whom looked very familiar. Although she couldn't remember their names, she remembered that they seemed to be the owners of the tea shops and sweet water shops on this street.
After paying, Song Jinyi took a few chestnuts from the bag and gave the rest to Li He, sending her away: "Take it back and eat it first. Don't forget to give it to your sister Ruolan to try too."
Song Jinyi followed the direction of the group of people. They were not walking fast, so Song Jinyi jogged for a while and caught up with them, following them slowly from behind.
Seeing them turn around and enter a teahouse, she didn't dare to follow them in.
But she also lived here and knew that there was a narrow passage behind the building, so she went around through the narrow passage and groped her way to the teahouse.
Stopping at the narrow passage behind the teahouse, she looked up. The teahouse had three floors, and she didn't know which floor they were on. If they were on the second or third floor, wouldn't it be a waste of time?
Forget it!
I don’t know why she followed me on impulse just now, just go back.
As she was walking back, she heard a voice coming from the window on the first floor. She couldn't tell who the voice was, but she could tell that the content seemed to be related to her.
Song Jinyi stood on tiptoe and looked inside by the window. There were several pots of plants decorated on the window, which just blocked Song Jinyi's head, making it convenient for her to eavesdrop.
She looked carefully and found that it was indeed that group of people.
In the teahouse box.
There were seven of them, sitting around a round table, talking incessantly.
"That Shopkeeper Song is really going too far."
Song Jinyi, who was eavesdropping outside, thought: Although her surname is Song, she seems to have no grudges against them, so this is definitely not about me.
Who knew someone would respond, "I don't know where this country bumpkin came from, he doesn't know his place, he's completely clueless, he came here to open a shop and didn't even come to visit us first."
Song Jinyi thought to herself: She knew that to open a shop she had to pay a visit to the boss, and she had asked him before, so he was definitely not talking about her.
Someone then chimed in, "Yes, this 'Song's Sweet Water Shop' is quite ignorant. The prices for tea and water sold in this bookstore are all agreed upon by everyone. They set it so low, isn't that disrupting the market?"
Song Jinyi heard the name of her store: "..."
Song Jinyi complained inwardly: "It's up to each family to set their own prices. It's obvious that you are too mean. The ingredients are not much better than hers, and some of the taste is not as good as hers.
The price is nearly double hers. Isn't it just because this place is close to Nanling Academy and there are many students here, so they have a lot of money and are stupid?"
In their eyes, the good quality and low price became Song Jinyi's fault.
"Brother Qian, you're right. Since she opened this shop, my profits for the year have dropped by nearly one-third. Everything else is fine, but the main reason is her pricing, which has caused us to lose a lot of customers."
This one said, "This time, with the joint efforts of several of us, I'm sure we can kick her out of the Book City Square."
Song Jinyi quietly eavesdropped outside for a while, and after thinking about it for a while, she finally realized that the sweet soup shop opposite was not run by just one person. Boss Zhou was just a front, and the real boss was all of them.
No wonder they were able to engage in a price war with her. It turns out there are so many financial backers supporting her.
If she continues like this, she will definitely not be able to hold on in the end.
Boss Zhou then said, "Laba Festival is coming in a few days, and I will hold a small event in the name of the festival.
If you all come and show your support, it will be a bustling place, with people from all over the street coming over. This will help spread the word about our shop, and since our prices are cheaper than hers, we will definitely be able to outperform Song's Sweet Water Shop."
After hearing this, Song Jinyi immediately felt that there was more to it than just that. This trick was just for publicity purposes. Judging from his reaction, he was confident of victory. She guessed that he must have a backup plan.
As expected, they then heard them say, "What Brother Zhou just said can create momentum, but it can't force the other party into a desperate situation."
"Of course, I also invited external help, yes..."
When Boss Zhou got to this point, perhaps because he was naturally cautious or for some other reason, his voice gradually became quieter, and Song Jinyi didn't hear a single word of the key words that followed.
She stared at Shopkeeper Zhou intently, trying to get the answer from his lip movements, but found nothing. Her fingers unconsciously pinched the leaves of the green ivy.
The leaves swayed slightly, attracting other people's attention. Song Jinyi cursed inwardly and retreated without stopping for a moment.
Boss Zhou looked towards the window and saw that there was no one there. He probably thought that the wind was blowing the leaves around.
They continued the conversation, becoming more and more excited, imagining that after Song Jinyi left, the customers she attracted from outside the market would naturally flow to them.
******
After Song Jinyi returned home, she felt anxious but didn't know who to talk to.
Xu Ruolan is a woman with a heavy heart. If she tells anyone, she will probably not be able to sleep well for several days. Not to mention the two idiots Li He and Xie Wuyang. One is heartless and the other doesn't understand much of this.
At night, what she had seen during the day kept replaying in her mind, and she felt increasingly restless, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
Li He, who was sleeping on her right, had a heavy sleep and began to breathe regularly as soon as he lay down on the bed.
Song Jinyi called her softly twice, but seeing that she didn't move at all, she couldn't help but feel envious.
She tucked the quilt up around Li He, chuckled softly, and murmured, "That's great. It's great to be so heartless."
She changed her position and prepared to go back to sleep, but when she turned her head, she found that Xu Ruolan was not asleep either.
Xu Ruolan saw everything she did just now and keenly noticed that she looked sad when she came back today. She must have been thinking about something and couldn't sleep, so she asked about what happened during the day.
Song Jinyi changed the subject and said, "Chinese New Year is coming soon. The four of us can't even afford a half-new set of clothes. Why don't we go to a clothing store and buy some new clothes then?"
Xu Ruolan asked, "Why spend that money?"
She was the only one here who knew that Song Jinyi owed one thousand taels for the bet, and she also knew best how difficult it was for them to save up one thousand taels.
On weekdays, Song Jinyi has always been frugal and rarely spends money outside, so Xu Ruolan doesn't want her to spend more money on this.
Song Jinyi comforted her, "Business is so good, I should give you a bonus, but because of my bet, I have to let you down. I can only buy you a few pieces of clothing as New Year's gifts."
Xu Ruolan patted her hands and whispered, "We are not only friends now, but also family. Why bother about these things?"
Song Jinyi was very happy that Xu Ruolan cared about her like this, but at the same time, she also regarded Xu Ruolan and the others as friends and family, and was willing to consider them.
No matter what, I have to buy everyone a set of winter clothes.
Song Jinyi thought with a sour nose, fortunately she didn't know that her bet had increased from one thousand taels to six thousand taels, otherwise, in order to save money, she would not only not buy clothes, but also not eat at all.
"Go to sleep," Song Jinyi lay flat on the bed, looking at the dark ceiling.
This time she has to face a siege by a group of people.
That group of seven people had no blood relationship or kinship, but were tied together because of their interests.
Unlike them, they treat each other as family members and consider each other.
People gather for profit and disperse when the profit is gone.
The relationship of interest is the strongest yet most fragile relationship. She suddenly thought: If she could break this relationship, the problem would naturally be solved.
【Author’s words】
I want to collect "I Wish to Be a Twin Branch with You"
Zheng Guiyan was born in a humble family and has always been cautious and law-abiding. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was that he loved Lu Min, a new noble in the court and an important minister of the emperor.
Knowing the huge difference between them, she kept her love hidden deep in her heart. Until the day of the Queen Mother's birthday banquet, she and Lu Min had an affair by chance, and Lu Min was forced to marry her.
Everyone said she was scheming and was willing to destroy her own innocence in order to get close to Lu Min.
The mistress of the Lu family regarded her as a despicable person who would do anything to achieve her goals, and her sister-in-law regarded her as a bad woman who broke up her brother's good marriage, and made things difficult for her many times.
She had nothing to argue about, so she just behaved herself, abided by the code of conduct for women, was filial to her parents-in-law, managed the household business, and treated Lu Min with respect, and their days passed in a dull and peaceful manner.
******
Lu Min was a beautiful woman with a jade-like complexion and golden features. Not only was he born into a noble family, he was also the newly crowned top scholar with outstanding abilities and a bright future. Even the princess favored him. Everyone thought he would marry the princess, but unexpectedly he married a concubine's daughter of humble birth.
Lu Min disliked his first wife because of the drugging incident at his birthday party, but as they got along, he found that she was gentle, diligent, docile, and committed to her duties. He gradually let go of the grudge and was willing to live a simple life with her.
Until one day, she handed over the divorce papers——
Later, he found out that the drugging incident was a misunderstanding.
Later, he discovered that his wife, whose eyes were once filled with admiration, now only had indifference and alienation in them.
Later, he realized that his wife was so capable that she could make his mother and sister dependent on her.
…
Lu Min had a smooth life. He studied, took the imperial examinations, investigated cases... He never failed in his studies, but he suffered a crushing defeat in love.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
