The situation was tricky, but Flander was still unwilling to bow down to the Duanmu family so easily. It was the same old Morgan's logic: his reluctance to bow had nothing to do with dignity, but rather with authority. (Note: The last sentence appears to be a separate, unrelated comment and is not translated.)
Bowing one's head means compromise, and compromise inevitably leads to a loss of authority. Flanders did not want to lose his authority.
He felt that things could still be salvaged.
As the landowner of themagniient 1e, he naturally possessed basic information about all the shop owners on this land. In fact, this information was something that had to be handed over during the handover process, just like how ancient monarchs of fallen kingdoms would always offer up their country's household registration and geographical data to the enemy when their country was destroyed.
Flander immediately ordered his subordinates to contact all the merchants and owners in Themagniient, especially the iconic ones: John Hanokter's large shopping mall and Bue11ati's jewelry store had to open! And carriages too—is Themagniient still Themagniient without carriages?
The subordinates readily agreed and got to work using the contact information on the document.
Watching his subordinates leave to carry out their orders, Flander had a slight idea of what was going on. There were far more than a few dozen or a few hundred businesses on this street. He didn't believe they were really a united front. Even Morgan didn't have such strong team cohesion! Flander didn't believe that Duanmu Ci could hold everyone's hearts in his hands.
The human heart is the most complex and fickle thing. Flanders had seen many people swear undying loyalty to him, and he genuinely believed that those people were truly sincere when they uttered those words. But what happened afterward? Ultimately, things would change. Ancient emperors, as they forged their empires amidst thorns, would also swear oaths of "unwavering loyalty in life and death" to their loyal subjects, but the outcome was cruel; whoever uttered those words to the emperor died the quickest.
Flander believed he could always find a loophole. If even one person succumbed to the Morgan family's temptations and opened the shop, Flander was confident he could exploit that weakness to dismantle the Duanmu family's scheme. During his youth at Columbia University, Flander had heard a Chinese classmate say, "A thousand-mile dike is breached by an ant hole." At the time, he dismissed the saying, only realizing its value after graduation and through a series of trials. He had never forgotten it since.
What Flander is trying to do now is to dig a tiny hole in the dike that Duanmu Ci has meticulously built. Really, it's not a big deal, just a tiny opening. With that tiny opening, he can instantly expand it countless times, then completely destroy the dike and let his overwhelming floodwaters engulf them all!
In this way, he might even turn misfortune into blessing, successfully showcasing his skills and abilities, making his position as stable as Mount Tai, to the point that even his old father could not easily shake him!
...
...
Duanmu Ci was strolling along the streets of themagniient, as usual, holding a cup of hot milk tea. He would occasionally lower his head and take a small sip, feeling the warm liquid flow down his throat – it was very comforting. He had bought this milk tea outside; they didn't sell it here because all the milk tea shops were closed.
"Won't this cause panic?" the old butler asked with some concern, following behind Duanmu Ci.
"No, they won't." Duanmu Ci shook the straw a couple of times, the milk tea powder wasn't completely dissolved. "Although they care about this street, it's not to the point where they can't live without it. They're just a little panicked right now, which is normal. Any normal person would react like that when something they're used to suddenly disappears. Maybe after the initial panic passes, they'll find it novel and fun. You know, this is a rare experience."
Looking at the passersby who were clearly curious, the old butler had to admit that his master might be right. "People's hearts are fickle! But doing this might not be good for us either. It's like hurting the enemy a thousand while losing eight hundred of our own. All the shops on this street belong to us. If they don't open for a day, we lose money every day, and it's not a small amount!"
"Besides, those managers and employees are on paid leave, and we still have to pay their salaries, and maybe even benefits and bonuses! But those are small things. The real money is in the turnover! I suppose you don't really know how much the daily and hourly turnover is on this street, do you? Hehe, if you knew, you probably wouldn't be able to drink milk tea."
The old butler even gave a mischievous laugh, just like he did when he was a child.
Duanmu Ci took another sip of milk tea. "Before making this decision, I had already checked the situation here. The numbers are alarming! But although the losses are huge, it's not our money that's being lost, so we don't need to feel bad about it."
"It's not our money?" the old butler asked, puzzled. "These shops all belong to our family. Whether they make a profit or a loss, it's our money. How could the loss be someone else's?"
Duanmu Ci laughed, "Anzhi, have you forgotten? This time, Morgan didn't just target my Duanmu family at the Rare Club. The other families didn't escape either; they were all within the range of Morgan's big ship. They didn't have the ability or the courage to face the arrows directly, so they wanted to rely on our shield to protect themselves. That's fine; seeking advantage and avoiding harm is understandable. But there's no such thing as a free lunch. You're not my relative; why should I give you anything for free?"
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