"Four more coins cheaper?" the shopkeeper asked again incredulously.
The waiter nodded. "Yes, that's what the young master said."
The shopkeeper's muddled mind finally cleared up a bit; the Xuanhe Cloth Shop had already lowered the price by thirteen coins.
Their prices were actually four coins lower than Xuanhe Cloth Shop's.
"This, this..." The shopkeeper was so angry that he couldn't think straight, "This is ridiculous! How can we do business like this?"
Qi Shi didn't say it was like this back then. How did it turn out like this now? Not only are we not making money, but we're also losing money.
"No, this absolutely won't do." The shopkeeper waved his hands repeatedly. "Prepare the carriage, I have to go see the young master."
He said that no matter how smart Qi Shi was, he was still only half-knowledgeable.
If things really go according to his plan, wouldn't the Qi family be on the decline?
The waiter's eyes darted around, and his voice suddenly rose considerably.
"Shopkeeper, it's just as the young master said. We want to be four coins cheaper than Xuanhe Cloth Shop."
These words were overheard by the people lingering at the door. "What? Qi Family Cloth Shop is four coins cheaper than Xuanhe Cloth Shop?"
He not only exclaimed in surprise, but also shouted towards Xuanhe Cloth Shop, "Come over here, come over here, it's cheaper here."
The shopkeeper was just about to leave when the people rushing out from the opposite side pulled him back inside.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing? Don't push!" The shopkeeper was outnumbered and no match for the group.
Moreover, he felt that the four-copper-coin discount was inappropriate and that he needed to discuss it with Young Master Qi again.
The shopkeeper looked at the huge crowd in front of him and was so angry that he didn't know what to say.
He turned to the person behind him and asked, "Where is the messenger who just delivered the message?" He couldn't leave now, so he could only ask the messenger to make the trip again. He hoped that Young Master Qi would reconsider.
"Shopkeeper, I haven't seen that shop assistant. He's probably gone to another shop to deliver a message." The person behind him stood on tiptoe and looked around.
"Whose shop assistant is this? He's so unreliable. He left without even saying goodbye," the shopkeeper said, frowning in displeasure.
"I can't remember either." Recently, the Qi family has opened several new shops, and they haven't met everyone there.
Seeing that he couldn't answer anything, the shopkeeper could only glare at him angrily, thinking that none of them were reliable.
Now he only prayed for one thing: that Xuanhe Cloth Shop would follow suit and lower its prices again after learning that the Qi family had already lowered their prices by four coins.
I don't expect Xuanhe Cloth Shop to lower prices as much as the Qi family, even a reduction of one or two coins would ease the shopkeeper's mind.
As soon as news spread from Xuanhe Cloth Shop, the people crowded inside the shop would run to the other side, and he would immediately close the shop door.
This caught Xuanhe Cloth Shop off guard. If they're going to lose money, they should lose it all. As for Young Master Qi, we'll explain that later.
Like him, the people crowded in the shop were also waiting. They had already chosen their cloth, but they were reluctant to pay.
They're just waiting to see Xuanhe Cloth Shop lower its prices again so they can rush back.
Finally, an older woman went out and said, "I'll go ask what's going on. If the cloth at Xuanhe Cloth Shop isn't as cheap as Qi's, I'll buy it from Qi's."
The woman had just stepped out the door when she saw that the Xuanhe Cloth Shop across the street was actually closing down.
"Sister, hurry up and ask what's going on!" someone urged, and the aunt ran a few steps faster.
A moment later, the sound of two people talking could be heard from the other end.
"What? You're not selling fabric today?"
"Yes, our boss said the weather is nice today, so he gave us half a day off so that everyone in our cloth shop can get some rest."
"Oh? Then all those people buying fabric will have to go to the Qi family's place."
"Our boss also said that we were being tactless before. Now that Qi Family Cloth Shop is going to do good deeds, Xuanhe Cloth Shop can't steal the limelight from Qi Family Cloth Shop."
No one cared what was being said over there anymore; everyone turned their heads back and started taking money out of their purses.
"Hey buddy, hurry up and give me the bill. Look at this piece of cloth, it says thirty cash on it. You've lowered the price so much, how much do I have to pay?"
The cloth that costs thirty coins was originally listed as thirty-nine coins by other cloth shops, but the Qi family initially listed it as thirty coins.
However, once Xuanhe Cloth Shop intervened, the price of this cloth dropped by eight coins, and now it only costs twenty-two coins.
It was seventeen coins less than other shops.
That's not the most infuriating thing.
"Oh my, this cloth only costs ten coins, so I can buy more cloth for just two coins. What a stroke of luck! I must take more."
"Erwa, Erwa, quickly call your father to bring me money. Mother wants to buy cloth to make new clothes for you."
One person did this, and those behind him who didn't bring enough money all started yelling for their children and men.
Ever since he heard the Xuanhe Cloth Shop across the street close, the shopkeeper's head had been throbbing. Now, hearing all this chatter in the room, his head felt like it was going to explode.
"Shopkeeper, what should we do? We've sold out of all the cloth on the counter!" A lot of cloth had been sold, but the number of people in the shop had not decreased; in fact, it had increased.
"Tell them we're out of cloth," the shopkeeper said weakly, looking at the empty shelves.
Losing these pieces of cloth is manageable, I can accept it.
But when the guy said that, someone in the crowd suddenly got anxious.
"Who are you kidding? I saw your cloth shop bring several large horse-drawn carts this morning, how could you not have any left?"
"Yes, is it because they don't want to sell to us?"
"If you didn't want to sell, you should have said so earlier. We're buying from Xuanhe Cloth Shop. Aren't you just delaying us?"
"That's right. I didn't eat lunch all day and went back and forth several times just to buy these few bolts of cloth."
Seeing everyone complaining and unwilling to leave, the shopkeeper had no choice but to drag his weak body to appease them.
"Esteemed guests, it's not that we're unwilling to sell to you, but we truly have no more cloth."
“Look at this shelf, the cupboard, the chests, you’ve searched it all clean, there’s not a single piece of cloth left.”
"Moreover, as you all saw just now, those people buying cloth in front of us were all carrying loads full of it; they snatched it all up."
Tower Reading @
The noise finally subsided, and indeed, looking around the cloth shop, there wasn't a single piece of cloth to be seen.
Just when the shopkeeper thought he had convinced everyone, someone else in the crowd spoke up.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com