"Don't worry, big brother, I can't beat Xiaomai. Besides, I wouldn't want to hit her!" Zhou Quan quickly reassured him.
Yun Chang glanced at him silently and said, "I'm not saying you can't beat her, I'm saying I'm afraid you can't protect her. After all, my sister isn't the kind of lady who never leaves the house."
"But it seems I don't need to worry anymore, she can protect you."
After Yun Chang finished speaking, Li Mai and Zhou Quan exchanged a glance and laughed together.
They decided to hide Zhou Quan's strength unless absolutely necessary; otherwise, Zhou Quan did not intend to reveal his true strength.
After all, it would be too incredible if both of them were to show their full strength.
Especially for men, there are too many people in the martial arts world who want to be number one. If those competitive people in the martial arts world knew that there was a man who was even more powerful, they would only want to find this person to compete with or eliminate him, rather than come to want to become his boss and follow him to eat and drink for free.
People who want to follow powerful figures and freeload off them generally don't aspire to become the strongest in the world.
But it's different when a woman is strong. Generally, those men have a belief: a good man doesn't fight with a woman.
Therefore, even if some people knew that Li Mai was skilled in kung fu, they only thought that others were exaggerating and that they were just trying to protect themselves.
This was also the survival rule that the couple came up with in this world after they both awakened their spiritual veins.
Unfortunately, this world isn't a world of cultivation, nor is it an apocalypse where anything can happen. Their spiritual techniques are unlikely to be used frequently.
Yun Chang smiled. It's good that my sister is more capable than my brother-in-law!
After the food was served, the wine was also served. The innkeeper said that this was a fine wine that the young master had ordered to be served to them, which he said was his own treasured collection, and that they should try it.
After Li Mai and Zhou Quan thanked Lu Qian, Zhou Quan began to serve them drinks, while Li Mai returned to the small table to eat with Zhu Zhu and Zhao Shi.
Qilin, being greedy, squatted down next to Zhuzhu and ate the food they were eating.
When Zhu Zhu first brought the little beauty home, she didn't know what to feed it. Unexpectedly, the little beauty came over while they were eating.
After seeing that it had finished its meal without any problems, the family was relieved, and from then on, they had one more mouth to feed at home.
Moreover, Xiao Piaoliang has a big appetite; she can eat a whole bowl of rice and vegetables, which is enough for one person.
Yun Chang, Chu Yan, and Zhong Hui were also surprised that this cat, which was so ugly, could eat so much.
After they finished eating, Zhou Quan drove the carriage to take them and Zhao Shizhu back home so they could rest, while Li Mai went back to the shop to continue doing business.
Business was still booming in the afternoon. Li Mai stopped work a little early in the evening. Zhou Tao and the embroiderers cut out a lot of clothes in the afternoon. Tomorrow, Zhou Quan will have to ride a horse back to the village to have the embroiderers there make them.
The shop does urgent orders.
After closing the shop, Li Mai summarized the day's total revenue: 188 taels.
There were many orders for pomegranate-colored skirts in the afternoon, so we didn't receive as much cash.
But this turnover made Li Mai very happy.
That's a good start.
After tidying up, the family returned to the mansion. Li Mai wanted to personally go to the kitchen to cook two dishes to find Yun Chang, Chu Yan, and Zhong Hui.
They came from afar to see her, and Li Mai was very grateful to them.
This happy family was unaware of the upheaval that Li Mai's shop opening was causing in the town's business community.
Especially the few families who run the fabric business and the two families who run clothing shops.
Business was already tough enough. In such a big town, the two families were barely making ends meet. If another family joined, how could they possibly continue operating?
It was a rare occasion that the two bosses met up. They had dinner together that evening, drinking and discussing countermeasures.
When the two of them learned that Red Pomegranate was a clothing store, they didn't take it seriously at first. After all, their store had been in this town for more than ten years. Could they really let a newly opened store steal their business?
To see the newly opened shopkeeper make a fool of himself, they each sent someone to squat opposite Red Pomegranate, pretending to set up a stall and do business while recording how many people went into Red Pomegranate that day and how many people came out carrying cloth bags embroidered with their shop's name.
As they were closing up shop in the afternoon, they reported the situation to their respective owners. After reading the report, both owners became restless and quickly arranged to meet over drinks to discuss countermeasures.
Unfortunately, both of them were seasoned businessmen and had been rivals for many years, so they were wary of each other. Even when they met, it was all just empty politeness, and neither of them wanted to be sincere or speak their true feelings to the other.
Therefore, the meeting ended with everyone getting drunk and being helped away to their respective homes.
The next day, Li Mai went to the shop and Lu Qian arrived on time. Only then did Li Mai realize that the owners of the two shops had become wary of her.
But she wasn't afraid; she was afraid they wouldn't react at all!
As the saying goes, "When the tigers fight, the monkey becomes king," and "When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman profits." She planned to do business while observing how they would proceed.
Li Mai absolutely did not believe that they would join forces against him.
After all, the Lu family is now in close contact with her, which is the best way to keep them in check. She believes that anyone with a clear head would not choose to target her; at most, they would try to disrupt their business and try to surpass her in business.
This is also the result that Li Mai hoped for.
Business is interesting because of commercial competition. If a businessman likes to play dirty tricks behind the scenes and use the destruction of others to highlight his own progress and existence, Li Mai will not be polite to him.
If they force her to take action, then it won't just be a matter of affecting their two families' businesses in this town.
Li Mai and Zhou Quan had planned all of this after they bought the shop in town. They considered every possible outcome and deduced what might happen to the other two shops after their shop opened, or what the future would look like if the three shops were in a power struggle.
Therefore, after listening to Lu Qian's words, Li Mai smiled and said, "I guessed it. Let's see what happens. Those two family heads are both experienced businessmen. Yesterday, they were probably just excited because they saw a lot of people coming and going from my place. If they see that there are hardly any people coming and going from my place today, I believe they will immediately calm down."
After listening, Lu Qian gave Li Mai a thumbs up, "To be honest, Li Mai, you are truly the best businesswoman I have ever met."
Li Mai chuckled and glanced at him. "Then where do you place Madam Yu? I remember you once said that Madam Yu was the most business-savvy woman you had ever met."
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