Chapter 81
Whether the Wu family was behind this was just Ye Jia's suspicion, with no evidence. But it wouldn't be too difficult to investigate, considering Dongxiang Town is so small and there are only a few workshops. Yu followed that direction and, sure enough, found a workshop in the alley Qiuyue mentioned.
This workshop not only makes scented soap, but mainly produces lip balm and scented powder.
Most of the rouge and powder sold in the town's rouge shops come from this shop. In fact, it's not just this shop; the rouge and powder sold in neighboring Libei Town and Luosang Town also come from here. This workshop predates Ye Jia's fragrant soap workshop by countless years. It's so well hidden that people outside the business might not even know about it.
There were no neighbors around, so it was difficult to ask around. Yu hesitated for a moment, then went to the door and knocked.
The young man at the gate opened the door but did not let anyone in immediately. Instead, he looked at Yu and confirmed that she was a stranger before asking her what she wanted.
"Do you have any soap here?"
Yu rarely left the Zhou family's house and was not a very ostentatious person, so not many people in the town knew her.
The young man was immediately wary when he heard that someone was coming to inquire about the source of scented soap. He first looked Yu up and down, weighing her in his mind. He knew the buyers from the major rouge shops in town, and it was rare for someone he didn't know to come here to buy. In addition, his boss had recently specifically instructed that if a woman came to inquire about his business, she must not be allowed in. "Which shop do you own, Madam? How did you find out about our workshop?"
The young man didn't deny it, and Yu knew it was there. She immediately pretended to be a stranger and said that he was introduced by someone.
"Who introduced me?" The young man didn't know why his master was so alert, but the most important thing for a servant was to obey orders. "My workshop is not easy to find. If you don't have someone you know to lead you here, you may not be able to find the door."
Yu casually chatted with the owner of a shop, who happened to be an acquaintance.
The young man thought what Yu said was reasonable and logical, and after thinking for a moment, he let Yu in.
The workshop looked modest from the outside, but once the door was opened, it revealed a vast expanse of space. The front and back yards covered two to three mu, divided into sections for making lip balm, rouge, and perfume. The scented soap, presumably a recent invention, was now being produced in a small, empty room.
Making scented soap requires a certain technique and recipe, so the young man naturally wouldn't take anyone inside to see how it's made. He only took Yu to the room where the scented soap was drying, and then asked her how much stock she wanted to buy. "Although the scented soap in our workshop isn't as fragrant as the ones in the big rouge shop, it's just as effective. It even cleans things better than the scented ones. Many people who have used our scented soap say it's great! Plus, our boss is generous and doesn't want to make money from those unscrupulous practices. Just because it lacks a little fragrance, we'll sell it at half the price. You won't find such good stuff anywhere else..."
Yu listened without showing any emotion, answering vaguely. Finally, she bought three kinds of food made by the workshop for ten yuan each before leaving.
The young man was a little skeptical that she only bought so little, but Yu insisted that she'd tried it first to see if the results were as good as the workshop claimed. If they were, she'd buy a larger quantity next time.
After fooling the young man, Yu sent someone to watch at the door of the workshop.
Actually, it was easy to find out. As long as they had done something, there was no fear of not being able to find out. The man had been squatting here for a few days. Yu called him over and asked, and sure enough, the owner of the workshop was surnamed Wu.
How many families with the surname Wu are there in this town? Even fewer have the capital to open a workshop. It's obvious who it is.
Yu's face was gloomy. She didn't stay long and went back to Zhou's house after leaving the workshop.
…
The Wu family came again early in the morning, and Wu En and his son came in person.
Yesterday's meeting with Yu Shi didn't go over well. Yu Shi's temperament is both soft and resolute. Back in the village, she couldn't get the upper hand against the shrewd and unreasonable women, but she's quite adept at dealing with these pedantic scholars. Perhaps it's Yu Shi's difficult attitude that has made the Wu family uneasy, so they've come today with gifts to apologize.
Wu En was sincere and said that the Wu family would definitely provide the Zhou family with the rice seedlings they needed. The eldest son's earlier concern was simply that his family didn't have enough land to plant, not that he meant to offend.
Wu Min, who was standing next to Wu En, also looked like he knew he was wrong that day, which made Ye Jia feel embarrassed to show his displeasure to her face.
Wu En and his son were incredibly humble, their repeated visits to explain themselves and their gifts. Any retaliation from the Zhou family over the mere matter of borrowing rice seedlings would have seemed petty and hypocritical. Petty, of course, refers to the Zhou family's rage at being denied what they wanted from the Wu family. Hypocritical, of course, refers to Zhou Jingchen's recent efforts, building the fortress and patrolling the border—all for show, for the people.
Ye Jia would not originally hold a grudge against the Wu family for the seedling incident, but he was a little annoyed by being pestered by them, so he naturally sent them away.
When Yu came back from outside, she happened to see the Wu family members had already left the yard and were about to get on the carriage. The mule carriage passed them outside the courtyard gate. Yu did not even lift the curtain to greet the Wu family members, but asked Old Man Sun to drive the mule carriage into the yard.
Wu Min sat in the car, her face dark as ink. "Isn't it enough for our family to have achieved this? What else can the Zhou family do?"
Wu En glanced at his energetic eldest son and sighed, "This isn't a matter of whether it's enough or not. It's that you shouldn't have said those unnecessary things in the first place. If you hadn't said that, the Zhou family's inability to find rice seedlings would be due to their own incompetence. You had to go and annoy them, leaving us in a dilemma. This incident should serve as a warning to you. Never act on impulse next time."
"Dad, does our family really need to be so cautious? What kind of family is ours and what kind of family is the Zhou family? If we're too polite, others might think we're too timid and insecure!"
The Wu family, having been able to maintain their position as the richest family in Dongxiang Town for so many years, holding so many untouchable assets, naturally possessed considerable capital. However, the Wu family considered themselves to be no bully, and considered themselves a noble class among the wealthy. They wouldn't seek help from a patron unless it was too late.
Wu En glanced at him and warned, "Your sister's life in the Protectorate is not as glamorous as it seems. The second young master is only three years old, and the fourth young lady is only two months old. There are many troubles in the Wu family, and no one can get away with it."
As soon as he said this, Wu Min choked.
The car was quiet for a long time.
After the carriage had gone a long way, Wu En finally remembered to ask, "Have you found out where this Zhou family came from?"
The Wu family had long since learned that Zhou Jingchen's family was exiled. Even before Ye Jia signed the contract with Young Master Wu for the supply of goods, Young Master Wu had already sent someone to investigate the Zhou family's background. Businesspeople are like this: they need to know the inside story before deciding how to approach people.
It was for this reason that Young Master Wu, having previously learned that the Zhou family was poor, without any family members, money, or influence, that they had come up with the idea of taking possession of the person's recipe. They were thinking that even a convicted official, unable to rise above his power, would not dare to fight the powerful landowners of the Wu family. Otherwise, the Wu family wouldn't have cared about this matter at all. And as for the minor matters in the workshop, if the Zhou family had remained the same, they would have ignored Ye Jia's insistence on coming to their doorstep.
"We haven't found out yet." The person sent out to investigate hadn't returned yet. "But judging from their appearance, they don't look like the descendants of a noble family."
Wu En glanced at him and said nothing: "Wait for news from Luntai when you go back."
Not to mention the Wu family's cautious approach, Yu returned home fuming with rage. Entering Ye Jia's room, she told him what she had discovered. Ye Jia's previous speculation was just speculation, without any evidence. Yu placed the samples on the table, arranging the three types. The pungent smell of varying intensity emanated, and the two's expressions changed.
"You made three more kinds?" Ye Jia took some and smelled them. It should be because the proportions were different, so the degree of pungent smell was different.
Yu nodded. "I've tried them all. This one has the strongest smell, and it's better than the other two. This one has the lightest smell, and it's really astringent, but it washes things really well."
Ye Jia went outside to fetch a basin of water and tried all three. It was indeed as Yu said.
Seeing Ye Jia sitting there in silence after using the medicine, his eyelids drooped, he wondered what he was thinking. She felt anxious, "Jia Niang, how do you think we should handle this? Let's not even mention that there's no evidence that the Wu family stole our recipe. After all, the formula is somewhat different. Even if there's evidence that they stole it, can we still ask Yun An to send troops to shut down his workshop?"
In ancient times, there was no comprehensive patent protection law. Besides, the scented soap made by the Wu family was not exactly the same as that made by the Zhou family. His scented soap obviously smelled bad, so imitation was not considered stealing.
To be honest, it is impractical to try to restrict the Wu family's behavior through formal litigation. The laws of Dayan do not cover this issue.
Ye Jia understood this principle, and Yu Shi understood it even better. While the current social ethos of "valuing righteousness over profit" is commonplace, this ethos only exists in the more civilized Central Plains. This is the northwest region beyond the Great Wall, where most people struggle to make ends meet, let alone care about such matters. If the Wu family were to turn the tables and accuse the Zhou family of bullying and accusing their neighbor of stealing an axe, the Zhou family would be the ones to suffer.
"Are we just going to let the Wu family bully us?" Yu was so angry that her heart ached. "Our family is no longer in the situation where we can be bullied by others. Yun'an has reached this point, so we have to show our respect!"
Ye Jia didn't say anything, but lowered his head in thought.
After a moment, he looked up and asked, "Did the Wu family take over our fragrant soap this month?"
"...I took it." Yu was stunned and said.
"What about Pear Blossom Lane?"
"There hasn't been any mail this month." Lihua Lane's scented soap delivery schedule was irregular. Most of the time, they would send a letter requesting more goods only after they ran out. Sometimes it would be a month, sometimes three. Ye Jia had just delivered a batch to Lihua Lane in early February, so it was normal that they hadn't come to inquire about it this month. Yu Shi paused and asked, "What's wrong, Jia Niang? Did you think of something?"
The Wu family had been receiving goods from the Zhou family every month, and there hadn't been any major disturbances in Lihua Lane. After Ye Jia asked these two questions, Yu Shi calmed down. If the Wu family had continued to receive goods from the Zhou family, and Lihua Lane had continued to request goods, the Zhou family wouldn't have suffered much loss.
"Then you are wrong, mother."
Ye Jia laughed when he heard Yu's excusing herself like this. "How big is Dongxiang Town? How many people are there in the four or five villages under it? Our fragrant soap isn't aimed at the Dongxiang Town market. Our long-term vision is the Western Trade Route and the entire northwest. Not just the Beiting Protectorate, but also the Anxi Protectorate below it, and even further east... Once our fragrant soap becomes famous and the pie gets bigger, we can accumulate enough capital. It's too shortsighted to limit our vision to Dongxiang Town."
Yu didn't expect Ye Jia to think so far ahead. How could a small soap business become so big?
Ye Jia guessed what Yu was thinking without even asking. Regardless of the size of an item, a good one with a strong reputation can always create miracles. In later generations, a carbonated beverage from some countries became a global sensation, demonstrating that size is not everything.
"But we can't let the Wu family get away with it so easily." This is what Ye Jia learned from the rice seedling incident. If the Wu family is not taught a lesson from the beginning, others will think that the Zhou family is weak and everyone will come forward to step on them.
"What is Jia Niang going to do?"
The Wu family was unkind, so Ye Jia planned to be unjust. Her eyes rolled around, and she leaned over to Yu's ear and whispered something quickly.
As Yu listened, her frown relaxed. "I'll find someone to arrange it right away."
About a month later, a rumor suddenly spread in the market.
While it's said that pungent soap is fine for washing clothes, it's not meant to be used directly on your face, body, or hair, especially the strongest-smelling kind. While it might seem clean, excessive use can actually damage your skin. For women with more delicate skin than others, excessive use can lead to peeling and redness. Over time, it won't clear and tone your complexion, but will actually dull its radiance.
This legend started with a few people, but it spread quickly, and everyone in town who used scented soap had heard about it. Some bought it cheap and used it back home. I don't know if it was an illusion, but I actually felt that the cheap scented soap was a bit sticky to my hands.
The rumor spread with such force that, like three people spreading a rumor, it became a myth. In particular, some people actually experienced redness, swelling, and flaking on their skin and scalp from using too much of the scented soap. The girls didn't understand what was going on at first, but when they heard the rumor, they angrily went to demand an explanation.
How could the rouge shop withstand the girls' disturbance? They simply kicked everyone out.
But their refusal to explain sparked public outrage. After all, the price of these soaps had dropped significantly, but it was still quite expensive for many people. Some, feeling they'd spent their money without getting any benefits and unable to seek compensation, took it upon themselves to spread the word. Wouldn't widespread publicity spell trouble? Rumors spread everywhere, even to the next town.
Not to mention the significant damage this rumor dealt to the Wu family's business, Young Master Wu was so angry he nearly fainted. The Wu family immediately came out to refute the rumor. But rumors are hard to refute; the more you refute them, the less they make sense.
Ye Jia's rumors weren't entirely fabricated; they did have a basis. The reason was that the bath beans used in the pungent scented soap were of the worst quality. To verify this, the Zhou family had specially formulated the scented soap using different ingredients. The Wu family also used a larger amount of soap nuts to achieve a cost-effective yet effective cleansing solution. Excessive use of soap nuts can not only dry out and flaky skin, but can also cause allergic reactions.
The rumor did not spread long before the business of some rouge shops was damaged, so naturally they all went to the Wu family to ask for an explanation.
The Wu family naturally denied it. They'd copied all the ingredients for their fragrant soap from the Zhou family. The Zhou family's fragrant soap had been sold without issue for over six months, so why was it that this family had issues? Perhaps these people were deliberately picking on them!
The Wu family refused to pay compensation, and the rouge shop owner was powerless. The Wu family's wealth and influence were no joke; many rouge and powder shops in nearby towns sourced their goods from the Wu family. Having offended the Wu family over the soap incident, they faced difficulties in getting other goods. While this was the truth, many shop owners with long-standing ties to the Wu family were unhappy about this.
They hadn't stopped cooperating on rouge and powder, but they weren't planning on using the Wu family's products for things like perfume and soap. He turned and looked towards the Zhou family's workshop.
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