Chapter 174: Open Competition

Du Ming and his gang of boys grew up running through the streets and alleys of Dongchang with Lei Dongchuan. Don’t even mention how nimble they were at work. When Lei Dongchuan said to leave a few TVs for the He family, Du Ming genuinely left two, even saying that good things come in pairs.

However many the He family stocked that day, they would go and snatch that many.

With the money in Lei Dongchuan’s hands, taking over a shop would be somewhat difficult, but getting some TVs was a piece of cake.

After doing this continuously for three or four days, Boss He could no longer sit still in his office. He didn’t know where Lei Dongchuan got so many people, his inventory was truly about to give out!

Boss He slapped his desk in anger and scolded: “So when they brought soy milk that day, it wasn’t an apology. That stinky Lei boy was giving me a preventive shot! To even use such tactics!”

His batch of name-brand Walkmans was still on the way. Currently, the only thing in the store that could hold up their facade was the Changhong TVs. He originally thought it would be exclusive, but now look, Baichuan actually had them too.

Boss He had seen many storms and waves, but never expected to stumble over this local snake.

He told his secretary to go next door to invite Fang Jin, but the secretary returned very quickly, saying he saw Lei Dongchuan.

Boss He was stunned: “Only Lei Dongchuan? Where is Fang Jin?”

The secretary stammered: “President He, that Lei Dongchuan said President Fang went on a business trip to the south, estimating it will take over a month.”

Boss He said angrily: “Nonsense, what major matter could take running to the south for a month? This is clearly hiding from me.”

But no matter how angry he was, he had no way out. Finding the higher-ups at Baichuan was difficult now. Even if he called out that stinky Lei boy, there probably wouldn’t be a single good word out of his mouth. When the time comes, let alone solving the matter, it would be good enough if he didn’t end up with a stomach full of anger!

The secretary stood there without moving, his expression somewhat hesitant, as if there was still a matter to report.

Boss He calmed his emotions a bit and said: “What else is there? Say it all together.”

The secretary said nervously: “President He, didn’t we set a purchase limit a while ago? [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] This matter… was reported by a journalist from a newspaper and made it onto the social news page.”

Rushing before his boss got angry, he hurriedly handed over the newspaper in his hand, “I’ve already gone to talk to the newspaper people to have this withdrawn, but a batch has already been printed and distributed, and quite a few people are talking about this.”

On the newspaper, there was a section the size of a piece of tofu, considerately printed with dialogue from public interviews.

That newspaper agency was a small local paper, reporting this matter of “color TV purchase limit” as a novelty. The words from the public interviews underneath were mostly filled with dissatisfaction. Everyone became even more willing to go shopping at Baichuan Hypermarket; after all, one-stop shopping with everything, and no purchase limit, it was much more convenient than He Jiale Hypermarket.

Boss He was simply like a mute eating coptis, suffering in silence.

He originally did it to guard against the people from Baichuan, but after setting the purchase limit, the effect was exactly the opposite.

The He family’s only advantage was that batch of TVs, and now it was simply abolishing their own martial arts.

Boss He glanced over the newspaper page a few times, keeping a dark face and remaining silent for a long time. After a while, he finally said:

“Don’t they have a gold counter? We will set one up too!”

The He family had navigated the business world for many years. With money in hand, they naturally also had some connections. Coupled with the fact that Boss He couldn’t swallow this breath of anger, the two families started fighting as if setting up a boxing ring.

Baichuan had a gold counter, the He family immediately set up a gold counter too; not only did they set it up, but the prices were lower than Baichuan’s, and the styles were complete. Besides gold and silver jewelry, there were also cat’s eye stone rings, platinum necklaces, and a whole series of things currently liked by young people. The prices were expensive, but they were also loved by young people nowadays.

Baichuan had the newest fans and air conditioners, the He family immediately followed by stocking a batch too. What they were most adept at were these precious name-brand electrical appliances from the south. A few days later, once the Sony Walkmans arrived, taking advantage of the summer vacation, they truly sold prosperously for a while!

Boss He had tied up a lot of money in the gold counter. Seeing the customers gradually increasing, he gritted his teeth and continued to persevere.

In the commercial building, Boss He stood with his hands behind his back in front of the French windows, looking at the plaza below. Watching the shopping guides from Baichuan already cross the road to distribute flyers on the opposite side, he knew their days weren’t easy either. He stared there for a while, his brows never relaxing, and muttered:

“Let’s see how long Baichuan can hold on.”

These words were spoken to the opponent, and also to himself.

Baichuan Hypermarket.

Bai Zimu sat in the office eating a popsicle. His lips were red from the cold, and the ice crunched as he bit into it.

Lei Dongchuan had just finished working. Afraid of the heat, he sat there pulling his collar and enjoying the fan while handing over matters with Du Ming. After talking for a while, he suddenly turned to look at Bai Zimu and asked him:

“Which one is this you’re eating?”

Bai Zimu said: “Just one.”

Lei Dongchuan said: “Nonsense, you had already eaten half of it when I went out to move things just now. Come here, let me see.”

Bai Zimu walked over and showed him the red characters printed on the other popsicle stick in his hand, saying vaguely:

“Buy one get one free, I won. Just redeemed it.”

Lei Dongchuan was amused. He grabbed Bai Zimu’s hand, pulled it to his mouth, and ate his half a popsicle in two bites.

“Brother!”

“What, feeling heartache over me eating half your popsicle?”

Lei Dongchuan chewed the ice, feeling a bit more comfortable in his heart, and said to him:

“Stop eating, you won’t be able to eat dinner again later. Have you told Auntie Dong? We’re going to Grandpa’s side today.”

Bai Zimu said sullenly: “Told her.”

Lei Dongchuan probed: “If you don’t want to go, we won’t go.”

Bai Zimu looked up at him, thinking it was clearly his brother himself who didn’t want to go.

Every time they went to Master He’s place, it was when Lei Dongchuan’s calligraphy homework was checked. For so many years, it had always been because Lei Dongchuan was afraid of that little old man, he had been like this since he was little. When he was seven or eight, he would rather go move bricks for Master He than sit there and write large characters.

Lei Dongchuan was eager to give it a try, but Bai Zimu shook his head and refused. To take revenge for his brother eating his half a popsicle in one breath, he even went over half an hour early that afternoon.

Master He’s studio was a separate small courtyard. The surrounding environment was quiet. Two steps away was a small bridge, and many weeping willows were planted on both sides of the river water. The scenery was good, and it also blocked out the noise, allowing him to work quietly.

In the small courtyard, there would usually be three to five people present. Baohua Silver Building occupied three fixed spots, while the rest were unfixed, depending on how many guests came that day.

Master He had momentarily softened his heart back then and promised Lu Ping to let him send over an apprentice every year, so he could guide them along while working.

When Lu Ping went back, who knew what he said, but he brought back two.

And this wasn’t even the end of it. The third person forcefully squeezed his way in under the identity of a “chef”. Master He originally wasn’t too willing to let him stay, but seeing that Bai Zimu quite liked the soup that person stewed, he reluctantly kept him.

The three grand-disciples schemed against each other, but in front of Master He, they maintained an atmosphere of harmony. Therefore, Master He never noticed the matters between them; instead, it was Bai Zimu who noticed it a bit earlier than the old man.

When Bai Zimu arrived at the small courtyard, he first went back to the bedroom to change clothes.

He had some everyday items here, and quite a few clothes left as well. When the weather was bad, he would also just stay here nearby. He was a frequent guest during winter and summer vacations.

Just as Bai Zimu finished changing his clothes, he heard a knock on the door outside. He went over to open the door, and saw a senior brother wearing apprentice clothes standing at the door. He held a plate of mosquito coils in his hand and said with a cheerful smile:

“Zimu, I know you’re afraid of mosquitoes and insects. This is incense specially brought back from my hometown, it has a mint scent. It’s different from what’s sold on the market, it has less smoke and doesn’t choke.”

Without waiting for Bai Zimu to speak, he peeked inside. Seeing the coil of mosquito incense on the windowsill, he immediately said with heartache: “Why did you put it here! These windows are wooden structures, what if they catch fire? I knew that chef couldn’t handle things well!”

As he spoke, he walked in himself, pinched out the mosquito coil in the iron plate, and swapped it with his own.

Bai Zimu: “…Thank you, Senior Brother.”

Things like this had happened too many times, Bai Zimu had gotten used to it.

With Baohua Silver Building only sending over three people, to have them fight so fiercely, it was truly something Bai Zimu didn’t expect.

It was better in the past when Lu Ping was around. The three of them would go to Senior Uncle Lu to judge the rights and wrongs. Now that Lu Ping had taken Fang Jin back to Pingjiang City for a trip, in less than a month, the struggle in the small courtyard had become even more intense, gradually surfacing and starting an open competition.

When Lei Dongchuan came over, he was also holding a plate of mosquito coils in his hand. After entering the door, he asked:

“Small Bowl, where should I put the mosquito coil?”

Bai Zimu said: “Put it in the courtyard.”

Lei Dongchuan: “There’s already one in the room?”

“There is. If there’s one more plate, I’ll have to go sleep in the courtyard myself.”

Bai Zimu sneezed. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Even he couldn’t quite handle the mint-scented mosquito coil.