“Then what did you do?” Xiaomei frowned as well upon hearing it. Someone had copied their business so quickly.
“Of course I was furious. I wanted to argue with them, but Auntie Song—the one who often buys pickles from us—stopped me. She said there was space outside her place and that we could set up there instead.” Xiaojun had almost lost her temper at the time. Fortunately, Song Hongxia stopped her, otherwise she really might have started a fight in the heat of the moment.
“So afterward, I set up at Auntie Song’s place instead. Business today was much worse than before. A lot of people went to buy from that other stall.
“And the worst part is, their sign said ‘Ping’an Pickles.’ Our stall is called ‘Suian Pickles’—only one character different! Lots of people got confused. They came intending to buy our pickles, but ended up buying theirs instead.” That was what angered Xiaojun the most.
Stealing business was one thing, but impersonating them too? That was downright shameless.
“That’s why I came back late today. I still had some leftovers unsold.” Xiaojun poured herself another bowl of water and gulped it down noisily, still unable to calm down.
“Eat first. Nothing is more important than filling your stomach,” Qin Suian said as she brought out the dishes warming in the pot.
Xiaojun served herself a bowl of rice and sat down, eating in big mouthfuls.
“Mom, what should we do?” Xiaojun asked, looking at Qin Suian.
“What do you two think we should do?” Qin Suian looked at both daughters instead.
“At worst, we can sell ours for eight cents a bowl too. Our pickles definitely taste better than theirs. The regular customers will surely notice the difference,” Xiaojun said. She had already been thinking hard about how to respond.
Xiaomei also thought for a moment before saying, “Maybe we should introduce some new dishes or new flavors.”
Although Qin Suian had expected competition sooner or later, she hadn’t anticipated imitators and a price war arriving this quickly.
Still, she wasn’t without solutions.
What Xiaojun and Xiaomei suggested were both good strategies.
“The profit from our pickles, after subtracting the cost of vegetables and seasonings, is only about three or four cents per bowl. If we lower prices recklessly and vegetable prices rise later, we won’t be able to guarantee any profit.” Qin Suian carefully explained the costs and profit margins of their pickle business to her daughters.
“That stall might currently be using vegetables grown in their own yard, which is why they can afford to sell for eight cents. They probably want to use low prices to squeeze us out first. Once we’re gone, they’ll dominate the market alone.” In her previous life, Qin Suian had encountered competitors while selling pickles too.
“But once their own vegetables run out, they’ll have to buy produce from others as well. That cost can’t be avoided. So we can’t casually lower our prices.”
“Let’s launch some new dishes instead. I’ll head to the market and buy some vegetables and seasonings. This afternoon, we’ll start selling something new.”
Qin Suian felt this was the perfect time to introduce cold dishes.
The entire day had been blazing hot, with temperatures probably already exceeding thirty degrees Celsius.
In weather this muggy, cold dishes would definitely sell well.
After lunch, Xiaojun was too excited to even nap, wanting to start preparing the new dishes immediately.
Qin Suian practically forced her to rest for a while first. Heatstroke was no joke.
While Xiaojun and Xiaomei were napping, Qin Suian headed to the market alone.
Carrying her shoulder pole, she hadn’t even reached the farmers’ market when she spotted Xie Kaihua being harassed by a man.
Looking carefully, wasn’t that rotten bastard Li Zude?
Qin Suian immediately took down her carrying pole, grabbed it like a weapon, and charged straight at him.
First, she kicked Li Zude hard in the waist, knocking him flat onto the ground. Then she began raining blows on him with the pole.
“Beat to death, you cursed white tiger born under a lonely star! Get lost! Get lost! Get lost!” Qin Suian shouted as she hit him.
“You wretched thing born from ancestral sins! You killed your own mother at birth, crippled your father, and now you’ve nearly killed your own child too! You deserve ten thousand deaths! What’s the point of keeping trash like you alive?!”
“You crazy woman, what nonsense are you spouting?! Get lost already! Just because I call you Mom doesn’t mean you can actually hit me!” Li Zude finally reacted and started scrambling around trying to dodge while attempting to snatch the carrying pole from Qin Suian.
By the time Li Zude had found Xie Kaihua, a crowd of cart drivers and passersby had already gathered nearby. Now that they heard Qin Suian shouting all this, they became even more engrossed.
Although society now officially promoted rejecting superstition, who didn’t still consult fortune tellers for choosing dates for building houses, weddings, or funerals?
Who would have thought this young man was supposedly cursed against his own family?
This gossip was turning out to be extremely entertaining.
Naturally, Qin Suian wasn’t about to let him have his way. The pole in her hands seemed glued to Li Zude as she relentlessly aimed for his head and face, beating him until he yelped in pain again and again.