Chapter 136: Bad News

Disclaimer: 

1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests. 

2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author. 

3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.

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To come in person and up the price of goods – furthermore, to up the price in such an aggressive manner; the matter with Mrs Yu and Xiaolian made Liu Xu’er wary. She felt that the situation was not that simple. Mrs Yu and Xiaolian definitely had some sort of assurance for them to dare to act so boldly. 

But she had no idea what had happened in the village. Thinking about that, she prepared to call her cousin Liu Lian over to ask. 

Liu Lian was one of the earliest to provide goods to her. In addition, she was a relative, and would likely be willing to share any information she knew with her. 

Before she could find Liu Lian, the next day, others from the village came to find her. This time, two people came – both were village wives. One was about 20, the other in her 30s. They made the cheaper trinkets, like the little crocheted ornaments and the five coloured bands. 

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Ebld vblu nyxl kd, vblu vss pvyavle vs pxkzl yde xyjl pxyzz vyzj. Mblu pvalpple vbl ekqqknwzvu vblka qyxkzu oyp kd. Nkw Dw’la oyp sdvs vblx yde ekalnvzu ypjle vblx obyv vblu oydvle. Fwal ldswtb, csvb sq vblx bsrle vbyv pbl oswze cl okzzkdt vs kdnalypl raknlp qsa vblka tssep. Gtykd, vblka aliwlpvle kdnalypl oyp akeknwzswp.

Nkw Dw’la alqwple czwdvzu. Ebld vblpl vos zlqv, Nkw Dw’la qlzv vbyv vbl pkvwyvksd oyp cye – nzlyazu psxlsdl oyp rsynbkdt bla rlsrzl! Fbl dllele vs iwknjzu qkde Nkw Nkyd vs ypj!

Nkw Dw’la oyp fwpv vbkdjkdt vbyv, obld Nkw Nkyd nyxl rlapsdyzzu vbyv eyu. Ekvb bla olal Gwdv Ew yde Dkysvkyd fkl.&dcpr;

Gtykd, Nkw Ubydttldt srldle vbl essa. Tl pbk kdhkvle vblx vs pkv kd vbl xykd bswpl yde vsze Hbsw pbk vs nyzz qsa Nkw Dw’la. Ebld Nkw Dw’la nyxl yde pyo vbyv Nkw Nkyd, Gwdv Ew yde Dkysvkyd fkl olal yzz vblal, bla blyav pydj. Fbl osdelale – pwalzu vblu olald’v blal vs ypj qsa y raknl bkjl? Rq pbl alqwple vs kdnalypl vbl yxswdv, oswze vblu alqwpl vs rashkel tssep vs bla?

Nkw Nkyd pyo bla ldvla vbl assx. Gdmkswp, pbl pyke, “Dw’la, ol yal blal vs vlzz usw ycswv psxlvbkdt…..” Mbld pbl rywple yde zssjle yv Gwdv Ew yde Dkysvkyd fkl.&dcpr;

Nkw Dw’la yde Tl pbk yzps lmnbydtle tzydnlp. Nkw Dw’la pxkzle yde pyke, “Rv’p sj. Kwpv pyu obyv usw dlle vs.”

Gwdv Ew oyp kxryvkldv. Fbl iwknjzu pyke, “Dw’la, usw xktbv dsv jdso, cwv vblpl qlo eyup, uswa…. Zswa eycs’p Zwd’la byp clld tskdt yaswde pyukdt vbyv pbl vss oydvle vs srld y pvsal. Gde oydvle vs cwu tssep qasx swa hkzzytlap! Fbl rasxkple vs ryu xwnb xsal vbyd usw oswze! Cwkvl y qlo rlsrzl byhl yzalyeu tsdl vs bla….”

Nkw Dw’la’p blyav nyzxle esod – ps vblu olal fwpv blal vs cakdt dlop, yde dsv vs vlzz bla vblu eked’v oydv vs osaj qsa bla ydu zsdtla. Gp qsa obyv vblu pyke, pbl bye yzalyeu bye bla pwprknksdp. Lso vbyv pbl bye tsvvld nsdqkaxyvksd, pbl pxkzle yde pyke, “Fs vbyv’p obyv byrrldle….” Nkw Zwd’la bye yzoyup kdpkpvle sd nsxrlvkdt okvb bla. Lso vbyv pbl qkdyzzu xydytle vs xyaau, yde qswde y xsal olyzvbu bswplbsze, pbl xwpv byhl rlapwyele Wydt Kknbldt…. Xa rlabyrp, bla pydpbw yde Wydt Zwd kdvlaqlale kd vbkp xyvvla?

When Fang Yun and Liu Changgui came to ask about marriage, they were chased away by dad and mum – perhaps they bore a grudge over that and found a way to partner up to destroy her business and steal her people away. At the same time, they had probably seen that her business was earning good money….

Liu Lian anxiously said, “Oh, why aren’t you worried! Xiaolian, the one making silk flowers, has already been swayed by them! She was saying that Liu Yun’er truly gives a lot more….”

He shi coldly harrumphed. “They’ve already come by!”

“What!” The three people were stunned. 

He shi then said, “Xiaolian and her mother have already come by, along with two other families. They wanted to raise their prices – to a ridiculous level! I was just wondering what was going on. Turns out to be Liu Yun’er, that dratted girl!”

The three of them were shocked. 

Liu Xu’er thought for a moment before smiling and saying, “Liu Lian jie, and Xiaotian jie, I wager that Liu Yun’er must’ve also looked for you. What do you think? Your handicrafts – do you want to increase prices?”

Xiaotian jie had already married, but she had married within the village. As such, she had continued with her handicrafts all these years. Hearing these words, she said, face red, “Xu’er, what are you saying! We are not ungrateful! You made things very clear – if we were happy with the price you offered, we should provide the goods. The price has nothing to do with the prices you set in your store. We are not stupid – it costs a lot of money to open a store!”

Aunt Wu nodded, “That’s right.. Xu’er, when our family was struggling, we looked for you, and you were willing to help. We remember the kindness! We won’t turn around and ignore you now that our situation has improved. What would that make us?”

Liu Lian also nodded. “Xu’er, since we came to tell you this, it should be obvious that we don’t need Liu Yun’er’s money! No matter how much she pays, we are not planning to make goods for her. You can rest assured!”

Liu Xu’er smiled. Nodding, she said, “Thankfully you came by to share this with me. I was in the dark about this matter. It was just that lately so many people have been coming by, so I found it suspicious… There’s no need to be too worried. I will think about this matter.”

The three of them nodded. “That’s right. You should see what you can do. We will definitely continue to supply goods to you.”

Now that they had said their piece, He shi smiled and invited them to have some tea and chit chat. They invited them for the noon meal before sending them off. 

The instant they left, Liu Xu’er’s face sank. She told He shi, “Mum, I need to quickly go to Hanzhong city! We cannot rent the store for now. It’s likely that Liu Yun’er pulled away many people!”

He shi was dazed, “What? They were all pulled away by her? Then why can’t we just entice them back? Why can’t we rent the store?”

Liu Xu’er shook her head, “Liu Yun’er is obviously targeting me. She is hoping to bring me down no matter the cost. Even if I give those people the price increase they want, do you think that Liu Yun’er wouldn’t raise her offer? It is impossible to retain greedy people. Furthermore, I don’t want people like that! First, we need to settle the matter of the Hanzhong city store, then we should resolve the issue of supply!” 

Liu Changgeng waited till Aunt Wu and company left before heading in. Leaning on the door frame, he nodded when he heard what was said. “Xu’er is right. Without any stock, how are we to open a store? We should first get this matter resolved before opening it. Xu’er, go and get ready. Tomorrow, I will bring you to Hanzhong city.”

Liu Xu’er nodded. 

He shi thought of Liu Tao. Although Liu Tao wasn’t around, she unconsciously lowered her voice, “Xu’er. This matter…. Do you think Liu Tao is aware of what happened?”

Liu Xu’er thought it over and shook her head. “I don’t know if he knows or not… Logically speaking, he stays with us, and hasn’t been out these few days, nor has he gone to the village. But….” But Liu Tao was always at the store – who knew if he had met Liu Yun’er there? Although Liu Tao had been staying with them these past two years, and had been a very conscientious worker, never giving them any issues, Liu Xu’er couldn’t trust him completely. 

He shi sighed. “Forget it. We can talk about this again when you return. First, go and settle the store.”

Liu Xu’er nodded. “Mum, dad and I will be heading to Hanzhong city tomorrow. You should keep a close eye on Senzi – bring him his noon meal. And close the store earlier and bring him home. Please don’t wait till dark – no matter how good business is, you cannot keep it open past dark.”

He shi nodded, “I know – how many years has it been! I know what to do!”

With that, father and daughter began preparing to leave. Liu Tao and Liu Sen heard about their plans to head into Hanzhong city when they returned home, but weren’t given any reasons. They were just told that the trip was to have a look. Liu Tao looked as though he was completely oblivious – he just smiled and nodded. He even told her not to worry about the business. 

The next day, father and daughter took Liu Changshi’s donkey cart to Hanzhong city non-stop. Then they anxiously went to look for Shi Cheng. 

When Shi Cheng saw that Liu Xu’er had come, he was both shocked and delighted. He smiled and asked, “Why did you and yuefu¹岳父/yuefu– wife’s father come?!”

Liu Shu and Liu Lin were smiling and questioning Liu Changgeng. Liu Xu’er hastily interrupted, “Let’s not talk about that first. Have you already rented the store?!”

She needed to ask this first. 

Liu Shu nodded. “We’ve already rented it. We don’t dare delay such a matter. The instant we got here, we rented it.”

Liu Changgeng then quickly followed it up with another question, “Rented… Have you given money? Did you give them rental fees for the full period or just for the deposit?”

Liu Lin was a bit befuddled. Looking at his father and sister, he quickly said, “Everything is done! We gave the rental money in full yesterday… It happened that yesterday was the 22nd of the ninth month. Very soon it will be the 10th month. We bargained with the owner, and agreed to immediately give all the rental money immediately. We’ve rented it till the end of next year. So the owner agreed to let us use the remaining days in the ninth month for free. What happened?”

Shi Cheng could tell that something must have changed. He urgently asked Liu Xu’er, “Did something happen?”

Liu Xu’er and Liu Changgeng both fell into their seats. They had hurried so desperately, but still weren’t in time. Liu Xu’er got Shi Cheng to pour them a drink – they hadn’t had a sip of water the entire way! Shi Cheng hurried to give them some tea. After they had gulped it down, Liu Xu’er sighed and explained what had happened. 

As expected, when the three of them heard, they were stunned. Liu Lin was angrily hopping, “Liu Yun’er, that blasted girl. She dares to challenge us!”

Liu Shu was shocked. Then he asked, “Who has gone to her?”

“A lot of people. She obviously didn’t bother doing the sums before going to them! So long as she gave more than us – that was the only consideration she had! It will definitely cause her business to fail, but she doesn’t care, so long as she gets to trample us down. I am going to guess that apart from our own relatives, as well as a few like Aunt Wu and Liu Lian jie, the rest would have gone where the money was flowing.” Liu Xu’er said. 

Shi Cheng had been pacing ever since he heard. Liu Lin was cursing out the situation. Liu Xu’er calmed him down, “Calm down. Honestly, these people did nothing wrong. If someone is willing to pay more, what’s wrong with going to them? It’s not wrong for them to do that! Nobody would look down on more money! As for Liu Yun’er, if she genuinely wants to do business then this is a legitimate strategy! Stealing resources, people – these are normal…. It’s just whether her business can survive!”

Liu Lin huffed and sat back down. 

Shi Cheng solemnly nodded his head, “Xu’er is right. When doing business, you have to be prepared for such things to happen!” Then he walked to Liu Xu’er and said, “How many families can you confirm will stay with you?” 

“The ones who will definitely stay are Liu Lian – she makes beaded flowers, as well as Aunt Wu and Xiaotian jie. They make scarves and what not. Of course, sishen, and my jiuma should be no problem.”