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  • The Landowner And His Wife

    Chapter 156: Joining Forces

    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.


    Shi Cheng’s intentions were very clear. He would first inform the manager that Juxianlou had secured a pond to rear fish. From this, it was clear that he was out to make war with them! After giving this piece of news as bait, he would then discuss with Shiyusi’s manager about joining forces to derail Juxianlou. If they were successful, they should be able to pull Juxianlou under water, but even if not, they should be able to force Juxianlou to make a huge loss!

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    Sure enough, when Shiyusi’s manager heard him share about Juxianlou’s new fish pond, his initial wariness subsided somewhat. Of course managers were all shrewd and cunning, so his expression didn’t change at all. Still, he had already guessed at the reason for Shi Cheng’s arrival.

    “So that’s what happened…. It’s not something unexpected – since they’ve been pushing out fish dishes nonstop, they definitely needed to have been raising fish…. They learnt that from us.” Shiyusi’s manager said nonchalantly.

    Shi Cheng smiled and said, “Juxianlou has always been our biggest competitor in town. Their owner is a vicious person – he doesn’t mind using ruthless methods. Looking at what’s happening, it seems they are targeting your Shiyusi.” He smiled faintly, “Although I would prefer to watch you fight it over, and reap the rewards after…. What can I say – We’ve been fighting with Juxianlou for so many years, so I am very clear. If there’s a chance to pull them underwater, then I should make sure to completely ruin them and make it impossible for them to make a comeback! Otherwise, if a protracted fight were to break out, it would never end.”

    The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

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    Fbk Ubldt vbld pxkzle yde pyke, “Yu pwttlpvksd kp pkxrzl – ol vyjl vblx cu pwarakpl yde czkdepkel vblx!”

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    It was only then that Shiyusi’s manager came back to himself. Smiling, he stood and said, “I understand. It was my oversight. Please have a safe trip, Young boss. I will definitely personally visit to find out more about the plan.”

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    Shi Cheng smiled and nodded his head. Then he left. 

    There weren’t many more days until the Mid Autumn Festival, so Shiyusi’s manager didn’t dare to delay. Still wary, he made his way to Yuelou that afternoon and looked for the manager Shi Cheng mentioned. Yuelou’s manager, was of course already briefed by Shi Cheng about the plan to join forces. 

    They had thought up a strategy already. They would put the plan into action during the Mid Autumn Festival. 

    Hadn’t Juxianlou been putting all their focus on fish? Weren’t they targeting Shiyusi? Shiyusi would continue to openly fight with them, while Yuelou would sneak behind and stab them in the back. 

    When they had finished with their discussion, they waited for the Mid Autumn Festival. On that day, all of Shiyusi’s dishes were specially priced for the festival – they were all naturally cheaper than usual. This was a price war!

    Shiyusi’s speciality was fish – all of their customers had a deep impression of this. Everyone knew that their fish was of a certain standard. Those who went to Juxianlou for their fish, did so only because they found Shiyusi too expensive. But if Shiyusi was running a promotion? Well, if it was being offered at a discount, then even if it was still more expensive than Juxianlou, it was still within acceptable limits for most customers. So naturally, they would all flock over to Shiyusi. 

    On the day, Shiyusi had even run other promotional activities, like getting a free dish. Except that this dish wasn’t from Shiyusi, but a speciality from Yuelou! Similarly, Yuelou ran a promotion – their customers would also be offered a free speciality dish from Shiyusi!

    Customers from Shiyusi would therefore have no choice but to head over to Yuelou within the promotional period for a meal. And similarly, Yuelou’s customers would go over to Shiyusi. This was just so that they could get the free dish. This way, both restaurants would have an expanded pool of customers. After all, so long as customers went to one restaurant, they would be obliged to go to the other restaurant as well. For example, if 200 guests came to Yuelou during the Mid Autumn Festival, and 200 other guests went to Shiyusi, then each of their 200 guests would prepare to head to the partnering restaurant, thus expanding their customer base. 

    Shiyusi had been having a lot of activities, so naturally Yuelou couldn’t just have this single promotion. Shi Cheng told his own manager to poach Juxianlou’s head chef before the Mid Autumn Festival. 

    Before Shiyusi came on the scene, Juxianlou and Yuelou’s dishes were very similar. They both served local food, and each of the restaurants relied on their own skills to compete. The head chef was naturally key to this. Juxianlou’s scale wasn’t comparable to Yuelou, nor was the manager better in any way than Shi Cheng’s. But they could always compete evenly with Yuelou. The main reason for this was because of their excellent head chef. 

    Shi Cheng had long wanted to poach their head chef, but he didn’t dare to act rashly. He had been carefully investigating the head chef’s background first. Where was he born, where were his family, and most importantly, what did this head chef need? So long as this person wasn’t a devoted and loyal person to the Juxianlou owner, if Shi Cheng gave it some thought, it wouldn’t be impossible to poach him over. It was alright to wait, but the instant a move was made, it needed to be successful!

    Now that he had investigated everything he needed to and felt that he had a good chance of success, Shi Cheng called his manager to speak to the head chef to discuss conditions. 

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    Before the Mid Autumn Festival, they managed to poach the head chef over. Coupled with a host of promotional activities at Yuelou, and the alliance with Shiyusi. Shi Cheng didn’t believe that Juxianlou would be able to get away!

    Shi Cheng handed the whole matter over to his manager to handle – this was his job after all! Then he went to wander about, and enjoy his position as a Young Master. 

    The Mid Autumn Festival had arrived. 

    At Liu Xu’er’s side, their workshop had closed from the 13th of the eighth month, so that everyone could head home for the festivities. They would return on the 17th. The stores, on the other hand, continued their usual business. 

    He shi went to discuss with Liu Xu’er – should they tell her cousins to return home for the holidays?

    Liu Xu’er smiled and agreed. 

    He shi then worried about how the kids would return home. Liu Shu was busy maintaining the family’s accounts over this festive period, Liu Lin had already been sent off to buy goods for the Mid Autumn Festival and she didn’t dare trust Senzi to send them back. She could only ask Liu Tao to drive the cart, and send her nephews back to the village on the afternoon of the 14th. 

    He shi had told Liu Tao this in the morning, before he left the house and Liu Tao naturally agreed to help. In the afternoon, he brought the three cousins back home and went to prepare the donkey cart to send them back to their village. 

    Liu Xu’er ran from the backyard and called for them to wait a moment. Then she ran back in and grabbed a basket and picked some tomatoes. The basket was small, but there weren’t too many fruits. Liu Xu’er picked all of the ones that had ripened. 

    She took it out and passed it to Liu Tao saying, “Give them to Xiuxiu. She likes them.”

    Liu Tao smiled and agreed. He placed it in the cart and waited for He shi to bring a large bundle of gifts for her maiden family. When she placed them in the cart, He Zhongzhou tried to protest, “It’s too much dagu! It’s enough that we are heading back… If you send so many things back, my parents are going to scold me….”

    He shi smiled. She reached her hand out and stroked his head, “These gifts are for your ye and nai. There are also some items for you. Your xiaogu has also made some clothes with you – go back and try them on.”

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    He Zhonghao started to protest, “Why are you being so courteous dagu!”

    He shi started to laugh, “All you children….” then she told Liu Tao, “Be careful on the road!”

    Liu Tao agreed and drove the cart off. When he got out of the lane, on the way to the main gates, he passed a street selling small snacks. He bought some red dates, peaches and tangerines and put them together with He shi’s gifts. Then without saying a word, he continued to drive. 

    He Zhongzhou hesitated for a moment before asking, “Sange, why did you also buy things?”

    Liu Tao smiled and said, “I didn’t buy anything much, just a few edibles. You can eat it when you get back…. Don’t tell them I bought it – it’s best if all the gifts are given together.”

    He Zhongzhou was of the same generation as him, so he was able to speak more freely with him. “We’re not here to be guests. We are here to learn – our parents already feel that we are taking way too much advantage, and are feeling uncomfortable about it. During the Mid Autumn Festival, all of the other shop assistants are required to work, while we can head back merrily. We even got you to send us back, along with a cartful of gifts…. When we get back, I am sure to get an earful from my dad.”

    Liu Tao smiled and said, “It’s not such a big deal. When relatives visit, we naturally need to prepare gifts. It has nothing to do with you. And your performance at the store has been excellent. You are all hardworking, honest, and very quick to learn. This is good – your gugu, gufu are certain to be pleased.”

    He Zhongzhou nodded his head. He Zhongshuang was the same age as He Zhonghao – they were both six. They were still too young to really understand what was said. The two of them smiled and started to talk about all the nice food they would be having when they got home. 

    When they got to Qianzhuang Village, He Wenqing saw that the three of them had returned. He even saw that Liu Tao had sent them back personality. Shocked, he immediately pulled He Zhongzhou to the side to tell him off – why didn’t he stay at the store to work?

    Liu Tao quickly smiled and interrupted, “This was my ershen’s instruction. It’s the Mid Autumn Festival! It’s not any old holiday – it’s important for the family to be together! Uncle, don’t scold Zhongzhou – Ershen insisted that he come back. He couldn’t refuse.”

    He Wenqing could only give up when he heard. He smiled and said apologetically, “We even had to trouble you to send them back.”

    Liu Tao smiled and said, “Uncle, why are you being so polite with me!” Then he started to move the gifts from the cart down. “These are things that my ershen, sishen gave.”

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    He Zhongzhou hurried to help him. He Wenqing could only say to Liu Tao, “When you get back, help us thank your ershen, sishen. Wouldn’t have expected her to send them all back… After the 15th, on the 16th, I will send them back.”

    Liu Tao smiled and said, “Sure! Then I will be off Uncle!”

    He Wenqing saw that it was getting late, so he didn’t try to keep him. Reminding him to be careful on the road, he watched as he left. 

    He Zhongzhou brought all the gifts into the house. No matter what, he needed to make it clear to his parents who gave what. The fruits were all given by Liu Tao – they needed to know that. 

    That won both his parent’s approval. They felt that all of the Liu family children were rather sensible. Even Liu Tao – after staying with the Second Branch for so long, he had matured a lot. 

    Xiuxiu was the one who loved fruits best. Everything that Liu Tao bought suited her taste, so she picked up the basket of tomatoes Liu Xu’er gave her and started to stuff it with tangerines and peaches. Then she brought it to her own room to eat. 


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    pawdles [Translator]

    A rabbit who loves singing, sleeping and reading Chinese novels (not necessarily in that order)
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    2 Comments

      1. pawdles
        pawdles [Translator]

        She is isn’t she? Although, I really don’t know about her self preservation ability!!