"I didn't expect a mere village woman like you to have so many tricks up your sleeve? Getting everyone to buy your underwear."
Chen Lishu deliberately ignored the sarcasm in her tone and said with a smile, "Thank you for the compliment."
Liu Xiaoting sneered, "Do you really think I'm praising you? After all, we've interacted before. I'll give you a piece of advice: if you have no power or influence, it's best to restrain yourself. Otherwise, you won't even know how you died one day!"
Gu Xingye, standing nearby, heard her words and his gaze darkened, "Liu Xiaoting, who are you trying to scare? Do you really think you're someone important!"
Liu Xiaoting glanced at him, "I'm scaring someone?"
Recalling the unpleasant words spoken by the Gu family when they visited before, Liu Xiaoting's anger surged. "Just based on you bumpkins, shouldn't you look in the mirror and see what kind of people you are? I was merely careless before and underestimated you. Do you really think you're safe just because you've got Nan Haitao backing you? I'm telling you, be sensible and hurry back to the countryside. Don't end up crying without a clue."
Chen Lishu raised an eyebrow, surprised that she knew so much.
Hearing her words, Gu Xingye stepped forward, looking down at her. "Liu Xiaoting, watch your mouth. You're the one who's inferior, so why are you trying to assert dominance here?"
As Gu Xingye spoke, he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. It was fortunate that the marriage hadn't gone through. If he had married such a woman, his household would have been anything but peaceful.
"What? Gu Xingye, are you, a grown man, going to hit a woman? This is between Chen Lishu and me, why are you so anxious? You're protecting her so much, could it be that you and your sister-in-law have some unspeakable relationship?"
"Slap!"
As soon as Liu Xiaoting finished speaking, she received a heavy slap across her face.
"Liu Xiaoting, if it's about business competition, you can use whatever tricks you have, and I'll accept them. But now, you're biting like a mad dog, and it truly makes me look down on you," Chen Lishu said, retracting her hand and looking at her with a cold voice.
The word "look down on" completely provoked Liu Xiaoting. The Gu family had disapproved of the marriage because they looked down on her for being divorced, even calling her used goods. Now, she was hearing similar words again.
Liu Xiaoting's beautiful face contorted slightly. Looking at Chen Lishu and Gu Xingye, she said bitterly, "You look down on me? You're just from the countryside. If it weren't for me back then, would you have what you have today? You'd still be begging for food in some forgotten corner!"
Chen Lishu smiled, "I paid for it back then. If we're to be precise, it was at most mutually beneficial. You're giving yourself far too much credit."
"Fine, Chen, we'll see!" Liu Xiaoting dropped a sentence and turned to leave.
Watching her retreating back, Gu Xingye frowned and asked with some concern, "Is Third Sister-in-law going to be alright?"
Chen Lishu withdrew her gaze and smiled, shaking her head at him. "It's fine. Aren't you and Elder Brother going to the ice cream factory? Why don't you go ahead, or it'll get hot later."
"Then Third Sister-in-law, we'll be going now." Gu Xingye nodded, and together with Gu Xingguo, they headed towards the ice cream factory.
After parting ways with Gu Xingye and the others, Chen Lishu first went to the department store to buy a few meters of elastic band. After buying it, she didn't go home but went directly to Yuan Lihua's house.
It wasn't until the afternoon that Chen Lishu returned to the small courtyard from Yuan Lihua's house. Shortly after entering, she saw Lin Qi run in, sweating profusely.
"Sister Chen, it's bad."
"What's wrong? What happened to make you so rushed?"
Chen Lishu got up, preparing to pour him some water, when she heard Lin Qi say, panting, "Those supply and marketing cooperatives that we were cooperating with have suddenly stopped taking our goods. They said they will only sell from 'Mei Ting' from now on."
Chen Lishu paused in her action of pouring water, then nonchalantly handed the water to Lin Qi. "Don't rush, sit down and tell me slowly."
Lin Qi took the water and gulped it down, finally feeling some relief in his parched throat.
"I originally went to check on sales, but who knew that people from these few supply and marketing cooperatives all told me they wouldn't sell our goods anymore. I inquired carefully, and they said Liu Xiaoting promised to increase their commission to four cents per item, and in exchange, they would only sell from her company from now on."
As Lin Qi spoke, sweat began to break out on his forehead. Besides the heat, he was also anxious. For so long, they had relied on these supply and marketing cooperatives to sell their goods steadily. Now that they couldn't sell through them anymore, relying solely on him and Chen Lishu to sell each item one by one would take who knows how long.
Hearing his words, Chen Lishu's heart sank. She had carefully selected those eight supply and marketing cooperatives. The eight points were strategically placed to cover the entire county. If she lost these eight cooperatives, she would lose all her distribution channels.
"Did they say anything else? After all, we've been cooperating for so long, is there any room for negotiation?"
Lin Qi looked up and wiped the sweat from his forehead, saying angrily, "When it comes to benefits, there's no such thing as sentiment. They said 'Mei Ting' is cheaper and easier to sell, and on top of that, they offer a four-cent commission. As long as we can offer five cents, they'll exclusively sell ours too."
Through this incident, he finally saw clearly that no matter how close friends they seemed, money was more important in critical moments.
Five cents? Chen Lishu inwardly sneered upon hearing their price. If she agreed today, Liu Xiaoting would offer six cents tomorrow, and then she would have to offer seven cents the day after? "We absolutely cannot increase the commission. Once this precedent is set, we'll be completely at their mercy." If she ended up giving all the profit to others after all her hard work, she might as well quit.
Chen Lishu paused and continued, "If we must concede profit, I'd rather give it to the customers. Then, we'll make the supply and marketing cooperatives beg us to stock their goods."
Lin Qi was surprised, "How is that possible?" The people at the supply and marketing cooperatives were all on government salaries, and with Liu Xiaoting's four-cent commission, there was no way the other party would come begging them to stock their goods.
"Since the supply and marketing cooperatives want exclusive sales, we'll temporarily halt for now. Go and retrieve all the goods from every shop. Tomorrow, we'll look elsewhere."
Hearing this, Lin Qi stood up and quickly rode his bicycle out, retrieving all the goods from the various supply and marketing cooperatives.
Meanwhile, Liu Xiaoting and Director Zhou, who had received the news, did not go home after work. Instead, they sat in the office, eating small dishes and drinking wine, celebrating their victory for the day.
"Xiaoting, your plan is truly brilliant. You thought of such a 'pulling the rug out from under' strategy. Although we've increased the commission by one cent per item, from now on, only our company's underwear will be sold in the market. When that happens, we can raise the prices, and all the money lost today will be recovered."
Liu Xiaoting smiled, "Director, that's what I was thinking too."
The two looked at each other and clinked their wine glasses.