The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead-Chapter 328 - 318: Malicious Competition

After finishing their business, the group headed back.

Who knew that when it was time to go to school the next day, Luo Xinyue said she wasn’t going over that morning and had to take the bus by herself.

She was being all secretive, and Lu Jingqiu thought there must be some family matter for the young couple.

Jingqiu requested the entire morning off for her at school.

At noon, when she, Chen Qingru, and He Yu were eating in the cafeteria, Luo Xinyue came back.

Just in time for lunch.

When they were heading back to the dormitory and Chen Qingru and He Yu had gone to fetch water, Luo Xinyue pulled Jingqiu aside, giggling, "Jingqiu, guess what I did this morning?"

"Was there something to take care of at home? Or did you go to the hospital for a checkup?"

Luo Xinyue shook her head, "Neither."

"Then what was it?"

Grinning, Luo Xinyue said, "We also went to the Guancheng District office and bought five acres of wasteland."

"Ah, that’s such a pleasant surprise! What made you decide to buy it?"

"For the children, Ah Ze and I, once we graduate, if nothing goes wrong, one of us will be in the office while the other works in the community. Although we both will be employed, our salaries are limited. If we have two or three children in the future, the pressure will be significant. Things are different now than they used to be; there are so many people who can earn money. I’m afraid we won’t keep up, especially with people like you, who work so hard. So we thought, we might as well buy it. We don’t need it now, but it’ll be a good backup for the future. All we have available now is just enough for five acres. And we have to leave one or two hundred behind for when I have children."

"Five acres is enough; you can rent it to Niannian. Niannian said she can pay us five yuan for one acre, of course, that’s per year."

"That’s better than leaving it unused. I’ll tell you, the money we saved from our wedding has been whittled away by us these days. We spent several hundred on opening a store, bought a car, and now this land. Oh my, I need to tighten my belt now."

Lu Jingqiu looked at her with a smile, "Will Ah Ze let you skimp? Even if he dared, neither your mom nor your mother-in-law would allow it."

Laughing, Luo Xinyue said, "You’re right about that."

Xue Jianian has been really busy lately, with two stores and now so much wasteland.

She needs to take advantage of the warmer weather and quickly find people to clear the land.

On Sundays, she went to nearby villages and found more than a dozen villagers, paying them one yuan a day to clear the wasteland.

She also said if anyone was willing to work hard, be diligent, and swift, they could later help manage her farm, paying ten yuan a month.

Ten yuan a month adds up to one hundred and twenty yuan a year, which is a substantial income for a farmer, especially since it’s right at their doorstep.

Everybody put their heads together and worked harder than the rest.

Xue Jianian mapped out the area, planning to raise chickens, ducks, and geese within the encirclement of the hillocks, dig a large fish pond, dedicate the rest to growing crops, and raise a few cows.

She also planned to dig two wells. Of course, the vegetables and poultry were just for show; the main products would still come from her space.

Naturally, with a little water from her space, everything on the farm would grow big and healthy.

In the blink of an eye, over half a month passed.

The weather cooled down, and Lu Jingqiu had already started wearing a coat.

Second cousin also planned to visit Yangcheng City before the end of the year. This time, Lu Jingqiu gave the Second cousin the address of the leather sofa manufacturer, asking her to bring back a few sofas, double or single, in brown or dark brown.

While Lu Jingqiu looked forward to the sofas the Second cousin would bring back, she also counted the days until her husband’s return.

On Sunday, she went to visit her uncle-in-law and planned to go with Luo Xinyue to Fish Tail Street Market to look for some good fabric. She was already thinking about preparing clothes for the children.

At Fish Tail Street Market, she just happened to see Xia Lin’s shop. Some places here had started building houses, all storefronts, with some people copying Lu Jingqiu’s front house design with two stories.

Xia Lin’s shop was small, just a stall, but the business was exceptionally good. Every girl who came shopping there would stop by her shop.

Luo Xinyue was astonished and said to Lu Jingqiu, "Jingqiu, what do you think, which one makes more money, this store or our beef soup restaurant?"

Lu Jingqiu laughed, "Of course, her store does. The profit margin on clothes is still very high."

"Tsk, tsk, Xia Lin is going to get rich."

Lu Jingqiu smiled and pointed to a store not far from them, "You see, the competition is fierce too. Should we go check out that new store?"

"Sure, let’s go."

They arrived at the store, which also sold women’s clothing and also dealt in wholesale. The only difference was that the styles inside weren’t as trendy as those at Xia Lin’s place, but Lu Jingqiu took a liking to a work jacket with a hood. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

"Comrade, how much for this one?"

"This one is twenty yuan. It might seem expensive, but we use the best materials. It’s cotton-made, and you can wear it all winter."

Luo Xinyue spoke up, "Comrade, can you make it cheaper? I’ll tell you, we don’t get along with the store next door. If your clothes are both cheap and attractive, we would come to your store in the future."

The shop owner laughed at these words, "Are you really at odds with the store next door?"

Lu Jingqiu was startled by the sudden assertiveness of the shop owner.

Luo Xinyue was getting into it and laughed, "Yes, you guys are competitors, right? Don’t worry, we will definitely support you."

"More than competitors, she’s simply shameless. When it comes to snatching customers, she has no bottom line. For a piece of clothing, she would sell it even for a mere five-cents profit just to poach customers."

"Ah, five cents? Is she making money at all?"

Lu Jingqiu was shocked; Xia Lin wouldn’t do that.

"Definitely not making money, but how she operates, I have no idea. Anyway, she tells the customers that the profit margin on my clothes is high. It’s caused me to lose a lot of customers. I mean, can a clothing retailer compete with a restaurant? I earn about five cents per piece of clothing, and just a little bit of stock pressure would be enough for me to take a loss. Why would I keep doing business with her when I could be at home drinking in the northwest wind?

"In business, everyone should just mind their own. There are so many in the industry. By competing maliciously like this, would you say she’s playing fair?"

Luo Xinyue was entertained and, spotting a stool in the shop, sat down without any hesitation, saying, "A profit of five cents? I wouldn’t do it either. But she’s being too ruthless."

"Yeah, she relies on being self-sufficient, designing her own stuff, having her own workshop. Everybody is rushing to do the same. How am I supposed to continue in this business? Luckily, the quality of the clothes in my store is still good, and the store property is my own, otherwise, I really couldn’t keep going."

Lu Jingqiu checked out the clothes in the store. They were pretty nice too. The work outfit could even add a hood to look casual, and there were jeans as well: "Your store is quite nice, too, but the problem is it’s big and you only display a few styles, which doesn’t look professional. It’s fine for retail, but wholesalers seeing this won’t think there’s much to choose from and will naturally go elsewhere. You must have someone in your family who works in a garment factory, don’t you?"

"Eh, how did you guess that?"

Lu Jingqiu smiled, "With the store doing this well and you still so confident, it was just a guess."

"You’re right, my partner works in a garment factory."

"A garment factory would have more than just women’s wear, right? You could add some men’s wear too, lay out more items, make the store look full. Keep the wholesale and retail prices separate. You don’t have to lower prices, but keep up the quality. You know, you get what you pay for."

Luo Xinyue chuckled, "That’s right, boss, just listen to my friend, she’s full of good ideas."

The shopkeeper was enlightened, "True, we have those at the factory. I was thinking not to mix too many things, as I’m a woman and naturally prefer selling women’s wear. I’ll discuss your idea with my man when I get back. Whatever you ladies want today, I’ll give it to you at cost price, and from now on, you’ll get the lowest price in my store. Since it’s our first meeting, let’s be friends. My surname is Yan."

"I’m Luo, and she’s Lu. Thanks, boss, I wish you growing success."

The jacket Lu Jingqiu had taken a fancy to was sold to her for just fifteen yuan, and Luo Xinyue got a knitted sweater for a great price as well.

Carrying their purchases, they left the store feeling cheerful, and coincidentally met Xia Lin, whom they hadn’t seen for weeks. Xia Lin seemed to be in better spirits than before.

Upon seeing them, Lu Jingqiu caught the scorn in Xia Lin’s eyes and returned it with a disdainful glance.

Carrying their stuff, they strode home.

If you have the nerve to brag, you better have the nerve to earn our money.