CHAPTER 26: CHAPTER 26: RIVALS IN THE TRADE

"Look at this! I bought shrimp from you earlier, and I didn’t pay attention when I bought them. But when I got home and opened it, there was only half a box inside!"

"Ah! Is this how you do business? Who would dare to buy anything from you now? Everyone, come and take a look!"

In front of Qi Yun’s stall, a middle-aged man in a green military coat, his face flushed, was shouting loudly, emotionally agitated.

His piercing voice instantly attracted the attention of passersby, who gathered around, curious.

Some customers who were originally about to pay Qi Yun also unconsciously stopped and looked toward the middle-aged man.

Qi Yun frowned slightly, sizing up the middle-aged man in front of him.

If it was just a matter of noticing the wrong quantity of shrimp, a normal person might have come to negotiate first, instead of immediately getting so angry.

Moreover, looking at the box placed on the ground, the number was unusually low, a 5 kg foam box was at most packed two-thirds full.

If it really was lacking so much, the weight would be significantly less; with three people selling, they couldn’t possibly miss that.

Thinking of this, he instantly judged that the man must be here to stir up trouble.

By this time, some people nearby had started whispering: "I was planning to buy some shrimp from him, but I didn’t expect them to be short in weight, better switch to another place."

"Exactly, it’s so expensive, and short in weight too, how unethical."

"..."

The chatter around reached Skinny’s ears, and he immediately felt angry, wanting to go up and have a word with the middle-aged man.

However, Qi Yun quickly grabbed him, then swiftly scanned the surroundings.

Sure enough, not far away, another middle-aged man in a military coat was standing there, with a sinister smile on his face, closely watching the commotion over here.

Qi Yun understood, calmly giving Skinny some instructions in a low voice.

Skinny nodded slightly and then quickly left.

Then Qi Yun turned his gaze back to the middle-aged man, with a meaningful smile on his face.

He slowly said, "Alright, since you think that box of shrimp is lacking in quantity, I’ll give you a replacement. How about that?"

The middle-aged man was slightly stunned, evidently surprised that Qi Yun didn’t argue with him at all.

But he quickly resumed his angry expression, sneering, "Hmph, now saying you’ll replace it, who knows if your other goods are also short in weight?"

Qi Yun listened without getting angry, speaking calmly: "Then tell me, how do you want to resolve this?"

The middle-aged man saw Qi Yun being so agreeable and became even more brazen, crossing his arms: "By rule, if the weight is short, you have to refund me three times the money; otherwise, you won’t be selling here today!"

Qi Yun was of course aware that the man’s goal wasn’t the few hundred bucks but to make him admit his goods were underweight.

He calmly took out his phone, checked the time.

Then he took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep breath, slowly saying, "Let me think about it."

The people around, seeing his weak attitude, started to suspect if the shrimp he sold were indeed short in quantity.

The middle-aged man, on the other hand, was visibly impatient, shouting loudly: "It’s such a small matter, what is there to think about? Hurry up and refund! Or else, I’ll call the municipal supervision department!"

Someone nearby chimed in: "Exactly, if there’s a problem, just refund."

"My neighbor recommended this place yesterday; I better remind her to check if the shrimp are weighted properly."

"..."

Right then, Skinny finally returned, with a plainly dressed old lady following behind him.

He was panting as he said to Qi Yun, "It’s from the same line of business, I didn’t see any surveillance there as you said, but asked a few other stall owners, and this lady saw it."

The moment the middle-aged man saw this old lady, his face changed drastically, a bad premonition arose in his mind, and he immediately tried to slip away.

But Qi Yun had been keeping an eye on him and immediately called out to him: "Hey, don’t leave, don’t you want your money?"

Skinny stepped forward quickly, grabbing the middle-aged man’s arm.

"I’ve sold over a thousand boxes in these two days, and you’re the first one to claim a shortage."

"What really happened, let’s have this lady tell everyone."

The old lady heard, looked at Qi Yun, and softly said: "As discussed, two boxes of shrimp for me, right?"

Qi Yun smiled and nodded: "Rest assured, you’ll be able to take them away later."

Confirmed, the old lady then stepped forward, raising her voice: "I’m selling radishes at the stall too; these two guys have their stall opposite mine, selling frozen shrimp too, but they priced it at 380 per box, and no one was buying.

I saw them whispering for a long time, then this guy in the green coat came over to buy shrimp.

I didn’t pay any mind at the time, but after a while, I saw him take the shrimp back and fiddle with the other person in the box, then reseal the box."

The nearby customers, hearing the old lady’s words, burst into a commotion, all turning their gaze towards the middle-aged man.

"Sure enough, purposely finding fault! I thought it was off, how could he not notice if half the shrimp were missing when buying?"

"Too much, using such dirty tricks just to steal business!"

"Exactly, people like this should be chased out of the market!"

The middle-aged man’s face flushed instantly, loudly defending himself: "You’re lying! You’re in cahoots with them."

But the old lady, with her hands on her hips, confidently said: "I saw it myself, and my daughter saw it too, don’t you dare deny it!"

The man was left speechless by the old lady’s retort, his eyes shifting, clearly lacking confidence.

Having achieved his aim, Qi Yun didn’t want to drag it out any further, motioning Skinny to let go of the man.

After all, the delay would affect his earnings.

He had seen such cheap tricks many times, too lazy to waste energy on them.

The middle-aged man rubbed his arm where he was grabbed, his face alternating between pale and flushed.

The surrounding customers still pointed at him, their eyes full of disdain.

Seeing this, Qi Yun called out: "Alright, those wanting to buy, hurry up, not much left!"

"If you’re not secure, you can add me on WeChat, and if the goods are genuinely problematic, contact me with a photo first, guaranteed replacement!"

Upon hearing this, all doubts evaporated in the crowd, rushing in to buy.

The old lady also left smiling, holding her two boxes of frozen shrimp.

The brief farce didn’t affect Qi Yun’s business much, as he sold 150 boxes in two hours alone.

Sensing it was still early, he decided to have the driver and Skinny go back for another load, while he stayed to sell the remaining fifty boxes.

The market seemed busier than yesterday; by nearly four o’clock, not only were the remaining fifty boxes sold, but the additional load brought later also completely sold out.

After packing up, Qi Yun let Skinny and the driver head back first.

He himself walked to the roadside, hailed a taxi, and headed straight for Vanke Mansion.