Chapter 149: I Get It

Chapter 149 -145: I Get It

It began the moment Furen hung the sign carved with “Gold Coins, Sword, pepper powder” on the tree.

As of today,

The Golden Sword Hu Grocery Store had only been open for a mere 28 days.

Objectively speaking, for any startup, this stage is usually considered a hopeful and forgiving honeymoon phase.

The boss usually wouldn’t be under any pressure.

After all, they hadn’t even paid the first month’s salary yet, so they were definitely flush with cash.

As for business, even if it didn’t meet expectations, most people would still be patient enough not to panic so soon.

At the very least, they would cling to the fantasy that “things will get better” and keep the business running for a while longer.

Maybe for three months, maybe for half a year… Only if things still hadn’t improved would they consider shutting down.

But the Golden Sword Hu Grocery Store was different.

It hadn’t even been a full month, yet it had already encountered a major crisis, one that could topple its business credibility—

A premeditated smear campaign!

A rip-off joint!

A Crafty Merchant!

Deceiving customers!

All sorts of baseless slander and accusations came crashing down like a hurricane, pushing the grocery store to the brink of survival overnight!

The methods were despicable, the tricks insidious—it was simply unconscionable!

Their malicious intent was plain to see!

They undoubtedly wanted to strangle this rising star of the business world, Lu Wei, in the cradle!

“This is despicable!”

“This is a smear campaign! It’s slander! It’s unfair competition!!”

“Someone’s out to get me!”

Pacing back and forth in the grocery store with his hands behind his back, Lu Wei wore a furious expression, his eyes fierce. He scared Anna and Zovir so much that they were too scared to even breathe.

He was perfectly demonstrating the composure and calm a mature entrepreneur should possess when facing a crisis.

“Speak!”

A moment later, he suddenly turned to the trio of Adventurers cowering in the corner and demanded through gritted teeth:

“Who exactly is slandering me!”

“It wasn’t us! We just heard it from someone else!”

The three of them quickly shook their heads, desperately trying to distance themselves from the situation:

“But we don’t believe it! Otherwise, we wouldn’t have just bought flint here!”

“Bullshit! If you don’t believe it, then why did you call my shop a rip-off joint!”

“Because…”

The man in the lead muttered under his breath, “You said there were special services, but it turned out to be singing. Isn’t that deceiving your customers…?”

“Hm? Deceiving? How is that deceiving?!”

Lu Wei’s brow furrowed, and he said self-righteously, “Is singing not a special service?! If you misunderstood, you have only your own filthy mind to blame!”

“I…”

The man opened his mouth but couldn’t refute it.

After all, no one had ever explicitly stated what the grocery store’s “special services” actually were.

“Fine, we apologize for our earlier outburst…”

Discretion is the better part of valor. Considering that rip-off joints were often backed by powerful force, the man gave in with a miserable look on his face:

“I admit, this grocery store isn’t a rip-off joint, and you are not a Crafty Merchant.”

“Hmph. That’s more like it.”

“So, can we go now…?”

“Hold on. First, tell me where you heard these rumors!”

“We heard them while chatting with people at a restaurant…”

“…”

‘Last time it was a tavern, this time it’s a restaurant. This situation is looking pretty grim!’

Lu Wei took a deep breath and waved his hand, gesturing for the three to leave.

But then he added…

“By the way, if anyone asks you about this grocery store in the future, you know what to say, right?”

“Ah! Of course, of course! We know exactly what to say!”

“Hmph. Good. I’ve memorized your faces!”

“Er…”

The trio’s eyes went wide, and a chill ran down their spines.

‘Wait a minute, this isn’t a Crafty Merchant anymore…’

‘This is a straight-up bandit!!’

…

…

Soon, the three of them fled as if their lives depended on it.

It seemed that from now on, unless absolutely necessary, they would likely never set foot in the Dome Pillar again.

Losing three customers was no big deal. After all, the one thing Heitai Town didn’t lack was Adventurers. There would always be a steady stream of new clientele.

But the problem of a damaged reputation and the smear campaign was much trickier.

It was like rust on a Longsword; if not dealt with quickly, it would continue to spread until the blade was completely ruined.

So, for the next half hour, Lu Wei got a detailed report from Anna and Zovir on the store’s performance over the last ten-odd days.

And he came to a shocking conclusion—

The situation was even more serious than he had imagined!

Starting about five days ago, people had been coming on “tours of the rip-off joint”!

And their numbers had been increasing, with three separate groups showing up just yesterday!

Keep in mind, the grocery store only averaged about ten groups of customers per day.

So, a public relations crisis was clearly developing!

If he didn’t make a change, his reputation would completely collapse, leading to the tragic fate of bankruptcy!

“Alright, you two can get back to work.”

With a listless wave of his hand, Lu Wei collapsed onto a new chair that still smelled of pine, his face a mask of utter despair.

He never would have imagined that his business empire would be snuffed out just as it was getting started.

If it were just his original “mobile stall,” it wouldn’t have been a big deal; if it was gone, it was gone.

After all, he could make money through adventuring now, so he could do without that piddling profit.

The problem was, construction on the Golden Sword Hu Commercial Complex had already begun. If he gave up now, all the money he had invested would go down the drain.

For a Crafty Merchant who never did business at a loss, this was absolutely unacceptable.

‘No, I have to keep fighting.’

‘Maybe the situation isn’t as bad as I think.’

‘Besides, they’re about to rebuild the trade routes. When all those artisans and laborers enter the forest to work, I’ll be able to get a piece of the action no matter what.’

A moment later, the thought of the upcoming Silver Scale Merchant Association suddenly rekindled Lu Wei’s fighting spirit.

He immediately formulated a four-step “turnaround strategy”!

1. First, return to town and accurately assess the extent and scope of the grocery store’s ruined reputation.

2. Find the mastermind behind the rumors and shut them up.

3. Win back his reputation by lowering prices, improving service quality, and so on.

4. If he can’t win it back, then just embrace the infamy and start a different project.

‘As everyone knows, a bad reputation doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t make money.’

‘In my past life, didn’t that one ‘penguin’ company have a terrible reputation but still rake in obscene amounts of money?’

‘Huh? That’s right…’

‘Thinking about it that way, being a ‘rip-off joint’ or a ‘Crafty Merchant’ doesn’t seem to matter at all!’

‘As long as I can make money, who cares if I’m a Crafty Merchant?!’

Suddenly, Lu Wei’s eyes lit up. He had an epiphany about the true essence of business—

Reputation and credibility are just tools! Not the goal!

A merchant has one and only one goal: to make money!

And with that thought, his perspective suddenly widened!

After all, there were countless examples from his past life of people getting cursed out while still making a killing.

Take gacha mechanics in games, for example.

Everyone knows those sexy, cute characters are just strings of code, but they still happily and tirelessly top up their accounts and empty their wallets.

And this was a real world of adventure!

He wouldn’t even need anything that great. Just a single, Ordinary piece of High Level Equipment would be alluring enough!

“I see it now!”

Thinking of this, Lu Wei immediately shot to his feet, an excited expression on his face as he made his decision—

“The ‘Equipment Blind Box’ project… is officially launched!”