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Now Shop owner Wang and Shop owner Du were even more puzzled. They couldn’t fathom why anyone in their right mind would buy grain from their rival grain shop.
Seeing their lack of interest, Shop owner Sun quickly explained, “Think about it, the auspicious grain shop is a new establishment. How can they compete with us? They’re just relying on buying better-quality grain at lower prices.”
“Both of you, consider this. If that kid had a significant stock of grain, would he have only opened a grain shop in our small town? I reckon his grain reserves aren’t substantial.”
“Let’s send someone to pose as passing merchants and buy grain from them. We’ll buy a substantial amount at an even cheaper price. When we’ve bought up all his grain, we’ll have control over grain prices in the area.”
Shop owner Sun clapped his hands and called over two servants, instructing them to bring the grain they had purchased from the auspicious grain shop to the center of the hall, leaving the bags open for inspection.
“Look at the quality of this grain. It’s even better than the top-grade grain from our stores. If you two aren’t willing to join me, you’ll have to face the suppression from this auspicious grain shop, which came out of nowhere. Don’t expect to make any money then, and your superiors will blame you.”
After hearing Shop owner Sun’s words, both Shop owner Wang and Shop owner Du fell silent.
Shop owner Sun paid no attention to them and calmly sipped his tea, waiting for their response.
Seeing them hesitating, Shop owner Sun added more fuel to the fire, saying, “Just look at the quality of this grain. Even if we buy it at the auspicious grain shop’s prices, we won’t be at a loss. When we sell this grain separately in our own grain shops, we can charge double the price.”
“Alternatively, we can take this portion of the grain to the provincial capital to sell. The officials and aristocrats there will surely compete to buy it. I believe there’s no need for me to explain the pros and cons of this approach, right?”
“When the auspicious grain shop can’t produce grain to sell anymore, we’ll spread the word about their unreliability in this town, making it impossible for them to stay.”
Shop owner Wang and Shop owner Du were increasingly enticed by these suggestions. After exchanging glances, they saw determination in each other’s eyes.
The two of them quickly agreed to work with Shop owner Sun. Even if they couldn’t reap as many benefits as he claimed, the prospect of defeating the auspicious grain shop was appealing enough for them.
After extensive discussions, they finalized the quantities each of them would buy from the auspicious grain shop and then dispersed.
In the end, they agreed that regardless of how much grain the auspicious grain shop currently had in stock, Wang’s Grain Shop and Du’s Grain Shop would each purchase 30%, while the remaining 40% would be handled by Shop owner Sun.
By making such arrangements, they essentially acknowledged that the auspicious grain shop likely didn’t have a substantial stockpile of grain.
After finalizing their plans, the three of them quickly arranged for individuals to disguise themselves as three groups of merchants and negotiate grain prices with the auspicious grain shop.
Meanwhile, Feng San and Feng Si were busy at the grain shop. When they spent a day receiving three groups of so-called ‘enthusiastic’ merchants looking to buy large quantities of grain, they promptly reported this to Liang Hui.
Liang Hui secretly chuckled, realizing that the fish had finally bitten the hook. He instructed them to negotiate the prices with these three groups of people according to the originally planned strategy.
After several rounds of negotiations, they settled on the grain prices.
The auspicious grain shop agreed to sell their grain to them at a price one penny lower per catty compared to their retail price. They refused to go any lower.
The ‘merchants’ reluctantly accepted this offer.