Chapter 399: Stealing Business

Chapter 399: Stealing Their Business

A vague sense of unease stirred in Ji Qingqing's chest.

All she could do now was pin her hopes on the Crown Prince, hoping their barbecue joint would start turning a profit soon so he could pay back her dowry silver.

Otherwise, she'd be the first Crown Princess in the whole Dongchen Kingdom to walk down the aisle without a dowry!

The next day at noon, at Prince Ye's estate.

Xie Liuzheng came barreling in to find Ji Yuntang, his handsome, roguish face etched with panic.

"Sister Yuntang, how can you be out here watering flowers at a time like this? Something big just went down!"

Ji Yuntang stared at him, totally confused. "Brother, what happened?"

Xie Liuzheng clenched his fists, his face burning with outrage. "That bastard Crown Prince and that crook Ji Nanchuan just opened five barbecue joints together in the capital, and they're dead set on stealing our business! The stores are just about done with their renovations, and they're set to open no later than the day after tomorrow."

"They've also been spreading the word all over the teahouses and restaurants, bragging that imperial chefs will be cooking personally, promising VIP treatment, more ingredients, better flavor, and cheaper prices than ours. Now the whole capital is buzzing, waiting for them to open."

"Sister Yuntang, you gotta think of something fast! Our barbecue place has barely been open a week! I, the Heir, was counting on this place to make money to take care of Qingge. There's no way I'm letting that dog Crown Prince take this business from us!"

Ji Yuntang's eyes flickered for just a second before settling back to normal, her voice as steady as ever.

"Relax, they're not gonna be able to take our business."

Cutting off someone's livelihood is basically the same as robbing them blind. Ji Yuntang could read Luo Jingshen's game plan in a heartbeat.

He'd seen their barbecue joint raking in cash and wanted a slice of the pie for himself.

Too bad his greed was getting the better of him—he was probably about to shoot himself in the foot.

Ji Yuntang put down her watering can and went over to the basin to rinse her hands.

She said, "Anyone can open a barbecue place, but what makes it taste good all comes down to the seasoning and dipping sauce recipes."

"As long as you keep our seasoning recipes under lock and key and make sure they don't get out to the Crown Prince, there's no way they can make barbecue that beats ours."

But even if it did leak, it wouldn't matter—sauces like seafood dip, Orleans marinade, and Korean-style sauce were things only she had.

Even if Luo Jingshen tried to copy them, he'd fail. A lot of the plants in those seasonings didn't even exist in this era, and there were no substitutes to be found.

Of course, Ji Yuntang didn't tell Xie Liuzheng any of that. She figured it wasn't worth bringing up and didn't want to make him suspicious.

Xie Liuzheng still couldn't shake the unease. He knew better than anyone just how low Luo Jingshen could stoop.

Back in the day, he'd heard from the street thugs that whenever Luo Jingshen opened the same kind of shop as someone else, if the other guy's business did better, he'd come after them.

Plenty of merchants who crossed him ended up vanishing without a trace!

Xie Liuzheng had a feeling Luo Jingshen was behind it, but the authorities couldn't dig up any proof, so they couldn't pin it on him.

Now, watching the guy brazenly muscle in on their business, he felt like he'd just swallowed a bug.

Xie Liuzheng frowned at Ji Yuntang, a serious look flashing through his eyes.

"Sister Yuntang, but I heard their forty-dish barbecue combo is only ten taels of silver. Won't that hurt us?"

"What if we drop our prices too, or throw in some extra freebies for the customers?"

Ji Yuntang glanced at him and took a sip of tea from her cup.

"No need. The prices I set are already as good as they're gonna get."

She set the cup down and said seriously, "Brother, you gotta understand—business isn't charity. Just because we sell cheap doesn't mean customers are gonna line up for it."

"In the food business, the three most important things are cleanliness, sincerity, and flavor. Those are what keep customers coming back for more."

"Good taste decides whether people come back. Clean ingredients decide whether diners feel safe eating there. And a merchant's sincerity decides whether the business can go the distance."

With that, a cold smirk tugged at the corner of her lips as she turned to Xie Liuzheng.

"You think them selling cheap is actually a good thing?"

Xie Liuzheng scratched his head, baffled. "Huh? Don't folks usually pick the cheaper spot to eat?"

Ji Yuntang kept that faint smile on her lips, like she had everything handled.

A glint of amusement sparkled in her eyes. "Not at all. It's easy to drop prices, but hard to raise them back up. Once you cut them and then jack them way up, folks will see it as price gouging. Even if he's the Crown Prince, nobody's gonna stand for it."

She locked eyes with Xie Liuzheng and said slowly, "Go on back and keep an eye on things. I'm betting it won't be long before you get what I'm saying."

Xie Liuzheng didn't totally get it, but Ji Yuntang's calm, unflappable vibe put him at ease.

The longer he hung around her, the more he saw all the brilliant qualities he could learn from.

He still had a long road ahead if he wanted to shake off his playboy reputation for good.

Xie Liuzheng looked straight at Ji Yuntang and broke into a grin.

"I think the best call I ever made in my life was claiming you as my sister."

"Sister Yuntang, thanks for changing me."

Ji Yuntang had never seen Xie Liuzheng this sincere. With his usual goofball act dropped, he looked like a dashing young man riding high on a fine horse.

She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it felt like the young man in front of her had suddenly matured by leaps and bounds.

Ji Yuntang smiled back. "Don't thank me. Thank yourself. Only people who are truly set on changing can actually make it happen. Words from others don't do a thing."

Xie Liuzheng hung around and chatted with Ji Yuntang a little longer. Before he left, she handed him another skewer recipe and told him to study it hard when he got back.

Xie Liuzheng took the recipe and headed out, totally satisfied.

Two days later, Luo Jingshen's five barbecue restaurants officially opened under the name "Feast Barbecue."

On day one, the restaurants were jam-packed, and business was absolutely exploding, crushing Ji Yuntang's Fireworks Shop.

Luo Jingshen and Ji Nanchuan counted the silver rolling in, their faces lit up with excitement.

Ji Nanchuan's hands were shaking. "Your Highness, the five barbecue joints pulled in ten thousand taels in a single day, and that's with us selling cheap! If business keeps up like this, we can hike the prices in a few days, and inside a month, we'll have made back every tael we put in!"

Luo Jingshen's eyes gleamed as he clapped Ji Nanchuan on the shoulder.

"The Marquis is right. But now that the barbecue joints are up and running, let my people take over the management from here. The Marquis doesn't need to worry about it anymore."

Ji Nanchuan was caught off guard. "But Your Highness, didn't we agree that I'd run two of the restaurants and you'd run three, working together as partners..."

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