Chapter 525: 525: The Business is in Bad Shape

With Qiao Yindi present, Xiaomai and Qiao acted professionally and courteously. They only discussed the events of the day, without veering off topic.

On their return to the village, Xiaomai hitched a ride home on Tong’s ox cart. He assured her, “Miss, rest easy. If given the opportunity, my family will certainly clear things up with the villagers. We will not tarnish your reputation.”

“I appreciate the effort, Brother Tong.” Xiaomai responded with a distant smile.

Xiaomai nodded at her, then drove his ox cart home.

Once home, dinner had just been prepared.

At the dinner table, Tong Tiehu mentioned the matter.

“It’s no big deal. If the villagers won’t buy, we can sell our goods in town.” Xiaomai replied.

The matter of reputation seemed to fade when compared to the hunger for wealth.

At least his family felt this way.

After dinner, Tiehu went to his room, troubled by the situation, “It’s my fault.”

He was not one to worry about money. Despite living in the village for a lifetime, he couldn’t bear to fret over every single penny like the average villager.

If he had that level of foresight, he surely would have intervened when his family was setting the price for bean sprouts.

“It’s no big deal. Sun Family’s reputation is bad too, yet they’re still getting by.” Xiaomai consoled him.

“It’s not the same.”

Sun Family tricked Qiao Changshun, while they were deceiving their fellow villagers.

“Our family has always been different from the rest of the villagers.”

“But we will continue to live in this village.”

“We’ll see how things go, no need to worry prematurely.” Xiaomai reassured him.

Tiehu sighed, wait and see?

Just as Tiehu predicted, news of the matter quickly spread throughout the village.

The following day, not a single customer visited the new house of the Tong Family.

Although the price of maltose and vinegar was consistent with village expectations, the overpriced bean sprouts led to a decline in sales for the other goods as well.

That night, Tong came to see Xiaomai. He expressed confusion about the situation.

Indeed, the bean sprouts were priced higher than Xiaomai’s, but the prices for maltose and vinegar were unchanged, and these items had never been a rip-off to the villagers before.

Xiaomai patted the back of his hand, “People are feeling uneasy because they’ve lived side by side with your family for decades and hold you in high regard. But this sudden revelation unsettles them.”

Would Tong Family lie over such a small profit after decades of harmonious coexistence?

If they had been straight with the villagers and shared the profit margins of selling eight pounds of bean sprouts for a gain of a mere five coins, there wouldn’t have been any issue.

But their secretive and deceitful approach was too much.

“Don’t worry, it’ll blow over in a few days. Vinegar is an essential item. Since there are no peddlers in the village, if the villagers run out, they’ll have no choice but to buy from you.” she told him.

Tong let out a sigh. “I reckon my ma and the others will cause a row again.”

The profits from the vinegar were already slim. After this incident, business would be even tougher.

Previously, their main income source was selling bean sprouts in town. But given the population of Bailu Town, they couldn’t earn much from that alone each month.

Though the vinegar shop used to make some money, the biggest earnings were from the profits of their fields.

But with no fields now, there was likely to be another uproar.

“Oh, by the way, did Sun Family come over?” he asked.

“She was beaten severely yesterday and is barely breathing. She’ll probably be bedridden for ten days to half a month. She won’t have time to cause a fuss.”

“What do you think Sun Junyan’s response will be?” Tong asked.