“Have you heard? The Shi family will be launching new pill products today. I wonder what they’ll be?”
“I’m not that interested. Think about it, the Shi family has been doing terribly because of the Chen family, if they had any valuable prescriptions saved, wouldn’t they have used them already? Why did they have to save it until now?”
“Makes sense. But are you going there?”
“Of course! Why not? Nothing to lose for taking a quick look at what they have to offer.”
A few dignitaries of Maple City were discussing this event.
At the Zu Manor, even Zu Tianhong received an invitation.
“Can’er, can you attend this on my behalf?” Zu Tianhong asked with a smile. He clearly wasn’t interested in these matters and he didn’t want to get involved in the battle between the Chen and Shi family.
Meanwhile, Zu Can had already received a bit of insider information.
“Father, the Shi family may look as if they’re about to be crushed by the Chens, but I can say with confidence that the former will be the ones to get the last laugh when the tables are turned,” said Zu Can with a smile.
As a prominent figure, Zu Tianhong instantly figured out that something must be going on behind the scenes.
“Can’er, do you know something that I perhaps am not aware of?”
Zu Can nodded. Lowering his voice, he whispered, “The Shi family’s lord, Shi Wenjun has a good relationship with Brother Lin. He’s probably the one behind this new line of pills.”
Zu Tianhong was stunned. “Really?”
Zu Can nodded again.
Zu Tianhong took a deep breath. “Then I must attend this event. Can’er, keep me company. If it turns out to be true, we have to give the Shi family our support.”
Most other influential families in Maple City had received the same invitation as well.
The Gao family.
Gao Jiang was an official beast appraiser of the Beast Appraisal Association and an heir of his family. With his prominent status, the family would always include him in important discussions whenever he was home.
The competition between the Shi and Chen family on the pill business has been getting fiercer and fiercer lately. Most of the merchant families in Maple City were watching the fight unfold with excitement and many regular folks caught word about it as well
It was unsurprising that the Gao family was aware of it too.
“Letting a woman lead a family is a bad decision after all. It hasn’t even been a few years since she took control and now they’re on the brink of defeat under the Chen family. Back then, they used to be Maple City’s number one but now, the outcome is getting harder for us to watch,” the Gao family’s patriarch, Gao Xianming said. It was hard to decipher if he was actually being sympathetic or mocking the family.
The other Gao family members nodded and began gossiping, comparing the current Shi family and what they once were.
A thought suddenly came to Gao Xianming’s mind and he turned to Gao Jiang. “Jiang’er, I heard that the Chen family’s rise was a direct result of assistance from the Beast Appraisal Association.”
Gao Jiang nodded. “That is true. During Wang Ji’s time, the Chen family built a good relationship with him and for this reason, they became the sole supplier of medicinal ingredients for the entire Beast Appraisal Association. Many beast appraisers in neighbouring towns would also direct their patrons to purchase only from the Chen medicine halls so this helped their business to grow exponentially.”
Regular folks would never have known about this.
“And although we got a new chief, Chen Wenlin is a clever man. Instead of currying favor with Chief Tan Lin, as he did with Wang Ji, he maintained the quality of ingredients supplied. With this, Chief Tan Lin had no reason to switch suppliers, so their business remained unaffected by the change in power. Despite their repeated attempts, the Shi family doesn’t have a proper channel into the association. Now that the Chen family has under their possession their pill prescriptions, the Shi family is as good as done for, if not already dead.”
“Then would this launching of new pill products by the Shi family be genuine?” someone asked Gao Jiang.
Gao Jiang smiled, wearing a know-it-all expression. “The Shi family used to be prestigious after all so it’s highly possible that they’ve kept a few prescriptions hidden away. But it should be nothing huge because if it was, wouldn’t they have used it long ago? They didn’t have to wait until they were reduced to such a state before deploying their trump card. Be that as it may, our Gao family has to send someone to this event, as a sign of respect if you will.”
Gao Xianming nodded, thinking he would send Gao Jiang on the family’s behalf. After all, Gao Jiang was his son, and he could use this opportunity to train Gao Jiang’s social skills. It would be a nice thing.
“Jiang’er, why don’t you attend this on our family’s behalf?” Gao Xianming asked.
Gao Jiang nodded. It was a small matter so he alone would suffice.
***
The City Lord Manor received an invitation as well.
How could Shi Wenjun not invite them? They were the most influential figures in Maple City after all.
Though, whether or not the City Lord Manor would accept the invitation and if they did, who would they send, were all questions the Shi family had no answers to.
The Chen family.
Holding the invitation in his hand, Chen Wenlin frowned as he wondered what the Shi family was plotting.
“New pills? Where would the Shi family get new pills? This is utter rubbish.” Sitting across the table was Wu Chenwei, drinking fine wine and gorging on delicacies. He was completely at ease.
He had been suppressing himself for too long. Now that he was free, not only did he drown himself in good food and wine every day, but he even had Chen Wenlin get him a few women to spend his days frolicking around with. At times, even Chen Wenlin couldn’t bear to look at him.
The manner with which he acted was a disgrace to the educated man.
“The Shi family has a profound background and possess great resources. Young Master Wu, I’ve called you here today to ask if the Shi family genuinely has other prescriptions in their arsenal,” Chen Wenlin inquired in a serious tone.
As a businessman, Chen Wenlin knew what kind of situation they were in right now. Although the Shi family was being forced into a corner by them, the Chen family was also in hot water. They were operating at a loss with their lowered prices in an attempt to kill the Shi family’s business.
If the Shi family brought out their big guns and launched new useful pills, the losses the Chen family had sustained so far would have been pointless.
If the Shi family wouldn’t ‘die’ even in a situation like this, Chen Wenlin would have been essentially investing in something that yielded no returns. Worst-case scenario, it might even end up with his Chen family crumbling apart.
This was no joke to Chen Wenlin.
Wu Chenwei was obviously annoyed by this question. “How many times do I have to tell you? The Shi family can’t possibly have other prescriptions. I’ve already learned everything there is to know about them. All these years, besides not teaching me pelletization, they weren’t cautious of me in any other aspect so relax will ya?”
Having said that, he took another gulp of wine.
Chen Wenlin frowned. He was disgusted by people like Wu Chenwei, but since they were business partners, he had to tolerate the man. However, Wu Chenwei was not a person worth trusting or getting further acquainted with. The decadent lifestyle provided to him by the Shi family was met with betrayal by him. He was the ungrateful dog that bit the hand that fed him.
Chen Wenlin had Wu Chenwei’s background investigated and turns out, the man was from an average family. Without the Shi family’s help, he would have never achieved the status he had today.
Of course, Chen Wenlin would never say this out loud. The more outrageous Wu Chenwei was, the easier he was to control.
Once everything had settled down, he planned to chase this guy away. After all, this man no longer had any value to him.
“It’ll be great if that’s the case. Since the Shi family invited me, I plan to go and take a look. Young Master Shi, would you care to come with me?” Chen Wenlin was merely asking out of courtesy. And yet, Wu Chenwei seemed to have thought of something and nodded. “Sure, why not.”
It was then that Chen Wenlin learned how Wu Chenwei only wanted to see the Shi family making a fool of themselves. Seems like he intended to humiliate them in public.
This realization prompted Chen Wenlin to shake his head out of disappointment.
