Chapter 93: I Also Have People Above Me

The old farmer's agricultural products lifestyle supermarket opened at a speed beyond Chen Yang's imagination, and their opening promotion gave a store‑wide 40% discount on all goods.

As soon as the news came out, everyone who had been buying vegetables at the ordinary people's agricultural products lifestyle supermarket rushed to the old farmer's supermarket.

Because of this, the ordinary people's agricultural products lifestyle supermarket suffered an unprecedentedly deserted scene since its opening; the once bustling crowd dwindled to almost nothing.

"Chen Yang, why don't we also offer a 40% discount?" Du Yue'e was a bit annoyed; the popularity they had painstakingly built up was instantly snatched away.

"No need, let them be happy for a few days." Chen Yang rejected Du Yue'e's suggestion. He had someone check the rival's supply channels; all their goods came from the Qingshui City agricultural products wholesale market. The cost was high and the supply was unstable.

"What should we do with the vegetables we prepared today?" Du Yue'e looked at the fresh produce on the shelves, full of worry. Other vegetables that aren't sold in a day don't matter much, but vegetables have a short shelf life—if they aren't sold today, their quality will drop.

"Just wait!" Chen Yang said calmly, looking at the long queue of vegetable buyers across the street: "Someone will eventually get tired of waiting in line and come to us."

Du Yue'e, bored and idle, went to the back warehouse to help sort the goods. The supermarket now only had Chen Yang and a few vegetable sellers.

At that moment, a young man with a slicked‑back hairstyle, wearing a black suit, walked over from the opposite supermarket. He was about twenty, not very tall, his face covered in acne, with a Chinese cigarette dangling from his lips.

"Are you Chen Yang?"

"Oh, you know me?"

Chen Yang looked at him with slight surprise, quickly searching his memory, but he just couldn't recall who the man was.

The slick‑haired man took a puff of his cigarette, then introduced himself arrogantly: "My name is Meng Bin, I'm a friend of Zhang Jun."

"Oh!" Chen Yang replied flat‑faced. Turns out he's here to cause trouble, which makes things simple.

Seeing that Chen Yang didn't take him seriously, the slick‑haired Meng Bin's face darkened. He snorted coldly: "I can't stand your reliance on connections. You think having a police chief backing you lets you bully everyone. Let me tell you, I also have people above me."

Chen Yang said: "I'm just a small‑time merchant who doesn't steal, rob, or break the law. You may have people above you, but what can you do to me?"

Meng Bin sneered: "Can't you see? Haven't you noticed your store's customers all running to my place? I'm telling you now—within a week your shop will be forced to shut down!"

"Brother, is it really necessary to go this far?" Chen Yang frowned, deliberately putting on a nervous look as he stared at Meng Bin.

"Hmph, you call that extreme? You've sealed people's shops and even sent them to detox centers." Meng Bin thought of his friend Zhang Jun still suffering in the detox facility, and his gaze toward Chen Yang grew increasingly hostile.

Chen Yang said: "Brother, have you got it wrong? We live in a rule‑of‑law society—who would dare arbitrarily shut down a shop if no illegal act was committed? Besides, sending drug users to detox centers for treatment is a good thing; do you really want your friend to become an addict?"

Meng Bin snorted: "Those in the entertainment business can't possibly be completely trouble‑free. Young people playing a bit of excitement—what's the big deal? You're just using a chicken feather as a command arrow, deliberately picking on people."

Chen Yang replied: "Then you can go complain to the relevant authorities—you do have people above you, after all."

Meng Bin's face flushed a little embarrassed after being retorted; if complaining were useful, he wouldn't be standing here.

"It seems you also know about the problems with the Zhang family's association—why are you shouting injustice for him? Could it be that you have shares in it?"

Meng Bin's defenses collapsed instantly. "Bullshit, I don't have any!"

Chen Yang asked him: "If you don't, why are you in a hurry?"

"Am I in a hurry?"

"Yes! Don't believe me—look in the mirror."

"Hmph, there's nothing to say to someone like you. Just wait—I'll have your shop shut down soon!" Seeing he couldn't get anywhere, Meng Bin threw out two harsh lines and left.

After watching Meng Bin leave, Chen Yang called Lin Feng and asked him to investigate Meng Bin's background. To his surprise, Lin Feng already knew the man's origins: he was the nephew of Qingshui City's Executive Deputy Mayor, Meng Ziyi.

Sure enough, he really does have people above him!

Chen Yang had to start pondering the meaning of what Meng Bin had said when he left.

If it were just ordinary business competition, I wouldn't be afraid; what I fear is that the other side will resort to underhanded tactics.

Chen Yang had people inspect the store's surroundings for any dirty objects, and he called the personnel in charge of allocating goods at the cold storage, asking them to pay extra attention to the area around the cold storage and report any abnormalities promptly.

However, after a morning passed, everything remained peaceful.

Because the old farmer's agricultural products lifestyle supermarket had no purchase limits, the goods they had prepared sold out quickly. Those who had queued for a long time but still couldn't buy vegetables cursed and went over to the ordinary people's lifestyle supermarket to line up.

To win over customers, Chen Yang added another perk: members who bought vegetables could get a free egg by presenting their membership card.

After posting the notice, the enthusiasm of the vegetable‑buying queue instantly surged.

Although Du Yue'e had worried the vegetables would spoil, they were snapped up in less than an hour, and she finally had to go to the back warehouse to fetch more stock.

Meanwhile, seeing that Chen Yang's supermarket business was unaffected, Meng Bin flew into a rage and harshly scolded the person in charge of his store.

"You good‑for‑nothings, with the same amount of stock, they can sell it to so many people, yet you cleared it out in an instant. Are you all rushing to be reincarnated?"

"Boss, the opposite side imposes purchase limits—each person can buy at most five jin. We, however, have no limits."

"Then why don't you impose limits? Didn't I have you investigate their business model? How are you operating?"

"Boss, we started with limits too, but you suddenly told us to let customers buy as much as they wanted…"

"... so you won't stop me, will you?"

"Boss, I was wrong—I'll definitely fix it tomorrow!"

"Remember to stock up a bit more. They have a warehouse in the back—what about our warehouse?"

"Boss, don't get angry—I'll go rent one right away."

"Hurry up! If the opposite side is still operating normally in five days, you're all good‑for‑nothings to me!"

"Okay, boss! We'll definitely do our best."

Meng Bin stared resentfully at Chen Yang, busy handling cash at the ordinary people's lifestyle supermarket; the more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and he finally let out a furious tirade at the empty air.

After Chen Yang finished serving all the customers who had queued to shop, he also let out a long sigh of relief. At least from the first day's situation, the other side seemed rational and had not resorted to underhanded schemes.

If it were merely pure business competition, he truly wouldn't worry. Even if the goods at the Shuanglin Market supermarket couldn't be sold, he still had the wholesale channel from the cold storage. Once the other three branch stores are renovated, he could also distribute the goods to those three stores for sale.