Chapter 56: If Something Goes Wrong, the Big-Headed Wang Yulou Will Take Responsibility

Seeing the message pigeon fly away, Yulou pondered before speaking.

"Elder Uncle, Yulou has another immature little thought; I hope you can offer some guidance."

Wang Rongsheng nodded in surprise and said.

"You need not be so polite, Yulou; speak freely."

Yulou is a junior favored even by the Clan Head, worthy of the title of Wang Shi's Qing Qilin.

Thus, even though Wang Rongsheng's cultivation is higher and his age greater, he still holds Yulou in high regard.

This is respect Yulou earned step by step by revealing his wisdom.

"Whether my plan to use horse racing to promote the Hundred Treasures Pavilion is successful remains unknown, so I have come up with a new idea."

Hearing that Yulou had another new idea, Wang Rongsheng felt somewhat helpless in his heart.

The way of business emphasizes genuine goods and fair value, with integrity leading to longevity; even when adhering to orthodoxy while employing the extraordinary, one must mostly adhere to orthodoxy, and only rarely employ the extraordinary to remain stable.

This young man, Yulou, thinks day and night about how to employ the extraordinary.

Actually, this is not strange; for Yulou, in this Cultivation World that feels like a cage, the best development path he currently sees is to tightly surround himself with the family.

If the family prospers, he can gain benefits along with it.

If the family fails, his small frame will struggle in this cruel environment.

Thus, the sooner the Hundred Treasures Pavilion is established, the slightly better the Wang Shi will develop.

Yulou's future can also be broader and smoother.

Therefore, he is so eager to do something to change the status quo and cope with that future filled with uncontrollable variables.

Regarding Yulou's urgency, Wang Rongsheng had reservations in his heart but was unwilling to say them directly.

After all, Yulou and he had no entanglement of interests, so he still asked with a smile.

"Oh, what idea?"

Yulou did not notice the resistance in Wang Rongsheng's eyes, assuming only that his Elder Uncle still valued him highly.

"Elder Uncle, I plan to hold a special 'Gambling Blind Box' event at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion to stimulate customers' desire to buy."

Hearing the word 'gamble', Wang Rongsheng became even more vigilant in his heart.

"Gamble? Gambling is not good; our Wang Shi does not lack that little bit of money; we Must Be Cautious.

Additionally, the 'Blind Box' you mention... what does it refer to?"

"It is like this: among the customers in Qing Xi Fang, the group with the highest cultivation is merely at the Qi Refining stage.

Moreover, among them, most are rogue cultivators and cultivators from small families; overall, they are quite short of funds.

Yet they often go to watch the horse racing at the racetrack, and many have even developed the habit of participating in betting on the horses.

Thus, I thought of a special sales method, which I call 'Gambling Blind Box'; we only need..."

As Yulou explained, Wang Rongsheng understood what he wanted to do; after hesitating and pondering for a long time, he spoke.

"Yulou, did you think of this yourself, or did some unsavory cultivator tell you?"

Hearing his Elder Uncle say this, Yulou was somewhat shocked.

He realized that his Elder Uncle did not trust him.

"Elder Uncle, this idea is somewhat unorthodox.

But standing from the customer's perspective, the goods inside the Hundred Treasures Pavilion Blind Boxes are at least equivalent to half the value of the Spirit Stones they pay.

This gives customers who buy Blind Boxes a sense of psychological security; beyond this security, if they happen to buy a Blind Box containing high-value goods, they can make a huge profit.

Although this sales method is called 'Gambling Blind Box', it has a fundamental difference from gambling where one often loses everything.

Yulou certainly does not associate with those unsavory cultivators; the idea regarding Blind Boxes was entirely thought up by myself."

Having been appointed by the Clan Head, Wang Rongsheng is now the Wang Shi's Administrator in Qing Xi Fang; he has a say in all the Wang Shi's enterprises in Qing Xi Fang.

If his plan does not receive Wang Rongsheng's approval, it cannot be implemented at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion.

Thus, Yulou answered very cautiously and comprehensively.

"Yulou, of course I trust you, but how do you guarantee that the plan to sell Blind Boxes will not lose money?

You must know, if we can make a profit, it means the customers who buy Blind Boxes lose.

If customers lose once, twice, or at most three times, they will not buy again, and then Blind Box sales will not be sustainable.

If we do not make a profit and give the profit to the customers, perhaps Blind Box sales will be hot, but it would be meaningless to us."

Wang Rongsheng's understanding was very simple: Yulou's plan sounded plausible, but in essence, it blocked both ends, meaning one side would inevitably suffer a loss.

"Elder Uncle, I am just discussing this with you; doing things always involves both profit and loss; if you disagree, then just pretend I never mentioned it."

Yulou said helplessly.

"Do less, make fewer mistakes; do more, make more mistakes"; this saying truly applies everywhere.

He had only proposed a plan and was already questioned by Wang Rongsheng.

Wanting to do things is simply not easy.

The risk of failure and the pressure from superiors are all unavoidable.

But whether it was because one of his words moved Wang Rongsheng, this Elder Uncle whom Yulou did not yet know well finally approved of his idea.

"Here is what we will do: I support you using the Hundred Treasures Pavilion's Spirit Stones to try one 'Gambling Blind Box' event.

If the effect is good, we will continue.

If the effect is not good, we will stop after just one attempt; what do you think?"

Yulou could only agree.

Actually, what he did not know was that at the moment of decision, Wang Rongsheng was not thinking about whether the event would succeed, nor whether the Hundred Treasures Pavilion would make a profit or a loss.

Whether the event succeeds or fails, and how much profit the Hundred Treasures Pavilion makes, has nothing to do with Wang Rongsheng.

Yulou is the Shopkeeper; if something goes wrong, the big-headed Wang Yulou will take responsibility.

What Wang Rongsheng was considering was that Yulou seemed to want to use the Hundred Treasures Pavilion's public funds to purchase the Purple Copper Dharma-Breaking Pestle from his hands.

Therefore, he came up with a new trick, trying to convince himself.

Here's the thing: Yulou is the head shopkeeper of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion. Purchasing the Purple Copper Dharma-Breaking Pestle goes through the accounts between the Hundred Treasures Pavilion and Huafeng Residence. The procedure is reasonable, so why should he, Wang Rongsheng, block it?

Wang Shi had already given him enough resources of all kinds to cultivate to the peak of Qi Refining. What Wang Rongsheng needs most right now is cultivation; he has no need to offend anyone.

Have you not heard? Don't bully the old, don't bully the young!

The next day, Qing Xi Fang, Wang Shi's Hundred Treasures Pavilion.

"Are you sure this method will work?"

Bai Lu, who had been dragged here by Yulou, looked at the wooden box on the counter, her words full of doubt.

As an orphan raised by adoption, she certainly did not question Yulou's courage.

The reason she asked was simply that she worried Yulou's attempt would fail.

As a noble son of Wang Shi, Yulou and Wang Yuan never looked down on her; instead, they treated her as a friend.

From a friend's perspective, Bai Lu was very worried.

"The differences between cultivators and ordinary people are great, but in terms of human nature, many points are shared.

Ordinary people are greedy—for beauty, wealth, status...

Cultivators also have delusions—fantasizing about blessed fate descending upon them, eternal life and enduring vision...

As long as there's a chance, everyone has the possibility of believing they are the favored of Heaven."

Several thousand cultivators in Qing Xi Fang, over a hundred thousand cultivators within Qing Xi Fang's sphere of influence—among so many people, would there be a shortage of greedy fools?

The Hundred Treasures Pavilion's blind boxes are twenty spirit stones each, containing at least four different talismans inside, with a market value of ten spirit stones.

If some clever one gets lucky and buys one containing the Purple Copper Dharma-Breaking Pill, they can easily make a killing.

After the Red Lantern Sect's harvesting, the prices of all magical instruments rose sharply; a Purple Copper Dharma-Breaking Pestle with four layers of restrictions is worth at least eighty spirit stones.

Buy it and you earn four times over!

(A five-restriction Purple Copper Bead—Wu Jinyan quoted sixty spirit stones, but that was a lowball purchase price; also, pearl-shaped magical instruments have no prestige, hence the low price.)

Yulou believed that since so many people are willing to bet on horse races, there must surely be people willing to buy blind boxes!

If they can't be sold within ten days, once the next horse race begins and Yang Qi's advertisements go up, the accumulated stock of blind boxes can also be cleared out by gamblers who like betting on horses.

This is the confidence that lets him dare bring up the blind box plan with Wang Rongsheng!

Wang Yulou isn't a blockhead—how could he possibly launch an activity blindly?

"Then would you consider yourself the favored of Heaven?"

Bai Lu didn't understand how seriously Yulou had prepared; she was just curious how a son of Wang Shi would view himself.

Yulou was stunned for a moment, then laughed bitterly.

"The favored of Heaven? Ha ha ha, which favored of Heaven lost both parents as a child, and upon growing up still caught such a terrible era?

Perhaps in your eyes the sons of Wang Shi are already very lucky, but before true power, Wang Shi is nothing more than a slightly larger ant."

Wang Xianmao worried that Yulou's brilliance would wound him, but his worry was unnecessary.

Yulou knew where he should head, knew how he should act, so he would not be lost.

Since this world is so cruel, and the Xianmengshi Sect's control can be called sucking marrow from the bone.

Then he would climb to the absolute peak, to a peak where no one could oppress or control him.

To cultivate, to cultivate amidst the mortal world, to cultivate amidst hardship, to cultivate amidst solitude.

Since he had come to this world where one could become an immortal and ancestor, Wang Yulou naturally did not want to waste his life at the bottom.

He wasn't sure if he had great ambition, but he had the courage to face the climb head-on.

That was enough, enough to set out.

As for how to set out?

Start by running the Hundred Treasures Pavilion well and solidifying his position within Wang Shi!

"A slightly larger ant? How could that be?"

Bai Lu could not see the thousand-year-undying dawn sun, and could not understand the cruelty of Master Mangxiang squeezing the Red Lantern Sect dry from top to bottom to prove his Dao and form a Jin Dan.

In her eyes, Wang Shi was not only not an ant, but was one of the thickest thighs in Qing Xi Fang, a Foundation Establishment immortal clan in the eyes of loose cultivators.

"Ha ha ha, let's not talk about this anymore. Come, put all the blind boxes on the shelf in front of the counter, then open the door panels—hopefully we'll have more customers today."

Yulou gave the order, and Bai Lu and the clerks bustled about—some opening doors, some sorting goods.

Morning sunlight poured in through the Hundred Treasures Pavilion's great doors, casting a sheet of golden light across the Bai Yu-paved floor, and customers began to appear sparsely.

Yulou did not step forward to actively hawk the blind boxes, but watched Bai Lu and the others attend to customers.

He was the shopkeeper; he couldn't possibly do everything himself. Appropriately delegating work to others was the only way to leave himself enough time for cultivation.

Although the daily upper limit of cultivation during the Qi-Drawing Stage was locked down by the great cultivators, beyond the improvement of cultivation, there were still many things Yulou needed to practice.

What surprised Yulou was that today's customers were actually more than yesterday's, and once they entered the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, they wouldn't leave.

They didn't look at goods, didn't summon the clerks, just stood before those few tables for the timed auction, staring at the items on the tables and refusing to leave.

It turned out these customers had long had their eyes on the Hundred Treasures Pavilion's timed auction event; they simply didn't want to bid early, deliberately waiting until the last day to come.

How to put it—such behavior had a certain beauty of loitering in the seafood section of a supermarket waiting for the fish to turn belly-up.

The unease in Yulou's heart also dissipated.

From the moment he took office as head shopkeeper of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, the two events he launched—the Three-Person Nine-Discount Group and the Timed Auction—both achieved success.

Look at the people crowding before the timed auction stage—the traffic-drawing effect was visibly good.

With such feedback, Yulou's confidence in the blind box event grew even stronger.