Chapter 4118 — Seeking Cooperation
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Just then, a middle-aged man in fine, bright clothes suddenly entered the doorway, followed by two burly henchmen, both hulking specimens who made no effort to conceal their Golden Core cultivation. Shoving and cursing with fierce looks on their faces, they cleared a space as the crowd, unwilling to invite trouble, hastily drew back.
"Well, well—Celestial Pill Pavilion? What a grand name! A tiny little shop like this dares to call itself a pavilion? There really are too many ignorant, fearless fools these days—aren't you afraid of being laughed out of town? Still, business does seem decent..." the middle-aged man drawled in a strange, barbed tone.
The crowd fell somewhat quiet. Eyes darted back and forth between Wei Zhao and the middle-aged man, and expressions of eager spectatorship crept onto their faces unbidden. From the man's tone, it was plain he had not come with good intentions.
Hearing this, Wei Zhao gave him a cold look. Though a surge of anger rose in his heart, he swiftly tamped it down.
He had steeled himself for such things well before opening. A shop open to all customers under heaven would meet every kind of customer—the easy to serve and, naturally, the difficult. Especially since he was a stranger in a strange land, the first day of business was unlikely to go so smoothly and calmly.
Wei Zhao silently admonished himself: he was now running a business, and he must learn from Hong Zhong—harmony breeds wealth. In all things he must yield a little; he must never let a moment's indignation lead him to act on impulse, or the enterprise would be hard to sustain for long.
Seeing that Wei Zhao paid him no heed, the middle-aged man's tone grew even more peculiar: "I've been standing here all this while and not a single person has come to greet me. A shop like this can open? Can do business? Hmph—the great merchant guilds aren't even this arrogant. Such a tiny, shabby shop, and not only does it talk big, it puts on such lofty airs. I truly cannot fathom where it gets the nerve. It leaves one speechless."
For a moment, the crowd that had been bustling and buying all stopped in their tracks, every gaze fixed on the finely dressed middle-aged man, and whispers broke out on every side.
Seeing this, Xueli did not want to make things difficult for Wei Zhao and steeled herself to step forward and attend to him. She did not hope to make any sale off this man—if only he could be kept from disturbing the other customers, she would count it a blessing.
But Wei Zhao gently held her back and went to face the middle-aged man himself. He could tell the man had come with ill intent and would not be easily sent on his way.
"A small business like ours is bound to fall short in hospitality now and then. I ask the honored customer's pardon. What might the honored customer wish to buy?" Wei Zhao asked, looking at the man in a flat, noncommittal tone.
"Buy something? You truly think I came here to shop? With eyesight this poor, you have the nerve to open a pill shop here?" The newcomer sneered, sizing Wei Zhao up and down, then declared with a haughty air, "Listen well. I am Diao Huanshan, deputy manager of the Famous Pill Sect. My subordinates told me a new pill shop had opened here, so I came in person to see whether there might be some room for cooperation."
So he was in the same trade! Understanding dawned on Wei Zhao at once. Competitors are natural foes, and this creature before him had plainly come with bad intentions; whatever he called "cooperation" would certainly be nothing good.
"So it is Manager Diao of the Famous Pill Sect. Forgive my discourtesy. But my Celestial Pill Pavilion is newly opened, a small business with shallow resources—I fear there is little room for cooperation with a great guild like your Famous Pill Sect," Wei Zhao replied coolly.