Rebirth of the Merchant Woman's Revenge

"Don't be anxious, Manager Li. Tell me slowly what happened in the shop?" Although Gu Xunwei was anxious, she still slowed down her tone and asked.

"The shopkeeper of Wangyu Tower has issued a challenge to our shop, requesting that we hold a perfume tasting competition. Whoever loses will have to withdraw from the capital. What should we do now..." Shopkeeper Li said anxiously.

"What? How could this happen? Is Wangyulou going to completely break off relations with us?" Gu Xunwei looked puzzled, "Have we ever offended them?"

"No, we have always followed the master's teachings and have been doing business in a low-key and honest manner. How could we possibly offend them?" Shopkeeper Li quickly waved his hand to explain.

"Not only have they issued a declaration of war to us, but all the incense shops in the capital have received their declaration of war."

"Young Madam, what should we do? Let's go to the master to discuss countermeasures." Bai Zhi asked Gu Xunwei anxiously.

The master she was talking about was naturally the master of the Gu family, Gu Ziyu.

"Don't worry, Baizhi. My father is ill. How can I trouble him with such a thing at this time? Let me think about it carefully. There must be a way." Gu Xunwei seemed to be comforting Baizhi, but also seemed to be comforting herself.

"Wei'er, what's wrong? What happened?" Qian's face was pale, and she hurried over with the support of Nanny Li.

Shopkeeper Li had no choice but to repeat what he had just said, "Madam and Young Master, please make a decision as soon as possible. The fragrance testing competition is scheduled for three days later. How should we deal with it?"

"Oh, everything was fine. He opened his incense shop and we run ours, but why did something like this happen?" Qian couldn't help but frown and complain. Just when she said she would invest money to save the shop, something like this happened. It seemed that she had to invest, and the budget would definitely be much more than before.

"Manager Li, please go back to the shop first. I will discuss it with my mother and go to the shop later." Gu Xunwei did not hesitate too much, but sent the anxious Manager Li away first.

"What should we do, Wei'er?" As soon as she entered the main hall of Rongdeyuan, Qian couldn't wait to ask Gu Xunwei, who had never spoken a word.

"I have already prepared myself mentally for this. Mother doesn't need to panic too much now. The worst that can happen is we can fight them. I don't believe that with our Gu family's generations of experience in making incense, we can't compare to Wangyu Tower." There was no trace of panic in Gu Xunwei's tone at this moment. Instead, there was a lot more confidence.

"Wei'er, do you have a way to win?" Qian asked in surprise.

"Yes, my father has passed on the Gu family incense recipe to me. In fact, there are quite a few incense products on it that have not been successfully produced. I will concentrate on researching in the next three days, and I will definitely be able to make an incense product that they don't have in Wangyu Tower. It's just that..." Gu Xunwei started to hesitate halfway through her words.

Qian was listening attentively, but when she saw the other party start to hesitate again, she realized that it was still about the money.

"Last night you said you needed more than a thousand taels. What? Do you need more money now?" Qian was not stupid and had already guessed the reason.

Gu Xunwei nodded and said, "I originally thought that if the old house could be sold, I could at least get 600 taels. If I sell some of the valuable jewelry in my dowry, it would be enough. Now it seems that it is impossible."

"Just the research and development of the spices for perfumes requires a huge amount of money. I wonder how the profits of the two cloth shops are this month?" Gu Xunwei mentioned the two cloth shops.

This also opened Qian's mind. She had actually forgotten that Xie's mansion had two cloth shops that did not make much money.

But, what does it matter? She couldn't possibly sell off the two cloth shops, let alone do it to save Gu Xunwei's perfume shop.

"It's also a loss. There's basically no money left. Alas..." Qian had no choice but to say this, which was actually the truth.

Gu Xunwei naturally knew this too. Her two cloth shops didn't make much money to begin with, and then Manager Li and his men secretly tampered with their business, so she was sure that she wouldn't make any money at all.

“That’s such a pity. I had been thinking that if we could win against Wangyu Tower in this perfume-tasting competition, all the perfume brands in the capital would choose us in the future. Then the monthly revenue would surely increase several times over than before. But now it seems that’s not possible.” Gu Xunwei sighed, as if she was still unwilling to give in, but she could only shake her head helplessly.

"Then we can only do our best and leave everything to fate." Gu Xunwei bowed to Qian, and then said, "Mother, you should ask the housekeeper to sell the old house as soon as possible, otherwise it will be too late."

How could Qian give up like this? If they missed this opportunity, wouldn't the Xie family have to live a hard-pressed life? Wouldn't the daughter-in-law they had worked so hard to marry be of no use at all?

She stood up and grabbed Gu Xunwei who was about to leave, then stared into her eyes and asked, "If, if you raise more money, can you guarantee that you can win Wangyu Tower?"

"I don't know. Wangyu Tower has always been very mysterious. I asked Manager Li to investigate for a while, but he didn't find out anything. The person behind it didn't reveal a single word. All I can do now is to try my best to fight with the other party."

When Gu Xunwei said this, she looked at Qian with a helpless look in her eyes. "I originally thought that if mother could help me raise 1,200 taels of silver, I could raise some more myself and give it a try. If I really won, I would be willing to put 80% of my monthly income into the public bank to supplement the family expenses. Now it seems that I thought too much."

Qian couldn't bear to hear such words. She immediately became excited. Eighty percent, this was eighty percent of the profit of her two shops. How could she give it up? Besides, the old house was just left there.

"Wei'er, don't worry. I will ask the housekeeper to go out and sell the 1,200 taels right away. Your mother will definitely find a way to collect the total for you. Don't worry." Qian gritted her teeth and decided to sell the old house and a remote cloth shop. They should be able to collect the 1,200 taels together.

When Gu Xunwei heard her words, her eyes immediately lit up, and she smiled with tears in her eyes. She happily grabbed Qian's hand and said, "Mother, that's great. I will study it now. I will definitely be able to make a fragrance that Wangyu Tower doesn't have. Don't worry, mother."

Gu Xunwei's words made Qian feel more at ease. After Gu Xunwei returned to Xunxiangyuan, she hurriedly told both Mr. Xie and Xie Cheng'an about the matter. Seeing that neither of them raised any objections, she arranged for the housekeeper to handle it.

Mr. Xie was in a cold war with Qian for the past two days because of what happened at the housewarming party. When he was called to Rongdeyuan and heard her tell him everything that happened, although he was reluctant, he saw that there was really no better way at the moment.

"Mother, if you are in such a hurry to sell them and time is so tight, I'm afraid you won't get a good price. There may not even be enough people interested in coming." Xie Cheng'an didn't disagree. He knew the two shops. They could make some money in the past few years, but they have made very little in recent years.

Although I have been looking for the reason, I have not found it.