So that’s why Xu Niannian mentioned it. This update is available on NovєlFіre.net
The young girl was visibly startled upon hearing Xu Niannian’s words, her expression momentarily unnatural.
Xu Niannian clearly noticed the change in the girl’s demeanor.
With her pale fingers tapping gently on the counter, Xu Niannian asked her, "Is it convenient to answer?"
Although Xu Niannian spoke politely, she did not diminish her commanding presence, which put pressure on the young girl.
As if in front of Xu Niannian, one naturally felt diminutive.
The young girl was only 16 years old, and her name was Dandan.
Dandan was already in high school and had been smart and clever since she was young. Her family agreed to exchange goods this time because she persuaded them.
She knew those were not the authentic Xu’s Liuyue Su but had tried them and found the taste acceptable; moreover, they were cheaper, and many people were willing to accept them.
Another important point was that they didn’t need to go through middlemen this time; they contacted the manufacturer directly, which shipped the goods and greatly reduced costs, naturally increasing profits.
"Th-That, I’ll call my dad over..." Dandan felt embarrassed to speak with Xu Niannian herself.
A very beautiful woman, even as a girl, Dandan felt shy in her presence.
Soon, Dandan had her father come over.
As soon as the man arrived and saw Xu Niannian, he was star-struck. Xu Niannian frowned subconsciously and asked the man some questions.
Contrary to expectations, the man was thought to have sourced from a new supplier, and it seemed he would be reluctant to disclose details; however, when Xu Niannian asked, he confessed everything.
After leaving that shop, Xu Niannian took Xu Zhiqiang to several other stores, not all of them, just a portion.
From the conversations with these shopkeepers, Xu Niannian understood their thinking.
Although the two types of Liuyue Su clearly had a better taste from her family recipe, these shopkeepers knew they were dealing with counterfeit products and were still willing to cooperate because of the lower price.
And the taste, indeed, was not bad, just not as good as Xu’s Liuyue Su.
"Sister, these people obviously know they are fakes and still continue to do business with them. How do we solve this?"
Xu Zhiqiang had been following Xu Niannian and had heard her conversations with those shopkeepers.
Xu Niannian squinted her eyes; the outside sunlight was somewhat dazzling. The early spring sun wasn’t hot, but it was blinding.
"If they don’t want to cooperate, then we’ll do exclusive business."
"Exclusive business?" Xu Zhiqiang was puzzled.
Xu Niannian nodded, "We still need to talk about this with Sun Qiang. It would be better if he agrees."
If he didn’t agree, she would spend her own money to do it.
The patent law hadn’t been promulgated yet, and Xu Niannian truly had no way to take action against them.
However, it wasn’t entirely without remedy; at the least, she could make an example out of one to warn the others.
Xu Niannian planned to discuss with Sun Qiang the idea of setting up a large mall directly in the center of the sea market.
The mall would exclusively sell Xu family products, which for now, was only the Liuyue Su, and inform every customer that only the goods from the mall were the authentic products.
Those shops that hadn’t been taken over yet would be offered rent-free in exchange for a profit-sharing model that incentivized them to help with sales.
As for the shops that had been taken over, they would henceforth be refused any business dealings.
This approach might upset those shopkeepers who had initially resisted being bought out.
After all, they previously kept all the profits from their sales, but under this new arrangement, it was as if they were working for Huashang, helping to sell products for just a commission.
But there was no other way. Without the patent law, Xu Niannian couldn’t do anything to those people.
She had plenty of underhanded tricks to bring them down, but given the current situation, if one went down, a second would pop up.
Xu Niannian planned to use a permanent solution.