"However, although An Yixiang inherited the family business, she herself is a very formidable woman. Otherwise, with so many uncles and brothers in the An family clan, they would have snatched the winehouse from her long ago."
Shopkeeper Wu held An Yixiang in high regard, "When she first took over the winehouse, there was an uncle in the family who, citing her young age, wanted to forcefully bring the winehouse under the clan’s collective management by the clan leader and elders. In plain terms, that was nothing but an attempt to seize the property when her parents were no longer there. Later on, An Yixiang argued her case forcefully and set a term of one year, promising that if she proved insufficient to the task, she would present the winehouse with both hands."
"One year? So a year later, under An Yixiang’s management, business at the winehouse flourished, and the hopes of those in the clan were dashed?" Lin Yuan had guessed what Shopkeeper Wu was about to say next.
Shopkeeper Wu smiled and nodded, "Boss, you only guessed half right."
Lin Yuan looked at Xia Zheng with puzzlement, only to see him shrug his shoulders as if he didn’t know much about the matter.
Only to hear Shopkeeper Wu continue, "A year later, the An Family Winehouse indeed did exceptionally well under An Yixiang’s management, and they even extended their business to Yecheng, which naturally involved a partnership with the Drunken Immortal Residence. Not only that, the old man who had proposed taking over the An Family Winehouse suddenly suffered a stroke a year later and passed away after lying in bed for less than three months. And the day he died was precisely the day when An Yixiang officially took over the winehouse."
Lin Yuan raised her eyebrow, "Was the old man’s health already poor before that?"
"It is said that he was only two years older than the old master, but his health had always been robust, with no ailments."
Not expecting this twist, if the old man’s stroke and subsequent death were just a coincidence, so be it, but if not, then this An Yixiang was indeed a very dangerous woman.
Lin Yuan and Xia Zheng exchanged glances, each discerning the other’s thoughts in their eyes.
"This woman, she’s indeed formidable," Xia Zheng rarely bestowed such a comment on a woman. If he said formidable, then she must be just that. Moreover, women are different from men; when a woman resolutely sets her mind to something, she can be far more fearsome than a man.
"Yes, don’t be fooled by her being a woman, but she’s overbearing and aggressive. It’s said that within the Drunken Immortal Tower in the Capital city now, they all use wines provided by the An Family Winehouse." Shopkeeper Wu suddenly lowered his voice mysteriously, "According to some insider information, next year in the Imperial Merchant competition, the An Family Winehouse will also participate. It seems they have brewed a very special kind of liquor, but of course, we outsiders definitely wouldn’t know."
The Imperial Merchant competition?
She had heard of this from Liuzi before, merchants were not usually regarded favorably, but because of the grand event of the Imperial Merchant competition, many merchants could seek the honor of Imperial Merchant, a supreme honor within the entire business community.
What’s more, once one won the title of Imperial Merchant, all the wines in the Palace would be supplied by the winner. Such a lucrative and prestigious opportunity was naturally an object of fierce competition.
But the competition for this was truly intense, not limited to wines but also other areas such as embroidery, culinary skills, and so on were open for entry. Whether the An Family Winehouse could achieve a ranking was indeed an unknown.
However, regardless, there was now a very serious problem before Lin Yuan. With the An Family Winehouse allied with the Drunken Immortal Residence, they naturally would not provide better quality wines to the Drunk Man Building and Fragrant Full Building anymore.
Lin Yuan sighed, feeling that the waters were too deep, almost too much for her to accept. She had only wanted to quietly make food, and now she had to consider other matters related to profit, which was really troublesome.