Qingfeng Lou is the premier restaurant in Jiangcheng County, where the food and service are the best, and of course the price is also the highest in the city. Especially on the fourth floor, which is the highest, it costs more than ten taels of silver to set up a banquet, which is almost enough to cover the expenses of ordinary people for a year or two.

Today, such a table of banquets was set up on the third floor of Qingfeng Building, and the participants were all the owners of various bookstores in the city, and the banquet was naturally Gu Yuezi. The owners of the six bookstores in the city have all arrived before dark, and greeted Gu Yuezi and Wu shopkeepers who were waiting in front of the building, and then went straight to the third floor to sit down.

It wasn't until they went upstairs that they found that a young man was already waiting for the banquet first, and he smiled and smiled and saluted them. Several people looked at each other, but they all saw doubts in their eyes, obviously everyone didn't recognize him, could it be a junior of the Gu family, but I hadn't heard of it before, and if it was really a junior, it would be impossible to wait upstairs so rudely.

With all kinds of conjectures, all the bosses took their seats, and with the various dishes and wines being delivered one by one, the atmosphere at the banquet became relaxed and warm, greetings and toasts continued, and then someone raised their glasses to look at Li Ling: "Who is this son?" ”

"Let me introduce to you, this Li Ling Gongzi has two identities, one of which is the same as you, and he is also the owner of my Jiangcheng County Middle School Bookstore......" Gu Yuezi introduced them with a smile, but everyone was a little stunned, apart from them, are there any other bookstores in the city?

Or a boss in his thirties surnamed Chen remembered a little, looked at Li Ling and said, "Aren't you the owner of the Li family bookstore on Dongxie Street?" ”

Li Ling smiled and nodded as if he hadn't heard the unkindness in his words: "What Boss Chen said is that that bookstore is owned by the junior's family. ”

"Humph!" This time, it was not only Boss Chen who was unhappy, but several other families also snorted, they had been dissatisfied with Li Ling's move to rent books for a long time, and they didn't trouble him because of their identity. But I didn't expect this guy to come to him today to be an eyesore, it's really annoying.

Feeling the hostility of everyone, Li Ling was not a little cramped, but just raised a glass of wine with a smile and saluted: "I naturally know that the seniors have some prejudices against Li Ling. Indeed, for some reason, my shop can only be maintained by renting books, which has reduced your business, and I will apologize to you first. After saying that, he raised his glass and drank it all, and then poured two glasses in a row, and drank them all, which can be regarded as showing the gesture of reparation.

It's just that the posture is free and easy, but Li Ling finally underestimated the impact of the wine on the body, this eighteen-year-old body had never drunk alcohol before, and now he drank three glasses of spirits in one go, and the strength of the wine together made his face blush, and he coughed twice lowly, so he could only sit down quickly and eat two mouthfuls of food to suppress the wine.

Gu Yuezi saw that the others had not eased much, so she opened her mouth again and started a round: "Bosses, please listen to the contemptible words." I just talked about Brother Li's first identity, and this is the second identity, he is Xiaoyaozi, the author of the book "Romance of the Gods", which is now popular in my Jiangcheng County. ”

At this time, several people with gloomy faces changed color again, and some people were even surprised: "What did you say? He wrote the letter of God? Is this true? ”

"Of course it's true, am I going to let people pretend to be Xiaoyaozi?"

"Even so, you can't ask me to accept it, the book of Fengshen lasts for several months, and the manuscript fees you earn are all on top of your store, so why break the rules and rob our business?"

Gu Yuezi immediately sighed: "This is a long story, Brother Li is like this, and he is also forced to make a living." Then, he simply said the matter of Li Ling's family, which made several people moved, I didn't think that Li Ling's situation was so embarrassing, so it seemed that everything he did was acceptable, after all, he was just to pay off his father's foreign debts, in order to survive well.

Li Ling also took the opportunity to get up again at this time, and said: "The juniors are young, and they are new to the bookstore, so I didn't think much about it before, and I hope that the seniors will not blame." I promise that as long as I can pay off my debts, I won't rent books or anything in the future. ”

He said everything about this, and these elders couldn't continue to hold on, so they all said that they would forget it, and they could be regarded as revealing this section. As a result, the relationship between everyone at the banquet looked closer, staggered, talked and laughed, but harmonious.

It wasn't until the wine was half-drunk that the outspoken Boss Chen spoke: "Boss Gu, you invited us here today just to let us and Li Gongzi get to know each other, right?" ”

As these words came out, everyone else also stopped their cups and looked up at Gu Yuezi. The latter's expression also became solemn, and his eyes met them one by one, and then he nodded: "What Boss Chen said is that Gu invited everyone to come today, and there is a major matter related to the rise and fall of my Jiangcheng County Book Market to discuss with you."

"Presumably you already know, a few days ago, Wanjia Bookstore from Hengzhou Mansion has opened a branch in my city, but what you don't know is that they have hit the head of my Gujia Bookstore, this is to grab the entire book market in my Jiangcheng County into their hands!"

"So what does Boss Gu mean?"

"My meaning is very simple, I want you to stand with my Gujia Bookstore and resist their invasion together. For example, if all of your bookstores boycott the sale of books printed by other 10,000 bookstores, it won't be long before they give up. ”

"This ......" The bosses looked at each other a few times, and their faces showed embarrassment. A boss Wang coughed and said, "Boss Gu, you should also know that in addition to selling books published by your family, our bookstore has also entered books with booksellers outside the county, which naturally includes 10,000 families." Now you let us boycott Wanjia Bookstore like this, isn't it unreasonable? ”

Gu Yuezi hurriedly explained: "I'm not asking you not to sell his family's books anymore, as long as the same books that my Gu family can print, don't ask him for them." In addition, you can also put their books in a corner that is out of sight, so that their business cannot be done, this can always be done, right? ”

Several people still didn't agree to his request, and all of them looked worried and embarrassed. Li Ling saw it in his eyes and knew that it was time for him to appear, so he also coughed dryly, attracting everyone's attention and said, "Seniors, I have a few words to say next." You are all my predecessors Li Ling, and you have been doing business for a longer time than me, so I don't dare to elaborate on some truths, but there is one thing that still needs to be explained, that is, shopping malls are like battlefields. Don't look at the fact that the entry of Wanjia Bookstore into my Jiangcheng County today is just a competition between two bookstores, in fact, there are far more interests involved behind it than you think. ”

"Li Gongzi, what you said is a bit alarmist, right?" Boss Wang shook his head disdainfully.

Li Ling immediately replied: "It's definitely not alarmist, because there have been precedents. You should know that Jiangcheng County is already the fifth target in the province in the expansion process of Wanjia Book Company, and what is the book market in the four counties like now? Seeing that everyone couldn't answer, he replied himself: "The original bookstores in the other four counties either closed down or were swallowed up by them, and then only he was left with the only one in the 10,000 bookstores." Perhaps, in the beginning, other people in the book market, such as bookstores, such as book writers, and engraver workers, will be able to benefit from them in large sums of money, just as Wanjia has recently made when they approached you.

"But have you ever thought that once they really become the monopolist who controls the book market in the county, will he still give you so many benefits? He didn't get involved in books to do good, in the final analysis, it was to make money. Therefore, I have to say that at that time, it will be time for them to take back all the benefits they have given you, even with their own interests. Even if I were the principal of Wanjia, I could have opened a bookstore here by myself, and then sold books at a price far lower than yours, just like dealing with Boss Gu's bookstore, forcing you into a corner, and in the end you could only close the store. And all of this is due to the fact that you chose to cooperate with him early on and forced the Gujia Bookstore to close. ”

This time, everyone's faces finally changed, and a few of them even showed deep thought, obviously accepting Li Ling's inference.

At this time, Boss Wang asked again: "But I remember that now I only have one bookstore in Jiangcheng County, Gujia Bookstore, what is the difference between this and Wanjia Bookstore's monopoly?" ”

"The difference is big, you have been friends with Boss Gu and Gujia Bookstore for many years, isn't it clear what kind of person he is? In terms of appetite and ambition, can Boss Gu compare to Wanjia? is the so-called shopkeeper bully, now the two of you are evenly balanced, so you can be safe, but once you change to 10,000 stores, how many of your bookstores still want to compete with them? As I said earlier, people only need to use their own money to open a few bookstores, and they can run you all out and close down. ”

After a pause, he said earnestly: "So bosses, in my opinion, the immediate interests must be fought for, but the more important thing is to take a long-term view in the future." It's still the same sentence, the mall is like a battlefield, the enemy is strong, only the two sides can unite to defeat the strong with the weak, and chop back the claws of the ten thousand families that have reached into my Jiangcheng County, otherwise, it will be too late to regret it. ”

At this time, Gu Yuezi also got up again and bowed his hand: "Everyone, you should know very well how my Gu Yuezi has always been, as long as everyone can help me this time, he will be rewarded one day." I also hope that you will think about our fellow villagers, and think about those scholars and workers who may be oppressed by thousands of families, so join forces with me! He said with a deep sigh......