Chapter 373 - 234: I Have an Import-Export Trade to Discuss With You (Part 2)

What Qiu Yunong said was more or less what Lin Jiang had expected.

The people from the Restaurant Chain Association had gone there just to stir up trouble.

As the saying goes, nobody works for free. They weren’t after money themselves, so someone must have paid them from behind the scenes.

At this stage, the only people who would have paid them off would be from the CTC Team.

And their methods were all within Lin Jiang’s expectations; they hadn’t pulled any new tricks.

Just a bunch of low-class moves.

"Zhou Jin’s Trendy World is a competitor of ’Super Fun.’ He has a friend named Li Wuyang. I acquired a beef processing plant, so he and I are also competitors. Add to that the big stunt we pulled yesterday, spray-painting all their cars... it makes sense they’d do something like this."

"I guessed it was them, too. They can’t win in a fair fight, so they’re starting to play dirty. We need to think of some countermeasures," Qiu Yunong said over the phone.

"I’m sending you something."

As he spoke, Lin Jiang forwarded the promotional video He Jing had sent him to Qiu Yunong.

"This is internal material from when the district leaders came for an inspection. You should be able to use it."

Qiu Yunong was a smart woman. The moment she saw the materials, she knew what needed to be done.

"With this, things will be much easier to handle."

"You know Manager He from Berkeley, right? Do you have her contact info?"

"I do."

After acquiring Berkeley, Lin Jiang had the mall’s management run ads for ’Super Fun’ in prominent locations.

They had discussed the specific promotional details privately, which is how Qiu Yunong got He Jing’s contact information.

"Contact her and get some more information. You can use it all as material."

"So you’ve already figured out how to deal with them. I was worried for nothing."

"No matter how good the method, it still needs to be executed perfectly by you guys. I can’t make any promises about other things, but this is more than enough to handle them," Lin Jiang said calmly.

"Remember, a simple exposé won’t be very effective. You need to learn how to shift the conflict."

’Shift the conflict...’

Qiu Yunong muttered to herself, but she quickly understood what Lin Jiang meant.

"You mean, shift the conflict between the Restaurant Chain Association and us onto those people from the district..."

"You’re a smart one. Go do it. But control the narrative carefully. Don’t state it outright. Leave everything to everyone else’s imagination."

"Okay, okay. I’ll contact Manager He right now."

After hanging up with Qiu Yunong, Lin Jiang went back to eating his noodles.

This sort of thing was within his expectations, so dealing with it was much easier.

"So you already had a plan to deal with them," Chen Jingxian said.

"When you’re in business, you’re bound to run into this kind of messy crap. It’s less about coming up with a plan on the spot and more about being prepared in advance."

"That puts my mind at ease. The three noodle shops’ revenue has already reached eighty thousand a day. Any little disturbance could affect it."

"Actually, even if we ignored them, this would all blow over after a while. The customers will vote with their feet," Lin Jiang said.

"Mhm."

Seeing that Lin Jiang’s noodle bowl was almost empty, Chen Jingxian said:

"Are you full? I can order something else for you."

"I’m full. I had some fruit earlier, so I wasn’t that hungry anyway."

Lin Jiang turned and lay down on the sofa. "Well, I’m full and satisfied. Now a certain someone can fulfill her promise."

Chen Jingxian recalled what she had said on the phone. "You did that on purpose."

"Don’t forget, you were the one who called me. I even told you I was at the door, but you didn’t believe me. It’s a bit much to say I did it on purpose now."

"You just wait. I’ll go get it and show you."

Chen Jingxian got up and went back to her bedroom. A moment later, she came out with a black pencil skirt that ended above the knees, and two unopened pairs of stockings in her hand.

"Why are there two pairs?"

"One pair is thin, and the other is thick, for overcast or rainy days."

Chen Jingxian said:

"But the thick pair doesn’t look very good with a skirt. They’re better with a long coat."

"I don’t care what they’re paired with. It’s time for the fashion show."

Chen Jingxian twitched her small nose. "Hang on. I need to apply my medicine first."

"Medicine?"

"I have wounds on my body. They need to be disinfected every day."

"I can help with that, so you don’t have to struggle with it."

Chen Jingxian stood there and thought for a moment. "Alright. When I do it myself, the medicine always drips down, and I get all flustered."

While speaking, Chen Jingxian took out the povidone-iodine and cotton swabs from the first-aid kit and handed them to Lin Jiang.

"Where should we do this?"

"Let’s go to my room, so we don’t get it on the sofa."

"Okay."

The two went back to the room. Chen Jingxian lay down on the bed and lifted her pajamas up to just below her chest, revealing four gauze-covered wounds on her body.

Lin Jiang removed the gauze pads one by one. Each wound was about a centimeter long and had already formed a scab.

"What’s this black thing?"

"A suture thread?" Chen Jingxian said.

"I called the doctor today. He said that normally, the suture would fall out on its own, but something unexpected happened with this one. He told me to go to the hospital tomorrow and have a nurse help take care of it."

"It’s a small problem, right?"

"Yeah, nothing to worry about."

"Perfect, I’m free tomorrow. I’ll go with you."

[You have gained favor with NPC Chen Jingxian. Affinity +10]

[Affinity: 100]

[Reward: 1,000,000 NPC Special Development Fund. Has been deposited into your account.]

"Then I won’t be shy about accepting."

"You’re putting on a ’customer review’ show for me, and I’m taking you to the hospital. Let’s call it even."

"That’s true."

Lin Jiang took the povidone-iodine and began disinfecting Chen Jingxian’s wounds.