Chapter 221 - 192: Overthrow the Local Tyrants and Divide the Land

Chapter 221: Chapter 192: Overthrow the Local Tyrants and Divide the Land

When Xu’s Braised Shop opened in the morning, Old Wu wandered over carrying a thermos. He exchanged a few words with Xu An, offered some congratulations on the new shop, and then left. Old Wu was really just there to scout out the competition. Once he confirmed the shop wasn’t opening as a convenience store or a grocery, he relaxed.

’As long as it isn’t a shop that competes with me, I don’t care,’ he thought. ’It’ll go out of business sooner or later anyway. A couple of weeks, maybe three months at most.’

Thinking about it made Old Wu a little sentimental. The previous owner of this shop, Old Li, had been his old buddy for over a decade.

They had both bought storefronts and opened up shop on this very street back in 1997. In those days, product variety was limited. They could each run a thriving business just by sticking to one or two types of goods. But as the economy boomed, the variety of products exploded. Gradually, the inventory in their two shops became more and more similar. With nearly identical merchandise, customers naturally started comparing. As a result, the two men’s relationship blew hot and cold for over a decade.

But at the end of the year before last, Old Li had a health scare and was hospitalized for half a month. He wasn’t the same after he got out. That, combined with his children’s successful careers, made him give up on running the shop. He sold his remaining inventory to Old Wu at a discount, cleaned the place up, and put it up for rent.

And it was because of the rentals that the location went from a hot property to a supposedly cursed one. The most common rumor whispered among the locals was that the shop had gained a spirit of its own after so many years with Old Li. It refused to acknowledge any owner but him, which is why every subsequent tenant failed, one after another.

So, once Old Wu saw that Xu An’s line of business was different from his own, he stopped paying attention to his new neighbor. He just stayed in his shop, minding the store while listening to traditional opera. He heard a few bursts of cheering in the afternoon, but his opera was turned up so loud that it drowned out the details. As a result, Old Wu was the only person on the entire street who didn’t know that the grand opening of Xu’s Braised Shop was a roaring success.

At 6:58 PM, Old Wu switched on the TV in his shop, planning to catch the local news on the Hai City channel. The screen had just lit up when he heard a man’s steady voice rattling off a series of event prizes. The last name announced was Xu’s Braised Shop.

’Xu’s Braised Shop? Why does that name sound so familiar?’

Old Wu stared at the TV for a long moment before it finally clicked. The new shop in Old Li’s old place was called Xu’s Braised Shop! Realizing this, Old Wu couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement. ’This new owner must be loaded,’ he thought. ’He can even afford a TV commercial. That must’ve cost him tens of thousands, right?’

After he mulled this over, the commercial break ended and the news broadcast began. The first few segments were business as usual, but when they got to a feature on local happenings in Hai City, a particular story caught Old Wu’s attention.

*A new braised food shop recently opened on Changde Road, and on its opening day, countless people traveled from far and wide to attend the festivities. What special event could have drawn such a crowd? Let’s go to our reporter on the scene for the story.*

The image on the screen switched to a tall woman in a business suit, her hair tied back in a neat ponytail. Behind her, a massive, orderly crowd snaked into the distance. Following the line of people, the camera focused on a conspicuous sign. Three words were written on it in a flourish of calligraphy: Xu’s Braised Shop.

"Hello everyone, I’m XXX, reporting for the Hai City local channel. I’m on location at the grand opening of Xu’s Braised Shop, and as you can see, the place is absolutely packed and buzzing with excitement! Let’s go ask a few people what brought them out to the grand opening today!"

The reporter picked a tall, thin, middle-aged man at random from the crowd and asked, "Hello, sir. May I ask your name?"

"My surname is Sun."

"Alright, Mr. Sun. What made you decide to come out to the grand opening of Xu’s Braised Shop during the hottest part of the day, just after two o’clock?"

"I’m here for the grand prize!"

"And what’s so special about this grand prize?"

The man chuckled. "The grand prize is ten thousand yuan in cash!"

The moment Mr. Sun finished speaking, the footage cut to him at a "challenge table," alternating between a swig of liquor and a bite of the Hellish Braised Flavor, clearly relishing it. Next, it showed him eating one Shuanshuang Spicy pepper after another. The final shot was of a stack of one hundred bills running through a money-counting machine before being officially handed from Xu An to Mr. Sun, as the crowd erupted in a frenzy.

The broadcast cut from the live scene back to the television studio. A male anchor, seated behind a desk, said in an upbeat tone, "So it was a ten-thousand-yuan cash prize that drew such a crowd! And the shop owner was true to their word, handing over the ten thousand yuan as soon as the challenge was met. Let’s congratulate Mr. Sun on successfully winning ten thousand yuan in cash!"

Old Wu was completely dumbfounded. The broadcast had already moved on to the next story, but his mind was still stuck on the ten-thousand-yuan prize. ’The new owner is even richer than I thought!’ This realization made him poke his head out of his shop for a look. The moment he did, he saw Xu An step out of Xu’s Braised Shop, megaphone in hand.ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮