Chapter 78: Beware of Imitations

Lu An now had no other option but to do farm work.

First Uncle Lu felt that his youngest brother had lost his job and brought disgrace on his family, so he assigned all the heavy work like cutting wood and fetching water to Lu An.

When Lu An was working in town, he managed dozens of workers.

The workers all respected him on the surface, Lu An certainly was used to that.

Although he had lost his job, Lu An needed some time to adjust his mentality.

Lu An thumbed his nose at his older brother Lu Ming. The two brothers kept arguing.

However, Lu An was the one who was in the wrong and brought disgrace on the family in the first place. Therefore, Lu Ming usually was the one who gained the upper hand.

Lu An was used to being carefree in town. After he returned home, he was ordered to do heavy work all day, and he didn't take it well.

Both Grandma Lu and Grandpa Lu took Lu Ming's side, making Lu An even more upset.

Lu An lay on the bed and said in a depressed tone, "My big brother is such a jerk."

Lin Xiu'er rolled her eyes in the heart, she was mad that Lu An didn't bring her a cent from the bribes, but she knew her husband was pretty depressed at the moment, so she decided to not mention that and pour oil on the flames.

"Two days ago, Lu Tong came back and took away the 20 steamed buns from our kitchen," Lin Xiu'er said.

Lu An frowned and said, "What's going on with Big Sister-in-law and her daughter! Married daughters are like spilled water. 20 steamed buns! We are not doing well ourselves!"

Lu Tong's husband had given them 20 tales as betrothal present, but Lu An hadn't got access to even 1 tael of that money! It went directly to Lu Cheng Yu's wedding fund!

Lin Xiu'er frowned and said, "Lu Tong's husband's family is not poor! How can she take advantage of us like this!"

Lin Xiu'er didn't know that the only reason Tang indulged Lu Tong was because Lu Tong threatened to tell Grandma Lu that Li Fang Yue's sister was only a concubine.

Grandma Lu knew one thing or two that Tang had been giving Lu Tong stuff, Grandma Lu was not happy about that.

"Your big brother raised such a daughter, she used to disrespect me so much when she was at home. I don't think her husband's family like her to be honest." Lin Xiu'er complained.

......

The Lu family was in a mess, Lu Lin had also encountered some situations.

Chen Xiao Cai came back to Forest Town from Willow Town alone this day.

"What do you mean by they are not renting the store to us? Me and the owner have a deal, we've signed a contract and everything." asked Lu Lin.

Chen Xiao Cai said sullenly, "The owner said he was going to use the store soon and he changed his mind."

Lu Lin frowned. The store he rented in Willow Town was at a good location, he and the owner had a good talk and they signed a long-term contract. 'How could he regret it so soon?'

" Did he say how to compensate us? We have a contract after all." asked Lu Lin.

Chen Xiao Cai said angrily, "He said that he will deduct the rent for the past few months and compensate us with the rest of the money. Lin Gege, the owner compelled us to move out within three days. Otherwise, he would throw our things out. If it wasn't for Uncle Qin, I think the owner would have thrown our things out already."

"We owe a huge thanks to Uncle Qin," Lu Lin said.

"Yeah! My mind was in a turmoil, I really had no idea what would happen it not for Uncle Qin's help." Chen Xiao Cai let out a sigh.

Qin Yi was a great hunter, he had an imposing manner when he defended himself and people he cared about, Cai was a little scared to see the friendly Uncle Qin protecting him and Shen Chi like an angry beast.

Lu Lin nodded and said, "That owner is too unreliable."

'He still wants to charge us rent for the past few months, we have put in time money and energy in renovating the shop, now he wants us to leave all that behind with such a short notice! Plus, our customers would be so disappointed with us, we will lose so much business due to this.'

Lu Lin took a deep breath and said, "This matter should not be delayed, I'll go back to Willow Town with you."

Chen Xiao Mi came out and asked, "Is someone trying to cause disturbance? I'll go with you and I will beat them up!"

Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiao Mi and said in a doting manner, "Can you leave it to me please? You just take a deep breath and rest well, I can handle it."

Chen Xiao Mi sulked, "Okay."

Lu Lin gritted his teeth. His first impression of that shop owner was favorable, so he signed a long-term contract with the owner. Now he felt so betrayed, and he wondered what made the owner change his mind.

The more Lu Lin thought about it, the more upset he got. He had already made the shop famous, he had added fame and invisible value to the location.

......

When Lu Lin arrived at Willow Town, he talked to the owner, the owner looked very stern, there was no room for negotiation, he just wanted them to leave.

Looking at the owner's attitude, Lu Lin knew that they had most likely found a better deal, someone else offered them more money. Lu Lin and the owner had a heated argument and finally the owner returned eighteen taels of silver.

Lu Lin was indignant that the owner had perfidiously tore up their agreement and contract like this, but he was appeased when he thought that he had earned more than two hundred taels of silver in the shop.

"Lin Gege, what should we do now?" Chen Xiao Cai asked.

Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiao Cai and said, "Let's pack everything and put them in our inn first."

"Alright."

Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Cai went back to the inn after they finished packing. Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Cai wandered around in the commercial quarter in Willow Town, and Lu Lin bought a shop.

Their options were pretty limited. The shop Lu Lin bought was in a slightly remote location compared to the rental.

Although the location was not as great, the store was more spacious, and there were a few rooms and a well in the backyard. Once bitten, twice shy. Lu Lin decided to buy the store instead of renting.

This store and residence area was smaller and less exquisite than what Lu Lin had bought in Forest Town. He paid 140 tales in the end.

Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Cai got busy moving stuff in the new place after Lu Lin signed the contract.

Chen Xiao Cai asked " Lin Gege, will this shop owner kick us out?"

Lu Lin shook his head and said, "Don't worry, Cai, I guarantee you it won't happen again." This time he bought the property so no one could kick them out.

......

The new branch of Sino Commercial House in Willow Town was reopened in a new location, but the business of the new branch was not as great as they hoped. Chen Xiao Cai was very disappointed.

Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Cai walked past the old rental this day, they both couldn't help feeling angry when they saw the shop sign.

When they were kicked out of the rental, Lu Lin had already taken down the signboard, but the store was still using the sign of Sino Commercial House. They were selling fans and schoolbags as well. It was obvious that they were all fake goods and the price was much lower than theirs.

" Lin Gege, no wonder we don't have much business. There were even customers who came asked me if our commercial house had opened a second branch. The new branch's price is much cheaper than ours."

Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiao Cai and said, "You don't have to pay attention to them. We are people who create trends. The money we made in the early stages is already enough for us to launch new products..."

At this moment, the season was about to change. With the cold autumn wind blowing, no matter how cheap the fan was, no one needed it.

Chen Xiao Cai nodded. He had been managing the shop for a while now and he knew how much money they had made. Chen Xiao Cai knew about how profitable their business was. It was only natural there were copycats on the market now.

Chen Xiao Cai looked at Lu Lin and said, "Lin Gege, we really need to do something to boost our business!"

Lu Lin rubbed Chen Xiao Cai's head and said, "Don't worry, I will pay your wage on time. However, you won't have much commissions now that our business isn't great."

Chen Xiao Cai pouted and looked at Lu Lin. "I'm not worried about that."

Lu Lin rubbed Chen Xiao Cai's head and said, "In business, there are bound to be ups and downs. The most important thing is meeting changes with constancy."

Chen Xiao Cai, "..."

"The fans will be out of season soon. I have to go back and think about what we are launching next. " Lu Lin said.

Chen Xiao Cai said sullenly, "The owner of the store is so shameless. He doesn't even change the name, he actually copied our name and called his store Sino Commercial House."

Lu Lin also pouted and said, "Yeah, so shameless!" There was no trademark protection legislation in this time and space, there was nothing he could really do about this behavior.

"Lin Gege, what does Sino mean? Why is our store called Sino Commercial House?"

"Sino is a very magical place, it's got vast territory and abundant resources."

" Lin Gege, where did you hear about the name though? Why haven't I heard of it?" Chen Xiao Cai was confused.

Lu Lin, "I saw it in the book..."

The property that Lu Lin rented had a backyard, but there was no kitchen. Chen Xiao Cai and the others usually didn't cook. They only bought buns and veggies for food.

They had a kitchen in the new property, Lu Lin bought a lot of rice, noodles and oil for them. He told Shen Chi to cook more delicious food on weekdays, there was no need to save money on their diet.

......

It took Lu Lin almost half a month to be done with business matters in Willow Town.

Chen Xiao Mi sighed in relief when he saw Lu Lin coming back.

"Is everything settled down over there?" asked Chen Xiao Mi.

Lu Lin nodded, "Yeah! I bought a shop, so we don't have to worry about being kicked out by the owner in the future."

Chen Xiao Mi glanced at Lu Lin and said, "You bought another property? " Chen Xiao Mi tilted his head and thought that Lu Lin was so strange. Why did he need so many properties?

Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiao Mi and said, "Buying properties is good investment! If the political situation is stable, the value of both properties will only go up."

Chen Xiao Mi thought to himself, 'I wish the political situation were stable!'

When Chen Xiao Mi heard that a copycat shop had appeared in Willow Town, he couldn't help feeling indignant, "These bastards."

Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiao Mi and said, "Don't be angry. They are late, and their cost is high. Even if they sell many things, they won't make much money."

"Who opened that fake store?!"

"It seems to be Xia Haisheng. I heard that he is the second young master of the Xia family. The Xia family has a successful fabric. Xia Haisheng is a son of a concubine, and he has an older brother, Xia Yunhe who is the legitimate son of the family. I heard that Xia Yunhe is very proficient in business."

"Xia Haisheng is different. It is said that he likes to bully men and deceive women. However, Elder Xia is very fond of his little son. He always gives Xia Haisheng money to do business, hoping that he can achieve some results. However, Xia Haisheng took a large part of the money to eat, drink, and gamble, he only uses a small part of the money to do business, and he always ends up losing every penny."

"maybe he is jealous of our success, so he opened a copycat store."

Chen Xiao Mi frowned and said, "This shameless guy deserves to lose money."

"But he seems to be pretty loaded," Lu Lin sighed. Sino Commercial House had been operating in Willow Town for a while. Some of the prestigious customers secretly told Chen Xiao Cai that Xia Haisheng had rented their old store with forty taels.

As far as Chen Xiao Mi knew, fake business was not easy to do. And the thing was Lu Lin's business' selling point was novelty, Xia Haisheng was late in the business and the market was already saturated. Take schoolbags for an example, almost every student had bought a schoolbag from Lu Lin already.

Lu Lin shook his head and said, "I don't know, but it's not our business whether he loses money or not."