Tong Huaqiong couldn’t stop smiling while holding the silver.

Jufu Supermarket achieved great success in Pingchuan County, and the same was true in Yan Guan Town.

Though the supermarket in Yan Guan Town wasn’t as large as the one in Pingchuan County, its revenue was still considerable.

In the near future, Tong Huaqiong could rely on Jufu Supermarket to expand to the provincial city and Shengjing.

In contrast to Jufu Supermarket, Wu Ji was not doing well at all.

Greatly lowering prices attracted customers.

Once prices returned to normal, customers flocked straight to Jufu Supermarket.

Such frequent price drops and hikes became the style of Wu Ji.

Gu Youtian was quite frustrated, feeling it was all because Gu Ruinian’s random ideas caused it, and he became increasingly displeased with him.

Gu Ruinian felt wronged, thinking Gu Youtian was too conservative and unwilling to make a determined effort in the price war, which led to a further impact on Wu Ji’s business by their frequent price changes.

Wu Ren had nothing much to say; he was happy when business was good and showed a sour face when it wasn’t.

Fortunately, the shop didn’t require rent, and with Gu Youtian suppressing procurement costs to the lowest, it managed to barely maintain profit amidst the price war against Jufu Supermarket.

If it were his own shop, it would be fine, but dividing it between two families wasn’t much of a sight.

Wu Ren asked Gu Youtian to come up with a plan, but facing the strong advantage of Jufu Supermarket, Gu Youtian had no better strategies and could only take it step by step to slowly figure out a solution.

The shop had already opened and couldn’t be closed. For now, he couldn’t split with Gu Youtian, so Wu Ren patiently waited for his plan.

Gu Ruinian had repeatedly thought up some bad ideas like bribing the government to deal with Jufu Supermarket, but considering Tong Huaqiong was the countryside lady and that the county magistrate’s mother personally came to support Jufu Supermarket, he abandoned the idea.

He was still unwilling to see Jufu Supermarket take away his business and wanted to seize the opportunity for revenge.

If Jufu Supermarket’s reputation were to collapse, and he adopted their supermarket model, then all customers in Pingchuan County would belong to him.

Tong Huaqiong didn’t pay attention to Wu Ji, but news of Wu Ji occasionally reached her ears through Nie Xiaofeng. After learning about Wu Ji’s predicament, she couldn’t help but laugh.

How big of a face does Wu Ji have to take Jufu Supermarket as a competitor?

Surely the idea of a price war was suggested by Gu Ruinian, her old acquaintance who only learned the superficial aspects of pricing wars and had no idea how to run a shop as a whole.

Did he think price wars in later generations were merely simple price cuts?

In later generations, famous price wars from certain firms ended with no competitors left; what would Wu Ji rely on to defeat all competitors?

Especially for department stores, engaging in price wars is unwise. There isn’t just one department store in Pingchuan County. If prices are low today, they’ll attract customers; if prices go up tomorrow, naturally customers won’t come, and there are other places they can buy from.

Even renowned supermarkets known across the country in later generations didn’t rely on extremely low prices to defeat others, but on excellence in quality and attentive service to win.

Wu Ji was on the wrong path from the beginning.

Even if Jufu Supermarket attracted a large group of customers, if Wu Ji could lower its focus and rely on self-quality management, even if it couldn’t become the largest in Pingchuan County, the profits would be guaranteed.

Tong Huaqiong didn’t consider Wu Ji a competitor, yet Wu Ji blamed Jufu Supermarket for taking away its customers.

Tong Huaqiong was cautious with Wu Ji, instructing Nie Xiaofeng and Su Chengmin to keep a close watch on Wu Ji to prevent any mischief.

During her time in Pingchuan County, once the supermarket business settled fully, Tong Huaqiong planned to return to Qinghe Bay since there were still pig farms and cotton fields to manage.

After the rush of opening preparations, everyone could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Liu Yueer, considering herself a major contributor, told Tong Huaqiong that she wanted to tour Pingchuan County.

Tong Huaqiong agreed.

Since all the clerks were around, and everyone took turns resting, no incidents were likely to occur.

"Pandie, you should go look around too," Tong Huaqiong said to Tong Pandi, "I’ve sent a message to Aunt Hong; she’ll come with Aunt Zhao and the kids to the county tomorrow, and you can see your daughter then. Once we’re done here, we’ll head back together."

Since arriving at Qinghe Bay, Tong Pandi played a major role in the pig farm’s development, handling both pig farming and sales collections effectively.

This was her first time leaving Qinghe Bay since separating, and Tong Huaqiong knew she missed her daughter, so she had Mrs. Hong bring the two girls to Pingchuan County for a couple of days.

However, before her daughter’s arrival, Tong Huaqiong hoped Tong Pandi would take the chance to enjoy and relax a bit.

Tong Pandi gratefully smiled and agreed heartily with her aunt.

She indeed wanted to explore Pingchuan County.

After all, Tong Pandi had never really enjoyed going out on the streets growing up.

She planned to buy some things for the children, exchange her savings for gold, and even thought about buying a shop for the children’s future security.

She hadn’t mentioned her plan to buy a shop to her aunt yet, hoping to have a look first herself and then consult her aunt once she had some insight.

Initially, Tong Pandi planned to shop with Gu Taohua, but Gu Taohua couldn’t get away at the last minute, leaving Tong Pandi to pair up with Liu Yueer.

Liu Yueer had her motives; she wanted to acquire some good things for herself and feared Tong Pandi might gossip about her to her mother-in-law. Thus, shortly after leaving Jufu Supermarket, she found an excuse to ditch Tong Pandi.

Tong Pandi wished Liu Yueer to leave her; her aunt’s family treated her well, but Liu Yueer always showed hostility toward her, making her uncomfortable.

"Wife."

Turning a street corner, she arrived under the largest jewelry store in Pingchuan County. As Tong Pandi intended to go in to get a suit of headdress for her daughter, someone stopped her.

The person who stopped her was her ex-husband, Wu Musheng.

Hearing the word "wife" made Tong Pandi utterly disgusted.

"Who are you calling? We have already separated; who is your wife?" Tong Pandi righteously declared.

"Wife."

Wu Musheng looked her up and down.

Tong Pandi wore a light cyan dress, accentuating her fair and charming appearance; her hair was styled in a high-coiled bun, with a few loose strands brushing along her long, slender neck, tickling Wu Musheng’s heart with desire.

Wu Musheng felt a surge of impulse to take Tong Pandi as his wife again.

"Get lost."

Tong Pandi didn’t wish to entangle with Wu Musheng and turned to leave.

"Wife, I know you’re still angry at me. I’ve changed. If you are willing to come back and live well with me, I promise not to hit you anymore and guarantee to treat you well." Wu Musheng tugged at her sleeve, pleading.

Tong Pandi felt a shiver down her spine.

Back during their time at Black Dragon Pond, Wu Musheng had pursued her relentlessly using similar desperate tactics.

Now, he was resorting to the same old trick.

"A dog can’t stop itself from eating dirt. How arrogant must you be to think I’d return to you?"

Wu Musheng indeed lacked shame. He didn’t even ask about the daughters’ well-being, instead focusing on pestering her.

Did he think Tong Pandi was still the same woman from the past?

Tong Pandi sneered, gripping a hairpin in her hand, intending to stab him if Wu Musheng tried to use force.

Out of patience, Wu Musheng dropped his smile and said, "Who would want a divorced woman like you? Only I am forgiving enough to take you back, so don’t act ungrateful."

Wu Musheng recalled how Gu Honglian described Tong Pandi, saying she dressed provocatively in Qinghe Bay and caught the interest of many young men in the village.

Who would want a woman who’s been through a divorce? It must be because she fancied some young man that she was unwilling to go back to the Wu Family.