The Delicate Darling with Her Rough Man

”Trouble? Not at all. I’m delighted to see Old Nine finally having some bad luck.”

Lu Yuanbin didn’t look the least bit impatient. On the contrary, he had the expression of someone enjoying a good show.

’If I hadn’t given them that detailed explanation, how could they possibly argue with Old Nine’s people when they confront them?’

’He and Old Nine had been rivals for so many years; he was intimately familiar with his tactics. There was no way Mr. Jiu would be selling facial soap so openly if he didn’t have a counter-strategy prepared.’

’His plan was designed to kill three birds with one stone.’

’First, when problems arise with the soap, Old Nine will deny it since the packaging is identical. He’ll even bait these people into coming here to cause trouble for me. Even if I could prove the soap wasn’t from my shop, they’re determined to sling mud, and it would be impossible to clear my name completely.’

’Second, he’s just reaping the rewards of my hard work. The market for facial soap is already established, and my sales are good. By copying the packaging, Old Nine can trick most people.’

’Third, it strengthens his own position. Thanks to the profits from the facial soap, Old Nine has recruited a lot more followers.’

’With these three points, he gains profit and followers, and he even has a scapegoat for when things go wrong. You could say it’s a flawless plan.’

’Too bad for him, my sister-in-law is a step ahead.’

Lu Yuanbin scoffed and immediately sent someone to Old Nine’s territory to get information. He was determined to see how his rival would get out of this mess.

Once everything was arranged, Lu Yuanbin sauntered off without a care in the world.

’He could leave the rest to his men.’

「The eastern black market.」

Old Nine was beaming, smug as could be.

Thanks to the batch of facial soap Xu Wenwan had sent over recently, he was raking in cash hand over fist.

Each bar of soap sold for one-twenty. The packaging cost a little over ten cents, leaving a profit of more than sixty cents. Old Nine himself pocketed fifty cents from every bar.

In just three days, he had already sold fifty bars of soap.

Xu Wenwan had sent him a hundred bars earlier. He’d taken some to give to the wives of several important officials in the County Town, knowing that Lu Yuanbin had used the very same soap to get into their good graces.

In fact, they had even become Lu Yuanbin’s regular customers.

He had also heard that Lu Yuanbin recently released a new facial soap that was incredibly expensive—something like twenty or thirty yuan a bar. Those wives apparently loved using it. He wondered if Xu Wenwan could make something like a shampoo bar.

’Even if it sold for twenty yuan, he’d still make a profit of ten-plus yuan on every shampoo bar!’

At that thought, Mr. Jiu felt his future was going to be absolutely wonderful.

He took a blissful sip of his tea, deciding he would go out and have a little fun tonight.

Ever since Leng Yuan had given him that beating, he had been recuperating for over half a month. Now, he could finally walk normally again.

And now that he was mobile, he was getting restless.

As Mr. Jiu thought about finding a widow, his mind couldn’t help but drift to Xu Wenwan’s fair, delicate face, and an unbearable itch crept into his heart.

’If only I could get that little minx into bed,’ he thought.

’That face, that waist, those legs... they’re enough to drive a man wild.’

Mr. Jiu was fantasizing about his hands on her slender waist, and just as he was about to make his next move, he heard one of his men shouting.

”Mr. Jiu, we have a problem! Something’s wrong with our facial soap!”

Mr. Jiu opened his eyes unhurriedly and glanced at his anxious subordinate, his tone impatient.

”What’s the rush? If there’s a problem, just tell them to go find Lu Yuanbin’s people and make him pay.”

Hearing this, the man wiped the cold sweat from his brow. ”Mr. Jiu, that’s not going to work! They say they bought the soap from us, and they’re demanding an explanation.”

Mr. Jiu shot up, his face turning grim.

’But I planned everything perfectly! The packaging was copied from the style Lu Yuanbin uses. I even paid a fortune to have someone carve the same floral pattern! Not only that, but I also had someone specially mix the dyes to match!’

’It was all supposed to be seamless!’