Zhou Weimin and the three of them were sitting in the food stall, not in a good mood.
The three of them said nothing, smoking one cigarette after another, making the whole room filled with smoke.
Lao Liu sighed from time to time, frowning and looking like a bitter melon.
"well!"
After smoking a cigarette and throwing the butt on the ground, Lao Liu couldn't help but sigh again.
This made Lao Xie, who was already very irritable, unable to bear it any longer.
He blew out a puff of smoke and said angrily at him:
"I said, Lao Liu, can you calm down for a while and stop sighing all the time? I'm already annoyed enough. If you do this, I'll be in a worse mood."
"You think I'm willing," Lao Liu didn't realize that he was choked at all, and retorted rudely, "Now that something like this has happened, I'm really worried."
Having said this, he turned to look at Zhou Weimin and said eagerly: "Old Zhou, please tell me, what should we do next?"
"Yes, Lao Zhou, we can't go on like this. The food stalls can't just make money. If they don't lose money, it's just burning incense."
Xie Zhenjie's father obviously had no choice at this time and also placed his hope on Zhou Weimin.
"We are both at our wits' end, so we can only rely on you from now on."
Zhou Weimin could only smile bitterly at this.
"well!"
"If I really had my way, I wouldn't be sitting here with you all gloomy."
These words made the two of them feel chilled in their hearts.
"Then, what should we do next?"
Lao Xie was obviously confused and could not speak clearly.
Finally, he started fiercely and gritted his teeth and said: "If it doesn't work, just fight them. Anyway, they were the ones who did the unethical thing first."
"If they say they also open a barbecue restaurant, we won't say anything. It's a fair competition for everyone."
"But look, what did they do after that?"
At this point, Lao Xie couldn't help but get angry, "Originally, everyone lived in peace and went about their own business. The county is so big that two food stalls can fully support it."
"But now they are doing well, and they are maliciously lowering prices to compete."
"Even if I don't understand anything, I can still see what they want to do!"
"It's clear that they don't want to give us any way to survive, and they want to completely bring us down!"
"At that time, their food stall will be the only one in the entire county, and they won't be able to earn as much as they want."
Although Lao Xie has a bad temper, he is not stupid.
In a small place like Panxiang, why is the business of Dapan so booming?
It's not because of monopoly.
There is not a single competitor in Panxiang. Even if there are only a few people, it can be said that they are making money every day.
When encountering this situation, you can naturally see through the other party's plan at a glance.
But it is obvious that the other party has strong financial resources, and even if it is a waste, it can bring him down.
For a time, the three of them were helpless.
It turns out that two weeks ago, another barbecue restaurant suddenly opened in the county.
Its decoration style, as well as various performances after its opening, clearly imitated the model of Zhou Bin's restaurant.
Even the points system is exactly the same.
When Zhou Weimin and the others first heard about it, although they felt very uncomfortable, they didn't take it too seriously except for a few words of complaint.
After all, food stalls are not their own patent. It is other people's freedom to open food stalls if they want to, and they cannot stop them.
After some discussion, I no longer cared much about it.
Until a few days ago.
Zhou Weimin and the others found that the number of customers at their food stalls had dropped significantly, to less than half of what it used to be.
Not only that, this decreasing trend continues.
Yesterday, the turnover of the food stalls was not even a quarter of the usual level.
It was related to their own income, and it was so abnormal, so the three of them naturally took it seriously.
After a lot of fussing, I finally figured out the reason.
It turned out that the newly opened barbecue restaurant held a so-called grand opening event.
If you go to their barbecue restaurant for the same price, you can get three times the price compared to Zhou Bin's barbecue restaurant.
Originally, they thought that the other party offered a price reduction just because it was open for business.
After all, my own food stall used to sell at half price on the opening day.
I think after the opening event is over, the original price will definitely be restored.
So although I am worried, I am still stable.
But what happened next was beyond their expectations.
Three days passed in a row, and the other party's price increased a bit.
But compared to the prices at food stalls, it’s still only half the price.
The same thing costs less, and the customers’ choices are imaginable.
They all went to the newly opened barbecue restaurant to spend money.
Zhou Weimin and the other three also inquired about it privately, and Lao Xie even went over to try it out in person.
As for the taste, it's definitely not as good as our own food stalls, but it's still so-so.
If you consider that it's only half the price, it's really attractive.
What happened next confirmed their fears.
Over the past few days, the food stall business has been getting worse and worse.
Although I know that the other party will definitely lose money if this continues, my current situation is also not making any money.
The only difference is how much you pay.
I originally thought that the other party would not be able to hold on for too long, but after several days, there was no sign of stopping.
Obviously the foundation is very thick.
Thanks to the booming business of the food stalls, the three families have all saved some money.
But after all, they are just hard-working ordinary people. Living beyond their means every day makes the three grown men really frightened.
If we hadn't always encouraged each other, our mentality would have collapsed a long time ago.
Among them, Lao Xie is undoubtedly the one with the worst ability to withstand stress.
I stayed up until three or four in the morning every day, calculating my accounts over and over again.
Seeing that I am losing money every day, my heart hurts like a knife.
And the reason why I can still hold on is because I know that Zhou Bin is still there.
Blindly believe that he has a way to solve this problem.
Two days ago, he really couldn't stand this kind of suffering, so he mentioned it to Zhou Weimin and asked him to tell Zhou Bin about it.
I think the results have been achieved now.
When he heard Zhou Weimin say this, he stood up in shock, "Old Zhou, can't even Zhou Bin do anything?"
At this moment, Lao Liu felt extremely frightened.
Food stalls can now be said to be his lifeblood.
No one values the food stall business more than he does.
As for Zhou Bin, who has been the real decision-maker for everyone along the way, he admires him from the bottom of his heart.
Although he is an elder, he trusts Zhou Bin from the bottom of his heart.
When I heard Zhou Weimin say this, I thought he had already asked Zhou Bin for his opinion.
Zhou Bin was also helpless about this.
As a result, the last source of support disappeared, and Lao Liu felt despair for a moment.
We absolutely cannot accept this result.
He was pacing back and forth extremely excitedly, muttering to himself:
"No, there must be other ways to do this."
"Think hard, calm down, I'm going to think of a solution."
"There will definitely be a turning point, there will definitely be..."
He patted his head hard, trying to force himself to calm down.
Unfortunately, it has no effect except making myself more irritated.
And this also made him irritable again.
Like Madoka, the previous difficult life left a great psychological shadow on him.
That feeling of being looked down upon by others made him heartbroken every time he thought about it.
As the mainstay of the family, he is suffering all the time.
Until I met Zhou Bin and opened a food stall, my life was getting better day by day.
Now he has become the envy of everyone in the village.
He doesn't want to lose this life.
In fact, he was overthinking it.
Since the food stall opened, apart from the money to pay off debts, their family also has some savings.
Even if the food stall closes down, life will not be much different.
Like Madoka, he was just too frightened for a moment and took the matter too seriously.
And after hearing what he said, Lao Xie was no longer calm.
He also widened his eyes and looked at Zhou Weimin in disbelief:
"Old Zhou, you didn't even break Zhou Bin this time?"
After saying that, he slumped directly on the chair.
It was as if he had lost all energy in an instant.
"Oh, now I can only wait for death!"
Obviously, he also has great expectations for Zhou Bin.
After hearing such a result, I couldn't accept it for a while.
Seeing the two people's reactions, Zhou Weimin knew that they had misunderstood.
Knowing that this was not the time to joke, he quickly explained:
"Oh, you misunderstood!"
"I said there is no way. It doesn't mean that Zhou Bin has nothing to do. It's that I can't think of any good way."
Looking at the two of them, he smiled bitterly and said, "Where do you want to go?"
"real?"
The two people who were deeply shocked lifted their spirits after hearing this.
I'm afraid Zhou Weimin said this just to comfort the two of them.
Then he asked again: "Didn't you lie to us?"
"Why did I lie to you when I had nothing to do?" Zhou Weimin couldn't help but laugh or cry, "And what's the point of lying to you with such a lie that can be exposed as soon as you poke it?"
"Yes!"
Lao Xie and Lao Liu thought about it, and it was indeed so.
Looking at each other, the two people instantly came to life again.
But the next moment he became worried again: "In that case, what did Zhou Bin say?"
"Don't be anxious yet," Zhou Weimin first comforted the two of them, and then said, "I have already informed Zhou Bin. He will be here soon. Then we will discuss the matter in person."
"Is Zhou Bin coming?"
Lao Liu was stunned at first, then overjoyed, "Great, this guy Zhou Bin is smart, he will definitely have a way."
"That's right," Lao Xie was also very happy and slapped the table hard, "When Zhou Bin comes over, let's think of a way to give each other a good meal."
"tnnd, I couldn't sleep well for several days. I must take revenge this time."
When I heard that Zhou Bin was coming, the atmosphere in the entire food stall immediately became lively.
Both Lao Liu and Lao Xie felt a lot more relaxed.
To be honest, the other side's malicious competitive behavior in the past few days has really put them under a lot of pressure.
At this point I can finally breathe a little easier.