Chapter 121: Let's Be Friends

"Fifty wen?" a merchant asked cautiously. "Is that per catty?"

"Of course! We operate with integrity; would we play games with you?" the proprietress replied firmly. "Fifty wen a catty, clearly marked! Fifty wen a catty, no cheating the young or the old!"

Upon receiving this confirmation, the room erupted into an uproar.

"It really is fifty wen, only half the price of Cheng's?"

"The wine is slightly inferior to Cheng's, but only by a little. At this price, it will definitely sell well!"

"Exactly, this price is too attractive!" The merchants chattered excitedly, while the uncle did his best to stir up the atmosphere.

"Master Su, are you making a mistake? You wouldn't sell it for sixty wen before, saying you'd lose your pants. How dare you sell it for fifty this time?" several merchants asked Su Daji, talking over one another.

"No mistake, it’s fifty wen." Su Daji sighed, looking as if his heart were bleeding. "This time, my wife is going to lose everything!"

"Don't dream! Nobody would want your wife even if you paid them to take her," the crowd roared with laughter.

"This price was set by us! Fifty wen truly doesn't make a profit; we're doing it just to make friends!" The proprietress took over the conversation, speaking loudly to the crowd.

"More than not making a profit, we're losing money!" Su Daji stomped his foot. "You girl, how many times have I calculated the cost of a catty of wine with you? And you still set this price!"

"What do I care about your costs? If we lose money, that means everyone else gains! If you all gain, then we become friends! More friends mean more paths to take, and with more friends, the road is easier to travel. Don't you even understand such a simple principle?!" The proprietress argued righteously.

"That's right, that's right! You have to spend money to catch the big fish; don't be so stingy, Master Su," a merchant laughed. "You have to be like the proprietress—you sell cheap so we can sell cheap. Only when we sell cheap can you open up the market."

"That is exactly the point Brother Feng is making!" The proprietress nodded emphatically. "These twenty thousand catties of wine are meant to open the market, so we are selling them all at a loss!"

"Proprietress, is that for real? People will commit murder for profit, but nobody does business at a loss." A merchant asked cautiously. "Can you really afford to sell at a loss?"

The other merchants didn't chime in, but they all looked at the proprietress, waiting for her answer. They had traveled far and wide; what hadn't they seen? How could they be fooled by the two of them singing in harmony?

The heated atmosphere in the hall suddenly went cold.

Seeing this, Battalion Commander Ma was furious and whispered, "Youjin, drag that guy out!"

Su Youjin hurriedly pacified him. "Commander, calm your anger. The proprietress can handle this."

~~

On the stage.

The proprietress thought to herself, "Just as my son said, no one will let go of the hawk until they see the rabbit."

She looked up toward the youth on the second floor.

Su Lu nodded, signaling her not to hesitate and to use her trump card.

The proprietress nodded slightly, steeled her heart, and spoke loudly to the person who had questioned her: "You don't believe me? Then I will make another promise—if you take this wine back and find it hard to sell, just bring it back to me! As long as it remains unopened, I will take it all back!"

"At whatever price you bought it, I will buy it back at that same price—as much as you have!" She raised her voice, looking at the man with great authority.

"Believe me now? Would I do this if I were trying to make money?!"

"Really?" The merchants were stunned. There was truly nothing more convincing, nor anything more reassuring.

This eliminated their greatest risk—unsellable stock!

"I am not just promising this publicly; I will sign a contract in black and white with you! If I were to break a contract like this, how could I ever do business again?" Standing in the opulent hall, the proprietress sounded incredibly persuasive.

"Hmm, we believe you." The merchants knew the proprietress was the owner of the Sweetwater Shop, and with the Su Family Distillery backing her, they had no fear of her defaulting on her debt.

"Proprietress, what exactly are you thinking?" someone asked again, though the tone was now one of pure curiosity. "Doing business this way, no amount of money would be enough to cover the losses."

~~

The proprietress then softened her tone and explained to everyone:

"Because I have absolute confidence in Erlang Wine! I believe that as long as the price is affordable, it won't be long before it opens up the market!"

"When that time comes, we will naturally adjust the price to seek a reasonable profit. So, if you were to return the wine, I would actually be delighted." The proprietress smiled confidently. "When you want to buy it back then, it won't be at this price!"

Now, the crowd had no more worries, and finally, someone began to place orders!

"Alright, I trust the proprietress! Give me five hundred catties!" The guest at table number three raised the wooden plaque marked with the character 'Bing'!

Seeing this, Su Youpeng immediately said, "Guest at table number three, marking 'Bing', orders five hundred catties! Thank you for your patronage, and we wish you great sales!"

Sitting by the stage, Su Youcai immediately picked up his brush, dipped it in red paint, and wrote on a bamboo plaque: 'Table 3, Bing, 500 catties!'

A young girl nearby took the bamboo plaque, walked onto the stage, and hung it on the blue screen behind the proprietress.

Once someone started, other merchants quickly followed suit.

"Give me five hundred catties too!"

"I want one thousand!"

"I'll take eight hundred!"

"I want fifteen hundred!"

Twenty thousand catties of wine sounded like a lot, but in terms of wholesale, it wasn't much. The wine jars displayed outside were all twenty-catty containers. Five hundred catties was only twenty-five jars. These merchants were middlemen; once they transported it back and distributed it to restaurants and wine shops, each establishment wouldn't even get one or two jars...

Moreover, seeing everyone starting to place orders, the merchants knew that everyone was optimistic about Erlang Wine. They lost all hesitation, and the amounts they shouted grew larger and larger. Several powerful merchants even asked for two thousand catties at once!

They were politely declined by the proprietress: "I'm sorry, Boss Liu, Boss Li, the twenty thousand catties have already been spoken for. We'll have to wait until next time..."

"What? It's sold out so quickly?" Those merchants who hadn't placed their orders yet became anxious.

"If you don't believe me, look, everyone." The proprietress pointed to the twenty-plus bamboo plaques behind her. "Thanks to everyone's trust, it has been sold out!"

The merchants looked at the orders on the screen—the smallest was five hundred catties, the largest fifteen hundred. A quick addition showed it was indeed twenty thousand catties...

Now, those who hadn't placed orders wouldn't accept it and shouted loudly:

"Proprietress, we haven't had a chance to place our orders yet!"

"You called us all this way, only to not sell us any wine? Is that reasonable?"

"Is it reasonable? Is it?!" They became increasingly agitated.

"I must order this wine!"

~~

On the second floor.

Su Tai watched this scene, completely dumbfounded. It was fair to say that today's ordering event had taught him a profound lesson!

If Su Lu hadn't been explaining it to him the whole time, he would have certainly thought everything was happening naturally.

Su Lu told him that the various high-end marketing tactics at the beginning were all intended to subtly make the merchants think highly of the quality of Erlang Wine.

The crucial link was using the Head Master as a bridge to allow customers to establish the perception that Erlang Wine was similar to the original Su family wine.

When two types of wine had similar tastes, each with its own pros and cons, marketing tactics could be used to blur the lines between them.

Once this perception was established, when the price was announced, the merchants naturally thought that fifty wen was incredibly cheap!

"Do you know now why, even though there were forty thousand catties of wine, I only let you bring out twenty thousand?" Su Lu asked his second brother softly.

"To create the illusion of supply falling short of demand?" Su Tai whispered.

"Something like that; it's called 'hunger marketing'." Su Lu nodded. "As the saying goes, 'things are valued for their scarcity.' When a product becomes scarce, people subconsciously perceive it as more valuable, thus creating a more urgent demand."

"Hunger marketing uses this psychology to artificially create scarcity, making the buyer feel that 'if I don't buy it now, it will be gone' or 'if I don't grab it, I'll lose out,' thereby breaking their hesitation and accelerating their decision-making." Su Lu continued to instruct.

"In a situation like this, where the buyer is also a seller, there might even be over-purchasing. Because they believe scarcity will help their own products appreciate in value, they tend to sweep the shelves, helping to manufacture that scarcity."

"So that's how it is..." Su Tai was impressed beyond words. "Brother Qiu is truly amazing. Not only are you good at your studies, but you have a plan for everything."

He then asked in a low voice, "But isn't this cheating?"

"It is." Su Lu nodded and said frankly, "The marketplace is like a battlefield. In war, deception is the norm. Therefore, one must use orthodox methods to engage the enemy, but unorthodox methods to achieve victory."

Su Dan, listening from the side, couldn't help but whisper, "Brother learns everything so fast; he's already using the technique of 'intercepting and answering' to reason."

"Quiet." Su Man gave a soft reprimand, signaling him not to interrupt his listening.

"What does 'using orthodox methods to engage and unorthodox methods to win' mean?" Su Tai asked for clarification.

"Simply put, don't harbor malicious or deceitful intentions, but don't be rigid in your methods. How to balance the two..." Su Lu gave a wry smile. "That requires learning the Doctrine of the Mean."

"Attaining harmony." Su Man and Su Dan understood what Su Lu meant simultaneously.

Su Lu couldn't teach his second brother the Doctrine of the Mean here, so he spoke directly to the matter at hand:

"'Hunger marketing' is indeed not entirely honest. If it's exposed, the backlash will be severe. But we must make this first shot count. If this shot doesn't ring out, it will be incredibly difficult to open the market later. So, using some means at this stage is a price worth paying."

Brother Chun added, "But we didn't harm the buyers' interests, so it's a minor offense."

"Exactly, that's the point. Big Brother has said as much, so are you reassured now, Second Brother?" Su Lu asked with a smile.

"Yes, yes." Su Tai nodded vigorously.

~~

Downstairs.

Under the siege of the merchants, the proprietress couldn't hold out and surrendered. "Alright, alright, let me discuss it with the Head Master again."

She called Su Daji behind the screen, and the two of them argued convincingly.

The merchants in the hall could faintly hear Su Daji saying things like "loss" and "no way."

The proprietress remained firm throughout, saying things like "I will compensate you" and "Don't lose the big picture for the sake of the small; if you offend the customers, how can you do business?"

After the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the proprietress finally emerged from behind the screen with a face full of smiles and announced loudly:

"Boss Lin is right. We are the ones who invited everyone here; how could we let good friends return empty-handed?"

She then announced loudly, "I have finally persuaded the Head Master to take out the wine we were keeping for ourselves!"

"Great! Great!" The merchants actually burst into cheers.