7: Touching people's hearts, 20% of the shares are in the pocket

It was the end of the year, snow flurried, and a biting wind swept through, covering the land in a thick blanket of snow, as if the entire world had been carved from ice and jade.

On a cold winter solstice, the warm chamber of Si Hai Tea House was ablaze with a roaring fire. Chen Cuo sat quietly at his table, awaiting the arrival of numerous guests.

Before long, the owners of various shops arrived as invited. They chose their own seats, all with expressions of surprise and uncertainty, unsure of why Chen Cuo had called them.

"Thank you, everyone, for attending my banquet," Chen Cuo said with a smile, inviting them to eat.

No good banquet is without ulterior motives, and the owners understood this. They hadn't intended to pick up their chopsticks, but as soon as they tasted the food before them, they were deeply captivated by the various delicacies and simply couldn't stop.

Seeing that everyone had eaten their fill, Chen Cuo clapped his hands to stop them. His gaze calmly swept across each owner before he spoke lightly, "How was the meal, everyone?"

With full bellies and hands that had taken, their mouths now spouted only words of praise.

"Excellent, truly excellent."

"It's delicious! I've never had such good food before."

"These dishes are all new items from the tea house. If you like them, feel free to come often."

Chen Cuo responded briefly, then said with a serious expression.

"Now that you've all eaten and drunk your fill, I'll get to the point. Starting next month, the monthly payments you give me will no longer be the previous amount. They will increase!"

A few people began to murmur, looking very uneasy. Among them, Huang Biao, the owner of the gambling house, said somewhat angrily, "May I ask, Boss Chen, how much do you plan to increase it by?"

Chen Cuo extended two fingers, indicating a number.

"Two times? Impossible." Huang Biao was genuinely about to lose his temper and immediately retorted to Chen Cuo.

But Chen Cuo merely shook his head again and said, "Not two times, but two tenths of the dry shares."

"Two tenths of the dry shares? Are you crazy? Even the government's taxes don't take two tenths of our income. Boss Chen, do you think you're more powerful than the government?"

When Huang Biao heard Chen Cuo's asking price, he was stunned. Everyone else also thought Chen Cuo had lost his mind, or perhaps had gone mad from cultivation, otherwise he would never propose such an outrageous demand.

Jingshui Street was remote, and precisely because of this, their gambling house's business was actually the best compared to neighboring streets, with a net income of seven to eight thousand silver taels a month, while the monthly payment they gave Chen Cuo was only a hundred taels.

For this to suddenly increase to 1600 silver taels, Chen Cuo was practically trying to eat his flesh alive, which was why Huang Biao was so furious.

Chen Cuo understood. After all, if someone demanded money from him like that, even if the other party was a Heavenly King, he would still be angry.

So, instead of reprimanding Huang Biao's roar, he said, "Doing business, it's all about harmony bringing wealth. When I say I want two tenths of your dry shares, of course I will give you good things that match two tenths of the dry shares. I am not causing trouble for no reason. Old Zhou, bring everything out."

Old Zhou was Zhou Yi, the owner of the tea house, who had now completely sided with Chen Cuo and was willing to offer two tenths of the dry shares because Chen Cuo had promised to let the tea house sell "Tiger Bone Nourishing Soup."

The shop assistants brought in many items, all specially made by Chen Cuo. He then explained the use of each one and even gave the purified white wine to the owners to drink.

They were all intelligent people and understood the value of these things. Immediately, their eyes began to glow green as they looked at the various rare treasures Chen Cuo had brought out, just like an old lecher seeing a naked young woman, impatient to get their hands on them.

The brothel owner was a woman named Li Siniang. She immediately discovered the uses of soap and perfume. With these items, she guaranteed that every girl in her establishment would be fair-skinned and fragrant, ensuring a constant stream of customers who would linger and not want to leave.

There was also Mahjong. The owners of the tea house, restaurants, gambling houses, and brothels all understood that this item would surely become popular throughout Wei City.

Huang Biao knew that their gambling house currently had a type of card game that was very popular with gamblers, but the gameplay of the card game was far less rich than the Mahjong demonstrated by Chen Cuo.

The medicinal cuisine and perfume were all things that could make a lot of money. Even if Chen Cuo sold any single item separately, it would be enough to ensure he had no worries about food and drink, yet he chose to bring them out and cooperate with them. This made the owners admire him and also filled them with anticipation.

Li Siniang asked, "What are the costs of these items? If we sell them and someone counterfeits them, what should we do?"

Li Siniang was an experienced Jianghu veteran. Anyone who could achieve such a position as a woman was no simple person, so her question perfectly aligned with what Chen Cuo wanted to say.

"The cost is acceptable and not much to me. As for counterfeiting, first, this is Vajra Sect's territory, and I will, of course, protect your interests. Moreover, I hope that this time you can truly cooperate and build a brand effect."

"Brand effect?"

A strange term popped into everyone's minds, and then they heard Chen Cuo explain, "Doing business is about the rarity of things. If I have it and you don't, I can make money. If you have it and I have it more, better, and newer than yours, I can also make money."

"The owners of Jingshui Street, Boss Zhou of Si Hai Tea House, Boss Li of Chunfeng Tower, Boss Huang of Yingke Gambling House, and the other few owners."

"We can unite and make Jingshui Street famous, making Jingshui Street's services the best in Wei City. Guests can eat Si Hai Tea House's medicinal cuisine at Chunfeng Tower and Yingke Gambling House, because Si Hai Tea House will deliver the medicinal cuisine to the guests. And in the tea house's lodging rooms, they can also use perfume and soap, and even call the girls from Chunfeng Tower..."

"And there's Mahjong for entertainment. It can be played not just in the gambling house, but also when guests are listening to stories at the tea house or music at Chunfeng Tower. It can truly become a signature of Jingshui Street."

"Convenient, accessible, and guaranteed. It makes people think of these goods when they think of Jingshui Street, and think of Jingshui Street when they see these goods. That is brand effect."

"How about it? These goods are enough to let everyone live a comfortable life for the rest of their days. As long as you agree to my terms, the things I give fully match the two tenths of the dry shares I want, or even more."

Chen Cuo finished detailing his ideas. At this moment, all the owners present were stunned, pondering the grand blueprint Chen Cuo had described.

They realized that as long as they agreed to Chen Cuo, not to mention the rest of their lives, perhaps even their next lives would be free of worries about food and drink.

But that also meant being completely tied to Chen Cuo, because the source of the goods was in Chen Cuo's hands.

Everyone began to habitually analyze the pros and cons. At this moment, the owner of one shop stood up and said, "Excuse me, Boss Chen, may I leave first? I'll go back and think about it carefully, and I will definitely give Boss Chen a satisfactory answer tomorrow."

Chen Cuo, facing his request, began to laugh, a laugh so bright, so open and aboveboard.

"Boss Liu, when you moved your shop to my street, you said you were oppressed by people from North Dipper Gang and had no choice but to move to Vajra Sect's territory. I agreed without a second thought."

"But now? Are you planning to betray me?"

"What you tell the people above, I don't care! But I heard your wife has never had children. So what's going on with that woman and child you're raising in the Changshun Street courtyard? Do you want me to tell your wife?"

Chen Cuo's words were calm, but his voice carried a profound chill that made one feel as if they had fallen into the nine abysses of Hell.

"You! You're despicable!"

"Doing business, the most important thing is harmony bringing wealth. But if you insist on making it so that no one has any business, what do you think I should do, Boss Liu?"

Gu Pang quickly ran over and pressed a knife to Boss Liu's neck, drawing blood and scaring him so much that he collapsed to the ground, his pants soaked.

"I agree, Boss Chen, I'm willing to join!" Boss Liu stammered, agreeing repeatedly.

The others, seeing this, also trembled slightly. It turned out that Boss Liu was actually an undercover agent monitoring Chen Cuo, and his weakness had already fallen into Chen Cuo's hands. They also hadn't expected the former "Good Guy Chen" to directly threaten them.

They didn't know that "Good Guy Chen's" kindness was for the lower-class commoners. For people like them, showing kindness wouldn't influence their fate; instead, directly killing them would yield more fate points. This was an experience he had summarized.

The owners of the other few small shops, whose faces had been somewhat hesitant, instantly became resolute, all expressing their willingness to agree to Chen Cuo's terms.

With both kindness and severity, Chen Cuo was now clearly a superior.

Huang Biao and the others, though their faces were ashen, also turned their heads and agreed.