Free Web NovelChapter 235: Chapter 235: A Big Fight
Qiu Tao flew into a rage. After hearing what Xiao Chun said, he immediately raised his hand to strike.
However, Shi Mingyue, who was right beside Xiao Chun, was faster than Qiu Tao. The instant he raised his hand, Shi Mingyue had already used the sheath of her sword to block his arm.
A moment later, a wretched scream came from Qiu Tao.
Shi Mingyue was quite strong. Even just blocking with her scabbard was enough to make Qiu Tao suffer.
Besides, Qiu Tao had thrown the first punch and had just been insolent to her young mistress. Shi Mingyue didn’t mind teaching him a bit more of a lesson.
So, after knocking aside Qiu Tao’s arm, Shi Mingyue twirled the scabbard in a flourish and, without hesitation, smacked the flat of it against his chest.
The blow sent Qiu Tao stumbling back several steps. He lost his footing and fell flat on his backside, as if Shi Mingyue had pushed him down with a single hand.
He was an incredibly proud man who had always looked down on women. To be so casually and "effortlessly" knocked over by Shi Mingyue in front of so many onlookers left Qiu Tao seething with rage.
"You... you just wait!" Qiu Tao roared.
Shi Mingyue and Xiao Chun exchanged a look. Ming Lingyi had only told them to come and vent some anger, not to get into any real trouble with this man named Qiu. They had now spread the word that Qiu Tao had first refused to cooperate with their young mistress and was now copying her idea to make cheap imitations. This was more than enough to let off some steam.
"Am I supposed to wait for you to get up off the ground?" Shi Mingyue said with a loud laugh. "In your dreams!"
After saying this, Shi Mingyue pulled Xiao Chun with one hand while gripping her still-sheathed sword in the other. With a deft move, she used the sword to pry up a money tree that must have belonged to Hongyun Bookstore, sending it flying WHOOSH toward Qiu Tao.
If it had been any other object, Qiu Tao would have dodged. He wasn’t an idiot, just waiting to get hit.
But Shi Mingyue had thrown the money tree from the front of their shop. This particular plant had been personally planted by their boss and had been growing for several years. If it were damaged on his watch, he’d probably have his hide tanned.
How could Qiu Tao dare to be careless?
Not only did he not dodge the money tree flying toward him, he had no choice but to open his arms wide to catch it.
"AIIEE—"
Shi Mingyue and Xiao Chun had already run off, the wails of the Hongyun Bookstore’s Shopkeeper echoing behind them.
Inside the carriage, Ming Lingyi and Feng Shuyu lifted the curtain and witnessed Qiu Tao’s predicament firsthand.
"Hahaha, talk about getting a taste of your own medicine!" Feng Shuyu couldn’t help but laugh. "Someone like Qiu Tao needs a person like Miss Ming Yue to set him straight."
It was time for Qiu Tao to learn what violent suppression truly meant.
What Qiu Tao was feeling now probably wasn’t violent suppression, but gravitational suppression. In his effort to catch the money tree, he had been pinned to the ground by its weight.
His face was beet red.
All around him, a buzz of discussion rose and fell.
"It’s just a cheap copy, anyway. I wouldn’t buy this junk. If you ask me, the official gazette from Liufang Bookstore is the classiest one!"
"Tsk, tsk. And the people from this bookstore had the gall to say they were making it affordable for everyone. Look at the quality of this thing—who would want to buy it?"
"Didn’t the Shopkeeper hire a bunch of street vendors to sell these? I bet he’s counting on the fact that those vendors wander all over the market without a fixed spot. That way, when people regret buying this, they can’t find anyone to get a refund from!"
"Hahahaha! A grown man beaten so badly by a young woman that he couldn’t even fight back. No wonder he’s so petty."
Lying on the ground, Qiu Tao was initially relieved that he had saved his boss’s money tree. But when he heard the merciless chatter around him, he felt like he was about to explode with rage.
"Someone! Someone, get over here!"
Qiu Tao scrambled to his feet, shouting frantically. He wanted to call his men to go after Shi Mingyue and Xiao Chun. But when he looked around, he saw only the gawking crowd and the few odd-jobbers he had called over earlier. The people he was looking for were long gone.
"ARGH!!!" Qiu Tao let out a furious roar, which only drew more stares from the crowd.
Most of them were just enjoying the show.
Qiu Tao was speechless.
Ming Lingyi watched the spectacle for a while longer before reluctantly letting the curtain fall.
Feng Shuyu then told the driver to head for Huaided Fang.
"You planned to have Xiao Chun and Miss Ming Yue teach that Qiu fellow a small lesson. So, what’s your plan?" Feng Shuyu asked.
Ming Lingyi replied, "Naturally, I hope the shopkeeper of Hongyun Bookstore prints even more copies of our official gazette. The bigger the production, the better."
Feng Shuyu raised an eyebrow.
"Knowing Qiu Tao, he definitely won’t give up after this."
Ming Lingyi said, "That would be perfect."
Feng Shuyu looked at her again, but this time Ming Lingyi was being deliberately mysterious and refused to elaborate. She only said, "In any case, our Boss Feng has already figured out a countermeasure. Even if Hongyun Bookstore wants to keep making pirated copies, I doubt many people in Shangjing City will fall for it. As for me, I’ll just put the icing on the cake for Boss Feng. I’ll make sure that the small fraction of people still willing to buy the official gazette published by Hongyun Bookstore won’t dare to do so anymore."
She was going to join forces with Feng Shuyu to ensure that every single imitation of the official gazette Qiu Tao produced from now on would be unsellable.
For the next several days, both Ming Lingyi and Feng Shuyu were very busy.
When the newest issue of the official gazette went on sale at Liufang Bookstore, Feng Shuyu announced that any customer who had previously purchased an official gazette from the bookstore could, at any time, bring their copies to Guanwen Hall to have them bound into a book for free. She also announced that after a few more issues were published, Guanwen Hall would collect all the previous works to be printed and sold as a collection. Furthermore, the literary scholars who participated in the poetry competition would be given compensation.
The scholars who had previously competed at Ming’s Restaurant had never thought of making Silver this way. After all, Ming’s Restaurant had already given them plenty of discounts, and publishing their work in the official gazette was free publicity. They were practically saints.
To then expect a share of the profits from the official gazette would seem rather ungrateful.
To them, fame was far more important than Silver Coins.
But Feng Shuyu’s announcement at Liufang Bookstore had many people itching for a chance.
Who in Shangjing City didn’t know about the official gazette by now? Everyone in the Capital City had seen how incredibly well it was selling.
’If I could get a share of that Silver, it must be a huge amount, right?’
As for Feng Shuyu’s busyness, she was busy at Guanwen Hall.
After all, there was a huge amount of printing to be done. Guanwen Hall was short-staffed, so she, as the boss, naturally had to pitch in herself.
As for Ming Lingyi, she was so busy she barely had time to breathe.
She was almost never seen at Ming’s Restaurant.
