Transmigrating to the Song Dynasty: Water Margin Business Management

At Zuixianlou, Wang Zhiqiang once again prepared a feast of fine wine and dishes to entertain Gao Ke.

Gao Ke was chewing peanuts, making a crunching sound, his face glistening with oil. Wang Zhiqiang, on the other hand, looked miserable and kept pouring Gao Ke more wine.

Wang Zhiqiang finally couldn't hold back any longer and said, "Brother Gao, I invited you here today because I wanted to pour out my troubles to you. I've been fighting with that Zhao Tianming openly and secretly these past few days, and I've really suffered a lot!"

While stuffing peanuts into his mouth, Gao Ke looked at Wang Zhiqiang with feigned astonishment and said loudly, "Manager Wang, what? You haven't brought down Zhao Tianming yet?" His expression was so exaggerated that it was as if he had heard the most unbelievable thing in the world.

Wang Zhiqiang looked aggrieved and said with a bitter face, "Brother Gao, you don't know, that Zhao Tianming is as cunning as an eel. I've tried many methods, but I haven't been able to do anything to him."

Gao Ke spat out the peanut skin in his mouth with a "pfft," widened his eyes, and said, "What? You, Wang Zhiqiang, are usually so capable, but you can't even handle Zhao Tianming?"

Wang Zhiqiang quickly waved his hand: "Brother Gao, please don't make fun of me. It seems that Zhao Tianming has someone backing him up. Every time I'm about to succeed, something goes wrong."

Gao Ke picked up his wine glass, gulped it down in one go, smacked his lips, and said, "Hey Manager Wang, are you reluctant to invest? You can't even handle this little thing, and you expect me to protect you in the future?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhiqiang was so anxious he almost cried: "Brother Gao, I swear to God, I've spent so much money and effort on this matter, I've almost lost all my hair."

Gao Ke sneered: "Hmph, I think you're just incompetent!"

Wang Zhiqiang quickly served Gao Ke some food, smiling ingratiatingly, "Brother Gao, please give me some more pointers. I will definitely handle this matter well and will not let you down."

Gao Ke glanced at Wang Zhiqiang sideways, grabbed a handful of peanuts, and said slowly, "Alright, I'll give you some more advice. But if this still doesn't work, don't blame me for being impolite!"

Wang Zhiqiang nodded repeatedly, like a chick pecking at rice: "Brother Gao, don't worry, don't worry, this time it will definitely succeed!"

Wang Zhiqiang ate the meal with a heavy heart, while Gao Ke ate carelessly, constantly criticizing Wang Zhiqiang.

Gao Ke came up with several ideas and excitedly told Wang Zhiqiang about them.

"Manager Wang, you could send someone to throw excrement at Zhao Tianming's doorstep to disgust him. Or throw stones at his house in the middle of the night to keep him from sleeping. Or you could hire some thugs to cause trouble at his shop and ruin his business." Gao Ke became more and more excited as he spoke, with a hint of smugness on his face.

Wang Zhiqiang frowned upon hearing this, inwardly groaning. He looked at Gao Ke, thinking: "Why does Gao Ke keep coming up with such low-class ideas? It's utter nonsense!" But he couldn't openly refute him, so he could only suppress his dissatisfaction.

He felt that Gao Ke was becoming increasingly unreliable, using such petty and underhanded methods from the martial arts world to deal with Zhao Tianming was simply shooting himself in the foot. After much hesitation, Wang Zhiqiang finally couldn't help but speak up: "Brother Gao, I think these methods are probably not appropriate. Zhao Tianming is not so easy to deal with. Doing this might anger him and make things worse."

Upon hearing this, Gao Ke's face immediately fell, and he said with displeasure, "What? Manager Wang, do you look down on my idea?"

Wang Zhiqiang quickly smiled apologetically, "Brother Gao, you misunderstand. How could I possibly look down on your idea? It's just that I feel it's too risky and might not be worth the risk. I heard that your uncle Gao Lian is practicing martial arts and is very skilled. Why don't you ask him for help?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Ke's eyes widened, and he exclaimed, "What? You're saying my uncle practices sorcery?"

Wang Zhiqiang then realized he had misspoke and quickly corrected himself, saying, "Oh, no, it's Taoist arts. Brother Gao, please don't misunderstand, it was just a slip of the tongue."

Gao Ke snorted coldly: "Hmph, Manager Wang, you'd better watch your words. My uncle is cultivating profound Taoist arts, not some kind of sorcery. However, my uncle isn't someone you can just help with casually."

Wang Zhiqiang quickly said, "Brother Gao, as long as you can persuade your uncle to lend a helping hand, please feel free to name your conditions."

Gao Ke stroked his chin, thought for a while, and said, "I need to go back and discuss this with my uncle, but don't get your hopes up too high."

Wang Zhiqiang nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes, yes, we're all counting on you, Brother Gao."

The meeting ended in an awkward atmosphere. Wang Zhiqiang went back to wait for news with a heavy heart, while Gao Ke left with a dissatisfaction in his eyes.

The banquet ended in a sour mood. Wang Zhiqiang watched helplessly as Gao Ke stormed off, his retreating figure seemingly saying, "You ungrateful wretch!" Wang Zhiqiang shook his head in resignation and slunk back to his shop.

As soon as he entered, Zhang San'er, Ma Zi, Wang Wu, Zhao Liu, and Li Er surrounded him, their eyes wide like copper bells, eagerly asking, "Manager Wang, how did the talks go?"

Wang Zhiqiang plopped down on the stool, which creaked as if it could barely support his weight. He didn't say anything, just kept sighing, his head drooping like a wilted eggplant.

Zhang San'er, being impatient, stepped forward and said, "Shopkeeper, please give us an answer! Stop sighing and you're driving us crazy!"

Wang Zhiqiang looked up, glared at him, and said irritably, "Look at me in this sorry state, do you think I don't know that this matter hasn't been settled?"

Ma Zi blinked, scratched his head, and said, "Shopkeeper, why couldn't we reach an agreement? Could it be that Gao Ke isn't helping us?"

Wang Zhiqiang snorted: "Help? He came up with a bunch of terrible ideas, like throwing feces, throwing stones, and hiring thugs to cause trouble. What kind of nonsense is this? It's no wonder it won't work!"

Wang Wu couldn't help but laugh: "Haha, shopkeeper, this Gao Ke is too unreliable. He's just playing childish tricks."

Zhao Liu chimed in, "Exactly, exactly, isn't this just a pointless mess?"

Li Er muttered under his breath, "So what do we do next?"

Wang Zhiqiang slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and roared, "What do we do? How should I know what to do! None of you have any serious ideas, all you do is ask me!"

This shout startled the others, who fell silent. After a while, Wang Zhiqiang sat down again and muttered to himself, "I thought finding Gao Ke would be a way out, but it seems it's all in vain."

The crowd looked at each other, no one daring to utter a sound, and an awkward silence fell over the shop.

Ma Zi was smarter than the others. His eyes darted around, like two marbles ready to pop out of their sockets. He leaned closer to Wang Zhiqiang and said, "Manager Wang, there's actually still a chance for this to turn around."

Wang Zhiqiang, whose head had been drooping, suddenly raised it, a glimmer of hope igniting in his eyes, and asked eagerly, "What did you say?"

Ma Zi cleared his throat and began to boast about his ideas: "Manager Wang, think about it. Gao Ke is angry simply because he wants to extort some money. He's taken your money repeatedly but hasn't done a good job, so he's feeling guilty. The reason he threw a tantrum and stormed off this time, I think, is that he wants to make exorbitant demands and get more benefits. But he feels it would be too low-class to say it directly, since he took the money and didn't do the job before, and he can't save face. So he deliberately used this trick of Fourth Master's—it's a case of playing hard to get!"

As Wang Zhiqiang listened to Ma Zi's analysis, his brows gradually relaxed, but he was still somewhat skeptical: "Ma Zi, do you really believe what you're saying? Don't tell me you're just making things up to amuse me."

Ma Zi quickly waved his hand and said earnestly, "Manager Wang, when have I ever lied to you? Think about it carefully, who is Gao Ke? He's a greedy and avaricious man. This time we didn't satisfy his appetite, do you think he'll let it go? I think he's just waiting for us to come to him and give him enough benefits before he'll help us."

Wang Zhiqiang stroked his chin, pondering Ma Zi's words: "Hmm, what you said seems to make some sense. But what if it's not like that? Wouldn't we just be wasting another sum of money?"

Ma Zi patted his chest and assured him, "Manager Wang, don't worry. If I guess wrong this time, you can deduct half a year's wages. But if I'm right and this matter is settled, you'll have to reward me handsomely."

Wang Wu chimed in from the side, "Pockmarked guy, stop bragging. If you're really wrong, the shopkeeper will suffer a huge loss."

Ma Zi glared at Wang Wu: "What do you know? I've thought this through carefully. Manager Wang, you'd better make a decision quickly, don't miss this opportunity."

Wang Zhiqiang paced back and forth in the room, weighing the pros and cons repeatedly in his mind. After a while, he stopped, gritted his teeth, and said, "Fine, Ma Zi, I'll trust you this time. If you can really get it done, you'll get your share of the benefits."

A smug smile spread across the pockmarked man's face: "Manager Wang, just you wait and see, this is sure to work out!"

With the money Wang Zhiqiang gave him, Ma Zi happily went to have a pair of fine jade artifacts made. During the process, he had quite a few wicked ideas, secretly pocketing the remaining money.

Ma Zi, carrying the jade ornaments, went to find Gao Ke with a beaming smile. When Gao Ke saw him, he first snorted a few times and said in a sarcastic tone, "Hmph, that Wang Zhiqiang really doesn't know how to talk, he just keeps making me unhappy."

Ma Zi quickly put on a smiling face and bowed, saying, "Brother Gao, please calm down. Our Manager Wang is just not good with words and doesn't know how to please you, but he is truly sincere towards you."

As he spoke, Ma Zi quickly presented the exquisite pair of jade pieces. Gao Ke's originally stern face instantly transformed from anger to joy upon seeing the jade pieces. The pair of jade pieces shone with a warm luster in the sunlight, and Gao Ke's eyes widened in admiration, his lips involuntarily curving upwards.

He picked up the jade artifact, examined it carefully, and kept praising it, "Hmm, not bad, not bad, this is quite a rare item."

Seeing Gao Ke's good mood, Ma Zi seized the opportunity to say, "Brother Gao, our Manager Wang has put in a lot of effort for this matter. We are hoping that you can put in a good word for us with Lord Gao Lian."

Gao Ke was in a good mood and said to Ma Zi, "Considering Manager Wang's sincerity, I will not hold his past mistakes against him. I will find an opportunity to tell my uncle Gao Lian about Manager Wang's request."

Upon hearing this, Ma Zi quickly expressed his gratitude: "Thank you, Brother Gao. I'll go back and inform Manager Wang so he can rest assured."

After saying this, Ma Zi withdrew, secretly pleased with himself, thinking he had once again gained favor with Wang Zhiqiang. Gao Ke, on the other hand, held the jade artifact with great affection, as if he could already see more benefits flowing towards him.