Chapter 925 - 927: The Threat of Du Zhongshu_1
Before they knew it, the day arrived for Xu Huilin to escort the toothpaste to the Capital. Early in the morning, Xu Huilin led people to the Toothpaste Workshop to take away the toothpaste and then bade farewell to Bai Ruozhu before embarking on his journey.
Bai Ruozhu felt sorry for trouble him with such a trip, and before he left, she made a special point of giving him some basic medicines for emergencies, such as antidotes, remedies for motion sickness, treatments for diarrhea, and a bit of simple poison. Xu Huilin was somewhat moved by these gifts and thanked Bai Ruozhu profusely.
Besides, Bai Ruozhu also sent five dark guards to follow him discreetly and report back if anything arose. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Xu Huilin, but as the saying goes, even a hundred precautions could miss one, and with Prince Duan being so unfathomable and versatile, she truly had to be cautious.
The Government Office was still conducting an investigation, having already found a token from the Wang Residence among Kuai Wen’s possessions. As to why the token was given to Kuai Wen, Kuai Minglang speculated that Kuai Wen had long been a man of Prince Duan.
A few days passed without any news from Jiang Yichun, and Bai Ruozhu grew even more anxious, lost in thought even while dining with her family. Bai Yihong and his wife also heard some rumors around the City, and they were looking worried lately. Although these matters of the Royal Family were generally not much concern to the common people, if Beiyu City fell into chaos, the common people would not fare well.
In order not to let her mind wander into wild thoughts, Bai Ruozhu decided to keep herself busy by visiting her shops in the City. She soon arrived at the Toothpaste Shop, and before she even got out of the carriage, she heard a familiar voice from inside.
"I’ve said I want to see your boss Bai Ruozhu. Just go and announce me, even if she’s busy today, tomorrow will do," said the voice.
Bai Ruozhu got out of the carriage. By the sound and silhouette, she knew it was Du Zhongshu.
"No need to announce me; I’m right here. What do you want?" asked Bai Ruozhu.
Since things escalated to such an extent between their families, Du Zhongshu didn’t choose to stand by the side of justice but still put his family interests first and fell out with Bai Ruozhu. Thus, having not seen him for a long time, it was unlikely he had come to catch up with her now. He must have come because of the toothpaste business.
"Recently, when your Toothpaste Shop opened, I came to see you, but was told you had gone to Jiangnan. These past few days, hearing that you’ve filed a complaint at the Government Office, I came looking for you," said Du Zhongshu in a flat tone, eyes shrinking slightly as he looked at Bai Ruozhu, either because she was living too well and it hurt his eyes, or perhaps the sight of her after such a long time still made his heart race.
Bai Ruozhu looked at his face and felt reflective. Just over a year ago, he was a carefree young man, somewhat irresponsible, but sunny and optimistic. Now, he had grown taller but had become much thinner, and the smile that was always on his face was gone, his complexion slightly yellow, and his eyes had lost their former clarity.
He stared at Bai Ruozhu with disdain and even snorted contemptuously, which, in combination with his now somewhat gaunt appearance, made him seem rather mean.
"Had it not been for our families working together, yours would still be farming in the mountains. Now that you’ve prospered, not only have you destroyed our Du Family, but you also have the gall to keep selling toothpaste? I sold you the formulas, and even if we’ve since dissociated, you shouldn’t be using them yourself. If you don’t stop selling toothpaste, I’ll have no choice but to report you to the Commerce Association and the Government Office," Du Zhongshu continued.
Bai Ruozhu’s expression darkened; Du Zhongshu had indeed changed.
"The toothpaste I’m selling at my shop now is not the same formula I gave to your family. Since the formulas are different, what does it have to do with you? I sold you one formula, not the entire production of toothpaste," said Bai Ruozhu, shaking her head. "The quality of the Du Family’s ointment is getting worse and worse. Do you dare to say that you aren’t significantly cutting corners now? Such toothpaste can’t possibly fulfill its purpose of cleaning and protecting people’s teeth. If I don’t produce toothpaste, do we all have to be deceived by the Du Family?"
Du Zhongshu’s face turned slightly red; Bai Ruozhu had hit a nerve by mentioning something embarrassing. Indeed, the Du Family’s toothpaste (quality) had been compromised with reduced material and workmanship. The Du Family had fallen, and both he and his family were eager to use the sale of toothpaste to rise again, and to make money faster, they had no choice but to cut corners.
Anyway, who among ordinary people can tell how many kinds of medicinal materials are in the toothpaste, and how much of each kind is used?
Du Zhongshu tried hard to calm himself down and said with a stern face, "Nonsense! It’s you who became greedy at the sight of money and then falsely accused my family’s toothpaste of cutting corners. If there was really a problem, how could our regular customers not notice?"
"Say whatever you want. Now that we’ve gone our separate ways, I can’t be bothered with your Du Family’s affairs. If you’ve come for the formulas today, my answer is still the same: the formulas are different from those sold to your family. If you don’t believe it, feel free to sue us."
Du Zhongshu was angered by her tone and expression. His family’s livelihood was being so casually dismissed by someone whose family used to be as insignificant as ants compared to his illustrious merchant family. If it hadn’t been for his pity on her back then, he would never have collaborated with her! When had she come to stand so tall?
Thinking this, Du Zhongshu’s face displayed a sinister look as he said, "Don’t think you can fool me like that; push me too far, and I’ll make the toothpaste formula public. Once everyone has the formula, I’d like to see how you continue to sell it!"
Zuo Hongyun, standing to the side, had a change of face. Had Du Zhongshu gone mad?
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but burst into laughter, thinking Du Zhongshu too foolish.
"Don’t you know my family has more than one way to make money? The Weaving Pavilion, the Beauty Care Hall, and the Welcome Inn all bring in profit. Even if the Toothpaste Shop stops making money, it won’t affect my family much. In contrast, your Du Family can now only rely on selling toothpaste to rise again, right? Under these circumstances, whose harm do you think your threat poses the most?"
Du Zhongshu’s face turned pale, "Better to be a shattered jade than an intact tile."
Bai Ruozhu’s laughter turned to mockery. "You’re not fit to say that. You’ve gone from being an uncut jade to a broken tile. I didn’t even finish saying that even if you make the toothpaste formula public, and everyone starts making toothpaste, it will be fine. I have a better formula to make more effective toothpaste, not afraid of competitors."
Du Zhongshu’s face turned ashen as he helplessly staggered back two steps. He had the formula but lacked the talent to keep improving on it, just as Bai Ruozhu said. How could he compete with her?
Back then, it was indeed a misstep in his household’s judgment. Look at the Welcome Inn, still cooperating with Bai Ruozhu with a harmonious relationship. But whose fault was it in the end?
He would not admit that it was the fault of his deceased grandpa.
All of a sudden, he turned to Zuo Hongyun and said, "Get me two boxes of toothpaste; I want to see if they’re any different from those sold by my family."
Zuo Hongyun looked unsurely at Bai Ruozhu for her opinion, to which Bai Ruozhu nodded, "Sell them to him."
After taking the money, Zuo Hongyun gave Du Zhongshu two boxes of toothpaste. Du Zhongshu turned his head to Bai Ruozhu and said, "If what you said turns out to be false, I’ll see you at the Government Office."
"Do I need to lie to you?" Bai Ruozhu said with a smile.