Top Scholar

Chapter 122 Make a friend
"Fifty coins?" a merchant asked cautiously. "Is that one pound?"

"Of course, we operate with integrity. Would we try anything funny?" the proprietress said firmly. "Fifty coins a pound, clearly marked! Fifty coins a pound, no cheating the young or old!"

After receiving an affirmative answer, the scene erupted in chaos.

"Is it really fifty coins, only half the price of Cheng Ji's?"

"The wine is slightly inferior to Cheng Ji's, but only slightly. At this price, it'll definitely sell well!"

"That's right, this price is too attractive!" The merchants discussed excitedly, and the uncle also tried his best to create a lively atmosphere.

"Master Su, are you sure you're not mistaken? You wouldn't sell it for sixty coins before, saying you'd lose your pants, how dare you sell it for fifty coins this time?" Several merchants asked Su Daji all at once.

"No mistake, it's fifty coins." Su Daji sighed with a pained expression, "This time my wife is going to lose it all!"

"Dream on! Your old woman is so unwanted, no one would want her even if you offered her money." The crowd laughed.

"This price is what we negotiated down! We're not making any money at fifty coins, we're just trying to make friends!" the proprietress said loudly to the crowd.

"Not only did we not make a profit, we actually lost money!" Su Daji stamped his foot and said, "You little brat, haven't I calculated the cost of one jin of wine for you countless times? Why did you still set this price!"

"I don't care how much your costs are! If we lose money, everyone wins! If everyone wins, we become friends! More friends mean more paths, and more friends make the road easier. Don't you understand such a simple principle?!" the proprietress said emphatically.

“Exactly, exactly. You can’t catch a wolf without risking your cub. Don’t be stingy with your money.” One of the merchants laughed and said, “That’s how it should be done – you sell cheaply so we can sell cheaply. If we sell cheaply, you can open up the market.”

“Brother Feng is absolutely right!” The proprietress nodded emphatically. “These 20,000 jin of wine are for opening up the market, so we’re selling them all at a loss!”

"Is the proprietress real? People will kill, but nobody does business at a loss." At this point, a merchant cautiously asked, "Can you really sell at a loss?"

Although the other merchants did not echo her, they all looked at the proprietress, waiting for her to answer the question.

They've traveled all over the country, what haven't they seen? How could they be fooled by these two just by talking to each other?
The previously enthusiastic atmosphere inside the venue suddenly became tense.

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

Su Youjin quickly reassured him, "Commander, please calm down. The proprietress can handle it."

~~
On the stage.

The proprietress thought to herself, "My son was right. They won't act until they see the benefit."

She looked up at the boy on the second floor.

Su Lu nodded, signaling her not to hesitate any longer and to use her ultimate move.

The proprietress nodded slightly, steeled her resolve, and loudly addressed the person who had questioned her: "You don't believe me, do you? Then I'll make another promise—if you take this wine back and it doesn't sell well, bring it back to me! As long as it's untouched, I'll take it all!"

"I'll buy it back for whatever price you paid, and I'll take as many as you have!" she said, raising her voice and looking at the man with an imposing air.

"Now do you believe me? Would I do that to make money?!"

"Really?" The merchants were stunned. Indeed, nothing could be more convincing or reassuring.

This eliminated their biggest risk – unsold inventory!

“I will not only make this promise in public, but I will also sign a written contract with you! If I break this contract, how will I do business in the future?” The proprietress stood in the magnificent hall and spoke with great persuasiveness.

"Yes, we believe you." The merchants knew that the proprietress was the owner of Sweet Water Restaurant, and with Su's Wine Shop also involved, they were not afraid that she would renege on her debts.

"What are you thinking, boss lady?" someone asked again, this time with pure curiosity. "Doing business like this, no amount of money will be enough to cover the losses."

The proprietress then softened her tone and explained to everyone:

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

"We'll adjust the price then to pursue a reasonable profit. So if you return the wine, I'd be more than happy to oblige," the proprietress said confidently with a smile. "When you want to buy it back, the price won't be the same!"

Now everyone was completely relieved, and people finally started placing orders!

"Okay, I trust the proprietress, give me 500 jin!" The customer at table number three raised the wooden sign with the character "丙" in front of him!

Upon seeing this, Su Youpeng immediately said, "Distinguished guest at table number three, ordering five hundred catties! Thank you for your patronage, and I wish you great success!"

Sitting at the edge of the stage, Su Youcai immediately picked up a brush, dipped it in red paint, and wrote on the bamboo plaque:
'Three-year-old Bing, five hundred catties!'

The girl next to her then took the bamboo plaque onto the stage and hung it on the blue screen behind the proprietress.

Once someone started, other merchants followed suit.

"Give me 500 jin too!"

"I want a thousand catties!"

"I'll give you eight hundred!" "I want one thousand five hundred!"

Twenty thousand jin of liquor sounds like a lot, but it's not much in the wholesale market. The liquor jars displayed outside are all twenty jin each.

Five hundred catties only yields twenty-five jars. These traveling merchants are all middlemen. They transport the goods back and then distribute them to restaurants, wine shops, and other established businesses. Each business doesn't even get one or two jars...

Moreover, seeing that everyone was starting to place orders, and knowing that everyone was optimistic about Erlang wine, the merchants had no more concerns and started asking for larger and larger quantities. Several powerful merchants even asked for two thousand catties!
However, the proprietress politely declined, saying, "I'm sorry, Mr. Liu and Mr. Li, the 20,000 jin have already been ordered. We'll have to talk about it next time..."

"What? They're all sold out so quickly?" The merchants who hadn't had a chance to place their orders were immediately alarmed.

"Look for yourself," the proprietress said, pointing to the twenty-odd bamboo signs behind her. "Thanks to everyone's trust, they're all sold out!"

The merchants glanced at the orders displayed on the screen, ranging from 500 jin to 1,500 jin. A quick check revealed a total of 20,000 jin…

Those who hadn't placed orders yet wouldn't allow it anymore, and they shouted loudly:
"Boss lady, we haven't had time to place our order yet!"

"You called us all this way, and now you're not even going to sell us any alcohol? Is that fair?"

"Is this reasonable? Is this reasonable?!" They became more and more agitated as they spoke.

"I absolutely have to order this wine!"

~~
The second floor.

This scene left Su Tai dumbfounded. It should be said that today's order fair taught him a valuable lesson!
If Su Lu hadn't been explaining things to him the whole time, he would have thought that everything happened naturally.

Su Lu told him that all the high-end marketing at the beginning was to subtly make customers think highly of the quality of Erlangjiu.

A key element is using the large hand gesture as a link to help customers establish the perception that Erlang wine is similar to Suji's original wines.

When two types of wine taste roughly the same, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, it is possible to use marketing tactics to confuse their concepts.

Once this understanding is established, when the price is announced, merchants will naturally think that fifty coins is too cheap!
"Now you know why we only let you pick 20,000 jin of wine when there were 40,000 jin available?" Su Lu asked his second brother softly.

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

"Pretty much, that's called scarcity marketing." Su Lu nodded and said, "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" exploits this psychology by artificially creating scarcity, making buyers feel that "if they don't buy now, it'll be gone" or "they'll be missing out if they don't grab it," thus breaking down hesitation and accelerating decision-making. Su Lu continued, "'Hunger marketing' is exactly what sellers do. They artificially create scarcity, making buyers feel that 'if they don't buy now, it will be gone' or 'if they don't grab it, they'll lose out,' thereby breaking
"In the current situation where both buyers and sellers are involved, there may even be excessive buying frenzy. This is because they believe that scarcity will help increase the value of their goods, so they tend to buy up large quantities, thus helping to create scarcity."

"I see..." Su Tai was full of admiration. "Qiu Ge'er is amazing. Not only is he good at studying, but he also knows everything he does perfectly."

Then she asked in a low voice, "But isn't this considered lying?"

“Yes.” Su Lu nodded and said frankly, “The business world is like a battlefield. Warfare is based on deception, so we must adhere to the orthodox and use the unorthodox to win.”

Su Dan listened quietly from the side, and couldn't help but whisper, "Brother learns everything so quickly, he already knows how to use the method of interrogating and connecting questions to reason."

"Quiet," Su Man said softly, signaling him not to disturb her listening to the lecture.

"What does 'adhering to the orthodox while seeking the unexpected' mean?" Su Tai asked.

"Simply put, don't harbor malicious intentions, and don't be bound by rigid methods. How to balance these two..." Su Lu smiled wryly and said, "Then you have to learn the Doctrine of the Mean."

"To achieve harmony." Su Man and Su Dan both understood Su Lu's meaning at the same time.

Su Lu couldn't teach his second brother the Doctrine of the Mean here, so he addressed the matter at hand:
“‘Hunger marketing’ is indeed not very ethical, and once it’s exposed, the backlash will be severe. But we must fire this first shot. If we fail to do so, it will be extremely difficult to open up the market later. So at this point, we are willing to use some means.”

Chun Ge'er chimed in, "But we haven't harmed the buyer's interests, so it's harmless."

“That’s right, that’s exactly what I mean. Now that Big Brother has said so, Second Brother, are you relieved?” Su Lu asked with a smile.

"Mmm-hmm." Su Tai nodded vigorously.

~~
downstairs.

Under the onslaught of the merchants, the proprietress could not withstand the onslaught and surrendered, saying, "Alright, alright, I'll discuss it with the head of the business again."

He then called Su Daji behind the screen, and the two began to argue earnestly.

The businesspeople in the venue could faintly hear Su Daji saying things like "I lost money" and "It won't work."

The proprietress remained adamant, saying things like, "I'll compensate you," and "Don't lose sight of the bigger picture; how can you do business if you offend your customers?"

After a short while, the proprietress finally emerged from behind the screen with a beaming smile and announced loudly:
"Mr. Lin is right. We invited everyone here, how could we let our good friends leave empty-handed?"

Then she announced loudly, "I finally convinced the head chef to bring out his most treasured wine!"

"Excellent!" The merchants actually burst into cheers.

(End of this chapter)