There's a chat group for pets in my neighborhood.

Cui Ding rushed over in disbelief, shooed away the dogs nearby, and picked up the cans of dog food.

To be honest, if he hadn't memorized the locations beforehand, he wouldn't have been able to tell which one was which at all.

After a brief moment of astonishment, the customers waiting in the lobby erupted into a deafening protest.

"You heartless hospital! The packaging is identical; even a dog could tell the difference. What you're selling is definitely counterfeit goods made with substandard materials!"

"Exactly! Do you think we're stupid or what? No matter what, you have to refund our money and pay triple damages!"

"You wait, I'm going to report you to the Industry and Commerce Bureau right now for misrepresenting your business!"

The enraged customers nearly ripped the roof off Meiji Pet Hospital.

Cui Ding couldn't understand why he was normal just now, but suddenly had a problem in front of everyone.

Could it be that they actually received counterfeit goods themselves?

He never would have imagined in a hundred years that this golden retriever, Wangcai, had actually conspired with Lu Fang.

This farce ended in a disastrous defeat for Meiji Pet Hospital, which was forced to issue a full refund.

Over the next week, the pet business district surrounding Tiancheng Community underwent an unprecedented reshuffle.

Pet shop owners who followed the trend and hoarded goods are now in despair, as the mountains of snacks and toys piled up in their warehouses are definitely not going to sell.

But they couldn't bear to destroy them directly, since they were all bought with real money; it would be too painful to do so.

They wanted to resell the goods to their competitors, but their competitors weren't stupid either. This incident at Tiancheng Community was well-known in Yanling City. Who would dare to buy goods that couldn't be sold?

Cui Ding sat in his office with a worried look on his face, smoking one cigarette after another. The loss of this money was making his heart bleed.

Just when they were at their wits' end, a middle-aged man driving a beat-up Wuling Hongguang and speaking with a heavy out-of-town accent appeared on the street.

"Closing out the last stock! Pet treats, canned food, toys—we're taking it all!"

Upon hearing this, Cui Ding jumped up from the stool, hurriedly went to the door, and invited the man in.

"Are you a buyer of leftover stock?"

The out-of-town man sized him up and snorted, "You're shipping goods?"

For some reason, Cui Ding felt that there was something wrong with the man in front of him. After what happened in Tiancheng Community, how could someone still dare to come to pick up the goods?

"I do have some here. Consider it a good deed, I'll give you a 30% discount." Cui Ding pretended to be heartbroken and offered a price.

"Boss, don't try to fool me. This stuff is unsellable. If I don't buy it, you'll just have to destroy it on the spot."

The man smiled slyly, clearly aware of what had happened in Tiancheng Residential Area.

"You knew that, yet you still bought it?" Cui Ding probed.

"I'm not selling these goods in Yanling City. If I move them to another city, who will know where they came from?" The man from out of town had a simple and honest smile, but his eyes gleamed with shrewdness.

"30% off, that's my bottom line!" Cui Ding knew the other party was right. In his eyes, this batch of goods was a hot potato, and he couldn't wait to get rid of it as soon as possible.

"Boss, look at you joking again. You must have already asked around. If people from other places want to buy your goods, they'll only give you a little over 10% of the original price, and you'll have to cover the shipping costs. You're offering me 30% off? You've never thought about doing this business. Forget it, I'll go ask other companies."

After saying that, the man from out of town made a move to leave.

Seeing that the other party was well-informed and had clearly come prepared, Cui Ding stopped being perfunctory and hurriedly grabbed the out-of-town man's hand: "How about this, I'll give you a 25% discount, so you can at least let me lose a little less."

Upon hearing the price, the out-of-town man didn't stop walking at all.

"Don't rush, let me finish. You'll buy my goods at 25% off, but I'll negotiate with the pet stores around here and get you a 15% discount. How about that!"

Hearing this, the out-of-town man turned around and looked at Cui Ding, who was grinning slyly: "How can I believe you?"

"I'm fairly well-known in the pet industry. How about this, I'll negotiate for you first, and you can buy my goods last?" Cui Ding patted his chest, thinking, "Better to lose a friend than myself." He figured he might as well minimize his losses now.

What do other people's losses have to do with me, Cui Ding?

Upon hearing this, the man from out of town immediately became interested: "If that's the case, then I'll wait here for your good news."

Seeing that the other party had agreed, Cui Ding immediately went outside the office and made a phone call to Wang Ze.

"Dean Cui, what brings you to call me all of a sudden?" Wang Ze on the other end of the line bowed and flattered him.

"How's it going for you guys? Are you stuck with a lot of unsold goods?"

When this was mentioned, Wang Ze complained bitterly: "Yes, it's one thing to return the goods, but the rest can't be sold at all. Everyone knows that even if they buy them, they won't eat them, so no one is willing to waste their money."

"I've found you a buyer. You're just stuck with this and losing money, so you might as well sell it," Cui Ding said.

"That's wonderful!" Upon hearing this, Wang Ze immediately broke into a wide smile. "It's only because Dean Cui is still thinking of me at a time like this. I'll bring you some more tea cakes next time."

"By the way, how's the price?"

"I'll buy all the goods at 15% off," Cui Ding said softly, glancing at the out-of-town man in the office.

"15% off!" Upon hearing this, the joy on Wang Ze's face vanished instantly. He had expected the price to be low, but he hadn't anticipated it to be this low.

"Dean Cui, this 50% discount is too little. I'm going to lose a lot of money."

"This batch of goods is completely unsellable right now. We'll try to recoup what we can. No one can possibly take all the goods around our Tiancheng community. If they can't take them all, we won't get a single penny, let alone a 15% discount."

"I only contacted you in advance because we're good friends!"

Wang Ze looked troubled. He knew that Cui Ding was right. If the other party changed his mind and didn't want it anymore, he would lose everything.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, 15% off, I'll deliver it right away!"

Cui Ding hung up the phone, glanced through his contacts, and quickly called another pet shop owner.

Throughout the afternoon, several cars came and went, and the out-of-town man accepted all comers, buying whatever they wanted to sell.

Although the price was incredibly low for Cui Ding and the pet shop owners, in order to recoup their funds and survive, they had no choice but to clear out all the goods in their warehouses as if they were scrap.

Finally, Cui Ding watched the fully loaded bread truck disappear into the distance, his heart aching so much he almost fainted.

However, what he never dreamed of was...

The old Wuling Hongguang didn't leave Yanling City. After circling around a few times, it came to a steady stop in the back alley of Hello Pet Shop.