All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

So now Han Chunming can earn more money and easily manage his time, so why not?

Since learning that he was about to become successful, Taozi quickly changed his lifestyle, now getting up early and returning home late every day, without Han Chunming having to urge him at all.

He's busy every day, with a silly grin on his face from time to time; he's long since changed from how he was when he first opened the shop.

A small shop is always busy and does exceptionally good business, which naturally arouses the jealousy of surrounding vendors, and it has been reported several times.

Fortunately, Han Chunming knew that the kid was difficult to deal with, so he also obtained a business license and completed all the procedures required by the authorities. In addition, he also had Taozi deliver a few packs of cigarettes, so nothing serious happened.

When the vendors realized that their reports were ineffective, they naturally thought of another method, which was to continue doing the same business.

In China, as long as there is no monopoly, any business that becomes popular will be imitated and copied by everyone. This is human nature. Han Chunming had long anticipated this, so he was not in a hurry at all.

Sure enough, my shop has only been open for less than a month, and there are already three other nourishing soup shops within a kilometer radius. In a while, I estimate that the entire city of Yanjing will be filled with them.

These knock-off shops have brought the ingenuity of the Chinese people to its extreme. Even their signs are similar to those of Han Chunming's shops. Han Chunming's Secret Recipe Nourishing Soup Shop, and the other shops are all Zhang's, Wang's, Niu's...!

Moreover, their prices are much cheaper than Han Chunming's soup, starting from just one cent for a large bowl, and they also offer staple foods such as sesame seed cakes, steamed buns, and mantou.

Chinese people are born to do business. Han Chunming passed by a shop yesterday with an advertisement that read, "Free nourishing soup for one yuan, all-you-can-eat steamed buns."

And you know what? This way of grabbing business has always been extremely effective.

Every time a new shop opens in the neighborhood, Han Chunming's nourishing soup shop suffers a bit less business. With almost a month since it opened, business has clearly started to decline, and in the last few days, business has only reached one-third of what it was in the middle of the month.

Han Chunming wasn't in a hurry; he was just watching the show. They could imitate his face, and they could even imitate his soup.

Han Chunming wasn't worried, but Taozi and the others were. They couldn't even sell 300 bowls of soup a day. How could they continue their business?

But this is clearly not the most difficult time yet; the most desperate moment is about to arrive.

Before Han Chunming's shop even opened that day, he heard firecrackers going off outside. Han Chunming asked Meng Xiaoxing to go and take a look. As soon as she saw it, Meng Xiaoxing rushed back and shouted.

"Oh no, oh no, Brother Wu, another soup shop has opened across the street!"

Upon hearing this, Han Chunming's expression changed immediately. He then went outside the shop and, sure enough, saw the street across the street.

A new shop called Niu's Secret Recipe Nourishing Soup has officially opened.

Goodness, Han Chunming asked the owner when he passed by these past few days, and the owner said he was planning to open a beef noodle shop.

At the time, there wasn't even a signboard, and the interior was closed for renovations. They really pulled off a clever deception!

This sudden opening is indeed impressive. When Han Chunming looked inside, he was even more speechless.

This store is half again as big as Han Chunming's.

Moreover, the decoration style, even the menu and the earthenware pots used for simmering soup were exactly the same. Such blatant plagiarism infuriated Meng Xiaoxing so much that she stood at the store entrance cursing early in the morning.

This Niu's Nourishing Soup Shop launched a major promotion as soon as it opened: free soup for the first three days.

Familiar or unfamiliar? Surprising or unexpected?

Sure enough, once this free offer was launched, Han Chunming's health supplement shop was completely overwhelmed and his business was utterly ruined on the very day it was offered for free.

The other party's business tactics didn't stop there. As soon as they opened their doors early in the morning, they hired two loud-voiced young men to stand in front of the shop across the street and shout into the street.

Free soup! Everyone come and enjoy free nourishing soup – it's free and unlimited!

After those shouts, Han Chunming's soup shop was completely shut down. By ten o'clock, not a single customer had come in.

Meng Xiaoxing and Song Hongjiang stood at the entrance of their shop, looking worriedly at the bustling crowd across the street, where a long queue stretched out, creating a lively scene.

Taozi also stood at the door, his face a liverish color, smelly and black, hands on his hips, looking at the business across the street. The ambition that had just surged in his heart had now somewhat subsided.

Han Chunming walked out of the shop with a smile and shouted to the crowd.

"What are you all doing? You all have long faces. It's their opening, they should be happy. Come on, there's free soup, why not drink it and show our support!"

Han Chunming's words left everyone dumbfounded.

Seeing that the group was standing still, they clearly didn't want to be looked down upon.

Han Chunming ignored the group and walked across the street with a smile.

When he arrived at the store across the street, Han Chunming immediately recognized many familiar faces—they were all regular customers of his shop.

Among them was his regular customer, the loud-voiced auntie, who went to his shop every day.

The older woman was also in line at that moment, and she had obviously seen Han Chunming as well. Her face was noticeably stiff, and her eyes darted around, clearly indicating that she was also a little embarrassed.

Han Chunming didn't react much, but remained very enthusiastic and stepped forward to call out.

"Good morning, ma'am!"

Seeing that Han Chunming didn't seem angry, the older woman immediately became more cheerful and greeted him with a smile.

"Hey little boss, you've come to support us too!"

Han Chunming smiled and nodded.

"Yes, it's a new business opening, so of course we have to come and try their food. A harmonious atmosphere brings good fortune!"

Hearing Han Chunming's words, the loud-voiced auntie felt a sense of admiration and immediately raised her voice to reply.

"Look everyone, this fellow business owner is having a business opening, and the young boss isn't angry at all, he's even come to support them. The young boss has a big heart, and he has the generosity of a true man from Beijing!"

The crowd laughed and applauded when the loud-voiced auntie shouted, drawing everyone's attention to Han Chunming.

Some older women, seeing that there was no one across the street, even gave Han Chunming some advice, suggesting that he follow the owner's example and offer three more days of free soup, and preferably lower the price as well.

Everyone was chattering away, making quite a scene, but Han Chunming just kept smiling and didn't say a word.

Most of the people in this group had drunk Han Chunming's soup before and were regular customers. They came to Han Chunming's soup shop after trying it and finding it effective. Some of them had even introduced new customers to Han Chunming.

Now, a similar nourishing soup shop has opened across the street, and it's free and unlimited. Anyone who isn't blind would choose that option.

Han Chunming's appearance was noticed by the waiters across the street. Seeing that Han Chunming was currently in the limelight, one of the waiters hurriedly went to the kitchen to call the boss.

Soon, a middle-aged bald man wearing an apron jogged to the shop entrance. When he saw Han Chunming in the crowd, his eyes sharpened, and then his expression instantly transformed into that of a Maitreya Buddha. He jogged over to Han Chunming with a smile and greeted him.

"Mr. Han, welcome! It's our greatest honor to have you here!"

Han Chunming looked at the bald boss with a fake smile and said with a smile as well.

"You're too kind, you're too kind. Congratulations on your grand opening, Mr. Niu! We're all in business, so it's always good to be friendly and make money together!"

Seeing that Han Chunming showed no anger at all, and even seemed to genuinely congratulate him, the bald man was somewhat puzzled as to what Han Chunming really meant.

Only children would genuinely believe that their peers would sincerely congratulate their competitors; adults aren't stupid!

To open your own shop and completely imitate the other party's from beginning to end, and even open it right across from the other party's, is to step on the other party's face and slap them in the face.

Han Chunming continued, smiling.

"Boss Niu, I've come here to learn from your experience. Would you mind if I tried some of the food?"

Boss Niu was stunned for a moment, but then he came to his senses and quickly said with a smile.

"No problem, no problem at all. Here, Mr. Han, let me personally serve you a bowl of kidney-strengthening and liver-protecting soup!"

Upon hearing the words "Kidney-Strengthening and Liver-Protecting Soup," Han Chunming's lips inexplicably curled into a smile. Interesting!

As he spoke, Boss Niu returned to the shop with a smile. Their shop was large, and to attract customers, they placed three huge earthenware pots at the entrance, neatly arranged, which was quite eye-catching. Boss Niu was indeed quite skilled at doing business.

Boss Niu took out a bowl and began to ladle soup from the earthenware pot. Han Chunming stood beside him watching with a smile on his face.

This boss is really something; all the bowls in his shop are the same style as Han Chunming's. Han Chunming guesses that the boss has found the supplier he used to buy his goods.

The only difference was that his bowl was a whole size bigger than Han Chunming's small bowl. Han Chunming's bowl was only a small size, while this was at least a large size. Han Chunming's two bowls of soup were not even as big as this one. His business acumen was truly impressive.

Han Chunming saw that the other person had scooped up a spoonful of soup and was about to continue scooping, so he quickly called out.

"Boss Niu, that's enough, that's enough. I just finished breakfast, a little drink will do!"

Boss Niu laughed heartily, seemingly speaking on purpose.

"I like to drink big bowls of soup. If you want to have breakfast in the future, Mr. Han, you can come to our shop anytime. We also steam buns and dumplings in the kitchen, and they are all quite big!"

When this boss said the word "big," he clearly emphasized it.

Han Chunming found the owner quite interesting. He smiled and took the bowl from the owner's hand. Looking at the pale yellow soup inside, he couldn't help but sigh once again, "Very impressive."

Han Chunming brought the taste to his lips and took a small sip. What was this taste like?

I must say, it's quite delicious. It's made by simmering pork bones with several herbs, and then adding a lot of MSG when it's ready. It's salty and sweet with a subtle herbal aroma. After you finish drinking it, the savory sweetness from the large amount of MSG still lingers on your tongue. This owner is so generous, it's like he doesn't care about the MSG!

After figuring out the boss's tricks, Han Chunming smiled and finished all the soup in his bowl, then handed the bowl back to the other person.

The bald leader asked with a smile.

"Boss Han, how does my soup taste?"

Han Chunming smiled and shook his head.

"I can't taste it. There must be some secret recipe from Boss Niu in this!"

Boss Niu laughed heartily and spoke to everyone with great pride.

"Everyone can drink with confidence. My soup does indeed have a secret recipe. I spent a lot of money to buy this secret recipe from an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor. Everyone, drink as much as you want, it's very good for your health!"

Han Chunming smiled and shook his head, then took his leave.

Watching Han Chunming's retreating figure, the bald boss then addressed the group.

"As you can see, Mr. Han across the street drank my soup and praised it as delicious, so you can drink it without worry!"

Hearing the boss's self-praising voice, Han Chunming shook his head helplessly and thought, "Let him be arrogant for a few days!"

If you drink a small amount of that stuff, it's definitely not a problem. But if you drink it every day, these elderly folks will end up in the hospital within a month at most.

Although the herbal ingredients in it are not poisonous, one of the herbs is cold in nature. Coupled with the huge amount of MSG in the soup, the heart, liver and lungs of an elderly person absolutely cannot bear the burden, and going to the hospital is only a matter of time.

However, Han Chunming did not intend to meddle in other people's business. The other party was not selling poisonous food, and no food should be eaten or drunk in excess.

Besides, the soup they offered was just a sham; it had no real nourishing effects. Their regular customers would notice the difference after drinking it for a few days and would eventually return to their shop.

If there are really elderly people who frequent the place across the street every day, and something happens, can you really stop them from going to drink there?

So, let time tell. I'll take advantage of the excitement across the street these next few days and take a break.

Take a few days to rest. You've been busy for a month. Can't you get a bonus and enjoy yourself?

Han Chunming returned to his shop, gathered everyone together, waved his hand, and then spoke.

"I have an announcement to make: I've decided to give everyone three days off. Take advantage of these three days to rest well. You've been busy for a month, it's time to relax for a few days!"

Han Chunming's words caused an uproar, and Taozi shouted angrily.