MGASC -Chapter 87 Jealous! His Wife Is Just Too Capable

Sure enough, the customer flow that had just started to taper off surged again once the new free giveaway was introduced.

Several nearby vendors who had copied the pickled fish dish had only just begun to see their business improve, and now it plunged straight back down.

Watching customers all flock to Yingzi’s stall, the other vendors lost the heart to keep selling. They gathered together and started discussing countermeasures.

“How about we just do what Yingzi suggested—join forces with them and do that… what was it… franchising?”

“You think franchising doesn’t cost money? I heard it’s several hundred yuan! That’s just letting them earn for nothing. How long would it take us to earn back those few hundred? Are you stupid?”

“But look at them—another new product already. First they gave free noodles, now free drinks. They’re constantly pulling tricks to keep returning customers. What do we have? Two boss ladies, young and pretty—just standing there, they’re a walking billboard. Our fish isn’t as good as theirs, we’ve got nothing new, and we don’t know how to play the ‘beauty card.’ What are we competing with?”

“Bah! Isn’t that just selling their looks? The bigger the tree, the more wind it catches. I’ve heard those little women haven’t exactly been clean behind the scenes. You think the Wang family collapsed for no reason… You’d better watch out, or you’ll end up being used by them. When the time comes, they’ll take all the money, and we’ll be left drinking the northwest wind!”

“What do you mean? Didn’t the Wang family’s daughter commit a bunch of crimes? That has something to do with them too?”

The one spreading these rumors was Wang Zhi’s friend, Li Dong.

He snorted coldly and embellished what he’d heard, exaggerating it with relish, clearly afraid the world wouldn’t be chaotic enough. “Anyway, those women aren’t simple. Just wait and see. People who do immoral things make plenty of enemies—sooner or later they’ll have terrible luck.”

“Tsk, that’s true. Such a small matter, yet they pushed people into a dead end. Those women have hearts way too black.”

As for franchising, some people hated it, some worried about it. The short-sighted ones rejected it outright; those holding back, wanting to wait and see, were still hesitating. But there were also the bold ones who had already started contacting Yingzi and Zhang Qiao in private.

In just two days, Zhang Qiao’s small courtyard was packed with visitors, coming and going until the threshold was almost worn flat.

She and Yingzi worked out a full set of franchising strategies. Making money was, of course, the main goal—but for long-term development, the franchisees’ interests had to be considered too.

For example, the biggest worry was: if everyone joined and the streets were full of pickled fish shops, how would anyone make a profit?

Zhang Qiao’s solution was simple—only one shop per street.

There were many small towns around Xiangshui County, plus the central city Jiangcheng. These merchants didn’t need to limit themselves to the local area to seize the market.

The outside market was huge.

People were deeply tempted by the future Zhang Qiao painted with her words. Most vendors still needed to go home and discuss it, but in just two days, Zhang Qiao had already secured two franchise deals, with both parties sincerely paying deposits.

Yingzi was ecstatic. “This is amazing, Qiaoqiao! We worked for a whole month and only earned a little over two hundred yuan. Just the deposits from two franchisees are already three to four hundred! This money is way too easy to earn!”

She counted the cash and happily rolled around on the bed.

What she once thought was impossible had actually come true under their planning—it all felt like a dream.

“Don’t get happy too early,” Zhang Qiao warned seriously. “Once we take their money, we have to make sure they can earn money too. At the very least, we need to get their businesses booming. Only then will more franchisees come later. Otherwise, it’s just a one-off deal—it’ll collapse sooner or later.”

Zhang Qiao didn’t dare relax for a second, repeatedly hammering the point home.

Yingzi immediately sobered up. “Right, right. Qiaoqiao, what do we do next? You arrange everything.”

So Zhang Qiao became insanely busy. When she couldn’t handle it all, she called Xiao Wu to run errands for her. Even when Lin Tianyue called Aunt Liu’s house, it was Xiao Wu whom Zhang Qiao sent to answer the phone.

Hearing Xiao Wu’s voice, Lin Tianyue felt deeply disappointed. “Where’s your sister-in-law? Why isn’t she answering?”

Xiao Wu replied, “Director, sister-in-law is super busy. She’s at home teaching several new employees how to make pickled vegetables.”

Lin Tianyue: “New… new employees?”

“Yeah. Sister-in-law’s been doing this franchising thing, registering trademarks and all that. A lot of people have been coming to the house. Director, sister-in-law is really amazing. You don’t know—those bosses who came to join were completely convinced by sister-in-law’s business ideas. When are you coming back?”

So many people coming to the house!!!

Lin Tianyue imagined the scene. He had sent Xiao Wu to Zhang Qiao so she could rest more—but from what he was hearing, she was even busier.

So busy she didn’t even have time to answer his calls. Was it because she knew he wasn’t around and had completely let herself go?

“Director? Director, are you still there? If not, I’ve got to go to the Administration for Industry and Commerce. Gotta hang up!”

“Hey—tell her I’m coming back tonight!”

Beep beep beep—the line was already dead.

Lin Tianyue: Great. Even his own subordinate wasn’t listening to him anymore!

What kind of world was this?

At that moment, Lin Tianyue had a large woven bag in each hand, a leather bag slung over his shoulder, standing right in Jin City’s train station.

This trip could be said to have been extremely fruitful.

He had made the call from a public phone booth at the station. There were still more than two hours before the train departed.

Originally, he should have left the next morning, arriving in the afternoon.

But he’d been away for a full week now, and felt that every single day had dragged endlessly. So he bought a night ticket—the train would reach Xiangshui County around midnight.

He was already at the station and shouldn’t have been in any rush. But after hearing Xiao Wu’s words, thinking of that “troublesome” wife at home, Lin Tianyue suddenly wished he could fly back immediately.

“Chen Wang,” he asked his assistant gloomily, “do you think a woman being too capable is a good thing or a bad thing?”

These past two days, Chen Wang had gone on a date with his girlfriend. After meeting her, happiness and sweetness were written all over his face. “Director, of course it’s a good thing. Who wouldn’t want to marry a hardworking wife? If you marry a lazy one, you’ll be upset to death every day. But if she’s as young and pretty as sister-in-law, even if she’s a bit lazy, men would still be willing. Right, Director?”

Lin Tianyue shot him a glare. “Willing my ass! Your sister-in-law isn’t lazy at all—she’s more diligent and capable than anyone! You little brat, you still want to marry someone like your sister-in-law? Believe it or not, if your girlfriend hears that, she’ll twist your head off!”

Chen Wang stuck out his tongue and didn’t dare make another sound.