ATPnovel In this world, you need your brains to survive!
In this world, you need your brains to survive!
Jubaozhai, third floor.
Pan, Xu, and Deng took their seats as host and guest respectively. Manager Pan remained calm and quietly drank his tea; Xu Yan was in a good mood and leisurely hummed a tune that no one could understand; only Deng Yuzhou had an angry look on his face and glared at the great writer Xu with unfriendly eyes.
The more cheerfully Xu Yan hummed, the angrier Deng Yuzhou became, finally slamming his fist on the table: "Fellow Daoist Xu must give me an explanation for this matter!"
Manager Pan glanced at Young Master Deng, then immediately looked away, thinking to himself, "So impatient! This Second Young Master Deng still needs more training!"
"Oh!" Xu Yan laughed. "Why should I give Young Master Deng an explanation?"
"Deng has already said that it is forbidden to sell it to anyone else..."
"Ha!" Xu Yan couldn't help but laugh. "Young Master Deng didn't pay a deposit, nor did he sign a contract. He's just talking to himself. I didn't agree to it, so why can't it be sold to someone else?"
"You!" Deng Yuzhou was furious and stood up abruptly.
"What about me?" Xu Yan's smile remained unchanged. "Business is business. For Young Master Deng to forbid me from selling based on just a single sentence... isn't that a bit too domineering?"
Deng Yuzhou's face darkened even more: "You said there are only eight left..."
Without a word, Xu Yan took out eight printers from his storage bag: "Here they are, just give me 150!"
Manager Pan almost burst out laughing: So you sold so many, but only had eight left?
He glanced at Xu Yan and thought to himself that this kid looks respectable, but he's not a good person at heart!
Deng Yuzhou gritted his teeth: "You surnamed Xu, you've sold so many..."
"Hey, hey, I did sell quite a few, but I didn't shortchange you, right?" Xu Yan argued, "Besides, it's just a small business, why bother, Young Master Deng!"
Deng Yuzhou wanted to refute, but he didn't know which angle to approach it from.
To put it bluntly, he wants to buy all the talisman-making magical artifacts and monopolize the industry?
The Deng family is a prominent family on Qianlu Island; if word gets out, won't it ruin their reputation?
"Young Master Deng, there's no need to be so angry." Xu Yan changed the subject. "The talisman business is just a small one; everyone's just making a meager living. I have another deal here; I wonder if Manager Pan and Young Master Deng would be interested?"
Manager Pan thought to himself that the real show was about to begin, and immediately put down his teacup: "I'd like to hear the details."
Deng Yuzhou snorted coldly, but did not stop him.
He was the second son born out of wedlock, with an elder brother who was born of the legitimate wife. Although he had no worries about food and clothing, his status was far inferior. In addition, he was of mediocre talent. Although he was called the second son of the Deng family, he was not actually valued by his family. Therefore, he always wanted to make a name for himself.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have been stumped by more than a hundred jade scrolls.
Xu Yan said, "Although printing these talismans is a small business that only earns hard-earned money, which of us cultivators can do without talismans? These are consumables; the greater the demand, the larger the market..."
He was only halfway through his sentence when he was suddenly interrupted by Manager Pan's cough: "Fellow Daoist Xu, it's getting late."
Xu Yan paused for a moment, then laughed: "You're asking me to get the real benefits, right?"
He immediately retracted his three thousand words of nonsense: "My business is selling these magical artifacts with talismans..."
Deng Yuzhou immediately objected: "Do you think I, Deng, am one of those ignorant rogue cultivators who have never seen the world?"
"Young Master Deng, what's the rush!" Xu Yan soothed him patiently. "This magic seal isn't something you can use forever; it needs regular maintenance. The real money comes from the consumables used to maintain it!"
"Consumables?" Pan and Deng asked in unison.
They exchanged a glance and saw the astonishment on each other's faces.
"What is this consumable?"
Xu Yan didn't know how to explain, so he simply disassembled a printer, pointed to its complex internal structure, and said, "This, this, and this—they all need to be replaced after a period of use. The more you print, the faster they wear out, and when they break, you have to replace them with new ones. These are consumables… What do you two think of this business?"
Pan and Deng were immediately surprised.
Business can be done like this?
Shady businessman, a complete swindler!
Xu Yan smiled but remained silent.
In this world, you need your brains!
There are many inexpensive printing devices available today, with the entire machine costing only two or three hundred yuan, which is incredibly cheap.
Does it smell good?
That smells really good.
However, original ink cartridges can only print a few dozen pages, and replacing them with a new set can cost as much as half the price of the machine itself!
Compatible consumables are cheaper, but manufacturers use technical means to block non-original consumables, forcing consumers to buy original ink cartridges at high prices.
The equipment is cheap, and the consumables are profitable. This is a trick that's been used very well in the modern world. He's just borrowing it for a while!
Buy ink cartridges and get a machine for free—that's what they mean by that.
Let's look at the cultivation world.
The talisman printing machine comes from the mortal world, and there is only one of its kind. Even if other sects wanted to crack it, they wouldn't be able to figure out what those messy parts were for. Not to mention that the Special Security Bureau deliberately tampered with it to prevent it from being replicated and to keep this business going.
However, Xu Yan had no background, no powerful connections, and no cultivation, so building an independent business network from scratch was extremely difficult.
Earning money from the indigenous people is easy, but the prerequisite is that Xu Yan must have the ability to protect this wealth; otherwise, it will only bring trouble.
In response, the Special Security Bureau suggested that it is beneficial to have a powerful backer, share risks and benefits.
He Tiannan is a powerful figure, but he is a rogue cultivator. Although he is strong, he has no influence and is not a suitable candidate.
The major sects are not suitable as secondary partners. If they go directly to negotiate cooperation, they will be taken advantage of at best, and losing their lives would not be surprising.
Therefore, finding a small sect with some strength but not a large scale to act as an agent, while Xu Yan remained hidden behind the scenes and quietly made a fortune, became the best solution.
Xu Yan originally had no specific target; he had only decided on the spur of the moment to use Jubaozhai as a shield, and it just so happened that the Second Young Master Deng stumbled upon it.
Since it's the same whether you herd one sheep or two, Xu Yan had a sudden idea and decided to bring both of them along.
Even now, the great writer Xu is still unsure of the true nature of Jubaozhai, only feeling that the shop is not as simple as it appears on the surface.
He also didn't know Deng Yuzhou's identity, but guessed that he was either a direct descendant or a collateral descendant of Qianlu Island, or at the very least, an outsider.
By establishing a connection with Deng Yuzhou, one could gain access to information about Qianlu Island. Even if the Deng family was not respectable, as long as the Yu Fu business grew and became more successful, it would inevitably attract the attention of Qianlu Island, and might even be taken over by the sect.
At that time, Xu Yan will be able to go a step further and establish direct contact with Qianlu Island, making it easier to find out Tian's whereabouts and information.
Even if they are accidentally exposed, they can leave without a trace, and even spread the news that the premonition talisman came from Thousand Heron Island, attracting the covetousness of other sects!
Xu Yan has limited strength and no influence; he can't possibly do anything to Qianlu Island in the short term.
In that case, using one enemy to devour another is a viable strategy.
Moreover, this is just a paper talisman. If necessary, Xu Yan can also use the jade talisman technology to trick Qianlu Island again!