Rebirth of Fishing Village: Starting from Hua Axiang in Jiehu Village

Chapter 1534 Unite to deal with it?

"If we really do that, we'll earn less money, maybe even a lot less."

“When Ding Chongshan first started, the price was definitely higher than ours, but not by much. We didn’t have any other choice but to raise our prices as well. But Ding Chongshan definitely wouldn’t raise the price only once.”

Sun Tie had a terrible headache.

For ordinary people, Ma Ping and he don't even take them seriously; they have all sorts of ways to deal with such people.

Some people can solve problems openly, while others can solve them behind the scenes.

Ding Chongshan or Ding Xiaoxiang are very powerful figures. This time, they have made it public that they will be cooperating with Shi Guangming's family in Shijiao Village, as well as Liu Gang and Liu Lei's family at Hongyun Restaurant in the town.

Those underhanded tactics might work on other people, but they were completely useless against Ding Chongshan and Ding Xiaoxiang.

All that's left are the methods used on stage; in other words, these aren't the only methods people can use to do business in a serious, straightforward way.

Ding Chongshan is a business-stealer; he'll definitely raise prices to grab business.

The only way for Ma Ping and himself to deal with this was to raise prices along with Ding Chongshan, and to grow their fish, shrimp, and crabs even taller than Ding Chongshan's, so that they could keep their stock.

While this approach is effective, it will significantly increase costs, resulting in lower daily earnings.

If it were just once or twice, there wouldn't be a problem. The key issue is that Ding Chongshan can't just raise prices once. He might raise them today and then again tomorrow, forcing the two of them to keep raising prices, which would cause costs to skyrocket and eventually make them unable to make a profit.

"What good can we do? Our only option is to raise prices as well."

Ma Ping was very troubled. This method was very simple, but very effective. The key problem was that he and Sun Tie really didn't have any better ideas. The only way to make money was to raise prices, but the biggest problem with raising prices was that if the purchase price was high, the profit would be less.

They could withstand one or two price increases, but if this continued, they would be in serious trouble and might not even be able to make any money.

“We’ve made quite a bit of money over the years, so we definitely have enough capital on hand.”

"If Ding Chongshan wants to do this, then he's going to be competing with us in terms of capital and working capital."

"Ding Chongshan's business is indeed very successful, and he has made a lot of money, but compared to us, he is still far behind."

"Those who want to outlast us and take our business will not have an easy time; they are almost certain to fail."

Sun Tie gave a cold laugh.

Ding Chongshan is actually quite good at business, but the key issue is that he and Ma Ping are not exactly innocent either. In fact, they do business even better than Ding Chongshan and earn more money.

If it really comes down to a price war, Ma Ping and I are definitely not worried, or rather, we are certain that we will win.

"Sun Tie".

“What you said is perfectly fine under normal circumstances. Our business is indeed doing much better than Ding Chongshan’s. From that perspective, we can definitely handle it.”

"But don't forget who Ding Chongshan's father is."

"This matter can't possibly be just about Ding Chongshan; it must involve Ding Xiaoxiang and Zhao Dahai as well."

"Ding Chongshan is just the person who stepped forward to do this kind of thing."

"What you need to wage a price war is working capital. Although most business people have money, they don't keep too much cash on hand."

"We really don't need to worry about Ding Chongshan, but if we add Ding Xiaoxiang, and especially Zhao Dahai, then it will be a huge problem."

"With Zhao Dahai's support, Ding Chongshan's cash is no longer a small matter; he can have as much as he wants. This will put us in big trouble."

Ma Ping let out a long sigh, his brows furrowing into a deep knot.

This is the most troublesome thing. If it really is just Ding Chongshan, then Sun Tie and I really don't need to worry at all, and we are 100% confident that you will win.

The crux of the problem is that Ding Chongshan has the support of Ding Xiaoxiang and Zhao Dahai, which makes this an extremely troublesome situation.

Sun Tie's face immediately turned extremely dark.

Zhao Dahai catches a lot of fish every day and sells them for money, all of which is reportedly in cash. In this respect, although Ma Ping and I have enough money, it depends on who we are comparing ourselves to. Compared to someone like Zhao Dahai who has a large amount of cash coming in every day, we really can't compare. In fact, the money that Ma Ping and I have earned in the past twenty years is not even as much as Zhao Dahai.

"Ma Ping."

"Ding Chongshan doesn't actually need to use any complicated competitive tactics. Just like we just said, he raises the price a little bit every day, so we have to raise our prices accordingly."

"Ding Chongshan is stealing business from us. He doesn't care about these price increases at all, or rather, he was already prepared for it. Even if he loses money temporarily, it doesn't matter. The difference between us is that we're already making a profit. Every time the price increases, it means our profits decrease. If this drags on, we'll be dragged down." "We've encountered opponents like that before. But their cash flow isn't enough, or rather, it's nowhere near as good as ours. They can't steal our business and instead drag themselves down. But Zhao Dahai has just too much cash on hand. We might really not be able to withstand it."

Sun Tie's expression grew increasingly grim as he spoke. At first, he hadn't really cared much. Even if Ding Chongshan offered a high price to steal his business, he wasn't particularly worried. But now it seemed that the matter was very troublesome, and even he and Ma Ping couldn't handle it.

"With Zhao Dahai's support, Ding Chongshan is not only vulnerable, but many others would not be able to withstand it."

Sun Tie is now basically certain that Ding Chongshan is using this method to discuss the businesses he and Ma Ping are handling. As a result, the pressure on him and Ma Ping is too great, and it is impossible to drag it out any longer.

"Ding Chongshan definitely did that, but he set a price, and if he's doing business openly, he'll be taking not only our fish, shrimp, and crabs, but also other people's fish, shrimp, and crabs."

“At first, everyone might be able to tolerate it, but in the long run, our competitors will definitely not be able to tolerate it. We can wait and see how things go.”

"Perhaps we can join forces with others to deal with Ding Chongshan. If that's the case, even if Ding Chongshan has Zhao Dahai's support, even if he really has three heads and six arms, he still won't be able to win."

"Or we could talk to our other colleagues about this beforehand and tell them directly that if Ding Chongshan is offering high prices for fish, shrimp and crabs here, it will affect not only us but everyone. We need to resolve Ding Chongshan's problem as soon as possible, otherwise no one will benefit in the end."

After thinking it over for a long time, Ma Ping felt that it would be difficult for him and Sun Tie to deal with Ding Chongshan, or rather, it was unnecessary for them to pay such a high price.

Sun Tie pondered for a while, and his eyes suddenly lit up. This was indeed a good idea. No matter what kind of person you are, when doing business, especially in an unfamiliar place, you must be careful and pay attention to your competitors.

Ding Chongshan wasn't new to the dock; in fact, he'd been there for a while, but he'd never opened a shop for business because of this.

This means that Ding Chongshan is very worried about all his competitors at the Shijiao Village Wharf ganging up on him. Since that's the case, he and Ma Ping can start from this angle, and maybe they really can deal with Ding Chongshan.

There's no need for Ma Ping and I to face Ding Chongshan alone, especially not Ding Xiaoxiang and Zhao Dahai, who are the two most troublesome opponents.

"Ma Ping."

“Your point is very valid. It seems we’ll have to invite our colleagues to dinner tomorrow night or some other time to discuss this matter with them.”

Sun Tie strongly agreed with Ma Ping's approach, believing that it was possible to unite, or even unite with other colleagues in advance, to do this together and drive Ding Chongshan away.

There is strength in numbers, and this holds true no matter the circumstances. If everyone unites, Ding Chongshan will face immense pressure. No matter what kind of person you are or where you do business, you wouldn't dare offend all your competitors.

"Should we talk to our colleagues tomorrow, or maybe we should wait a few days and see how things go? Maybe things aren't as complicated as we think?"

“If we go to those competitors now, they will definitely make exorbitant demands, and may even ask us to give up a certain market share, or else we won’t do this. After all, nobody wants to offend Ding Chongshan easily, especially Zhao Dahai.”

"You have to understand that no matter who it is, even if they know they can't catch the fish Zhao Dahai catches, none of them would dare to break ties with him. Not to mention that Zhao Dahai is making a lot of money now and has plenty of power. Unless there are special circumstances, ordinary people would never dare to offend Zhao Dahai."

"Wait until Ding Chongshan is collecting fish, shrimp, and crabs here, affecting their business and making money. Then gather all of them together and discuss how to deal with Zhao Dahai and Ding Chongshan. That would be more reliable. Only then will these people be truly willing to work with us to figure out how to deal with Ding Chongshan and Zhao Dahai."

Sun Tie hesitated. Ding Chongshan hadn't even started collecting fish, shrimp, and crabs at the dock yet, so it wouldn't affect him or Ma Ping, let alone the other dockworkers. It wouldn't make much sense to go to these dockworkers now to discuss how to deal with Ding Chongshan or Zhao Dahai. Or rather, other people wouldn't do such a thing at all, and they might not even come to dinner.

"Row!"

“You’re absolutely right about this. We really don’t need to go to those competitors right away. We should wait until their businesses are affected by Ding Chongshan before we talk to them about this. Then there won’t be any problems.”

Ma Ping thought about it for a moment and realized that Sun Tie was right. Going to these colleagues now would be pointless. These people would definitely have all sorts of ideas. One was that they might make him and Sun Tie pay a price. The other, more important thing was that these people would not easily offend Zhao Dahai.

"Sun Tie".

"We could really observe for a few more days and see how things go before making a decision, but I always feel like this matter isn't as simple as we imagine."

Ma Ping turned his head and looked at the largest shop in front of the dock. Ding Chongshan was there right now, and he was definitely thinking about how to take away the market share and fish, shrimp and crabs that he and Sun Tie had.

Raising the acquisition price is certainly one method, and a very important one at that, but the key issue is that I always feel things aren't that simple.

Ding Chongshan has been in business for many years, so it's impossible that he only has this one method. In addition, Ding Xiaoxiang is also a good businessman. Not to mention that Zhao Dahai, who is very good at fishing and making money, is behind them. How could he only have this one method?

The more Ma Ping thought about it, the more he felt that something was really wrong, and that the matter was far more complicated than he had imagined.

"Ma Ping"

“I know you are very worried about this matter, and even think that it is easy to deal with Ding Chongshan, but very difficult to deal with Zhao Dahai. But I really can’t think of any other way Ding Chongshan can do besides raising the price of fishermen’s crabs.”

Sun Tie really couldn't think of any other way Ding Chongshan could use to deal with him and Ma Ping.

"How could I possibly know that? If I really knew, would I know how Ding Chongshan, Ding Xiaoxiang, or Zhao Dahai dealt with us?"

Ma Ping shook his head. He couldn't imagine what kind of method Ding Chongshan would use. He just instinctively felt that raising prices was just one way, not the only way.

(End of this chapter)