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

Chapter 1538 An Unsolvable Problem
"Zhao Dahai is indeed not someone to be trifled with; everyone knows that."

"Otherwise, how could we have caught so many fish and managed to keep them?"

Ding Jie couldn't help but laugh.

Those who go out to sea to fish or fish know very well that sometimes you really can find places with fish, but once you find a place with fish, other people, especially your fellow fishermen, will rush over like sharks smelling blood.

Without other people disturbing you or stealing your fish, you can easily catch or fish several thousand kilograms of fish. But if other people rush over, it's a different story.

Zhao Dahai had never encountered anything like this before.

Ultimately, Zhao Dahai's colleagues knew very well that he was not someone to be trifled with, and that provoking such a person would only lead to trouble.

"It's really great that Ding Xiaoxiang was able to marry Zhao Dahai. Not only can he make money, he's not only good at making money, but he can make a lot of money. Another thing is that she really doesn't have to worry about being bullied by others."

Ding Weijun was very satisfied. Zhao Dahai was definitely the best brother-in-law. He was good to Ding Xiaoxiang, knew how to make money, and was feared by everyone else. This was very important in a fishing village like this.

Ding Chongshan, Ding Jie, and Ding Weijun, father and son, chatted and made arrangements for harvesting fish, shrimp, and crabs the next day.

Three o'clock in the morning.

It's quiet at night.

Sun Tie and Ma Ping sat at the tea table, drinking tea.

Fishing boats will return from the sea at dawn.

In previous years, neither of them would have cared about this matter. They would stay at home and sleep, at most waiting for the sun to rise before coming here at dawn.

There's no need for the two of them to do the collecting of fish, shrimp, and crabs themselves.

But this year is different.

"Damn it!"

"Ding Chongshan's shop is still lit up. It looks like he's waiting for the fishing boats to return from their fishing trips, just like us."

Ma Ping took a deep drag on his cigarette. Looking out from the open door, he saw that the shop at the very front of the dock, in the best spot, was brightly lit, undoubtedly waiting for the fishing boats to return from their fishing trips.

"Ding Chongshan's shop is in such a good location that any fishing boat that comes back from fishing and sells fish, shrimp and crabs must pass by his shop."

Ma Ping was extremely envious.

Sun Tie and I had been planning to take over the shop for several years, but we couldn't reach an agreement for various reasons. We originally wanted to wait a little longer and take it over at a lower price. But Zhao Dahai and Ding Xiaoxiang suddenly appeared and snatched the shop away.

Both Sun Tie and I were filled with regret.

If I had known it would turn out this way, I wouldn't have needed to lower the price so much. If I had taken this shop, it would have been perfect for doing business. Even if the two of us didn't need it, we could have rented it out to others and collected a lot of rent. But now it's too late to say anything.

The shop is now in the hands of Zhao Dahai and Ding Xiaoxiang.

If it were someone else, they might have a chance. Maybe these people would have failed in business and would have sold their shops when they needed money.

As for Zhao Dahai and Ding Xiaoxiang, don't even think about it in this life or the next.

"Forget about this shop!"

Sun Tie followed Ma Ping's gaze and immediately knew what Ma Ping was thinking.

This is absolutely impossible.

"The most important thing for us now is to figure out how Ding Chongshan will deal with us."

"I really feel like something's not right about this!"

"I always feel like there's something we haven't figured out yet."

Sun Tiezhen wasn't joking. He genuinely felt that something was wrong and had a feeling that Ding Chongshan had some kind of killer move that he and Ma Ping might not be able to handle.

"This matter is actually very difficult to handle. Or rather, we are not mind readers, so how could we possibly know exactly how he intends to deal with us?"

Ma Ping shook his head. He knew Sun Tie was absolutely right. Ding Chongshan definitely had more than just this one method. If he simply raised the price to buy fish, shrimp, and crabs from Shijiao Village Wharf, it was very likely to provoke a united front against all the fishermen there. If that happened, Ding Chongshan would have no chance of doing business here. He must have some other method, but right now, he really couldn't imagine what kind of method Ding Chongshan would use to deal with the two of them.

“It’s impossible for Ding Chongshan to open up the entire wharf’s fish, shrimp and crab market all at once. If he offers prices that are significantly higher than those offered by others, he will definitely steal business from many people and cause opposition from everyone. That would be very troublesome. The only way is to do what Ding Chongshan said to the outside world and target the two of us.”

"If it's really targeting just the two of us, then there's a problem: we have to only take the fish, shrimp, and crabs from the two of us. In other words, it has to be targeting only the captains of the fishing boats we deal with."

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Sun Tie's mind, and his expression changed drastically.

"What's wrong? What's on your mind?"

When Ma Ping saw Sun Tie's expression, he knew that Sun Tie must have thought of something, and his heart immediately skipped a beat. This was definitely not a good thing.

“I finally understand how Ding Chongshan plans to deal with us, and he really does have the ability to do it. This is a huge problem for us, and it could even be something that drags us down.”

Sun Tie took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He was really startled by the thought that had popped into his head. What was even more frightening was that even if he figured out what was going on and what Ding Chongshan might do, he didn't have any good way to deal with it.

"Sun Tie." "What have you been thinking about? Why does your face look so pale?"

Seeing the extremely unpleasant expression on Sun Tie's face, Ma Ping knew that this matter was definitely not trivial. The key was that he didn't even know what kind of matter Sun Tie was thinking about, so he immediately asked for more information.

"Ma Ping."

“We’ve been doing business here for so many years and we have a very good relationship with many boat captains. We don’t actually do business by retail acquisition. Although some of the fish, shrimp and crabs we receive are delivered to us by other people, the vast majority of them are purchased directly from the boat captains, one boat at a time, after we’ve negotiated the price.”

Sun Tie took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.

"What exactly happened? What are you thinking about?"

Ma Ping became even more anxious. Sun Tie had clearly thought of something very important, but he hadn't said it yet.

"What's wrong with us buying fish, shrimp, and crabs directly from the boat captains? We're not the only ones doing business this way at the docks. Aren't most buyers, especially those who have been in business for years and are doing well, all doing it this way? Why bring this up? What does this have to do with Ding Chongshan targeting us?"

Ma Ping really didn't know what kind of thing Sun Tie had come up with, but he really felt that this matter was no different from Ding Chongshan's way of dealing with them, after all, all the slightly larger buyers at the dock did the same thing.

"Didn't Ding Chongshan spread rumors that he wanted to deal with us and steal our business? Why would he need to go through a retail channel? He could just go to the ship captains we do business with and negotiate prices with them. That would be a more realistic way to steal our business, and it would also prevent him from setting too high a price and stealing business from other buyers, thus avoiding public outrage."

Sun Tie's face grew increasingly grim. He and Ma Ping hadn't noticed this, and when they discussed Ding Chongshan's threat, they weren't particularly worried. The main reason was that they felt if Ding Chongshan really was offering high prices to buy fish, shrimp, and crabs here, it would be like shooting indiscriminately at birds, taking away not only the fish, shrimp, and crabs in their hands but also potentially stealing market share from other buyers. In that case, Sun Tie and Ma Ping could unite with other buyers to deal with Ding Chongshan, Ding Xiaoshan, and even Zhao Dahai.

So what if Zhao Dahai or Ding Xiaoxiang are powerful? Do you think they can handle everyone at the dock?
However, if Ding Chongshan is only targeting the boat captains of himself and Ma Ping, then that would be a very troublesome matter.

Ding Chongshan really managed to snatch the fish, shrimp, and crabs from Ma Ping and himself without offending the other buyers, thus avoiding the biggest problem of arousing public anger.

Ma Ping's expression changed drastically. Having been in business for many years, he knew very well what Sun Tie was talking about. The key was that this matter was not only possible, but 100% certain to happen. That was the crux of the problem.

“These people have been doing business with us for many years and we know them very well. Even if Ding Chongshan goes to them, so what? They definitely won’t sell these fish, shrimp and crabs to Ding Chongshan.”

Ma Ping was both anxious and angry.

Sun Tie gave a wry smile.

Some of the boat captains had indeed been dealing with him and Ma Ping for many years, and some had even been doing business with him for over ten years.

But so what? If someone offers a higher price, these boat captains will definitely sell their fishing lines to someone else.

Ma Ping and he wanted to make money, and as much as possible. Wasn't the boat captain the same? When no one else offered a higher price, he wouldn't have any interest, but once someone offered a higher price, how could the boat captain not sell his boat to someone else? He couldn't possibly let himself and Ma Ping earn less just so they could make more money, could he?

There's no such thing as a lie in this world.

Ma Ping's current statement is simply a loss of composure.

In fact, Ma Ping himself was very clear that such a thing was bound to happen.

"Damn it!"

"If Ding Chongshan really does this, the pressure on us is just too much, and we really don't know what will happen. This is very likely Ding Chongshan's main method, but this method is really troublesome for us."

Ma Ping took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. This matter was putting too much pressure on him and Sun Tie. Ding Chongshan would definitely do it, and the key was that if Ding Chongshan did it, he and Sun Tie really didn't have a good way to deal with it.

“How could Ding Chongshan not do it this way? He absolutely has to do it this big, and he will definitely do it. It’s putting too much pressure on us. There’s only one way for us to deal with it: raise the price as well, and raise it even higher than Ding Chongshan’s.”

Sun Tie gave a wry smile. There was no need to ponder this; Ding Chongshan was definitely using this method to deal with him and Ma Ping. This method was extremely effective.

The solution to this price increase is actually very simple: just raise your price accordingly. You don't even need to raise it higher than what Ding Chongshan offered; you just need to offer the exact same price as Ding Chongshan.

Based on the relationship, or rather the familiarity, with those boat captains after doing business for many years, I'm sure I can continue to buy fish, shrimp, and crabs from them.

The key issue is that Ding Chongshan is unlikely to raise prices only once; he will raise prices again and again.

Once or twice is fine, and you might be able to handle it ten or eight times, but it really won't work if it happens too often or for too long.

It's important to know that Ding Chongshan definitely couldn't get any fish, shrimp, or crabs when he raised prices several times before. In other words, he just talked the talk and didn't have to pay much or much cost.

However, Ma Ping and I would have to spend a lot more money to buy these fish, shrimp, and crabs.

They really did manage to snatch these fish, shrimp, and crabs, but the money they made has decreased.

Over time, costs have risen dramatically.

The pressure on myself and Ma Ping will be enormous.

It's not that ordinary competitors are unaware of this method; it's just that these competitors don't have enough capital, or even if they do, they're not affiliated with the dockworkers.

These are various methods, both overt and covert, used to deal with it.

However, Ding Chongshan is different. Not only does Ding Chongshan have sufficient funds and capital, but he is also considered a local figure at the Shijiao Village Wharf.

Sun Tie was extremely troubled; he realized that there was simply no way to solve this problem.

(End of this chapter)