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

Chapter 1539 Dead End
"What can we do? Ding Chongshan will definitely not let go of such a weakness of ours."

"If you want to deal with us, this is the best way. The key is that if Ding Zhongshan really does this, we will be able to raise prices."

"Damn it!"

"I knew this old bastard was up to no good, but I never expected him to actually use this method to deal with us!"

Ma Ping gritted his teeth; this was a blatant, overt conspiracy.

Whether or not Sun Tie and I know it, or whether or not we can see it, we have no way to deal with it.

Or rather, they simply couldn't think of any good way to deal with this kind of situation.

The only option left is to raise prices along with them, but how many times can prices be raised?

If the prices that Sun Tie and I raise keep increasing, the costs we incur will also increase, and the money we earn will decrease.

"Ding Chongshan is clearly cutting flesh with a dull knife."

“When we earn less and less money, and it reaches a certain point, I estimate that we will no longer be able to continue doing business, and may even have to give up our business here.”

Ma Ping felt increasingly helpless, but there really wasn't any good solution.

"Does this mean we really have no choice but to surrender?"

Sun Tie was furious.

"Sun Tie".

"Whether we admit it or not, we really don't have any good solutions to this problem."

“As soon as Ding Chongshan starts raising prices, we will definitely have to follow suit. Just like we already know now, Ding Chongshan’s prices have gone up, but since we are forced to raise prices as well, he doesn’t have to pay for it.”

"Ding Chongshan simply didn't receive any fish, shrimp, or crabs, but he has never received any fish, shrimp, or crabs from here before, so he won't lose money; he just didn't make much money."

“We certainly wouldn’t lose money at the beginning, but the key problem is that we’re making less money.”

"I can manage for a day or two, but I really can't take it anymore."

“I can’t even imagine what would happen if this situation continued for a month or two, or even half a year. Would we be really in a difficult situation and have no choice but to give up our business here?”

Ma Ping was extremely frustrated, but seeing the situation, he and Sun Tie really had no way to resolve it.

"If Ding Chongshan really does this, there's really nothing we can do. In the end, it might really be like what you said, and we'll have no choice but to give up our business here."

"What the hell! Why is this happening? It's not like no one has ever used this method against us before! And none of them worked. Why is Ding Chongshan's method so devastating to us now?"

Sun Tie couldn't understand what was going on. He and Ma Ping had been doing business here for so many years and had experienced countless ups and downs.

I've encountered these kinds of tricks before, but I never really thought they were very useful.

Ding Chongshan may now have such a method.

Most importantly, both he and Ma Ping felt a huge threat.

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"What we are really worried about, or rather what we are afraid of, is not Ding Chongshan, but Zhao Dahai."

Ma Ping remained silent for a long while, then sighed deeply. He and Sun Tie had built such a large business together over so many years; how could they possibly have no competitors? Countless others had used the same methods, but ultimately, it was Ma Ping and Sun Tie who had won. Those who wanted to steal their business were probably already hiding somewhere out of nowhere.

Why are Ma Ping and I so worried this time?

Ultimately, it all comes down to the person standing behind Ding Chongshan, named Zhao Dahai!
Was Ding Chongshan a newcomer to this business? Absolutely not. Ding Chongshan had been in this business for a long time. Why didn't he open a shop at Shijiao Village Wharf before, or consider buying fish, shrimp, and crabs here?
Ultimately, Ding Chongshan himself was very clear that even if he collected fish, shrimp, and crabs in this place, it would be of no use, and he would absolutely not be able to establish himself or succeed.

Coming here to do business at this time is not Ding Chongshan's ability, but Zhao Dahai's ability, and that is the most crucial point.

Sun Tie thought about it carefully and realized that Ma Ping was right. In fact, the root of the problem was that Ding Chongshan had someone like Zhao Dahai standing behind him.

If not, why would Ma Ping and I be worried? We've encountered this kind of situation countless times before, and every time we've won.

"Does that mean we really have no chance of winning this competition?"

Sun Tie's expression grew increasingly grim as he spoke.

"These things are unpredictable these days. We really don't know who will win in the end, but we have to be on high alert. One thing is that we need to figure out how to deal with Ding Chongshan going to our boat captains to raise prices. The other thing is that we need to be mentally prepared that we will earn less and less money for a long time to come."

Ma Ping shook his head. The current situation was putting immense pressure on him and Sun Tie, and they certainly couldn't just surrender like that.

However, we really have to be mentally prepared that the days ahead will be very difficult for us and Sun Tie, and it is even very possible that we will not be able to endure them.

"Damn it!"

“You’re right, we definitely have to fight Ding Chongshan and Zhao Dahai to the death.”

"Even if we ultimately have to give up these businesses, we must ensure that Ding Chongshan and Zhao Dahai suffer heavy losses." Sun Tie gritted his teeth, his face contorted in anger.

"Sun Tie".

“We definitely have to fight Ding Chongshan and Zhao Dahai to the death, but my biggest concern right now is that this matter doesn’t really have much impact on Ding Chongshan and Zhao Dahai, or rather, it’s too easy for them to win. One thing we need to consider is that if we’re not very confident in winning this competition, we might have to back down early, otherwise we’ll end up losing a lot of the money we’ve already made in this price war.”

Ma Ping took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. This was a harsh reality that he and Sun Tie had to face and discuss now.

No matter what kind of business we do or what kind of costs we invest, as long as we and Sun Tie ultimately win, then there is no problem. The money we lose will be earned back sooner or later, and it will be 100% of the time.

However, if it's not me and Sun Tie who ultimately win, and if it's Ding Chongshan and Zhao Dahai who ultimately take over the entire business, then all the extra money that I and Ma Ping spent raising prices during the entire price war will never be recovered.

Ma Ping's expression changed. This was a very critical issue. If he and Sun Tie could win this competition, all the extra money they had spent in the process would be recouped without any problem.

But the key question is, what if you lose?
If we really lose, then all that money that was spent is truly gone!

This money was forcibly taken from their own and Sun Tie's pockets, not blown away by the wind.

How could I not feel heartbroken? The key is that once this money is out there, it can never be earned back!
"Sun Tie!"

"If that's really the case, then it's a very troublesome thing for us, and it's an unsolvable problem. At the beginning, we really didn't know if we would be the ones to win in the end."

Ma Ping's face looked extremely grim.

At the beginning, they certainly didn't know or were unclear whether they would win with Sun Tie, or with Ding Chongshan and Zhao Dahai.

It's impossible not to invest money; you definitely have to put it out there. But the key issue is that if you spend that money and it all goes down the drain, it's truly heartbreaking, incredibly heartbreaking.

"Who says otherwise? We can't just ignore this and hand over this market, can we?"

“Our business at the Shijiao Village Wharf accounts for 30% or even 40% of the total. It’s a huge piece of the pie, and we make a lot of money here every year. If we lose this business, I don’t know how much of an impact it will have.”

Sun Tie's face turned a little pale.

If it were another opponent, Ma Ping and I would have absolutely no worries or concerns, and we would be 100% certain that we would win. But judging from the current situation, there is really no way to say that we are 100% certain that we can beat Ding Chongshan and Zhao Dahai.

"What we need to consider now is at what level of investment we should stop. We can't keep investing like this forever, can we? We simply can't do that. Or rather, for us, if we can ultimately win, it's definitely worth the investment, and worth a lot of investment. On the contrary, if we can't stop, then there's really no need to do this."

Sun Tie tried to calm himself down. Right now, the biggest and most troublesome thing for him and Ma Ping was this very issue.

"There's not much we can do about this, there's practically no way. We can't just say we've invested a million or two million and then give up if we can't win these deals or defeat Ding Chongshan and Zhao Dahai, can we?"

Ma Ping shook his head.

This is something we really need to consider, but the key issue is that neither I nor Sun Tie really have a good way to determine this matter.

"How much money did we make at the Shek Kok Village pier last year? Even if it wasn't five million, it must have been three million, or even four million, right?"

“We can make this much money here in a year, and we’ve made a lot of money over the past ten years.”

"We can't just spend a million or two and give up if we don't see any results or realize we can't achieve it, can we?"

As Ma Ping spoke, his expression grew increasingly grim, and his face became more and more serious.

This is definitely the biggest problem that Sun Tie and I are facing right now, and it's even a problem that we can't solve.

“Over the past ten or twenty years, we have indeed made a lot of money at the Shek Kok Village Wharf. In fact, the most money we have ever made in business has come from here. But the key point is what we just said: no matter how much money we invest, if we ultimately win, then there is no problem. All the extra money we spend can be earned back.”

"At worst, we can raise prices to buy fish, shrimp, and crabs now, and then lower them after we've defeated Ding Chongshan and Zhao Dahai. At that point, without any competitors, the boat captain's opinions will be useless."

"The key is the money we spend. If we don't win in the end, then the money we spent is money that was already in our pockets and we can't earn it back."

"One or two million? How could it be such a small amount of money? If we really want to have a showdown with Ding Chongshan, each of us would have to come up with at least ten million."

"Ding Chongshan definitely won't offer a high price all at once; he'll definitely increase the price gradually."

"Although the price per trip is not high, the problem is that it can't be sustained time and time again. More importantly, these fishing boats are all large fishing boats, and each time they go out to sea, they bring back a lot of fish, shrimp and crabs."

"How long do you think it would take if each of us took out one or two million? That's a small amount of money."

"We might have to spend all the money in a month or two. Are we just going to give up then?"

"It's exactly what I just said. Each of us has to put up at least ten million, or we can forget about competing with Ding Chongshan."

Sun Tie gave a wry smile. If it were only one or two million, there would be no problem. He would take it out without hesitation, and it wouldn't be a big deal at all.

Over the past ten years, Ma Ping and I have earned well over a million or two at the docks, so this amount is no problem for us. But the key issue is that this amount is simply not enough. Ma Ping and I each really need to contribute ten million, and that's a conservative estimate.

It's possible that even if two people each put in ten million, they still wouldn't know where the money is.

(End of this chapter)