“Manager Xia—”

Song Minglan didn’t even know exactly what she was angry about.

No, she understood perfectly!

This was something she had never experienced in her entire life… being turned away at the door.

How absurd!

In any other situation, state-owned department store managers like Lu Hongbo would have to wait for ‘Third Miss Song’s’ mood to be right just to meet her. Now here they were, bringing gifts to attend a wedding banquet, only to be turned away—of course, Lu Hongbo didn’t know her identity; he was rejecting Xia Xiaolan.

Song Minglan was still furious!

Even she now works under Xia Xiaolan as her special assistant. This Lu person disrespecting Xia Xiaolan meant disrespecting her as well.

Turning to look at Xia Xiaolan, she saw only a thoughtful expression.

How could she not be angry?

Xia Xiaolan’s temperament wasn’t usually this mild.

She had never bowed to anyone in the Song family, so why should she bow to this Lu person now?

“We came uninvited, which was indeed presumptuous. However, our congratulations to Manager Lu are sincere, so let’s leave the gift here. We needn’t disturb them by going in. Special Assistant Song, let’s go!”

Xia Xiaolan deliberately called out loudly and left promptly.

Song Minglan wasn’t quick enough; it would have been more appropriate if she had made the announcement.

Without waiting for rejection, Xia Xiaolan left the gift and departed.

Only after getting in the car did Xia Xiaolan’s expression darken.

“A state-owned department store manager shouldn’t act this way. Lu Hongbo turning me away today will soon spread throughout Shangdu.”

Song Minglan was still angry, and anger clouded her judgment:

“Let it spread! We’re not the only ones losing face here. People will just say Lu Hongbo is narrow-minded and lacks manners!”

Xia Xiaolan sighed, “That’s not the point. Do you think he’s making me lose face just to vent my personal feelings? No, he’s making a statement to everyone – the state-owned stores led by Lu Hongbo have united. Their stance against Asia is firm. Lu Hongbo won’t meet me because it wouldn’t make any difference; no matter what I say, the state-owned stores won’t change their minds!”

Was the price war inevitable?

At the current rate, Shangdu Asia would recover its investment within two years at most.

Once the price war started, forget about recovering costs – they’d have to keep pumping money into Asia!

Aside from Second Aunt’s potential dissatisfaction and whether Zhu Suizhou might seize the opportunity to regain control, even if Xia Xiaolan could bear all the losses herself, defeating the state-owned stores through losses wouldn’t be a real victory!

Market prices would be disrupted.

The industry’s profit margins would be pushed to their lowest point – what use would such a victory be?

A high-quality wool sweater that originally sold for over 100 yuan would be forced down to fifty or sixty yuan due to the price war. Once people believed that was the true value of wool sweaters, they wouldn’t accept price increases even after Asia won the price war.

That’s why the “Central Plains Commercial War” had no winners.

Even Zhu Suizhou in the previous life, though seemingly victorious over the state-owned stores, had thrown the retail department store market into chaos.

The price war lasted seven years. Though Shangdu Asia’s annual turnover kept growing, they probably only made profits in the first two years. Breaking even in later years was the best they could manage. No wonder Zhu Suizhou frantically expanded chain stores elsewhere… While Shangdu’s Asia was losing money to maintain appearances, weren’t they relying on Asia stores in other regions for financial support?

Song Minglan was angry, and Xia Xiaolan, not being a saint, was angry too.

But anger leads to poor decisions. If Lu Hongbo’s provocation made her decide to fight back, she would just be repeating Zhu Suizhou’s path from the previous life—

Back in Asia, Second Aunt was already waiting.

The Second Branch was indeed struggling now, and the Second Aunt paid close attention to Asia’s business.

Though she was an outsider and often focused on the wrong things, she truly cared about every development in Asia.

“I heard—”

“Second Aunt, you want to ask about the state-owned stores’ joint price reduction promotion? It’s true. I tried to meet Manager Lu from Zijiangshan Department Store, but he was too busy to see me!”

Xia Xiaolan explained the current situation.

Second Aunt’s expression kept changing as she remained silent for a long while.

She didn’t blame Xia Xiaolan.

How could this be Xia Xiaolan’s fault?

If anything was wrong, it was that Asia had become too successful!

Asia’s business had been so good since opening that it naturally attracted jealousy. Second Aunt understood this best – it was like concubines competing for favor. When Du Chengrong wanted to take a Fifth Concubine, they felt greatly threatened and tried to unite against her.

The problem was they couldn’t overcome the Fifth Concubine then because she had Du Chengrong’s support and love, easily handling three opponents at once.

Now Asia was also one against many.

But would customers favor Asia exclusively like Du Chengrong favored the Fifth Concubine?

Second Aunt was both frustrated and worried. After a long while, she finally made up her mind:

“At worst, we’ll recover costs a year later. If those stores cut prices, Asia will follow. We can barely manage to lose several million…”

As she spoke, her heart ached.

Owning over 60% of the shares meant she would lose over 60 yuan for every 100 yuan lost. In a price war with several stores, Second Aunt would suffer the biggest losses.

In contrast, Xia Xiaolan only held 18% of shares – losing 100 yuan meant only 18 yuan from her. With Xia Xiaolan’s current wealth, such losses were negligible.

No, Second Aunt couldn’t continue – her heart ached terribly.

The Second Branch desperately needed money now!

The most profitable Du Zhaoqi was gone and had lost Du Chengrong’s favor. With only outgoing expenses and no income, the Second Aunt knew their money would keep diminishing. She already regretted speaking those words.

Xia Xiaolan understood Second Aunt’s inner conflict.

Though conflicted, she had agreed to respond to the state-owned stores’ ‘price war.’ Second Aunt showing such awareness exceeded Xia Xiaolan’s expectations – one couldn’t demand too much from this wealthy lady, right?

Before Second Aunt could change her mind, Xia Xiaolan stopped teasing her:

“Second Aunt, once prices are reduced, when to stop won’t be our decision anymore.”

“So what do you plan to do?”

“Since Manager Lu won’t meet me and both sides can’t negotiate, let’s each do our own business. Let the state-owned stores have their price reductions – Asia won’t engage in this battle!”

Won’t engage?!

Second Aunt didn’t want to lose money either, but without fighting back, wouldn’t Asia’s customers be stolen by the other state-owned stores?!