Having learned the Master Level Hook Binding Method, Yue Feng now tied hooks slickly.
When he first started learning, he used to slowly bind ten or twenty lines at a time, but now he could manage to tie one set after another and ensured that each set of hooks was perfectly aligned.
Even the Hook Spacing Tool, which most people had to use, was no longer needed by Yue Feng. With a flick of his hand and a casual glance, he would top it off with a standard subline, accurate to the millimeter.
After several days of promotion and effort, that Saturday morning finally saw a few old fishermen who had heard of the store. These few old men who entered had limited spending power, generally only buying the Bait Wine Rice Yue Feng had been promoting recently, not even willing to spend on a box of worms that cost one and a half Yuan.
Although he hadn't sold much, Yue Feng was still quite happy; people had come to his store, meaning his recent promotional efforts had been effective. With people coming in, making money would naturally follow.
After lunch at noon, Yue Feng lay down behind the counter for a brief nap. He was slightly lethargic due to lack of sleep the night before, plus the shop had been busy that morning. Anticipating more business could come in the afternoon, Yue Feng decided to rest in the store all day and not go fishing.
He had just lain down at the counter for a little while when the store door was pushed open, and a short, stocky middle-aged man entered.
This man appeared to be in his thirties, with a short and stocky build, barely standing at 165 cm. His round face was full of fleshy creases, giving him an unapproachable look just from his facial expressions.
The middle-aged man was dressed thinly, a long shirt layered with a thin jacket, and around his neck hung a thick chain of dubious authenticity.
A tattoo with an indistinct design was faintly visible on the side of his neck, and using a term coined by a certain comedic actor to describe his master, he was quite fitting the description of a 'small, black, chubby guy'.
"Hello, what can I help you with?" Yue Feng greeted and asked.
"Oh, nothing much, just looking around!" the middle-aged man replied, and started wandering around Yue Feng's small shop.
A fishing store, being a place that supplies fishing activities and equipment, usually had customers with clear targets, but this visitor seemed different from the rest.
Yue Feng couldn't figure it out, so he got up and stood beside him, watching to see what the man was up to.
The short man walked around the store twice, surveying the general layout, before he slowly began to speak.
"You're Yue Feng, right? I heard your Bait Wine Rice is quite effective. Where is it? Fetch me a pack to look at!"
Upon hearing the man inquire about the wine rice, Yue Feng immediately grabbed a bag from under the counter and handed it to him.
"Here it is! The effect is indeed good; you should try it!"
The short man took the bag of wine rice, casually tore open the self-sealing bag, and carelessly poured some of the rice wine into his palm before smelling it with disdain.
"This little thing works? Smells just like the wine rice sold in the market, and you double the price just by changing the packaging? Isn't that a bit dishonest?"
Yue Feng heard such remarks and smiled slightly, "If I dare to sell it at this price, there is certainly something unique about it. If you don't believe it, you can try it yourself!"
"Make it cheaper, and I'll take this pack!"
"Heh, 20 per pack, no bargaining!"
"You can't just demand any amount you want. How about 15? If it works well, I'll come back for more!"
Yue Feng didn't speak, his attitude remained firm as he shook his head.
"Then I don't want it!" The short stocky man turned and walked away.
"Feel free not to buy, but just a reminder: if you tear my packaging and then decide you don't want it, you'll be blacklisted in my store, and I'm sorry but I won't be able to serve you anymore!"
"Pfft, such a small little shop and you think you're so important. I wasn't planning on coming back anyway!" The short stocky man threw down his words and strode off.
"Take care!"
Yue Feng watched as this odd fellow walked out of the shop.
A packaging bag with a sticker costs just a few cents, Yue Feng didn't see the need to get upset over such a person. He casually took out a new packaging bag, filled it with Rice Wine, pressed it shut with a heat sealer, and finished the job by sticking on a label.
The short stocky man walked out of Yue Feng's fishing gear store and as soon as he turned out of the alley, he pulled out his phone and made a call.
"Hey, Liu ah, I just checked out that little shop you mentioned. It's just a tiny spot, absolutely no more than twenty square meters tops, and the owner is just some young guy in his twenties, looked totally soft. I purposely tore one of his packaging bags and he didn't even dare to make a peep!"
"What? You mentioned Rice Wine? That's exactly what I tore the packaging of. It's not as mysterious as they say. I looked and sniffed it; it's just ordinary corn bits soaked in wine, repackaged in another bag! Buddy, I've been a fisherman for years, no way he could deceive me!"
"A minor thing; you asked and we at Black Tiger will make sure it's clear for you! No dinner for me, I've got plans with friends. Let's do it some other day!"
After hanging up the phone, Black Tiger walked past a bun shop, casually pulled out a crumpled five yuan paper money, bought a few buns, and disappeared around the corner of the street.
After hanging up the phone, Liu Mingyuan, the owner of the outdoor fishing gear store, was lost in thought.
At the dining table, Liu Mingyuan's wife, Zhang Cuifang, gave him a look, "What's the matter, you can't even eat after a phone call?"
Liu Mingyuan shook his head slightly, saying, "A fishing buddy told me that a new fishing gear store has opened in town recently and several of our customers have been taken away by it. I had Black Tiger check it out!"
"So what if it opened? Such a tiny place, with so few fishermen around, it's hard to sustain one fishing gear store. Although we deal in fishing gear as well, it's really just a side thing, done half-heartedly. Are you taking it too seriously?"
Liu Mingyuan's wife's point wasn't without merit; their primary business was the general retail and wholesale of tobacco, alcohol, sugar, tea, and everyday goods, and the fishing gear business really wasn't very extensive.
The idea to engage in this business came simply because Liu himself loved fishing and wanted convenience for his own use of baits and gear, thus they dabbled in the fishing gear business.
Liu Mingyuan shook his head, saying, "It's different; you know what kind of person I am. It's one thing for us to stop on our own terms, but I definitely can't accept being forced out of business by someone else. We can't afford to lose face! What would my over ten thousand followers think if word got out?"
"Pfft! A bunch of zombie followers, hardly any real people among them. You really think you're some big fishing internet celebrity!" Zhang Cuifang retorted disdainfully, utterly dismissive of her husband's concern.