GBP Chapter 150 A blessing in disguise
Chapter 150 A blessing in disguise
"Who do you think you are?! You think you're the boss of the market?! We're just selling legitimate eggs, we haven't done anything to anyone, why should we pay protection money?!"
Li Jianjun's eyes were wide with anger, his hands clenched into fists, looking ready to fight at any moment.
Li Mu quickly pulled him back, signaling him not to act impulsively.
In this situation, a head-on confrontation will only make things worse and could easily damage one's reputation.
"Jianjun, calm down. We don't need to lower ourselves to their level."
Tian Xiaohu also stepped forward and whispered, "Brother Mu is right. Let's not get into a conflict with them. Why don't we pay some protection money first and deal with them later when we have the chance?"
Li Mu shook his head: "Paying protection money is not a long-term solution; it will only embolden them. Besides, we sell specialty green-shelled eggs, and we can't ruin our reputation over such a small matter."
Seeing that Li Mu and his two companions were slow to pay protection money, the burly man in the lead became enraged: "You three little brats, you won't listen to reason! If I don't teach you a lesson today, you'll never know who I am! Brothers, get them! Smash all their eggs!"
Upon hearing this, the burly men immediately rubbed their fists together, ready to make their move.
"Come on! Who's afraid of you?! If you've got the guts, come and fight me one-on-one!"
"What are you all yelling about! Get out of the way!"
The market manager, wearing a red armband, heard the commotion from afar. He quickened his pace and rushed over. When he saw the men gathered together, about to fight, he immediately shouted to stop them.
The manager was not tall, but he had a strong voice and immediately commanded respect.
When the burly men saw the management personnel arrive, although they were unwilling, they dared not make any rash moves. After all, they were the ones who ran rampant in this market, but they also had to give the management personnel some face.
The manager walked up to Li Mu and his two companions, and seeing that they were young, asked, "What do you do?"
Li Mu quickly replied, "We're here at the market to sell eggs. These are eggs laid by our own specially raised green-shelled chickens."
The manager then turned to the burly men: "What are you doing?"
The burly men's expressions instantly changed: "Hey, manager, we're just helping out at the market, maintaining order so these vendors don't set up stalls haphazardly and ruin the market's appearance, right?"
"Look at their eggs, is the color right? They must have had something bad added to them. We're doing this for the benefit of the people at the market, aren't we?"
Li Mu laughed angrily: "That's not what you said just now! You were threatening to smash our eggs just now, and now you're saying nice things? What? Does a dog change its face when it sees its master? We sell legitimate eggs, what's wrong with displaying them? What makes you say there's something wrong with our eggs?"
"Who has ever seen a green egg? It looks like an egg laid by a monster. You might get poisoned if you eat it!" a burly man said in a sarcastic tone.
"Does not seeing a green egg mean there's something wrong with it? Why don't you check all the brightly colored fruits and vegetables? Do you assume they're all problematic?"
The manager frowned, looking at the bright green eggs in Li Mu's basket, and was also a little puzzled.
But he was a reasonable man after all, and he didn't immediately believe the big men's one-sided story.
He coughed and said to the burly men, "Don't be hasty. Since they say they're selling legitimate eggs, we can't just accuse them. How about this, you take the eggs to be tested and see what the quality is like."
Upon hearing that testing was required, the burly men immediately looked troubled. They dared not actually have the eggs tested; what if the eggs were genuinely fine? Wouldn't they be exposed?
Li Mu was unwilling to waste this time; they hadn't even sold a single egg yet, and now there were people causing trouble.
How can we sell this?
So Li Mu said, “Testing is fine, but we need to sell the eggs first, otherwise we’ll have worked for nothing all day. Also, you’ll have to pay for the testing. If the tests show that there’s something wrong with our eggs, we’re willing to take full responsibility and leave the market immediately. But if the tests show that there’s nothing wrong with our eggs, then you have to apologize to us for what you did today and compensate us for our losses.”
The managers listened to Li Mu's words and felt that they made sense.
A burly man shouted, "Why should we pay?! Why should we let you do the testing for free? What if you've colluded with the testing personnel?"
The manager glared at him: "If you keep yelling, we'll take you all away! We'll put you in the station for a few days and see if you behave yourselves!"
Upon hearing this, the burly men immediately fell silent, too terrified to utter another word.
The manager then said to Li Mu, "Is this your first time here? It takes a lot of time to come and go. How can you prove that there's nothing wrong with these eggs?"
Even if there's a problem, he can't let them sell directly; if they get sick from eating it, he has to be responsible to the people in the market.
Li Mu thought for a moment, then took a few eggs from the basket, gently cracked them open, revealing golden yolks and thick egg whites inside.
"Look, the yolk and white of this egg are both normal, and nothing has been added. Moreover, our chickens are raised on whole grains, so the eggs they lay are absolutely healthy."
The manager took the egg with some skepticism, examined it carefully, and even smelled it, but found nothing unusual. However, he still hesitated to draw a conclusion, given the egg's unusual color.
The onlookers craned their necks to get a glimpse of the color.
"This is something new! It looks really tempting. I wonder what it tastes like?"
Someone asked a question out of curiosity, and the people around them chimed in.
"Yes, the green shell looks quite nice, but I don't know if it's edible."
"Why don't we buy a few to try? They're not expensive anyway."
Li Mu came up with an idea: "I'll just fry a few eggs right here and let everyone try them. That way you can see for yourselves that our eggs are fine!"
"That method works! What's so special about your eggs?"
Li Jianjun pressed his advantage: "Our eggs are different from ordinary eggs. These are special green-shelled eggs, which are highly nutritious and taste great. Why don't you try them? Isn't the yolk more tender and flavorful than that of ordinary eggs?"
"It turns golden brown when stir-fried!"
"Really?! Golden yellow?!"
"We'll cook them right here, so you can see for yourself! If you don't like them, we'll give them to you for free! If you do like them, you'll have to help us spread the word and let everyone know how great our special green-shelled eggs are!"
There was a small restaurant not far away, and Li Mu and his group borrowed the restaurant's spatula, oil, and salt to fry eggs on the spot.