Chapter 27: I'm Looking for Yan Li

"I didn't ask about any of that... Ah, son, your mother is just so useless!"

"Mom, this isn't your fault. I should have explained things more clearly in advance."

Seeing his mother's face full of guilt, Wu Ya hurried to comfort her.

His foremost goal after being reborn was to free his parents from the burdens of daily life, to ensure they could enjoy their later years in peace, untouched by worldly troubles.

Yet now, in a moment of panic, he had only made his mother feel guilty?

Absolutely unforgivable!

But before he could say anything more...

"Son, it's your phone."

Wu Wanli strolled out of the tailor shop at a leisurely pace.

"Who is it?"

"It's that Sister Chai again! She's calling like her life depends on it—this is the fifth time! And from the sound of her voice, she's extremely agitated!"

Agitated?

Wu Ya's heart skipped a beat.

Something must have happened!

He knew Sister Chai's temperament—if she were simply urging for delivery, she would never be this anxious.

Without time to think further, he quickened his steps and headed inside.

Behind him...

"Ah, you stubborn woman! I told you to wait for our son, but you wouldn't listen! Now look, we've run into trouble!"

Seeing his son's grim face and taut expression, Wu Wanli's complaints burst out of his throat.

"Sister Chai, what's going on?"

Wu Ya snatched up the phone before even sitting down.

"Wu Ya, someone at the market suddenly started selling the clothes your factory makes! And the price—they've slashed it straight down to thirty-five yuan! Even worse, they're only quoting the price, not actually selling anything! They're using your clothes to compare with goods from out of town!"

Sister Chai's voice practically exploded from the receiver.

Thirty-five yuan.

That was exactly Wu Ya's factory price for the student uniforms.

Wu Ya's brow furrowed.

"Undercutting the price while making comparisons—a truly insidious tactic!"

Their own clothes had appeared in the market. It was clear these hadn't come from Chai Yanfen.

There could only be one explanation: something had happened with the three batches of goods shipped today!

The other side was using those three batches to drive down prices and disrupt the market.

Then, in the midst of the ensuing chaos, they'd compare products from different sellers!

They'd inflate the price of out-of-town goods to over fifty yuan.

A simultaneous rise and fall would lead customers to believe Wu Ya's clothes were inferior and couldn't fetch a higher price!

What a vicious move!

If this wasn't stopped, those hundred-plus pieces in the three batches would be enough to ruin all his early efforts!

"Sister Chai, which vendors are selling our clothes? How long have they been at it?"

Wu Ya steadied himself and asked again.

No matter what, he had to get a clear picture first.

Only with the right prescription could he treat the illness.

At worst, the price war was simply arriving a little earlier than expected.

He refused to believe that, blessed with the advantages of timing, location, and people, he couldn't crush these malicious competitors!

They wouldn't be able to take him down!

After all, they only had those three batches of goods—limited quantity.

In the end, high volume and low profit had always been the ultimate strategy.

No one could beat it!

"These vendors just appeared out of nowhere! Never seen them before—not market regulars at all!"

"Hmm?"

Wu Ya immediately sensed something was wrong.

Newcomers to the market?

And their first move was to target him directly?

Clearly deliberate!

Who had he offended?

After wracking his brains for a long while, a few faces suddenly surfaced in his mind!

Those young thugs from the South Station!

The very ones, led by Yan Li, who'd tried to extort him but had ended up being extorted themselves!

Apart from them, he was just a fresh high school graduate—a mere scholar. He couldn't possibly have made any other enemies!

"Heh, I haven't even had time to come for you lot, and you're already knocking on my door? Very well, let’s settle both old and new scores together!"

Once he understood the situation, a cold sneer played around Wu Ya's lips.

In his previous life, these people had destroyed his family.

In this life, they would pay the price!

Wu Ya set off again.

Riding his bicycle, which rattled everywhere except the bell, he was headed to confront them directly!

Soon, at the South Station bus terminal.

"I'm looking for Yan Li."

The shabby inns in front of the station were a hallmark of the era, ubiquitous across the country.

These places teemed with vice and filth.

Prostitutes, thugs, con artists, thieves—every manner of criminal found their place here.

They were the cream of the crop, seasoned professionals.

Ordinary people had no place among them.

Yan Li.

The most notorious prostitute for miles around, and the mistress of Huazi, the local kingpin.

None of the local toughs dared to cross her.

This very inn, The Carefree, was run by Yan Li herself.

She had recruited several attractive girls to work for her, and business was booming.

"Well, well, young man, your tastes are certainly... mature. Am I not young enough, not pretty enough for you? Sister Li may have a famous reputation, but isn't she a bit too old for you? How can you stomach it?"

A waft of cheap perfume greeted him as a heavily made-up girl appeared before Wu Ya.

Her eyes smoldered with blatant seduction, mingled with undisguised desire—a textbook professional.

Wu Ya frowned and covered his nose with a hand.

The cloying scent of cheap perfume nearly triggered his sinusitis.

"I'm looking for Yan Li!"

He took a step back, repeating himself with clear irritation in his voice.

"Oh, little brother, I can do anything you want. They call me the 'Mantrap'! Don't you want a taste?"

She didn't answer his question, instead advancing with a provocative sway, her curves undulating.

She refused to believe that an eighteen-year-old, full of youthful vigor, could resist her endless temptations.

If he could, it meant not that his self-control was strong, but that her skills were lacking.

Failing to seduce a virgin would be a disgrace in her line of work!

So as she pressed closer, she completely let herself go.

With a ripping sound, she yanked her already low-cut batwing top down to her waist.

Underneath, she wore nothing at all!

If Wu Ya hadn't reacted quickly, he might have been knocked breathless by the sudden onslaught.

"Put your clothes back on and cut the act!"

Wu Ya's voice was cold and full of warning.

He stepped back again, withdrawing completely to the inn's threshold.

With people passing by outside, her tricks would have no effect.

"Damn kid, so self-controlled at such a young age?"

Meanwhile, in a private suite deep inside The Carefree, Yan Li was watching everything through a window.

Her heavily made-up face, expertly concealed beneath layers of powder, was filled with astonishment.

Eighteen—wasn't that the age of raging hormones?

How was this boy the exception?

He wasn't the least bit flustered by temptation!

If only she knew that outside stood a boy of eighteen with the mind of a man nearly forty, she might well have been frightened out of her wits by such an unheard-of phenomenon.