Chapter 15 – Dinner Party (2/2)
Big uncle Ye Hai also came out to the courtyard, heading straight towards Ye Wei while he was lost in deep thought.
Among relationships between his uncles, Ye Wei got along the worst with his big uncle Ye Hai. Ye Hai was always harsh and strict with Ye Wei. This contributed to Ye Wei’s fear of being close to and opening up to his big uncle.
Noticing Ye Hai approaching, Ye Wei lowered his head, trying to avoid possible eye contact, and thought of an escape plan.
“Ye Wei, where are you going!” Ye Hai shouted. He was not going to let his nephew get away.
“Big uncle…” Ye Wei unwillingly greeted him.
“Shouldn’t you be at South Star Academy right now? What on earth do you think you’re doing here?” Ye Hai was slightly irritated by Wei’s presence.
“I…” Ye Wei tried to explain himself but got cut off.
“Don’t tell me you skipped school? Could you put more effort into studying and breakthrough to the two star level?” Ye Hai questioned earnestly with a rough tone: ”Your cultivation is the worst among the new generation! All your younger siblings and cousins have overtaken you!”
Ye Wei wanted to declare that he had broken through to the two star level, but the words would not come out of his mouth. He noticed Ye Hai’s stern face and looked down at the ground again: “Yea, I will try my best!” He wanted to surprise his uncle with actions to prove his worth and shut up Ye Hai without using words.
Ye Hai was somewhat eased by Ye Wei’s submissive acceptance to his scolding: “At least you are listening. I will let you off for now. Our family is not doing too great at the moment, so your generation should train harder and contribute more to the family as soon as possible!”
Ye Wei didn’t think big uncle would him let him off the hook so easily, so he left the scene immediately. Having felt Ye Hai’s disappointment, Ye Wei was desperate to get stronger as fast as he could!
‘In your minds I have always been the worst, a bottom dweller. Well that is going to change, just you watch.’ Ye Wei swore to himself.
After Ye Wei walked pretty far, he turned a corner on his way back to the banquet. Right before he was about to leave Ye Hai’s sight was when he caught something out of the corner of his eye He stood still behind the wall next to him and peered forward.
Three figures stood there in the dead of night, in the deserted courtyard where his uncle had been standing; they were the three leaders of the Ye family.
“Ye Hai, how is the scroll business looking?” Ye Zheng Qing asked with a low pitched voice. He cut to the chase, hoping to have a better picture of how the most important issue was progressing.
“We lowered the retail price by thirty percent, but the figures are still suboptimal. There are more scrolls in the shop than there are customers.” Ye Hai sounded slightly depressed. “Scrolls the Du family sell can dish out thirty percent of the original stance’s energy, whereas our scrolls can only output up to twenty percent. They’re not selling any better, even with the price cut.”
A bitter smile emerged on Ye Hai’s face; despite his best efforts, the scroll business remained irreparable.
He uncle was the macho man of the family, and after hearing how washed up Ye Hai sounded, Ye Wei now realised how bad the situation really was.
“Han, how is the arms trade?” The head shifted his focus on to his second oldest son, who was responsible the other field.
The Ye family had its fingers in many different businesses, but arms and scrolls had always been the most profitable two!
“The Du family undercuts us by forty percent, only two pieces left our doors in the past two months! And one of master Yi’s men sent a message regarding the cancellation of our redistribution rights, if we don’t sell their goods. They will find another distributor!” Ye Han looked anxious, both of the family’s most profitable businesses were retail of others’ work, and the risk of getting cut off was increasing.
“The Big Three indeed, ruthless moves!”
“They are taking this too damn far!”