Chef Hua-Chapter 571: Episode 305: Once It Sticks, You Can’t Shake It Off - Part 2

Hua Xiaomai burst into laughter, "If you ignore me, you won’t get your wages, let’s see what the two sisters-in-law will do then!"

"You..." Chun Xi and La Mei were both annoyed and amused, unable to argue with her anymore, they could only pretend to be fierce and pinch her back a couple of times.

"Master..." Zhou Yunyun stood behind Hua Xiaomai, hesitantly speaking, "Do you think, brother Wen can come to our shop to be the shopkeeper?"

"I can’t say for sure," Hua Xiaomai turned around and gave her a smile with a teasing tone, "Why don’t you go and persuade him well on my behalf?"

"Master!" Zhou Yunyun was extremely embarrassed, stomped her feet hard, and when she looked up and saw the mockingly amused expressions of Chun Xi and La Mei, she felt even more uncomfortable, turned around, and rushed into the kitchen.

...

Wen Huaren did not take too long to consider, and by the next day, he had returned to Daoxiang Garden and told Hua Xiaomai that he was willing to try being the shopkeeper.

This might have been a choice made out of helplessness, but what else could be done? Only he knew how unbearable it was to starve and freeze, and with three years until the next imperial examination, how could he possibly spend that time in poverty? freewebnøvel.coɱ

At least, he needed to feed himself first.

And indeed, having him as a new shopkeeper turned out to be quite beneficial.

As the year-end approached, the shop took on quite a few reservations for New Year’s Eve dinners. Despite how busy the kitchen was, just arranging the schedule took a lot of effort.

Lianshun Escort Agency and Qiao Xiong’s paper shop both booked their New Year’s Eve dinners here, and several merchants from the county town also favored Daoxiang Garden, sending people to negotiate repeatedly.

Last year Hua Xiaomai personally handled these matters, but this year with Wen Huaren around, she left everything to him. That fellow was meticulous and somewhat knowledgeable; he sweated profusely in the winter handling everything, speaking endlessly till everything for the New Year’s Eve dinners was well-arranged and the menus were properly set.

Hua Xiaomai was secretly pleased, and couldn’t help but show off in front of Chun Xi and La Mei, provoking them almost to the point of exploding but also somewhat relieved in their hearts.

With the New Year approaching, Old Lady Meng was also planning to start buying New Year’s goods. She and Madam Feng had already been to the town twice. Today, having heard that some peddlers selling mountain goods had arrived in the village, she dragged Hua Xiaomai to go check it out, saying if there were any fresh goods, they should buy them early to store at home. Otherwise, by the time the month of the New Year came, the prices might be different.

Daoxiang Garden was not busy at the moment, and Hua Xiaomai also wanted to go out for a stroll, so she followed Old Lady Meng out. Right after they left, Cheng Yong, who was supervising construction at the new house, hurried over, bursting through the door and shouting, "Where is my sister-in-law?"

Being from the same village, Wen Huaren naturally knew who Cheng Yong was. He had originally planned to quietly read a book in the garden, but seeing the situation, he had to put down his book and come out from behind the counter, "What’s the matter, Brother Cheng Yong, are you looking for our boss for something?"

"Your boss? You mean Scholar Wen, you are working here now?" Cheng Yong was a bit surprised, sizing up Wen Huaren from head to toe and then quickly waved his hand, "Ah, I don’t have time to talk about this now! You know, Yuhuai’s brother’s family is currently building a new house, and that team of craftsmen was very reliable, working diligently. But these past few days, a carpenter suddenly disappeared! It’s been four or five days, and there’s no sign of him, the other craftsmen don’t know where he went, and when we asked his wife and daughter, they were even more surprised, firmly stating he hadn’t returned home at all! This matter..."

"... Was that carpenter very crucial?" Wen Huaren was taken aback, "Can the work not go on without him?"

"Ah, don’t you understand?" Cheng Yong slapped his thigh, "If it was just him not willing to work anymore, that would be nothing, we’d just settle his wages for the work he did. But... his wife, upon hearing that he couldn’t be found, got so agitated, jumping up and down, saying that he disappeared while here, and it should be up to us to find him, that fellow, she really won’t let it go! She has already come to the village, caused a disturbance at the new house just now, claiming that she and Yuhuai’s brother are relatives, wanting to come to Daoxiang Garden to demand an explanation. I saw their manner, it looks like they know Yuhuai’s brother isn’t in the village right now... and the sister-in-law isn’t here either?"

Wen Huaren didn’t answer him right away, pondering for a moment, then turned to look at Zhou Yunyun, "Zhou Family girl, I remember you once mentioned in a casual chat that this team of craftsmen was not found by Brother Yuhuai himself, but it was Zheng Yakuai who helped to scrounge them up, right?"

Zhou Yunyun, quite frightened, hurriedly nodded vigorously.

"Then this matter should be Zheng Yakuai’s responsibility to handle, not something to cause trouble in our shop," Wen Huaren looked towards Cheng Yong, "Brother Cheng Yong, could you please go back to the new house and stop those two women, don’t let them come to Daoxiang Garden. I’ll go find Zheng Yakuai and have him settle the matter."

As he spoke, he also glanced at Chun Xi and La Mei, "Ladies... "

"Just go quickly, we’ve got this covered here. Just don’t let them in," the two women quickly assured him.

Wen Huaren had always been clear, Hua Xiaomai had invited him, a novice, to be the shopkeeper in order to make his life easier. He was grateful, and always a bit nervous, fearing making mistakes that would cause trouble for others. Now faced with a situation like this, he was determined to contribute his part, unwillingly glanced back at the book left on the counter, sighed, and stepped out of the door.

But inevitably, he was still a bit late.

No sooner had he stepped out of the hall than he almost collided with two hurried figures, hastily stepping back, only to see that they were two women, who looked to be mother and daughter.

This... they found us so quickly? His heart suddenly skipped a beat.

However, in this shop, there was someone even more anxious than him.

Zhou Yunyun also saw the people outside the door, her eyes widened in shock, too anxious to care much, she ran out to grab his jacket, trembling as she whispered, "Wen... Brother Wen, that’s Yuhuai’s aunt and... cousin!"(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read on m.qidian.com.)

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