Chapter 40: Chapter 40 Renovation of the Restaurant_1 Chapter 40: Chapter 40 Renovation of the Restaurant_1 “Ms. Yang, the craftsn have arrived. How would you like to arrange things?” asked Shopkeeper Lin respectfully, though disappointed he didn’t get the nu.
The young master had instructed before he left that everyone, including himself, must obey Ms. Yang’s orders, and any violation would be t with severe punishnt.
“Where are they?”
“In the sideyard.”
Yang ngchen set down her teacup, “I’ll et with the foreman.” She went to the Nangong family’s Sideyard with Yang Chengrong and Yang Chengyou, following Shopkeeper Lin, who then sent soone to call the foreman.
A clear-faced middle-aged man arrived quickly: “This humble one, Zhuang Ming, has the honor to et Ms. Yang.”
Before he ca, the young master had repeatedly warned him to cooperate well with this young lady and that if he caused the young master to lose face, he would not be let off lightly.
His attitude was modest and polite, devoid of the arrogance one might expect from soone hailing from a wealthy family, which pleased Yang ngchen. “Foreman Zhuang, thank you for your hard work. Now, let’s discuss the details of the tavern’s reconstruction,” she said as she took out the design plans she had originally given to Nangong Lingfei.
As Zhuang Ming looked at the tavern design plans and listened to Yang ngchen’s explanation, his eyes brightened more with each passing mont. He marveled internally, no wonder the young master had sent him here. A tavern that once rebuilt would exude such a tranquil and elegant charm without losing its affluence was bound to attract everyone. This young lady was truly remarkable!
However, Zhuang Ming still made so suggestions based on practical considerations, and Yang ngchen humbly accepted them. After discussing for over an hour, they finally settled on an implentation plan.
“Foreman Zhuang and the craftsn can take a short rest. Tomorrow Drunken Immortal Tavern will close for business and the reconstruction work will begin,” Yang ngchen said with a smile. “I cannot stay in town very often, so I’m entrusting Foreman Zhuang with overseeing the work.”
Zhuang Ming replied humbly, “Ms. Yang, you place too much trust in . I will certainly do my utmost.”
“The construction will be under Foreman Zhuang’s care, and Shopkeeper Lin will handle the procurent,” Yang ngchen said after pondering for a mont. “Shopkeeper Lin, after you return, give the staff a five-day holiday with their wages paid. After five days, start the new training, and I will handle that part.”
Shopkeeper Lin and Zhuang Ming readily agreed.
After leaving the sideyard and returning to Apricot Forest Hall, Yang ngchen and her siblings bid Doctor Luo farewell and had just reached the entrance of the village when they saw the Lan family waiting anxiously.
“Ninth Sister Yang, we’ve gathered a thousand taels for the repairs of the ancestral hall, and we promise never to oppose the Yang family again. Please give us the antidote!” the Lan family pleaded humbly in front of the carriage.
They had secretly sought several doctors, but none could diagnose the problem; every three days they were in such pain, they felt like dying. Yet they were told that they hadn’t been poisoned at all, which infuriated them so much that they cursed those doctors as quacks.
They even thought about seeking revenge through their maternal uncle, but after hearing many villagers say that Doctor Luo treated Ninth Sister Yang as his own daughter, even sending over an ox and a carriage and often inviting her to Apricot Forest Hall, they imdiately dismissed the idea.
Long ago, their uncle had warned them never to provoke Apricot Forest Hall and Drunken Immortal Tavern, or even he couldn’t protect them.
Doctor Luo was so kind to Ninth Sister Yang; perhaps he knew about their feud with the Yang family and had given her the dicine to deal with them. With this in mind, where would they dare to seek their uncle’s help? They wouldn’t dare to even ntion it.
But they couldn’t bear this excruciating tornt forever. Today, hearing that Ninth Sister Yang was going to town, they waited by the village entrance from early on, determined to beg her for the antidote, no matter what.
Less than half a month had passed, and the Lan family mbers were all looking haggard and emaciated, with deep hollows in their eyes, devoid of the arrogant bluster they had once shown. Instead, they were extrely submissive and respectful, as Yang ngchen slightly lifted the corners of her lips with a trace of a cold smile.
“I can give you the antidote, but you must apologize to the villagers whom you have oppressed, and return the silver and goods you have defrauded from them. If the goods are gone, they should be converted into silver, understand?”
“Understood,” the Lan family mbers answered in unison, finally no longer having to endure the taste of a life worse than death.
Before the Lan family could rejoice, Yang ngchen’s cool voice suddenly rose again, “I will give you half of the antidote first. When you have apologized to all the villagers, made restitution for the goods, and obtained the villagers’ forgiveness, I will give you the other half of the antidote.”
As if being drenched from head to toe with a pail of ice water on a snowy day, the Lan family mbers felt a chill throughout their bodies.
Not only would they have to lose a large sum of silver, but if they truly went from door to door to apologize, how could they hold their heads up in the village afterwards?
Yet they had no choice but to do as Ninth Sister Yang said.
For Yang ngchen, crushing the Lan family was as easy as stepping on a few ants, but she had many affairs to handle at the mont and had no ti to pay attention to the Lan family. So, she took out a porcelain bottle, tossed it to Lan Gensheng, and then instructed Du Zhong to drive away.
At dinner, when it was learned that Yang Cheng’an would be studying dicine under Doctor Luo, the Yang family was very happy. As for the fact that Yang Cheng’an had to stay at Apricot Forest Hall and could only return ho to rest one day every six days, no one objected. They also exhorted him to learn well under Doctor Luo’s tutelage.
In the following days, the Yang ngchen siblings were running back and forth between the town and Yangliu village, sotis even staying overnight at the Luo family’s sideyard in the town.
Regarding the construction of the tavern, Yang ngchen was very strict, insisting on specific materials and forbidding shoddy work or deception. If anything substandard was discovered, it was to be imdiately demolished and rebuilt.
The sa went for the procurent of goods—if anyone was found substituting inferior goods or embezzling funds, besides repaying the loss tenfold, they would also have to sell off their entire family.
Zhuang Ming and Shopkeeper Lin were naturally dutiful and did not dare to slack off, lest they disgrace the young master.
The subordinates also earnestly complied with Yang ngchen’s demands, daring not to harbor any hope of getting lucky.
When it ca to staff training, Yang ngchen devised a plan and handed it over to Yang Chengyou. Initially, she oversaw the training closely, but later, seeing that Yang Chengyou was doing a good job, she let go and stopped intervening.
With the wasteland fully reclaid and dicinal herbs planted, Yang ngchen then settled the wages for the villagers. Additionally, many village households followed suit in buying wasteland, and Yang ngchen, on behalf of Doctor Luo, provided the dicinal herbs for free, and also taught them managent thods, for which the villagers were all very grateful to Doctor Luo.
“Uncle Luo, this is a new dish I made; would you like to taste it and see how it is?”
Yang ngchen first served Doctor Luo a bowl of preserved egg and lean pork congee, then picked up a cooked zongzi, peeled off the bamboo leaves, and handed it to Doctor Luo.
Out of nowhere, a hand suddenly intercepted the zongzi, and it was none other than Nangong Lingfei.
Seeing the delicious food snatched away, Doctor Luo imdiately glared with anger, “You rascal, that was for , give it back to right now!”
Nangong Lingfei turned a deaf ear and savored the zongzi with relish, its glutinous rice and reed leaf fragrance refreshingly delightful.
“Don’t be angry, Uncle Luo, there’s more here.” Yang ngchen peeled another zongzi for Doctor Luo.
After casting a severe glance at Nangong Lingfei, Doctor Luo took the zongzi and praised it while eating.
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