The new bookstore's grand opening sale attracted many readers, but Xu Lin didn't engage in a price war with the other party and continued to do her own thing in a low-key manner.

The teahouse has posted a notice that it is suspending orders and will cease operations once all existing contracts are fulfilled. Nie Zhiyuan, who had been sitting with his feet up and down, gradually became idle.

With nothing to do, Nie Zhiyuan took advantage of his day off to visit a newly opened bookstore with some friends, which resulted in a fight that alerted the base police.

When Xu Lin was taken to the police station, she saw about a dozen dejected young men, led by Nie Zhiyuan. They were all regulars at the bookstore and teahouse, and Xu Lin recognized them all.

These teenagers all had connections at the base, but they didn't dare contact their families, so they could only turn to Xu Lin.

After "redeeming" the group from the police station, Xu Lin sent the rest of them home and then took Nie Zhiyuan back to the teahouse office.

“You’ve worked here for six months. Go to Jingjing’s place later to collect this month’s salary and compensation,” Xu Lin said.

"You're firing me?"

Nie Zhiyuan had just been sitting on the sofa with his head down when he heard Xu Lin finish speaking. He looked up at her in disbelief.

“I was planning to close the teahouse once I finished the orders I had, and I was going to start laying off staff gradually. Besides, I don’t think this place is a good fit for you anymore,” Xu Lin said calmly.

"Xu Lin, well done!" Nie Zhiyuan stood up and left.

Xu Lin thought, finally I've found an excuse.

When Xu Lin was leaving get off work, she ran into Li Jingjing and asked her if Nie Zhiyuan had finished his resignation procedures. Li Jingjing said that he had only received his monthly salary and had not received any compensation. She left angrily. The two looked at each other and smiled.

After dealing with that brat Nie Zhiyuan, the next step was to gradually reduce staff. Now, the bookstore and teahouse together had only about ten people left. Some were laid off and Xu Lin gave them compensation, while others wanted to find other jobs because they saw the promising future of the new bookstore. Xu Lin didn't treat them unfairly either.

The remaining few are all wealthy people. They don't lack money and don't need any other options. They just feel comfortable with Xu Lin. These people are more difficult to deal with.

Surprisingly, in the end, those who survived the crisis were all employees who were well-off. This is not hard to understand; it's like how there are always a few rich kids working as receptionists in a company.

When a company faces a crisis, the first to leave are usually employees from impoverished families. It's not that they lack a sense of responsibility, but they have elderly parents and young children to support, and life forces them to give up their jobs.

Xu Lin had secretly taken away nearly half of the books from the bookstore. Everyone noticed that the books were missing, and some people even asked Xu Lin behind her back if she was having financial difficulties and had sold all the books so that they could help her out. Xu Lin was very touched.

Xu Lin planned to lay off the remaining few people all at once. She chose a day at the end of the month and arranged for everyone to have a meal together. They didn't go out to eat; there was a kitchen in the tea room on the second floor, and the group quickly got everything ready.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was alright, and everyone tried to appear optimistic. However, at the end, Xu Lin mentioned that the bookstore would be closing down, and that everyone would receive an extra month's salary the next day.

Everyone was saddened, but it was something they had expected. It just felt like such a rare opportunity to purify our souls in this apocalyptic world was about to be disbanded.

With Li Jingjing's encouragement, everyone gradually calmed down, chatted for a while about their future plans, and then went home.