The sound of the window opening next door could be heard even by Prefect Xu and Madam Feng, so it naturally did not escape Jing Zhe's ears. Therefore, he did not even glance at the side room next door, but went straight down the stairs.

It was noon, the busiest time of day for the restaurant, and the hall of Feng Family Restaurant was packed with people, blocking the exit completely. However, today it wasn't because there were too many people eating, but because there were too many people watching the spectacle.

"Manager Lin, do you think we're the kind of people who need money for a meal?"

"Exactly! We were just walking around, and suddenly we got hit by a man's underwear. What kind of situation is that? If word gets out and all the people of Jiangling know we got hit by a man's underwear, where will we put our faces? Isn't that right, Lao Liu?"

"Old Song, you were the one who got hit by a man's underwear, not me. I was hit by a woman's underwear!"

"..."

The man called Lao Liu quickly denied it, as if being hit by a woman's underwear was a glorious thing.

Manager Lin was also at a loss, thinking to himself, "Why are you all making such a racket here? Do you not want others to know, or do you want others to know as soon as possible?"

"Please calm down, everyone. But now that this has happened, we need to think of a solution, can't we?"

Manager Lin said with a forced smile.

Actually, this matter would have been easy to resolve in the past, because there were quite a few people staying at the Feng Family Restaurant, and it wasn't uncommon for things to be thrown from the windows and hit people. We could have simply taken people upstairs to find the person who threw the things, and made the person who threw the things bear all the compensation. If they disagreed, we could have just taken them to the authorities!

Of course, someone with such poor manners would have no right not to pay compensation after being caught.

However, there are also unsolved cases where no one can be found out who threw it away. In the end, Feng's Restaurant has to be the scapegoat. If the damage is serious, they have to pay some money; if no one is injured, they can just pay for the drinks.

But today is different, because the woman's underpants that were thrown down were recognized by Manager Lin; they belonged to Madam Feng. As for why Manager Lin would recognize Madam Feng's underpants, that's not something to be told to outsiders.

Therefore, Manager Lin knew that Magistrate Xu and Madam Feng must have gotten carried away and thrown their clothes down. These people felt it was really bad luck and disgusting to be hit by a man's underpants, and they were not satisfied with that, so they prepared to go upstairs to confront them.

Manager Lin dared not let them go up. Who knew where Madam Feng and Magistrate Xu's battle was at? He couldn't bear the responsibility of ruining their plans!

Besides, if they were to stumble upon the affair between Madam Feng and Manager Lin, he would lose his job as manager. That's why he was putting on a smiling face and trying his best to appease them.

"A solution? Didn't we just say that this matter has nothing to do with Feng Family Restaurant? So Manager Lin doesn't need to pay compensation!"

"Yes, let us go upstairs. We're going to find this shameless scoundrel today!"

"That's right, daring to do such a dirty thing in broad daylight, I want to see who has the audacity!"

"..."

As they spoke, a group of people eagerly prepared to go upstairs.

Manager Lin, how could you possibly agree to that?

Quickly send people to block the stairwell and prevent them from going up.

Jing Zhe was blocked at the stairwell, but he wasn't in a hurry. Instead, he leaned against the stairs and watched with great interest.

It's interesting how something I casually tossed away could trigger such a series of events!

"Manager Lin, what do you mean by having people block the stairs?"

"Manager Lin, you don't know who threw it, and you're deliberately preventing us from going up, do you?"

That's not all. What's more, someone looked Manager Lin up and down a few times and said directly, "Manager Lin, this man's underpants—could they be yours?"

"Don't talk nonsense! I've been busy downstairs the whole time, how could these underwear be mine?"

Manager Lin's face turned red with anger.

"If it doesn't belong to Manager Lin, then why has Manager Lin been preventing us from going upstairs?"

The crowd voiced their doubts.

"That's because we have distinguished guests upstairs..."

"Distinguished guest? What kind of distinguished guest can't we go upstairs?"

Manager Lin actually wanted to say that Prefect Xu was upstairs, but he was afraid that saying it would be like "protesting too much" and would lead them to think of Prefect Xu, which would backfire.

"They weren't any particularly distinguished guests, it's just... it's just..."

Manager Lin was at a loss for words, stammering and unsure of what to say.

"Everyone who comes to Feng's Restaurant is a distinguished guest. The reason why Manager Lin doesn't allow everyone to go upstairs is because he doesn't want to disturb the guests who are eating and staying upstairs, especially because he's afraid of exposing their privacy!"

"Yes, that's it—privacy!"

Shopkeeper Lin immediately clapped his hands and cheered. He had been thinking for so long but couldn't come up with a reason. This word was just too good and instantly got him out of the predicament. However, why did he feel that the voice sounded so familiar?

Turning his head, he saw, sure enough, the handsome young man who had helped him out of the predicament was the very same one he had prepared to give to Madam Feng. He was leaning against the stairwell, looking relaxed and at ease.

It seems he must have been waiting for Madam Feng in the room for a long time, so he came out of the private room and helped out of the predicament—but actually he was only helping himself, since he certainly wouldn't want to be disturbed when he was having fun with Madam Feng in the room.

"What you say is absolutely right, young master!"

As he spoke, Manager Lin winked at Jing Zhe, as if thanking him for helping him out of the predicament.

"Who are you…"

The crowd was suspicious because some of the people who had participated in the Peach Blossom Poetry Gathering were mixed in with the crowd. They thought it was Jing Zhe, but they didn't dare to recognize him for a moment.

Who I am is not important.

Jing Zhe quickly spoke up, afraid that others would reveal his identity: "The important thing is that everyone shouldn't go upstairs to search just because of two pieces of clothing. After all, apart from the government, private individuals are not allowed to conduct searches at will!"

"..."

Everyone was stunned by Jing Zhe's words, and the scene fell silent for a moment. Seeing this, Jing Zhe continued, "Actually, not searching upstairs is also beneficial for everyone!"

"What are the benefits?"

Everyone hurriedly asked.

"Think about it, everyone. Haven't you ever spent the night at Feng's Restaurant? When you did, did you bring your own wives or someone else's wives? Only you yourselves know the answer!"

At this point, a small group of people lowered their heads, glancing cautiously at their surroundings. It seemed they had done plenty of things like bringing other people's wives to hotel rooms. Jing Zhe expressed strong contempt for such people.

"Therefore, no one wants to be broken into and searched at a time like this, right? Even if you're eating in a private room, you don't want strangers to come in, do you? So, Manager Lin's decision not to let anyone into the room is actually to protect everyone's future privacy!"

"..."

————