Chapter 753 You Look Down on Me?

Shen Wantang sighed and gently shook her head: "I can't even protect the Lou family. I can only send them out of the city to avoid trouble. What else is that but weakness?"

"Young Madam, you are incredibly strong! Others can't even send someone away to avoid trouble! You can save people and protect them, that's already amazing!"

Shen Wantang did not speak.

Compared to ordinary people, she is indeed quite good, but compared to capable people, she is still far behind; her strength is too weak.

For example, when Gu Qianhan saved Chen Xiaowu in his previous life, he probably wasn't in such dire straits as she was! He must have displayed formidable strength, which is why Qiyu followed him so devotedly and sent him messages every day.

Take Meng Yunlan for example. If she wanted to rescue someone, she probably wouldn't need to go to such lengths and use such methods as Meng Yunlan. She could probably just give a few instructions.

Du Juan didn't understand Shen Wantang's state of mind, but Granny Yan could grasp some of it.

She whispered, "Young Madam has only just begun to consolidate her power. She cannot be compared to those with wealthy families and powerful backers. You just need to follow your own plan, and it won't be long before you are stronger than them."

Shen Wantang rubbed her temples: "That's true. I'm just starting out, so it's normal that I can't compare to others."

"Granny, go to the government office and make some arrangements. Lou Yun'er is a young girl after all, and she can't withstand torture. It would be best if they enforced the law impartially and didn't use torture. If they really had to use torture, taking the money would at least make them go easy on her."

"yes!"

"Dujuan, go and inform Fang Xuning that Lou Yun'er needs protection. She is the most important witness, and he probably doesn't want anything to happen to her. He can now unleash his unreasonable and disruptive skills without reservation. The bigger the commotion he makes, the safer Lou Yun'er will be."

"yes!"

"Sanshui has traveled to many places today, and it was no easy feat to rescue those two children from the Tai family. He must have put in a lot of effort. Remember to reward him when he returns."

"yes!"

"Dujuan, go find the manager of Zuixianlou and tell him I need to see their young master to discuss something important."

Du Juan quickly responded and turned to find the shopkeeper.

Soon, the shopkeeper arrived.

Behind him followed a woman dressed as a man.

After entering the private room, the manager stepped aside and politely introduced Shen Wantang, "Second Young Madam, this is our young master."

"My name is Li Yao."

Dressed in a moon-white robe, Li Yao bowed to Shen Wantang like a man, saying, "Greetings, Second Young Madam, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

Shen Wantang smiled at her: "Young Master, you're too kind. Please have a seat."

Li Yao did not refuse and sat down in the chair opposite her.

The two chatted for only a short while before getting down to business.

"Young master, business hasn't been good at your Zuixianlou these past two years, has it? I've been eating here for most of the day, but there are more customers than your staff. Are you still managing to stay afloat?"

Li Yao frowned: "The second young mistress said she wanted to talk to me about something important. Could it be that she just wants to mock our Drunken Immortal Pavilion?"

"Of course not."

Shen Wantang remained calm and said the same words as in her previous life: "I called you here to tell the young master that I can make Zuixianlou surpass Qingyunlou and become the number one restaurant in the capital!"

Li Yao's reaction was almost exactly the same as in her previous life. She looked shocked and said, "What did you say?! You're not kidding me, are you?"

Do I look like I'm joking?

"It doesn't sound like a joke, but you don't seem like someone who could have such great abilities."

"Does the young master judge people by their appearance?"

"No, no."

"Does the young master look down on me because I'm a woman? Does he think I'm less capable than a man?"

After hesitating for a moment, Li Yao finally said, "I don't mean to look down on you because you're a woman. To be honest, I'm a woman too."

Shen Wantang nodded: "Mm."

Li Yao looked at her with some surprise: "You're not surprised at all? You already figured it out?"

"The young master's appearance is actually quite good; even his eyebrows are drawn thicker, and his skin tone has been altered to closely resemble a man's. However..."

"But what?"

"It's just that you don't have an Adam's apple."

Li Yao was stunned for a moment. She touched her neck and said in annoyance, "I told you I wanted to make a fake one and stick it on, but my mother insisted that I didn't need to. She said that if the fake one fell off, it would be very embarrassing. I should have known better than to listen to her. If I had just stuck it on more firmly, it wouldn't have fallen off!"

Shen Wantang nodded: "Your mother is right, it is indeed easy to fall off, because when you talk and drink water, your Adam's apple moves, and it can easily fall off if you are not careful. If you want it to stick firmly, you need to use special glue, but this kind of glue is very damaging to the skin. It will become red, swollen and itchy after a day, and you will need to prepare a special ointment to apply it."

Li Yao's eyes widened: "Why do I feel like you're quite familiar with this? You've dressed up as a man before? And even put on a fake Adam's apple?"

"I've dressed up and put on makeup, not just an Adam's apple, I've even put on a mustache!"

"Oh dear, I want to wear a mustache too, but my mom won't let me. I'm not listening to her anymore; she's never reliable!"

That's a bit of a tangent.

Shen Wantang didn't rush to discuss serious matters with Li Yao anymore. Sometimes, getting closer and building a better relationship is crucial for cooperation.

After chatting for a while, Li Yao herself brought the conversation back on track: "Second Young Madam, I really don't look down on you for being a woman. After all, I've had enough of being looked down upon, so why would I be the kind of person I hate the most?"

“My family members all thought that I was a girl and not capable of managing the family business, so they rarely let me touch it. They only asked me to learn needlework, music, chess, calligraphy and painting, but I had no interest in those things at all. I just liked to think about how to make money.”

"I finally managed to get Zuixianlou, and even then it was because Zuixianlou was poorly managed, losing money year after year, and was about to close down, so they just dumped it on me to play with."

"No one in the tribe believed in me, but I tried every day to find ways to attract customers. I wanted to prove myself!"

"Second Young Madam, if you really have a way to make my Drunken Immortal Pavilion surpass Qingyun Pavilion, then I will agree to whatever conditions you ask for!"

The shopkeeper, anxious, kept giving Li Yao meaningful glances. Seeing that Li Yao ignored him, he could only whisper a reminder: "Young Master, please be careful. Don't make promises so easily, what if..."

The shopkeeper was only halfway through his sentence when he couldn't help but glance at Shen Wantang.

He was in his forties, experienced and worldly-wise. Having worked as the manager of Zuixianlou for so many years, what kind of people hadn't he seen? The moment he saw Shen Wantang, he felt that she was much more shrewd than his young lady!

He was afraid that his young mistress was too naive and would make a mistake, which would then implicate him. If that happened, he would lose his job as manager, and that would be the end of him.

So he quickly spoke up to remind him.