Chapter 77 Chapter 77 The Guardian Baozhu Shows His Power

Jiang Shi seemed to be more and more in charge. He led the way in front, and his aura was somewhat stronger than Ma Er's.

Ma Er obediently followed Jiang Shi up to the second floor. Looking around, he noticed the restaurant was enormous and looked very profitable. The stairs felt so heavy his legs were shaking. Through the window, he could see the bustling streets outside. He entered the private room enclosed by a screen and sat down. Baozhu was already drinking a cup of tea.

The shop assistant followed Baozhu's instructions and poured tea and served snacks. Ma Er stared at the snacks intently. At first, coming to Bianjing was a novelty, and since he had money on him, he was willing to spend money on food and drink. Not only that, he even went to the brothels for a bit of fun. Even though his wallet was empty, he wasn't worried. He figured that since Madam Chen was in Bianjing anyway, he could just ask her for money before returning.

Unexpectedly, this woman ignored him completely. The last time he went to the restaurant and blocked someone's way, he was beaten. He also spent a lot of money to see a doctor. By the time he stayed in Bian Jing today, his money had been spent like water. Not only did he run out of money, but the owner of this restaurant bullied him, and he had no way to report to the government.

Without money, he even had difficulty eating, let alone the money to go home, so he had to get involved with that vicious woman.

He had only drunk two sips of water and hadn't eaten a single bite of food the whole day yesterday, so he was jealous of the dim sum. The waiter brought a plate of dim sum to the table, and Ma Er stuffed it into his mouth without any hesitation. He choked and rolled his eyes, then picked up the tea on the table and drank it to relieve his irritation.

He finished the plate of snacks, but still felt it was not enough, so he asked the waiter to bring another plate. The waiter glanced at Baozhu and saw Baozhu nod before he went to bring the snacks.

Baozhu saw his self-righteous look and kept silent for the time being. Ma Er was full and didn't know when his next meal would be. He put the remaining two cakes into his pocket in front of Baozhu, asked the waiter to add more tea, and drank it all before saying,

"My wife and I are one, and we have the old and the young at home. Please, boss, let my wife go back. We can't live without her."

He had seen it when he entered the restaurant. Although the restaurant was large, only his wife was busy working in the kitchen. He knew his wife's cooking skills, otherwise she would not be the only one among the group of people chosen to be a cook by a wealthy family. It goes without saying how important the cook in the kitchen is to support such a large restaurant.

Ordinary restaurants and eateries would not have any business if the food tasted bad. Moreover, the chefs in these restaurants and eateries would not change often. In ordinary restaurants, half of the staff would leave if a chef was replaced. Ma Er thought that he had Baozhu's lifeline by holding Madam Chen in his hands. Seeing that she would definitely compromise if she came to him in person to negotiate this time, his originally dejected spirit suddenly rose again, and he crossed his legs complacently and kept clicking his tongue.

"We're on the same page. Last time, after you said you were going to divorce, I thought about letting your wife go back as you said." Baozhu took the abacus from Jiang Shi with a smile, shook it and started to dial, "You also said that husband and wife are one--"

"You may look simple-minded, but what you said makes perfect sense. You know, the restaurant has been struggling these days because of you and your wife's quarrel. I've already found another chef. If you and your wife want to argue, go back home. My little temple really can't accommodate a big Buddha."

Jiang Shi handed over the employment contract. Baozhu pointed to the clearly written clauses on it and asked Ma Er to read it. Fearing that Ma Er could not read, she asked Jiang Shi to read it again to him.

"It was clearly written in the original employment contract that personal matters were not allowed to interfere with business operations. If personal matters interfere with the store's business, compensation will be based on the average daily revenue of the previous month."

Baozhu was calculating with her abacus.

"Last month, my income was over three hundred strings of cash, which means at least a dozen strings of cash a day. Ever since you caused trouble in my shop, my daily income has been reduced to one or two strings of cash over the past ten days. In total, I've lost over a hundred strings of cash in the past few days. If you don't believe me, you can check the account book. Because of your disturbance, I don't dare to employ your wife anymore. The new cook we hired will be here this afternoon. You said you can't leave your wife at home, so you can take her back with you. However, you'll have to deduct her wages for the past two months, and you'll have to make up the difference."

Ma Er was furious when he heard this. "Why should I care if your business is struggling? Why do you ask me to subsidize you?"

"Since you claim husband and wife are one, this money should be paid by both of you. You've caused a few disturbances in my restaurant, and the business has been slow these past few days. What will happen if my regular customers stop coming back after you've caused such a commotion? This amount of money is too little, I think."

Baozhu smiled and calculated everything with him.

"Your wife has learned quite a bit since she started working as a cook in my restaurant. I won't charge her for her lessons, but the original contract was for three years, and she's only been working for a little over a year. This is a breach of contract, and you must pay her another sixty strings of silver. The total is over one hundred and sixty strings of silver. I'll round off the difference and give you only one hundred and sixty taels of silver. That way, I don't think I'm paying too much."

Ma Er bulged his eyes and snorted, as if he was about to rush up for a fight, but seeing that his fellows were standing by, he shrank back cowardly.

"If you say my price is high, you can ask around in Bianjing City. You won't find an employer as good as me anywhere. Since you sincerely want your wife to come home and reunite with you, I'm sure you've already prepared the compensation for her. It's all clearly stated in the employment contract. Even if you sue me at the government office, you'll be right. Whether you give me the money today or not, your wife doesn't have to come here tomorrow." Baozhu looked at Ma Er's pale face.

"If you can't pay the money in full, don't blame me for being ruthless. We can go to the government office to discuss it—"

Ma Er was terrified by what he heard. The pressure of one hundred and sixty taels of silver made him dare not even breathe for a while. His original idea of ​​using Mrs. Chen to threaten Baozhu was completely extinguished.

"Boss... Boss, you're being too polite... I'm a reasonable person, and I can't go against this employment contract. You're telling me a new cook is no match for the old one, and you're asking my wife to stay in the shop." Ma Er stammered, "But...but from now on, why don't you just give me her monthly salary directly? That way, she'll stay here and work for the restaurant, and my family will have a way to make a living."

As soon as he said this, he didn't feel ashamed at all, but instead felt that this method was feasible.

Baozhu was so angry at his shameless words that she wanted to laugh, but she didn't show it on her face and continued coldly,

"Since you broke the contract first, I don't want to renew it. Now that we've found a new cook, there's no point in talking about this. Didn't you say you wanted someone to come home? Your wife originally left to work because we couldn't make ends meet. Now that you've come to pick her up, I assume the money is ready. You can take her and your eldest sister away this afternoon, and then you can pay the money I promised you."

"Boss, that's not what I meant. I think it's better to let her work here." Ma Er shed tears again.

"I've already told your wife that if you don't collect the 160 strings of cash when you leave this afternoon, don't blame me for reporting you to the police." Baozhu went downstairs after she finished speaking. Ma Er had nowhere to go and originally wanted to stay in the store, but he was dragged out by two shop assistants, each holding one of his sides.

He had been living under the bridge for the past two days. After being kicked out, he had nowhere to go, so he had to squat not far from the restaurant again.

Baozhu asked the servant to go home and call her father over. Zhen's father had been resting at home these days and had not prepared any banquets, so he brought his little apprentice with him. Baozhu whispered to him and he understood. He went to the kitchen and started the fire and cooked even more skillfully than Mrs. Chen.

Seeing that the chef had really been found, Ma Er finally believed that Baozhu really wanted to terminate the employment contract. It was he who first said that he would no longer work, and the other party had found a new chef. Even if he sued the government, he would have to pay compensation to the other party. Besides, the contract had already stated the amount of compensation.

Adding to that the compensation for disrupting business during these days, Ma Er calculated in his mind and knew that the 160 taels of silver Baozhu mentioned was no more than or less.

"Your wife has worked in my shop for a long time, so she doesn't have to work all day. Let's go to the dock now, maybe we can ask about the boat." Baozhu asked Mrs. Chen to change into the shop's clothes, and then said to Ma Er in front of him, "How about the money?"

Seeing that Jiang Shi looked like he would go to the police if he said he had no money, Ma Er's throat became dry and he didn't dare to say that he had no money.

He stared blankly as Mrs. Chen and Danier changed their clothes and packed their bags. Her eyes were staring at him like evil spirits, which made him feel uneasy.

"I was hoping to live a peaceful life, but you've messed me up. Now I've lost my job and my money. Even if I chop you into pieces and sell you, the 160 taels wouldn't be worth the money. It all depends on what the officials in the government do with you."

Madam Chen stood beside him with a sinister look on her face. They were about the same height. "If you can return alive, remember to wash your neck thoroughly before you sleep. We can't survive now anyway. When I return, I'll turn your Ma family upside down."

Ma Er suddenly remembered that Mrs. Chen was a fierce person when she first married him.

Maybe it was because he had become accustomed to being cautious when working for others in recent years, so when he saw her showing some signs of weakness, he thought she was easy to bully.

"You're a wimp to begin with. You're still trying to be nice after getting my money. My eldest sister treated your whole family like mules, and now you're trying to ruin my future. Just rest assured, when I'm done living, I'll definitely kill you and take you with me."

After receiving Baozhu's instructions, Madam Chen just tried to scare Ma Er without any rules. Although they had not been together for several years, she knew Ma Er's character very well, and her words almost scared him to the point of peeing his pants.

When the person is weak, he becomes strong; when the person is arrogant, he becomes soft.

Three or two men surrounded Ma Er and asked him for money. Ma Er was timid and did not dare to say anything. In addition, Mrs. Chen threatened him in his ear, and he seemed to want to run away immediately. Baozhu would not let him go. She asked the men to hold him down and asked Jiang Shi to go to the government office to report.

Ma Er begged and pleaded, fearing that he would be beaten with a stick. Baozhu ignored him and Jiang Shi trotted to the yamen in the carriage.

"If you pay the full amount of this 160 taels of silver, you and your family can leave immediately, and I won't stop you. If you can't pay, I'll have to ask you and your wife to stay in prison for a while."

"Boss, you just think I'm blinded by greed. Let me go this time. I'll go back home tomorrow and never make trouble again—"

Madam Chen spat at him fiercely, "You're dreaming! I've worked so hard all these years, and yet you took the money and stayed home to ask for a second wife. You have to pay for this money, and I won't leave any of it!"

Ma Er wanted to attack the master, but the servant grabbed her arm and said, "You vicious woman, you signed the employment contract, what does it have to do with me?"

"After all, we've been married for so many years, and I've raised children with your Ma family. Now you're trying to get rid of me when you're in trouble. I'll go to the government office and have a good discussion. I'll see if the officials there can handle the situation and get a divorce."

"Don't even think about it, you shrew! What's the point of divorce? I'm going to divorce you today. I want to see how you can get back involved with me!"