Chapter 50 Empty-handed Li Yang has gotten himself into big trouble and wants to ask Chen Junbo for help...

"Manager Zhong? Manager Zhong!" Xiao Lu wiped the counter three, four, five, or six times with a rag, but Manager Zhong seemed to have lost his soul and raised his voice to call him again.

Zhong Qian snapped out of his daze, "Oh dear, Miss Deer."

"Manager Zhong, why are you so absent-minded this early in the morning?" Xiao Lu wiped the counter for the seventh time before finally asking the question that had been on her mind. "You look like you didn't sleep well last night. Did you drink too much at the banquet? Are you still drunk?"

Hearing her words, Zhong Qian frowned, thinking to himself: I don't know you well. You're the young mistress's maid, how can I say such things to you? He quickly said, "No, no, Miss Lu, please don't tease this old man."

Seeing that he was being tactless, Xiao Lu raised an eyebrow and said, "You still want to hide it from me? Brother Bifang told me everything. Last night's banquet was very lively... Tell me what interesting things happened."

Seeing her persistent questioning, Zhong Qian felt increasingly annoyed.

Last night, Madam Chen dragged him out of bed, causing him a huge headache that kept him distracted. Meanwhile, Little Deer Girl was chasing after him like a dog smelling meat, asking about last night's banquet.

If you're so capable, why don't you get the young mistress to take you to the banquet? Honestly. You've been asking around since early this morning. If you want to know, go ask the young mistress yourself.

But then I thought about it again. Putting aside the fact that this young lady is someone close to the young mistress, she is personally picked up and dropped off by Steward Bi Fang every morning and evening, so she should not be underestimated.

Despite his mature appearance, the butler was only at the age of first love. The way the two of them pulled and tugged when they got out of the car was seen by many people.

On several occasions, he watched from across the counter and saw the butler, his ears red, coaxing the young lady with soft words; he seemed to be quite capable.

After calming himself down, Zhong Qian resigned himself to his fate, realizing he couldn't afford to offend either his mother or his mistress... He quickly put on a smiling face, "Oh, Miss Little Deer, to be honest, I was just too excited yesterday, and guess what?"

Seeing that Xiao Lu stopped what she was doing and looked at him intently, he said, "You guessed it right. I got myself completely drunk as soon as the banquet started, and when I woke up I found that all the guests had gone home."

Xiao Lu pouted and forced back a "Pah!" from her throat.

She thought bitterly to herself: "You cunning shopkeeper Zhong, you blind fool! You think you can fool me? What's so great about it? It's just that I ate at the dinner table once. I'll go tell Brother Bifang right away and make sure he kicks you out of this flower shop!"

Thinking this, she forced a perfunctory smile, glanced at him, and said, "Fine, fine, Manager Zhong, you should rest well." Then she swayed away.

Finally seeing this young lady off, Zhong Qian's lips twitched, and she muttered a curse under her breath: "Tch, 'Get some rest,' you should just get some rest yourself. At such a young age, she's like that gossipy old woman at the village entrance, always asking about this and that, and she walks with a wobbly gait... And this young mistress, how can she keep someone like that around..."

In the blink of an eye, the young mistress was already standing in front of him.

He was so frightened he almost bit his tongue; you really can't talk about people in broad daylight.

"Good morning, Manager Zhong."

"Hehe, good morning, good morning, young mistress..." Seeing the young lady smiling and leading the craftsman to the backyard, he patted his chest and peeked out again, thinking to himself: The young mistress is still the most pleasing to the eye. She is beautiful and kind-hearted. She solved the predicament of the flower arrangement with one move. She is a hundred times or even ten thousand times better than that little deer girl. No wonder she can be the young mistress of this Chen family.

Thinking this, his eyes filled with a hazy starlight as he gazed at the young woman's back, as if he were looking at a fairy from heaven.

"Manager Zhong!"

"Oh my god!"

What's going on today? Why are there so many one after another this morning?!

He turned around abruptly, and Youfeng's vibrant face came into view. He felt relieved and couldn't help but smile. "Youfeng, you've arrived early today. The guests who are going to wear flowers in their hair haven't arrived yet."

Youfeng smiled, took out an indigo-colored floral cloth-wrapped object from her basket, placed it on the counter, covered it with her hand, and pushed it in front of Zhong Qian. She lowered her voice and said, "Manager Zhong, this is a new design that my mother came up with last night. I would like to ask Sister-in-law Zhong to take a look and see if it's suitable."

Hearing this, Zhong Qian smiled so much that his eyes narrowed into slits.

This family of three is truly wonderful. Madam Luo is an honest woman who spends her days quietly adorning herself with flowers in the shop. Her younger sister, Laiyi, is adorable and has a sweet tongue; everyone who sees her enjoys teasing her. The older sister, Youfeng, is the most clever and shrewd; she's always sending someone a bag of plums or a box of pastries, hoping everyone will treat her and her mother well.

Hearing her words today, he found an excuse to send a hairpin to his wife.

As luck would have it, Madam Chen interrupted the couple's intimate moment last night, which greatly displeased the lady of the house. Today, I'll take this hairpin back as an apology.

Thinking this through, he smiled and accepted the small indigo cloth bag, saying politely, "Oh dear, Miss Feng is so thoughtful. My husband doesn't have that kind of eye. Something made by Madam Luo herself must be excellent."

Seeing that Manager Zhong had accepted the money, Youfeng didn't say anything more. She quietly thanked him and then led her younger sister out to sell their wares.

As soon as she left, Zhong Qian saw the little deer girl peeking in here again... she's like a persistent ghost! He quickly packed his things and pretended to go to the backyard to help.

As July arrived, Li Yang and a group of craftsmen busied themselves in the courtyard, following the blueprints provided by Mr. Zheng.

Zhong Qian stepped closer to her, saying, "Young Madam, leave this to me. You should go and rest."

Hearing the voice, Li Yang turned around and smiled when he saw the person who came in: "Manager Zhong, it's nothing, this little bit of work is not tiring... By the way, if you have time now, go to the warehouse and arrange the seedlings to be delivered tomorrow. After confirming the number of carts and horses, hand them over to Steward Bi, and he will allocate them from Chen Family Salt Shop."

Okay!

Zhong Qian now loves to hear the young mistress assigning him tasks; her voice is clear and pleasant, like the tinkling of silver coins in a purse.

He got the job and happily returned to the counter. He excitedly took the storeroom key, hired a carriage, and headed to the storeroom.

Last night, his wife summoned him and questioned him for a long time, until he had to repeat the entire banquet three times without missing a single detail before she would stop him. She even gave him a good scolding, calling him a dog who couldn't tell what kind of master he was eating from… Humph, how could he not see clearly? In the end, everything in the Chen family depends on Young Master Chen, and now Young Master Chen listens to Young Madam… How could he not see clearly!

What's most infuriating is that the man surnamed Liu even said, "Manager Zhong, Brother Long is doing you a favor by eating at your place. If you can't do the job, you can find someone else to be the manager..."

It makes me so angry! What kind of bastard is this Liu? He's a womanizer who uses his looks to please people, and now he's shitting on his own neck.

That so-called "Ghost Brother Long," don't think he doesn't know. He's never in the warehouse; he spends all his monthly allowance either at the gambling den or the brothel. He looks respectable, but he's a complete scoundrel in private.

He will load all the seedlings in the warehouse onto carts and horses today. After the warehouse is closed, there will be no need for a warehouse manager. I suppose the lady will not be able to say anything more.

Besides, this was the young mistress's order. If the mistress causes him trouble, well, even if the sky falls, there's always someone taller to hold it up.

His mind was racing, and he felt a surge of anxiety, urging the driver on.

When they arrived at the warehouse, the door was indeed locked tight; Brother Long had disappeared somewhere again.

Zhong Qian was furious, but remembering that he still had errands to run, he comforted himself that it was fortunate he had taken the keys with him when he went out today, otherwise he would have had to go back to get the keys.

He unlocked the door with a clang, kicked it open, and the door banged loudly.

ah? !

Good heavens! ?! ?!

Empty! Empty?! This warehouse is completely empty...

Not to mention the rocks and saplings that were taken during the inventory check that day, even the stools and tables where Brother Long usually sat were nowhere to be found!

Zhong Qian felt a sudden buzzing in his head, and his head spun. He plopped down on the doorstep. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. This wasn't a nightmare. This...this...this warehouse had really been emptied out! It's over, it's over, it's over, it's over!

He held his breath in his chest, unable to breathe properly, and then fell backward, kicking his legs wildly and pounding the ground with his fists, crying and rolling around on the ground like a three-year-old child.

Oh my god, the goods are due to be delivered to the construction workers in Ganquan County tomorrow, and they've all disappeared overnight! What are we going to do? He's going to report to the authorities! No, no, no, he'll go back first, go back and tell the young mistress. Yes, yes, he'll go back and tell the young mistress.

In the backyard of the flower shop, the craftsmen had just started work when they were taken outside, told that it was hot and they should have a cup of tea and rest before continuing their work.

The day was extremely stuffy, and there wasn't a breath of wind in the courtyard. Li Yang sat in the central pavilion, listening to Zhong Qian report the matter of the warehouse word by word, and his face grew colder and colder.

After a long pause, Zhong Qian recounted everything he had seen that day. "Young Madam, this...this Brother Long...Young Madam, sigh, it's all my fault. Brother Long was arranged by Master Liu from Madam's side to be the manager of this storeroom. I really didn't expect him to be so bold, so I didn't tell you beforehand. Now, I...sigh, Young Madam..."

As she spoke, she slapped herself repeatedly across the face, saying, "It's all my fault, it's all my fault."

Li Yang snapped out of his daze and stopped him, "Manager Zhong, the goods are due tomorrow, let's figure out how to resolve this matter first."

She had no time to act out the master-servant relationship with Zhong Qian right now. After such a big incident, he finally told her about Brother Long's background. Naturally, she would investigate this matter, but not now.

Right now, the order she finally managed to get from Liu Yitong is probably going to fall through... She had originally planned to clear out the inventory this month to stop the bleeding in the books, and then start making money to cover the losses after the gazebo in the backyard was renovated next month... Now, this is adding insult to injury.

Right now, what she's most worried about isn't the Huaju account, but Liu Yitong's side. Based on what she'd seen at the banquet that night, this Mr. Liu's personality, though she'd rather not admit it, is indeed somewhat similar to hers... Now that things have suddenly gone wrong, she's afraid Liu Yitong won't let it go easily.

"Manager Zhong, hurry! Send someone to Liu's Salt Shop to inform General Manager Liu of this matter. Be quick!" Having figured out the key points, she immediately issued the order, hoping that the message would arrive in time and there would still be room for maneuver.

Upon receiving the order, Zhong Qian dashed out. He was now thinking about how to make amends, and his biggest fear was that the young mistress would abandon him and ignore him.

Seeing that the young mistress was still willing to entrust him with affairs, how could he not work hard? He ran to the Liu family's salt shop to deliver the message, panting heavily.

Seeing the trail of dust rising behind him, Li Yang wanted to laugh, but couldn't. After a brief pause, he got up, hailed a carriage, and hurriedly headed towards the Chen family's main branch.

This matter cannot be kept from Chen Junbo. Otherwise, it would be bad if Chen Junbo were still in the dark when that General Manager Liu came knocking on his door.

Besides, this whole mess was caused by her mother-in-law, so she wasn't afraid of what Chen Junbai would say... Even though she had made such a mess of things and was going to have to trouble Chen Junbai, the thought of Chen Zhangshi gave her some confidence.

Suddenly, a muffled clap of thunder boomed, and the clear blue sky and white clouds just moments before turned gray and heavy overhead, signaling that a downpour was about to begin.