Chapter 552 Bearing the Consequences of Choices

Xinglong Restaurant attracted many repeat customers after its opening.

Aside from Chun Changzai, everyone had some impression of the other restaurants and was curious about the background of the new restaurant's owner.

Only after inquiring did I learn that they were just an ordinary merchant and a country woman. The only person with any status was a man named Feng Gan.

Even so, the opening of Xinglong Restaurant attracted two imperial officials from Yunhe County, which makes one wonder if the restaurant's rapid development was due to government support.

Although Wan Qiqi was a woman, her husband worked in the government and was the leader of the patrol and security management team in Yunhe County.

With him around, even if restaurants whose business was being taken away had complaints, they didn't dare to cause trouble easily, for fear of being targeted by the government and having their shops shut down.

As for Wan Qiqi, the protagonist of these events, she didn't care about these things at all and was focused on the restaurant's affairs.

The opening of Xinglong Restaurant made it quite famous in Yunhe County, attracting many job applicants.

Zhu Chengye and Wan Qiqi selected a few people from this group and had Erpang and other veteran employees guide them to familiarize themselves with the restaurant environment and conduct a new round of assessments.

Those who are not competent should be transferred as soon as possible to avoid wasting time and resources.

The two employers will give opportunities to families in need, but that doesn't mean these people can rely on not working hard and still stay. They want people who can work diligently.

At the same time, Wan Qiqi officially opened the second-floor terrace, starting a business similar to afternoon tea.

Many women who had heard about it came to investigate what made Xinglong Restaurant so unique.

Wan Qiqi personally greeted them and led them to sit on the second-floor terrace, saying, "Madams, I see you are new here. Why don't you try our plum juice and double-skin milk pudding and see if you can adapt to our tastes?"

"Xinglong Restaurant has female waitresses?" The noble lady looked at Wan Qiqi, but felt that she didn't seem like a waitress. Although her clothes weren't the best, they weren't bad either.

Wan Qiqi wasn't angry that the other party mistook her for a waiter. Instead, she smiled and said, "I would like to hire a female waiter. Women are meticulous and would be perfect for serving ladies like you. However, people generally believe that women shouldn't show their faces in public..."

She stopped there and didn't say anything more.

The two seated ladies immediately understood Wan Qiqi's meaning and guessed her identity.

One of them said, "Women should not show their faces in public. This is a rule set by our ancestors. How can we break it?"

"That being said, if a husband passes away, leaving only the wife and children in the family, then she still needs to come out and show her face in public, otherwise who will raise her children for her?"

Wan Qiqi still maintains her opinion on this matter.

“This is an exception, and naturally it will be recognized by others. Ordinary women would not act this way,” the woman in the blue dress retorted.

“What you say is true, but a woman should also have her own ideas. If she relies on others for everything, she will find it difficult to survive when she loses them,” Wan Qiqi explained.

The woman in the green robe seemed to disagree with Wan Qiqi's words, her eyebrows furrowing slightly, showing signs of anger.

The woman in blue immediately said, "Just bring us one of your recommendations. If it tastes good, I will definitely bring the other ladies to try it next time."

"Thank you, Madam." Wan Qiqi bowed politely and turned to leave the terrace.

The woman in the green dress slammed her hand on the table and said, "Sister, why are you being so polite to this country bumpkin? Look at her, she exudes poverty and squalor."

As she finished speaking, she covered her nose with a handkerchief.

“Sister, we are all women, why make things difficult for women?” The woman in blue smiled gently and said, “Although she shows her face in public, she does no less than men. How many of us can do that?”

"If it weren't for someone in our family keeping an eye on us, with our abilities, surely we could open a shop?" The woman in the green dress raised her head, looking arrogant.

"But her husband is so supportive of her and doesn't mind her at all." The woman in blue looked in the direction Wan Qiqi had left, a hint of envy in her eyes.

The woman in the blue dress also felt envious, but ultimately their statuses were different, and so would their circumstances.

Since marrying into a higher social class, they have lost control of their own destiny and can only let their husbands arrange things for them.

Ultimately, however, Wan Qiqi still falls short of them.

Families that can be called aristocratic families have all achieved their current status through the accumulation of time and the passing down of knowledge from generation to generation, which is something that newly established families cannot compare to.

Just like the difference in background between Chen Yongnian and Xie Xing, no matter how they change afterward, they cannot change the gap between them.

Wan Qiqi paid no attention to these discussions. She simply served the two guests their meals and then turned and disappeared from the terrace.

Erpang overheard the two ladies' conversation in the private room and found Wan Qiqi, asking, "Sister Qiqi, are we really going to entertain these ladies?"

Wan Qiqi turned her head to look at Erpang, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "What's the problem?"

"It's not that there's any problem, but we're men. If we accidentally bump into each other, our hands will probably get chopped off..." Erpang said, lowering his head.

"The waiters at Zuijianglou are all men, so why can they satisfy these ladies while you can't?" Wan Qiqi stared at Erpang and said seriously, "Erpang, you need to know that we are no worse than Zuijianglou, otherwise why would these people come to Xinglong Restaurant?"

“I know, but I’m afraid…” Erpang said, then looked up and said, “Sister Qi, Sixi is a woman, and she’s clever. Why don’t you let her come over? She’ll definitely be able to make the business on the second floor a success!”

When Si Xi was mentioned, a hint of disappointment flashed in Wan Qiqi's eyes, and she sighed, "I asked her, and she refused me because of her grandmother's illness."

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