As soon as Ye Hongxue finished speaking, everyone's eyes flicked to Baili Tang. Baili Tang pretended not to hear and continued to chop wood leisurely, sweating profusely.

"How shameless! Chef Lu has nearly thirty years of experience as a chef. How can he compare to him?"

"If he can cook, what about us? How can it be his turn?"

"I think he'd be good at chopping wood. He looks fat and strong."

Everyone started to laugh at each other.

Ye Hongxue coughed and said, "Boss, are they questioning you?"

"Many people doubt me." Baili Tang's words were true. Everyone was calling him a tyrant. Could he explain himself to every person who doubted him?

"You were born to chop wood!" Ye Hongxue took the opportunity to insult Baili Tang again. The implication was - if you, Baili Tang, hadn't been born into an imperial family, you would have been barely a woodcutter, right?

But Baili Tang said calmly: "There is no distinction between high and low labor."

Pretty good at talking!

Not long after, the shopkeeper arrived. This morning, he looked much more haggard than yesterday. He had only just heard Master Lu say he was leaving last night.

Not only that, the owner of the shop that had poached someone else's property had even invited the opera troupe and its top performers from Cuiyi Tower on the Daqin River to perform for the entire day. Even now, the waiters from that shop were already beating drums and gongs in the street, announcing the news.

"Boss, how could Master Lu just leave like that? Isn't he so unkind?"

"Yes! How could there be such a person? If it weren't for you, the shopkeeper, cultivating him over the years..."

The shopkeeper interrupted the employees and said, "Alright, go back to your work." Then he walked over to Baili Tang and said, "I'm afraid I'm sorry to both of you."

"Boss, no charge." Ye Hongxue, you are going too far!

"Even if you don't want money, I wouldn't dare to keep you two. You two are from the underworld, right?" After thinking all night, the shopkeeper suspected that these two might be the fish that slipped through the net of Wuya Peak.

The shopkeeper said, giving them twenty copper coins, which was quite generous.

"Boss, you're really good at nothing. You went to Xiyun County to pick lychees, but got stung by a poisonous bee and went blind. You're chopping wood for the shopkeeper, but he's almost losing his business. Wherever you go, whoever you meet is unlucky." Ye Hongxue took the opportunity to dig holes in him, "You really are the God of Plague!"

Baili Tang is no pushover either: "A family without a virtuous wife will suffer poverty for a long time! A family without a virtuous wife will suffer poverty!"

Everyone's eyes lit up. They never thought that this one-eyed fat man could say such profound words!

Two good sentences: A family without a virtuous wife will suffer poverty for a long time!

Women, you must never forget your responsibilities - to take care of your husband and children!

Baili Tang continued, "Besides your martial arts and your endless stream of sarcastic remarks, what else can you do? Can you embroider? Can you wash clothes or cook? You spend money lavishly. You're so ugly, and yet you still want to buy rouge and powder... You're a bitch. No matter which man you marry, you'll ruin the family. I might as well divorce you and let you marry the Emperor of Yue. That way, Yue will soon be destroyed..."

When it comes to bickering, Baili Tang has never lost!

Ye Hongxue was worthy of being a general of the Jing Kingdom. She smiled, walked up to Baili Tang, snatched the twenty copper coins from his hand, and threw them all away in front of everyone: "Boss, you should think about how to solve the lunch problem. This time you won't even have any steamed buns to eat."

This woman is so cruel!

The shopkeeper and others were so frightened that they took several steps back.

"If I can help the shopkeeper earn 10,000 taels of silver within five days, we can part ways amicably from now on, how about that?" Baili Tang challenged.

"What if not?" Ye Hongxue sneered.

"I'll chop firewood for the shopkeeper for free for the rest of his life!"

"Are you serious?"

"No kidding!"

In five days, earn ten thousand taels of silver? The shopkeeper thought to himself, I have run this tavern for twenty or thirty years and I can't earn ten thousand taels of silver, let alone in five days!

So the shopkeeper said, "I'm sorry, but our shop no longer needs woodcutters." We don't need free woodcutters either, so you'd better leave quickly.

The others laughed heartily. "You're just a woodcutter, earning only eight cents a day, and you're still speaking nonsense like that? How ridiculous!"

Ye Hongxue also wanted to see if this tyrant's abilities were as great as his words. "Do you think you're still the emperor who commands all the people? Can you force tens of thousands of soldiers to cheer and applaud you just by singing?"

Don't give it a chance to try. The shopkeeper is busy, how can he have the time to chat with you?

Baili Tang couldn't convince the shopkeeper, but getting the employees to speak for him wasn't a difficult task for him. He planned to start with the employees.

"Boss, are you a good person?" Baili Tang asked.

Without waiting for the shopkeeper to reply, the shop assistants immediately said, "Our shopkeeper is one of the most kind-hearted people on the whole street. He..."

"And yet this kindhearted man can't even afford to support a fellow like me, who chops wood quickly and well for only eight cents. Then, more than half of you ten or so will be laid off. If the tavern really goes bankrupt, all of you will be out of work.

The owner is a wealthy man, so he doesn't care about this little business. At worst, he can just sublet the tavern. But what about you who rely on this job to support your family?

The Daqin River is so small, and there are only a few taverns. Unbeknownst to everyone, you guys just bankrupted a tavern that's been running for over twenty years. So, with all this bad luck, which tavern would be willing to hire you?"

Not to mention people in ancient times, some superstitious human resources managers would be hesitant to hire an employee who has repeatedly brought his employer to bankruptcy... It's not like they can't recruit people.

The guys all shut up. They had just been acting like it was none of their business, but now they were frightened by Baili Tang's words. If it weren't for Master Lu, their tavern would have been closed down long ago.

Now Master Lu has left without a care in the world, without even a thought of their past friendship. I'm afraid that within a few days, their tavern's business will plummet.

The only way for the tavern to maintain its previous business is to hire another chef who can rival Master Lu.

The shopkeeper thought that this man was very good at manipulating people. After all, he wouldn't give money if he tried it or not, and there was nothing to lose. So he asked, "What do you want to do?"

Baili Tang said, "Have them spread the news immediately. Tell them we've found a chef who's many times better than Master Lu. Within five days, your tavern will earn ten thousand taels."

The shopkeeper immediately said to the men, "Half of them will go right away."

"Alright!" they said, picking up the gong and heading out to the street. Once this news got out, they were afraid their tavern would become a household name in Qinhe Prefecture. Whether it would become a laughingstock wasn't something they needed to worry about right now.

Ye Hongxue laughed in her heart: The tyrant's words are really good.

Sadly, this is just the beginning.

Earning ten thousand taels of silver in five days is just a foolish dream!