Li Zheng scooped up a spoonful and put it in his mouth. He neither found it delicious nor bad, but he drank quite a bit of the wine next to him.
Qin Wu sighed, and seeing that Qiu Yan was no longer paying attention to him, he had no choice but to go back into the kitchen.
Whether they can shed their identity as head chefs depends on their young master.
Zhou Zifang curled his lip. "If you don't want to be a cook, then so be it. But Qiu Yan, I think you're quite good at business. Could you stay in our restaurant and become the manager of Xingyue Tower?"
Lin Shu froze instantly. Their young master was being way too nice to this young girl in front of him; he was even jealous.
After hearing this, Li Zheng turned and took a closer look at Zhou Zifang. Could this kid have some ulterior motive towards Qiu Yan?
Qiu Yan smiled and replied, "I'm sorry, I have younger siblings to take care of at home, so I really can't take on this responsibility."
"Oh." Zhou Zifang's voice lowered slightly. "Qiu Yan, think carefully before answering my question, don't rush to refuse."
"No need to think about it, but I can give you some ideas." For the sake of the wild game business in the future, Qiu Yan decided to help Zhou Zifang and also find a good way for herself and Uncle Li.
"Is this really true?" Zhou Zifang couldn't help but stand up.
Qiu Yan nodded, "Yes, it's true."
"If you can help me make the restaurant business successful, I'll give you 30% of the profits." Zhou Zifang felt that if the business could really be successful, the money would be well spent.
In order to get Qiu Yan to help him as much as possible, Zhou Zifang went to get paper and pen as soon as he finished speaking, preparing to draw up a written agreement and sign it.
A 30% profit? This young shopkeeper trusts her far too much; he doesn't even understand himself. However, nobody turns down money, especially Qiu Yan right now.
It's just offering suggestions; I don't lose anything, at most I just don't make any money.
First, he lured her with profits, then took the opportunity to deepen their emotional connection. Li Zheng was certain that this kid had definitely developed some ulterior motives towards Qiu Yan.
He had to remind Qiu Yan when necessary.
During the meal, Li Zheng, who had been silent the whole time, listened quietly to Qiu Yan talk without finding it boring.
By the time Qiu Yan and Li Zheng left Xingyue Tower, it was already past 1:00 PM.
Zhou Zifang's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
However, Qiu Yan's first request was for him to hire another cook.
In his opinion, it's really hard to find a decent cook in such a small county as Baiyang.
As soon as she stepped out of Xingyue Tower, Qiu Yan stared at the figures in the distance. A child was running hard, with an old woman chasing after him.
For a moment, she felt that the figure looked familiar, but soon the figure disappeared.
Seeing Qiu Yan staring blankly ahead, Li Zheng looked at her too and couldn't help but ask, "Qiu Yan, what's wrong?"
Qiu Yan slowly shook her head. "It's nothing. I probably didn't eat enough at noon and was hallucinating."
Li Zheng wanted to say that you ate for an hour at noon and you're still not full.
Ren'ai Hall was not far from Xingyue Tower. Qiu Yan first asked Li Zheng to wait for her where she was, and then she went to Ren'ai Hall alone with the herbs on her back.
Practice makes perfect, and this time, the pharmacist Hu had already remembered her.
There's no other reason than that most herbal medicine sellers are middle-aged people, and there are very few young girls like Qiu Yan who are gentle on the outside but strong on the inside.
Qiu Yan earned two taels of silver and five hundred coins from the herbs this time, several hundred coins more than she had expected.
Just as she came out of the pharmacy, she suddenly saw a small and familiar figure again, exactly the same as the one she had just seen.
And that figure was being carried forward by an old woman.
It was this familiarity that brought to mind a soft, adorable little face, causing her heart to race.
The figure was too far away, so Qiu Yan started running quickly towards the old woman in front of her so she could see the child clearly.
She moved with lightning speed, quickly catching up with the woman, and then blocked her path horizontally.
Upon seeing Qiu Yan, the child in the old woman's arms blinked.
The moment he saw Qiu Yan, all the pent-up frustration of the past few days erupted, and he burst into tears.
He was dressed in light blue brocade robes, his face was covered in dirt, his hair was messy, and his dirty little face was covered in tear stains. It was none other than Gu Xiaoran.
The old woman stopped and glared at Qiu Yan. "Get out of the way!"
Qiu Yan asked, "Why is Xiao Ran in your hands?" Could Gu Xiao Ran have some relationship with the woman in front of her? Could she be his grandmother?
Her words immediately attracted a large crowd.
Looking at the bustling crowd in the distance, Li Zheng sensed something was amiss and drove his donkey cart to find Qiu Yan.
Who is Xiao Ran? The old woman was a little flustered and wondered to herself, could it be that this child really has some relationship with the girl in front of her?
But that shouldn't be the case. She and her wife bought this child from a neighboring county to avoid future trouble.
"You've mistaken me for someone else. This is our lady's child. You're just a poor girl, yet you try to claim kinship. You really don't know your place!"
Upon hearing the old woman's words, Gu Xiaoran began to shout, "Mother, save me! I'm not Madam's child, I don't know them, I'm Xiaoran, I'm Mother's child..."
Gu Xiaoran felt that if he shouted like that, the old woman would be frightened to see that his mother had come.
Qiu Yan didn't know how to respond to Gu Xiaoran.
Qiu Yan was certain that Gu Xiaoran and the old woman in front of her had no relation whatsoever.
"Xiao Ran is my child, give her back my child!"
The old woman looked at Qiu Yan with suspicion. She looked to be only about ten years old. How could she have a child that big?
Perhaps, this young lady just looks young.
The lady didn't want anyone to know that she had bought the child from a human trafficker.
Even though the child's origins are unknown, the lady likes the child very much now.
Gu Xiaoran cried even louder, looking pitifully at Qiu Yan, her lifeline.
"Dream on! How dare she claim our lady's child as her own? She's really courting death!" The old woman was already panicking, afraid that her husband's wife would actually take the child back and she would be punished.
To prevent Qiu Yan from taking the child away, she started shouting at the top of her lungs, "Help! A child trafficker is trying to snatch the child... This girl is in cahoots with the traffickers... Help! Help me..."
After saying that, she turned and ran away with her child in her arms.
"Help! This girl is a child trafficker, she's trying to steal my child..."
Instantly, everyone around Qiu Yan started pointing and whispering, cursing the human traffickers as utterly despicable.
Qiu Yan quickly took a few steps forward, grabbed the old woman by the back of her collar, and within half a breath, she had her neck in her throat. "Trying to leave? Not so easy!"
Then, she forcefully snatched Gu Xiaoran back and pushed the old woman to the ground, demanding, "Tell me, where did the child come from!"
The old woman refused to tell the truth, her voice trembling as she spoke because of Qiu Yan's actions, "Don't do anything rash, the child really is our madam's."
At this moment, two men in gray clothes suddenly appeared from afar. They were servants of the mansion and came from the same family as the old woman.
They were originally accompanying the lady shopping at a clothing store when they heard the shouts and ran over.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
