Chapter 308 Don’t even think about having an easy life
In order to confirm the situation of the shop, Su Ying planned to go and see it in person.
After Su Ying assigned tasks to the three children, she asked the guards to prepare an inconspicuous little carriage and took Bai Shuang out of the house.
The first place they went to was the restaurant closest to the palace, which had the best geographical location but was still making a loss.
When they arrived, it was almost noon. The restaurant was packed with people, and even the lobby on the first floor was almost full.
When Su Ying and Bai Shuang walked to the door of the restaurant, a waiter came forward to greet them.
"Do you two guests want to eat?"
"Well, just choose a seat in the lobby."
The waiter was stunned for a moment, as if he didn't expect Su Ying to be willing to sit in the lobby. Those who could come to their restaurant to eat were either rich or noble, and were more or less particular. Women seldom sat in the lobby.
But since Su Ying asked, the waiter still invited her in. There happened to be an empty seat near the corner of the lobby.
"Just tell me what you want to eat."
"Bring me all your signature dishes."
"Okay, wait a moment."
While Su Ying and the others were waiting, more people came into the restaurant and there was almost no room left, so they had to ask people to wait for a table outside.
The restaurant's kitchen was also very efficient and the food was served quickly.
"Madam, look, this is our restaurant's signature crispy chicken, this is the carp leaping over the dragon gate, and this is the braised lion's head..."
The waiter listed a series of dishes.
"How much is this table?"
After calculating, the waiter said, "Madam, these dishes cost five taels of silver in total."
Su Ying nodded without comment, signaling him to leave.
Bai Shuang looked at the dishes on the table and couldn't help but smack her lips, "This dish alone costs almost one tael of silver..."
These ingredients look like ordinary stuff, and all added up would cost no more than a few hundred copper coins.
With food prices like this, how can this restaurant still make a loss every year?
Su Ying didn't say anything. The food was already served, so why not eat?
After eating and drinking her fill, Su Ying put down her chopsticks and asked the waiter to call the shopkeeper over.
The waiter responded with a smile and called the shopkeeper who was calculating the bill to his side.
Shopkeeper Li saw Su Ying was a little confused and asked, "Madam, what do you want to see me for?"
Su Ying smiled and said, "It's nothing serious. I just want to talk to you about purchasing this restaurant."
Shopkeeper Li was stunned for a moment, then he started laughing, "Madam, are you joking?"
"You look at me as if I'm joking. I heard that your restaurant has been losing money for years and can only barely survive. It's such a waste of such a good place, so I plan to pay a sum of money to buy it. What do you think, boss?"
When Manager Li heard Su Ying's words, he couldn't help laughing. It was a sneer. "Madam, please stop laughing. You can see that a restaurant as big as ours is not likely to lose money. If you want to buy it, I'm afraid you will be bankrupted and you won't be able to take over this restaurant."
"I don't believe it. I'll pay you one thousand taels of silver. You can have someone sign the deed."
Shopkeeper Li concluded that Su Ying was here to cause trouble. His smile gradually faded, and he glared at Su Ying with disdain and said, "If Madam is here to cause trouble, don't blame me for being rude."
"You guys lose money every year. I'm paying you to give me this restaurant. How can I be the one causing trouble?"
Su Ying couldn't help but raise her voice, and the people around her laughed when they heard it.
"Madam, please don't be ridiculous. This is Deyang Tower. How could Deyang Tower lose money? The monthly income is almost several hundred taels of silver. You want to buy Deyang Tower for one thousand taels of silver. Isn't this a joke?"
The diners nearby spoke up for Shopkeeper Li.
Shopkeeper Li looked at Su Ying proudly, "Did you hear that? I'm not the only one who said that."
Su Ying nodded in realization, and a faint smile suddenly appeared on her face, "Oh... So you have been cooking the books."
Shopkeeper Li's eyes changed slightly, and he stared at Su Ying warily, "Who are you? What nonsense are you talking about?"
Su Ying reached out her hand, and Bai Shuang threw an account book on the table. "You have been working here for a long time, so explain to me why Deyang Building has a loss almost every year according to this account book, huh?"
Shopkeeper Li's pupils shrank, "Who are you?"
"Who do you think I am, the owner of this restaurant?"
Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Li turned around and wanted to run away.
Su Ying picked up the chopsticks on the table and threw them away.
"ah!"
The chopsticks pierced into Shopkeeper Li's thigh fiercely, and Shopkeeper Li fell to the ground in embarrassment.
The diners in the restaurant were shocked when they saw this, and many of them ran out. Su Ying immediately asked the guards at the door to block the door.
Su Ying glanced at them coldly, "You want to run away before you even give me the money?"
Shopkeeper Li looked back at Su Ying who was approaching step by step, and stepped back in fear, "You, you are the Princess of Qi!"
During this period, Su Ying's reputation for cruelty had already spread through the efforts of various parties, and Manager Li could not help but feel frightened.
Su Ying came up to him and looked down at him, "Who asked you to make fake accounts?"
"It's a shame, it's not fake... No!" Shopkeeper Li suddenly glared at Su Ying's back, "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and do it!"
The thugs who came behind to inquire rushed over. They didn't care about Su Ying's identity. They would listen to whoever gave them money.
Su Ying's eyebrows jumped, and she grabbed a bench beside her and smashed it hard on the thugs.
More than a dozen thugs were knocked to the ground by Su Ying in less than half an hour.
Shopkeeper Li was so frightened that his face turned pale. He tried desperately to crawl out the door, but Su Ying stepped on his thigh.
"I'll give you one hour to have the person who swallowed the silver return all the silver immediately."
Su Ying pushed harder with her feet, and the scream of Shopkeeper Li echoed throughout the restaurant.
The diners were terrified and paid their bills and left, fearing that they would become the ones affected.
"Princess, please spare me, please spare me. It was the Prime Minister's wife. It was the Prime Minister's wife who asked me to make false accounts." Shopkeeper Li turned pale with pain and his voice was hoarse.
Su Ying lowered her eyes and patted the crumbs on her clothes. "I don't care who you are. I want to see the banknotes in an hour. If you are late by a quarter of an hour, I will crush one of your bones until all the bones in your body are crushed."
"Yes, yes..." Shopkeeper Li shouted to the hiding clerk, "Why are you still standing there? Go and tell the Prime Minister's wife, hurry up!"
The waiter was so frightened that he rushed out of the restaurant and went to the Prime Minister's Mansion to look for someone.
Shopkeeper Li was a distant cousin of Oe Genji. After Shopkeeper Li's family heard the news, they also followed him to the Prime Minister's Mansion.
"Madam, you must save your cousin. He has done a lot for you over the years!"
Xiao Jiang Yuanji had a dark face and just wanted to crush Su Ying to death.
"If you don't save people, you, you won't have an easy life either!"
(End of this chapter)
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