Next, Manager Lin gave the group a cold glance and said irritably, "I've already agreed to compensate everyone, what else are you dissatisfied with?"
"Of course we're not satisfied!"
Those men immediately shouted, "If it were just a meal, we would have agreed just now. Why wait until now? Let me tell you, we don't need your meal!"
"..."
Upon hearing this, Manager Lin was about to get angry, but he suddenly held back, a thought forming in his mind: Since they wouldn't agree, why not just go along with them and not offer a free meal? That way, no one else could find fault with him, right? After all, it was the person in charge who disagreed, so what business was it of his?
At most, they'd only compensate each person who got hit with something with a few taels of silver, but how many of them are there? It's still better than giving everyone a free meal!
Thinking about it this way, Manager Lin was much happier. "Alright, since you don't agree to let me give you a free meal, what do you want?"
"Manager Lin, you've misunderstood."
Jing Zhe had already seen through Manager Lin's thoughts and immediately said, "What these gentlemen mean is that they only disagree with your decision to waive their bills. As for the bills of the others, you should still waive them!"
"..."
The others hadn't thought of this before, but after Jing Zhe mentioned it, they immediately realized: Goodness, so he wanted to take this opportunity to back out!
So he shouted angrily, "Manager Lin, we've already made it clear that you agreed to give us a free meal. If you dare to go back on your word, we're going to storm upstairs no matter what!"
"Who...who changed their mind?"
Manager Lin immediately backed down, and at the same time shifted his anger to Jing Zhe, who had ruined his plans once again.
Jing Zhe didn't care at all, and stepped forward again, saying, "If you gentlemen trust me, then I'll give you some advice!"
Given Jing Zhe's performance, the others naturally kept nodding in approval.
"Okay, I think Manager Lin has had a tough time too, so let's not make things too difficult for him. Let's give each other a way out, that's enough, don't you all agree?"
"Right..."
Since the peacemaker had said so, the group had no choice but to agree.
"Your magnanimity is truly admirable!"
The others also fawned over him, after all, Jing Zhe had helped them get the benefit of a free meal, so who else should they praise but him?
Only Manager Lin thought to himself: "Thank you so much, your whole family! You'd better help me this time, or I'll keep cursing your whole family!"
Then, Jing Zhe continued, "So, everyone else got their meals for free, but as the victims, how about we ask Manager Lin to waive ten meals for you?"
The group thought about it and realized that since things had come to this point, they had no choice but to agree. Besides, they had only been hit by a piece of clothing, and they had already cursed at the same time. They could also get ten free meals, which was not bad at all. They would get a few taels of silver per meal, so it wouldn't be a loss!
So he nodded and said, "Alright, for the sake of this young master, we agree!"
"..."
A...you agreed?
Hearing the others agree, Manager Lin was a little taken aback.
Is ten meals a lot for him?
Compared to giving everyone a free meal, it's not much. If they had brought this up from the beginning, I would have agreed long ago. Why wait until now and end up making him give so many people a free meal?
But they clearly said they weren't short of money for food!
So Manager Lin asked what was on his mind: "Gentlemen...didn't you just say that you wouldn't mind paying for this meal?"
Before the others could speak, Jing Zhe replied with a smile, "These gentlemen are certainly not short of money for this one meal. What they are short of is ten meals."
"..."
Manager Lin's face turned ashen as he watched Jing Zhe leave.
After Jing Zhe left, someone remarked, "It seems that President Jing not only writes excellent poetry, but also has very little airs of an official and is always thinking about us ordinary people!"
"Yes, I recognized President Jing just now. I thought he would protect them because of the Feng Family Restaurant!"
"I really didn't expect this. It seems that the news we heard about President Jing before wasn't true!"
"..."
The crowd began to murmur amongst themselves. Clearly, some of the people in the hall had just come from the Peach Blossom Poetry Gathering and knew Jing Zhe, but hadn't had a chance to mention it.
Now that Jing Zhe is gone, they speak freely, except for Manager Lin, who is a little confused: "What are you talking about? What President Jing? Who is President Jing?"
The man who was hit on the head by the man's underpants didn't actually know Jing Zhe, but as soon as Jing Zhe left, someone else told him. At this moment, he snorted coldly and looked at Manager Lin with extreme disdain.
"Hehe, you don't even recognize President Jing? Manager Lin, that's not very good! President Jing is naturally President Jing of Da'an Newspaper!"
"Da'an Newspaper...President Jing?"
Manager Lin was both familiar and unfamiliar with this name.
What he was familiar with was that he had actually heard this name many times, especially when it was mentioned by scholars at poetry gatherings held in restaurants.
What's unfamiliar is that he had only heard of Jing Zhe before, but had never met him or had any interaction with him. It would be strange if he could recognize Jing Zhe when he suddenly appeared!
However, since he is President Jing, then…
Manager Lin suddenly realized that a high-ranking official of the second rank had not come to Feng's Restaurant to play a friendly match with Madam Feng, had he?
No, I have to go and inform them right away!
Thinking this, Manager Lin was about to run upstairs, but before he could take two steps, he was stopped by someone.
"Manager Lin, what's wrong with you?"
"You agreed, then ran away the next minute?"
"Let me tell you, this won't do! You agreed to the free meal in front of President Jing. If you dare to go back on your word, even if we smash up your restaurant today, President Jing will have your back!"
"Yes, if you dare to go back on your word, we dare to smash this place!"
"..."
Everyone thought Manager Lin was going to run away, and they were all indignant. Moreover, with Jing Zhe as their "guarantee," they were full of confidence.
"Who said I wanted to run away?"
Manager Lin now hates Jing Zhe to death.
"If you don't want to escape, why are you running around aimlessly?"
"I ran away...because of...Prefect Xu?"
Before he could finish speaking, Manager Lin saw Magistrate Xu come down the stairs. His expression was normal, and he was wearing the same long robe he had worn before, which seemed to be no different from when he came.
However, Manager Lin had sharp eyes and immediately noticed the difference—Prefect Xu had changed his trousers, and if he wasn't mistaken, he must have changed his underpants as well, because his underpants were currently lying on the ground…
Magistrate Xu noticed Manager Lin's gaze, quickly pulled his foot back, and glared at Manager Lin, seemingly scolding him for looking around.
"What's going on? What are you all doing blocking the stairwell? Are you trying to prevent people from going downstairs? You're all important people in Jiangling City, what kind of behavior is this, with everyone gathered together like this?"
"I said in a cold voice."
"..."
————
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