As Manager Hu hesitated, a servant came down from upstairs and whispered a few words in his ear.
After listening to this, Manager Hu called over the bald waiter and said a few words to him. The bald waiter hesitated for a moment, then ran away.
It turned out that the Crown Prince of Yu had witnessed the whole thing from upstairs. Although he was also unhappy, the money that was lost wasn't his. He didn't want Manager Hu to ruin his good deed, so he urged Manager Hu to pay up the money quickly.
He also promised that even if Jing Zhe took the money, he would not leave Ruzhou City. As long as he was in the city, the money would not be lost!
Now that things had come to this, Manager Hu understood that Jing Zhe's ability to guess all the riddles was not due to collusion between the bald waiter and him, but rather to his own skill!
After hunting eagles for so many years, I never imagined that I would be pecked in the eye by an eagle.
Manager Hu shook his head and smiled bitterly, but a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes: You just wait, this money will come back to me sooner or later, and it won't be as simple as just coming back!
Before long, the bald waiter came over carrying a small iron box with a delicate silver lock hanging on it.
Manager Hu took out the key, unlocked the lock, and counted all the silver notes inside. Then he took out the two thousand five hundred taels of silver notes that the bald waiter had just given him from his pocket and handed them to Jing Zhe: "Count them, twelve thousand five hundred taels!"
Jing Zhe saw everything he did, especially the last two thousand five hundred taels, which he had just handed over, indicating that Manager Hu had no more money left. These ten thousand taels of silver notes represented all of Juxianlou's savings!
Haha, that's exactly the effect I wanted!
After counting the silver notes, Jing Zhe put them all into his pocket and said with a smile, "Manager Hu is very generous. I'll reluctantly accept these silver notes!"
"..."
A collective sigh rippled through the crowd: "You're really making a difficult decision? If you find it hard, you can give it to us. It's not difficult for us!"
After Jing Zhe put away the silver notes, Manager Hu said, "Young master, don't forget that you get fifty taels of silver for guessing a riddle correctly. Our Juxianlou will give you 12,500 taels of silver notes, and Zhou Family Cloth Shop will also give you 12,500 taels of silver notes!"
Reminded by Manager Hu, Jing Zhe suddenly realized and said, "That's true. Does Miss Zhou have money?"
"I...I didn't..."
Zhou Ziqiong said somewhat flusteredly.
"Young master, she has no money, but the Zhou family's cloth shop is worth a lot of silver! You can have her mortgage the cloth shop to you. As long as the Zhou family can't come up with the silver, the Zhou family's cloth shop is yours!"
This was originally the plan of Manager Hu and Prince Yu.
If the Zhou family sends one of their own men, the man in the cotton-padded coat who was beaten to the point of near death by Chen Jiannan and his group, to guess two hundred riddles correctly, then the Zhou family will have to pay five thousand taels of silver.
Given the current situation of the Zhou family, they certainly cannot afford it. Therefore, they will force Zhou Ziqiong to pledge the Zhou family's cloth shop. In this way, Manager Hu will make money, the Qu family's cloth shop will be able to swallow up the Zhou family's cloth shop, and most importantly, the Prince of Yu can also take over Zhou Ziqiong, who no longer has the Zhou family's halo. It can be described as killing three birds with one stone.
After seeing the foolish Jing Zhe yesterday, they slightly adjusted their plan, adding a scheme to induce Jing Zhe to spend more money guessing riddles. In the end, after Jing Zhe lost all his wealth, Prefect Liu would then step in to find him a son-in-law.
The original plan of killing three birds with one stone has been transformed into killing four birds with one stone, allowing all four members of their team to benefit from it—a truly seamless arrangement!
But despite all his calculations, he never expected that Jing Zhe would overhear their plan and then turn the tables on them, pretending to be a fool and ruining their entire scheme!
Therefore, Manager Hu can only make temporary adjustments, letting Jing Zhe take over the Zhou family's cloth shop, and then they can secretly take action against Jing Zhe!
"Oh, you can do that?"
Jing Zhe glanced at Zhou Ziqiong and asked.
"Of course! Paying back debts is a matter of course! Our Juxianlou has already given the young master 12,500 taels as promised! Miss Zhou should also fulfill her promise. If Miss Zhou cannot come up with the money, it is only right that she mortgages the Zhou family cloth shop!"
Hu Zhanggui, a kind-hearted citizen, offered advice and suggestions to Jing Zhe online.
Zhou Ziqiong's face had turned deathly pale.
It seems he was right before; his wife, Zhang Xiaoyu, will become the number one businesswoman in Anguo…
"That seems to be the case..."
Jing Zhe chuckled, and just when Manager Hu thought his plan was about to succeed, Jing Zhe suddenly changed the subject: "But Manager Hu must have forgotten what I said before, right?"
"What?"
"I'd like to tell Miss Zhou that if I can solve all the riddles, I won't ask for a single penny from you. All I need is for you to spend a day with me. Is that alright, Miss Zhou?"
As he spoke, Jing Zhe smiled and winked at Zhou Ziqiong.
In that instant, Zhou Ziqiong felt a sense of déjà vu, as if she had seen that look in her eyes many years ago.
But she miraculously understood Jing Zhe's gaze, realizing that he wasn't genuinely trying to get her to stay with him, but rather putting on a good show…
"This...this...this can't be!"
Manager Hu never expected Jing Zhe to be so "foolish." That was over ten thousand taels of silver! An ordinary person couldn't earn that much in ten lifetimes. Moreover, with that money, he could be a groom every day and have a wedding night every night, but he only let Zhou Ziqiong accompany him for one day—was it worth it?
The most crucial question is—if he doesn't ask Zhou Ziqiong for money, how am I supposed to explain this to the Crown Prince of Yu?
"Why not?"
Jing Zhe retorted with a cold laugh, "Since I guessed all the riddles correctly, the reward money should naturally belong to me. Even if I give all the money that Manager Hu gave me to Miss Zhou, no one can say a word against it!"
"..."
Upon hearing this, Manager Hu knew that their scheme to scheme against Jing Zhe had failed. Not only would the Prince of Yu not be able to get Zhou Ziqiong and that young lady, but the Zhou family's cotton-padded coats had also sold several hundred pieces that night. Word spread that the Zhou family's business should be turning around, and the Qu family's cloth shop's business would probably be in trouble!
Most importantly, he had handed over all of Juxianlou's assets. Once the Lantern Festival was over, the festive atmosphere would fade, and Juxianlou would enter its off-season. Business would be slow then, but he still had to pay the monthly wages of so many waiters. He was under a lot of pressure!
It seems that this was a great opportunity that could have four benefits, but it was ruined by an outsider. I can't help but feel indignant!
"Then, thank you very much, young master..."
At this moment, Zhou Ziqiong walked to Jing Zhe's side, bowed to him, and smiled sweetly.
Jing Zhe waved his hand and said, "Miss Zhou, you're too kind. I'm not taking this money for nothing. Please don't forget to keep me company, Miss Zhou!"
For some reason, Zhou Ziqiong glanced at Zhang Xiaoyu and said playfully, "As long as the young master's wife is willing, Ziqiong is willing!"
"..."
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