Although he has regained his freedom, he is now penniless, with only a little bit of savings he had accumulated in the past.
It's impossible for me to live a life of luxury again.
Ran Dong doesn't care about these material things. She has enjoyed too much in the past, and now she cherishes relationships even more. She just wants to have a passionate romance with her crush.
Besides, her kitchen was full of food, so she was still happy.
Seeing Ran Dong so happy, Ling Yun felt somewhat comforted. Being with the person you love makes everything worthwhile.
He secretly vowed to himself that he would make something of himself and give the woman he loved a better life.
He went to Xiaoli and expressed his desire to leave the restaurant. Twenty years was too long, and he didn't know what his life would be like by then.
"Ah Li, for the sake of our many years of friendship, please let me leave. I know you are the kindest person and would never bear to let me waste my life."
Xiao Li was somewhat impressed by his shamelessness. Just because the original owner was kind and easy to bully, they took the opportunity to bully him relentlessly.
Does kindness mean giving in? What kind of logic is that?
"You can leave if you want, but you must compensate me for the losses I've suffered over the past twenty years."
Ling Yun was furious. He had no savings whatsoever, so how could he possibly pay compensation? He simply couldn't come up with the money.
Xiao Li told him, "You came to my house when you were eight years old and have lived in my Yang family since you were little. Everything you eat, wear, and use was bought by my father."
Let's say you spend fifty taels a year, and you've lived in my house for ten years, that's a total of five hundred taels of silver.
Now that you've turned eighteen, your indenture still has ten years left. You'll pay me back in cash for those ten years. Let's say your monthly salary is ten taels, that's one hundred and twenty taels a year, and one thousand two hundred taels over ten years.
That's a total of 1,700 taels. You can leave once you've paid.
Ling Yun's expression grew increasingly grim as he listened; where was he going to get so much silver?
"Ah Li, don't you have any feelings for me at all? I've worked for the Yang family for so many years without getting paid. Can't that be considered a fair compensation?"
Xiao Li shook her head. "My father raised you to adulthood. His kindness in raising you is greater than the heavens. No amount of money can repay him."
You're talking to me about feelings, but how are you going to repay those feelings?
As for your salary, you didn't do anything at the restaurant. On the contrary, your father taught you all his skills. Now that you've mastered them, you want to leave? There's no such thing as a free lunch.
When it comes to craftsmanship, Lingyun immediately had something to say.
"Don't talk to me about skills. My master doesn't treat me like family at all. The cooking skills he taught you are the real Yang family skills."
Xiao Li shook her head. This person was truly beyond saving; he had embodied the epitome of an ingrate.
"There's no point in saying more. Give me back the money, and I'll take your indenture to the authorities to destroy it."
Ling Yun could only leave in resentment. He couldn't understand how the gentle and kind Ali had become like this.
He secretly contacted several of Ma Jin's men, all of whom were his trusted confidants. He hadn't been the senior brother in the restaurant for so many years for nothing.
“Since my junior sister can’t tolerate me, I don’t want to continue working in this restaurant. Since she won’t return our indentures, then don’t blame me for being ruthless.”
Ma Jin felt a little reluctant; he had watched his junior sister grow up, and they still had feelings for each other.
"Senior Brother, how can we do this? Master has treated us well. Junior Sister is all alone now. If we do this, aren't we sending her into a sea of fire?"
Ling Yun glanced at Ma Jin, "Do you want to never get ahead in this restaurant? To live an ordinary life under Ali's suppression?"
"We're such good cooks, yet we have no chance of advancement. As long as she's in that restaurant, we have no hope of ever getting ahead."
Ma Jin is ambitious. Who wants to work for someone else for their whole life? They learn a trade in the hope that one day they can make something of themselves and open their own small shop.
"Besides, even if the restaurant is gone, Junior Sister still has a large sum of money, enough for her to live out the rest of her life."
Ma Jin hesitated, unsure of what to choose.
“We’ll take care of our junior sister in the future, so what could possibly happen? It’s better for a girl to stay home and embroider. Showing herself in public like this isn’t good for her reputation.”
"Okay, let's do it that way."
The group discussed their plan and began their operation.
The next day, Xiaoli was busy in the kitchen when she heard a commotion outside.
"Quickly, take him to the hospital! What happened to Chen Da?"
A middle-aged man was foaming at the mouth and convulsing all over his body. He looked terrifying. The crowd worked together to carry him to a nearby clinic.
After this incident, everyone at the restaurant left.
A short while later, the officials came to inspect the restaurant and found a bag of sprouted potatoes in the kitchen, proving that the customer had been poisoned by eating them.
The restaurant was shut down. Xiao Li never expected that Ling Yun would have the audacity to do such a thing. Back in the day, he was a gentleman.
She miscalculated. She originally wanted to give her men a chance, but now it seems it was better not to keep them.
Xiao Li cooperated with the government to handle the aftermath of the incident, giving the customers a large sum of money as compensation before closing the restaurant.
She summoned everyone again, this time demanding that they repay everything they owed the Yang family.
Ma Jin and the others all lowered their heads, not daring to speak or look at Xiao Li.
"I know you want to leave. I'll ask one more time, is there anyone who wants to stay and continue working for Yang's Restaurant?"
The guys looked at each other without saying a word.
They wouldn't be willing to work under a woman.
"very good."
If there are none, then she doesn't need to hold back.
Without saying a word, Xiao Li immediately used her mental power on them. It was an illusion that could make people lose their senses and forget important things.
For example, the recipe.
They'll have to pay back everything they learned at the restaurant over the years.
A moment later, Xiao Li left behind a pile of indentures and departed.
"You are now free, and you no longer need to work at Yang's Restaurant."
The guys felt a little dazed just now, as if they had forgotten something, but they were still happy now, having suddenly regained their freedom, which was an unexpected joy.
However, when they returned to their old ways and tried to recall the Yang family's recipes, they couldn't remember them at all.
Only then did they realize that they had made a mistake, but none of them suspected Xiao Li. They simply thought that their master, knowing what was happening, had come back to take revenge on them.
"Master, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, junior sister, I know I was wrong."
"Master, I promise to burn three incense sticks every day from now on and take good care of my junior sister. You can rest assured."
These people burned incense and prayed, but it was of no use.
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