The two rode their bikes to the steamed bun shop. Just before entering, Jiang Xiaoli stopped Zong Jiayu.
"How do you plan to handle this?"
Zong Jia's face was as dark as ink. "If he does this, he doesn't treat us brothers. I don't need to care about his feelings."
"Okay." It's good that he has this attitude.
Jiang Xiaoli pushed the cart into the yard. Pumpkin and Zhong Yuan sat down in the yard at the same time, both of them with their heads down and silent.
Zhong Yuan's expression softened when he saw them. "Brother Zong, Little Pear, you're here."
Pumpkin gave a soft snort when it saw Jiang Xiaoli.
She parked the car, casually found a chair to sit down, leaned back in the chair, crossed her legs, and exuded a roguish air.
Jiang Xiaoli spoke bluntly, "What, you're upset that I replaced you? I only changed people on Friday, and your new store can open on Monday. You've been planning this for more than just a day or two, haven't you? Do you think those few idiots are too loyal to do anything to you?"
Jiang Xiaoli usually addresses Zong Jia and his brothers as "brother," so Pumpkin was a little taken aback by her sudden direct questioning.
His face darkened. "You won't let me manage the steamed bun shop, so what's wrong with me opening my own? What kind of rule forbids me from opening my own shop?"
"Hehe." Jiang Xiaoli laughed out loud at his nonchalant attitude.
She glanced at Zong Jia and Zhong Yuan, "It's not that I want to sow discord between you brothers, it's just that this kind of person is really not one of you."
The two men remained silent after hearing her words.
Pumpkin, however, pointed at her excitedly, "Is it interesting that you're always stirring things up, you little brat! Do you only feel happy when we're all alienated?"
Jiang Xiaoli seemed to have heard something funny. She reached out and slapped away the hand that Pumpkin was pointing at her. "You, a person who is only driven by lust, only knows how to listen to pillow talk, and is greedy and disloyal, dare to point at me? You don't deserve to!"
She rolled up her sleeves and continued, "You think you can use our steamed bun shop's name as you please just because we haven't registered it as a trademark? Fine, I'll lay my cards on the table today. You want to engage in price competition? I'll take your challenge and play along! Let's see if our fifteen shops working together on a promotion can attract customers, or if your counterfeit goods can. How long do you think your paltry sum can last?"
"You...you...you!" Pumpkin stammered for a moment after being hit with her sudden outburst of words.
He turned his gaze to Zong Jiayu, "Brother Zong, you can't keep listening to a little girl. Xiaoxiao is going to marry me. You fired both of us at once. I just wanted to find something for us to do..."
Zong Jia chuckled, "You're still not satisfied with an income of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands a month? Tell me, how much would you be satisfied with? Would you give the whole steamed bun shop to the two of you?"
"I...I didn't mean that..."
Jiang Xiaoli scoffed, "You didn't think that way; you just did it."
Zhong Yuan looked at him with disappointment, "Pumpkin, we've been through so much together, what are you thinking? Su Xiaoxiao is clearly after your money, why can't you see that?"
Pumpkin immediately retorted, "Dayuan, don't say that about Xiaoxiao. She's not like that."
"Fine! I admit I was being a smart aleck!" Zhong Yuan turned around and sat down, no longer looking at him.
Jiang Xiaoli didn't want to hear about their love-hate entanglements. "Stop talking nonsense, Pumpkin. I'm just asking you, are you sure you want to go against us?"
Pumpkin looked at Zong Jiayu, but Zong Jiayu looked away and refused to look at him.
He shook his head. "I don't want to go against you."
Jiang Xiaoli interrupted him, saying, "Fine, since you said you don't want to go against us, then let me tell you my solution. You shut down your counterfeit steamed bun shop, and at the end of this month, the shop will still settle your profit sharing as usual. Then, the three of them will put together some money to buy your share of the steamed bun shop. From now on, you go your way, and we'll go our own way, and we'll have nothing to do with each other."
"This won't do!" Pumpkin exclaimed, jumping up in a panic.
Jiang Xiaoli smiled wickedly, her face full of amusement, "Have you forgotten that you had something to do when you were applying for the baozi shop license, and it was Brother Yuan who went? And the company registration was also in his name. Do you think we can get the money from you if we don't recognize your shares?"
Pumpkin panicked instantly. He grabbed Zong Jiayu's arm and pleaded, "Brother Zong, you can't do this! For the sake of all the years we've been brothers, please give me another chance!"
Zong Jia shook off his hand. "We gave you a chance. We trusted you when we first handed the steamed bun shop over to you, but what did you do? You managed it in a complete mess. You tried to run away before you even learned to fly! You have ideas, that's fine. We'll give you a share of the profits. You have money and want to do something else, that's fine too. But what did you do next?"
Pumpkin, it's not that we don't want to keep you, it's just that your heart has wandered, and you're no longer on our side. Let's part ways amicably. We won't treat you unfairly for the shares. Now, go.
Pumpkin wanted to keep bothering Zong Jiayu and say something, but Zhong Yuan, who was in a bad mood, simply grabbed him and chased him out.
The courtyard fell silent. After a while, Jiang Xiaoli chuckled softly, "You two have really impressed me."
Zhong Yuan looked up at her, puzzled. She explained, "I originally thought you guys would care about brotherhood and think it was too domineering of me to kick him out."
Zong Jia gave a wry smile, "Little Pear, you just made the best decision for us."
Zhong Yuan nodded, "Yes, Little Pear, before you came, I was really driven crazy by his shameless arguments, but I couldn't bring myself to do it."
Jiang Xiaoli raised her right hand and snapped her fingers. "Alright, the problem is solved. Don't feel guilty. If he can hold on to this month's dividends and the money from the shares, he'll definitely live a good life. If he can't, then it has nothing to do with us."
Zhong Yuan nodded repeatedly, "With so much money and his previous savings, it's enough for him to live comfortably."
Zong Jia sighed, "I never imagined that we would go our separate ways before I even went to university."
Jiang Xiaoli patted his shoulder, "The sooner problems occur, the sooner they are solved. By shedding our burdens, we can go faster and further."
“Brother Zong, Little Pear is right!” Zhong Yuan echoed. “I’ll make the most of my time to check the situation of each of these branches one by one. You guys can do some spot checks later.”
“Okay.” Zong Jiayu nodded in agreement. “Dayuan, I’ll leave the back of the steamed bun shop to you. If you have any problems, feel free to contact us. It’s getting late, I’ll take Xiaolizi home.”
Zhong Yuan got up and saw the two out, "Brother Zong, Little Pear, be careful!"
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