"Jiang's Private Kitchen" is not a particularly remarkable establishment in Guxian Town, but it is a household name in almost every household, and its customer traffic consistently ranks first in Guxian Town and even Guyang County.
Almost all the restaurant owners in Guxian Town have an inexplicable feeling towards Jiangshan. She steals their business, but she will openly point out the shortcomings of her dishes in front of the customers, while a certain dish from another restaurant can completely make up for her shortcomings.
In other words, when customers are dissatisfied with her food, she will indirectly promote business for other restaurants, and her reviews are quite fair and impartial.
This is why those time-honored restaurants can still tolerate the arrogant existence of "Jiang's Private Kitchen" without openly making things difficult for or suppressing it.
Every profession has its rules, and Jiang Shan didn't understand the survival rules of this era. She could only rely on her past experience to survive in this world. At this moment, she had no powerful backers to rely on, no influential figures to cling to. She simply understood one principle: being kind to others and being cautious are the keys to going further.
But Jiang Shan didn't know that she was a woman, a young and beautiful woman, pregnant with a child but her husband was nowhere to be seen. There were already many rumors about her in the town, some of which were even unbearable to hear.
The real killing power is never the real weapons displayed on the surface, but the insidious, silent winds that kill invisibly.
Where there are people, there is a world of its own; where there are women, there is gossip. With the rise of "Jiang's Private Kitchen" in Guxian Town, Jiangshan has become a topic of conversation for more and more women after meals, inspiring envy, jealousy, disdain, and admiration.
Jiang Shan knew that many people had their eyes on her, and she could more or less tell what the customers who came to her shop were up to. For example, these three customers who came today had been sitting in the shop for almost two hours, successfully scaring away seven or eight of her customers, and even breaking the only tea set she could offer to guests.
That's really unethical!
Judging from the fact that they haven't made any big moves while they've been sitting here, it means they're not ready yet. They might have come to test the waters first.
Seeing that lunchtime was approaching and there were no more customers entering the shop, the men prepared to leave.
Jiang Shan stood up from behind the counter and said calmly, "Five taels of silver in total, thank you!"
The tall, thin man at the head glared at her, his tone unfriendly: "Young lady, say it again, how much silver?"
"Five taels!" Jiang Shan said neither humbly nor arrogantly.
"Hahaha!" The short man behind him put one hand on the tall, thin man's shoulder and the other on his waist and laughed loudly. "Brother, five taels of silver, you can go to Yuchunfang and find Xiao Taohong to keep you company for one night, hahahaha!"
Another burly man said in a sarcastic tone, "Five taels of silver, and I could buy a woman to have my way with. There are plenty of women like Boss Jiang!"
The shorter man laughed even harder.
Jiang Shan pulled out a receipt from the counter and said expressionlessly, "The tea set you broke, Mr. Wang from the porcelain shop in town can testify to that. I also have a receipt signed by Mr. Wang here. It's five taels of silver, not a penny more. Do you want to take a look?"
The tall, thin man exchanged a glance with his companion, then slapped the receipt out of Jiang Shan's hand, reaching out to snatch it and tear it up, only to have Yuan Wen pin his arm down from behind.
“These guys don’t look familiar. Aren’t you from our town? I’ve never heard of a place where you don’t have to pay for broken things.” Yuan Wen rolled up his sleeves and shook his muscular arms, tilting his head.
A true master's skill is immediately apparent upon their first move.
The tall, thin man's eyes flickered, and he forced a slightly stiff smile, saying, "Misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding! Five taels of silver, right? Give me the money, give me the money, Xiao Si'er, hurry up and give me the money!"
The short man behind him instantly turned more bitter than a bitter gourd. After dawdling for a while, he reluctantly took out five taels of silver from his pocket, put it on the counter, and walked away cursing.
Jiang Shan accepted the silver and asked Yuan Wen, "Do you know who these people are? They seem to have come prepared, so we should be on guard."
Yuan Wen shook his head: "He doesn't seem to be from town. That big guy has a bit of a Chongqing accent. We're probably in trouble!"
As soon as Jiao's mother entered the shop, she heard Yuan Wen say that he had gotten into trouble. Startled, she quickly pulled Jiang Shan aside to ask him in detail.
Jiang Shan reassured them, "It's alright. Anyway, we don't have many dishes to offer these days. Let's just close down for a few days and stop doing business. We'll just set up a stall outside and sell snacks!"
Jiang Shan's thinking is simple: what is meant to be will be, and what is meant to be will be. If they are business rivals, just deal with them as they come. If they are not business rivals, then be prepared and wait for them to make their move.
Jiao's mother was more worried about Qiao Shi.
Qiao Shi has been at sea for three days and was supposed to be back today, but it's already dark and he's still nowhere to be seen.
Although Qiao Sheng went to the beach to pick up his father at noon, he was still worried until he saw him.
Jiang Shan came here because the shop was short-handed, but she didn't expect that Jiang Shan would sense danger in him.
For the safety of all the women in the house, Jiao's mother decided to disregard the traditional separation of men and women and let Yuan Wen temporarily live in Jiao's house to help her look after the country and the child in her womb.
The wind was strong that night, making it destined to be an unusual one.
The half-shipload of seafood that Qiao Shi risked his life to bring back was robbed as soon as they arrived in town. The thieves not only stole the goods, but also injured Qiao Shi and his son, and two fishermen who helped deliver the goods were also slightly injured.
To protect Qiao Sheng, Qiao Shi was struck several times with a blow to the head. He gave the money he had to the two fishermen and, supported by his son, limped back to the Jiao residence.
When Yuan Wen opened the door and saw the disheveled state of the father and son, his heart sank instantly.
Dr. Yan was invited by Yuan Wen to the Jiao residence in the middle of the night to treat the injuries of the father and son. Before leaving, he said to Yuan Wen, "These people are really ruthless. They only hit the joints. They're afraid that the people won't be crippled!"
Yuan Wen's face grew increasingly gloomy.
If it weren't for the fact that Qiao Sheng and his son had worked hard outside all year round, making them more agile and stronger than the average person, they would have really been in trouble this time!
He was now certain that those people were faking the robbery; their real intention was to injure people. The fact that they could be so ruthless meant that it was no longer a simple business dispute.
But who exactly are they targeting?
Inside the room, Jiang Shan and Jiao's mother looked at Qiao Shi lying on the bed, covered in wounds, and had so much to say but didn't know where to begin.
Qiao Shi looked at the two women standing in front of his bed, their faces filled with guilt and sorrow, and his eyes turned red with hatred. He had thought this voyage would bring him a fortune, but instead, he had not only lost money but had also nearly lost both himself and his son.
It's all his fault for being useless! Even his son suffered because of him!
Seeing the unspoken exchange between Qiao Shi and Jiao's mother, Jiang Shan wisely withdrew.
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