"May I ask your surname?" Xu Yuehuai asked the stall owner next door with humility and politeness.
As the saying goes, it's never wrong to be overly polite. The stall owner next door felt a little embarrassed by Xu Yuehuai's politeness. He scratched his head and smiled, replying, "My surname is He."
"Manager He," Xu Yuehuai called out, then continued, "I want to work with you to expand and strengthen this restaurant business."
Through the competition just now, Xu Yuehuai discovered that Manager He was indeed skilled at cooking, so she was genuinely interested in cooperating with him, not so much to reduce a competitor, but for the sake of long-term development.
After all, she is new to opening a shop in the Dark Moon Kingdom and there will definitely be some things she doesn't understand. She will need to ask the locals for advice. More importantly, she will not stay in the Dark Moon Kingdom for long and will eventually return to the Central Plains. Therefore, she needs someone who can keep things in order to stay in the Dark Moon Kingdom.
Manager He was overjoyed upon hearing this, but his face quickly became filled with curiosity. He didn't understand Xu Yuehuai's intentions and wondered what kind of cooperation this was.
"Manager Xu, what do you mean by this?" He was extremely puzzled and asked directly. He was always such a straightforward person, otherwise he wouldn't have argued with Xu Yuehuai right next door. Now that he thought about it, he was really a little ashamed.
Upon hearing this, Xu Yuehuai stated directly, "Manager He, you know I am from the Central Plains. I will not stay in the Mingyue Kingdom forever. Of course, I can go back, but I definitely cannot take this restaurant with me."
As Xu Yuehuai spoke, she gestured for Manager He to step aside and speak. She gestured for him to come, and Manager He returned the gesture, and the two walked forward side by side.
"I'd like to find someone to teach me a skill so I can take care of the business after I leave. I think Manager He's skills are quite good, so I was thinking of asking if you'd be interested?" Xu Yuehuai said after some consideration. She spoke very politely, after all, she didn't know if Manager He, at his age, would still be willing to humble himself and learn from someone else.
Shopkeeper He was overjoyed upon hearing this, since he had already prepared to close the shop. He had made it very clear before the competition that the loser would not be allowed to open the shop again.
But instead of being aggressive, the other party offered an opportunity to cooperate, which was a great surprise to be able to make money together.
Moreover, learning a skill might be something that other professions might be reluctant to do, but for chefs, it's a lifelong learning process. As long as the other person's culinary skills are indeed superior to their own, then learning from them is naturally a no-brainer.
Manager He was a sensible man. He could tell that Xu Yuehuai was still concerned about saving face, so he spoke up directly, afraid that Xu Yuehuai would change his mind if he was too late: "Manager Xu, I am willing."
Xu Yuehuai was taken aback when she heard this. She didn't expect Manager He to be so quick-witted and agree so readily without any displeasure. She had thought she would have to do some persuasion, but it went so smoothly.
The two exchanged a smile, then shook hands solemnly, thus concluding their cooperation. Afterward, they walked into Tianxiang Tower together, completely devoid of the tense atmosphere they had shared earlier.
Maimaiti, who was eating nearby, witnessed the whole thing from beginning to end.
Xu Yuehuai witnessed everything from how she competed with others to how she won them over to cooperate. They were originally prepared to watch a joke, but unexpectedly, she cleverly defused the situation.
Maimaiti felt a surge of resentment and tightened his grip on the chopsticks, snapping them in his hand with a snap.
His subordinate glanced at the ground. This was the fourth pair of chopsticks that Maimaiti had broken. He swallowed hard and shakily handed over a new pair of chopsticks. But in his mind, he was thinking about when iron chopsticks would completely replace wooden chopsticks.
Meanwhile, the other subordinates were on tenterhooks, fearing that Maimaiti would take his anger out on them. After all, he was a man of unpredictable temper, and no one knew when he would get angry.
Maimaiti ignored the new chopsticks handed to him, and he didn't care what his subordinates were thinking. He just let his eyes wander aimlessly. Suddenly, a bad idea popped into his head. He slammed his hand on the table in front of him, bringing his subordinates' wild thoughts back to reality.
His smile was sinister and cunning, sending chills down the spines of his men.
His subordinates were a little scared and lowered their heads, not daring to look at Maimaiti anymore. However, he quickly realized this and hurriedly stopped smiling.
He then coughed lightly and said, "Let's go."
Maimaiti had a good idea, and he lost all interest in eating. He took out two taels of silver from his pocket, slammed it on the table, and hurriedly left Tianxiang Restaurant with his men.
His subordinates naturally followed suit. This was the most tense meal they had ever eaten in their lives, but thankfully they made it through safely.
Maimaiti remained silent the entire way, hurriedly leading his men through the bustling city back to his residence. He casually waved his hand to dismiss them, then plunged into his study to refine the details.
Before long, the sun began to set, and night gradually enveloped the house, causing the temperature to drop. This was naturally the time when bad things were brewing.
Maimaiti ordered his men to find Manager He, who had competed with Xu Yuehuai during the day, and to bring him over no matter what.
"Go and find that Manager He. Although Xu Yuehuai may have already spoken to him, you must bring him back to me."
"What if he refuses to come?" the subordinate asked with a sneer, implying that Maimaiti could use extraordinary means.
"Refuse to come? Humph!" Maimaiti snorted coldly without replying.
"Understood, sir." The subordinate understood immediately, said "I understand," and hurried out, quickly disappearing into the night.
Meanwhile, Maimaiti himself was sitting happily in the house, warming himself by the fire and eating snacks. Soon his subordinates "brought" Manager He back.
They did bring him back. After entering the house, they casually threw the bound and gagged Manager He on the ground. Manager He let out a wail, but immediately stopped talking. He naturally recognized who the person in front of him was.
"Sir, the person has been brought." The subordinate replied respectfully and then withdrew.
Maimaiti clapped his hands, brushing the crumbs off his hands, and muttered under his breath, "What a bunch of idiots! How can they do things like this?"
With a single sentence, he absolved himself of all responsibility. As he spoke, he squatted down and untied the ropes binding Manager He. After that, he crossed his legs and sat back down on the stool.
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