Chapter 39 Chen Junbo's First Argument with Li Yang When He Needs a Request (...)
"I know." She gripped the teacup tightly, her long eyelashes covering her eyes but unable to conceal the glint in them. She looked at the water in the cup. "I know what you said makes sense, and it's for my own good..."
Chen Junbo remained silent, waiting for her to continue.
“But I want to try…” She suddenly looked up, the candlelight flickering in her eyes. “If I lose, I’ll leave. I’ll leave sooner or later anyway… They can still get a job at the flower shop… I can’t let so many people lose their livelihoods because of me…”
Chen Junbo: "Do you think this flower shop can continue operating if you lose this bet?"
"What do you mean?" Li Yang asked, puzzled. "Didn't my mother-in-law say that if I lost, I would have to leave the Chen family? The flower game..."
Chen Junbo chuckled: "You seem to be thinking about leaving the Chen family every day."
Li Yang looked at him, not understanding the meaning behind his words. He then heard him continue, "The Chen family is not a charity. If you want to protect someone, don't expect others to do so."
If you lose this bet and leave the Chen family early, you will be breaking the marriage agreement. Besides not paying you the thousand taels of silver you've been longing for, I will also shut down this entire brothel.
As he spoke, the man looked at her coldly, “At that time, not only the waiter, but also the manager, the accountant, and those who run errands outside will lose their jobs.”
What's wrong with him?
Chen Junbo seemed more stern than ever before. The fire in Li Yang's eyes did not diminish, but his brows furrowed deeply, and his lips opened and closed again...
Chen Junbo looked at her and said, word by word, "So, you have no way out."
He's using the thousand taels of silver in the marriage contract to pressure her, and he's also using the livelihoods of everyone in this shop to pressure her. He wants her to win?!
Li Yang: "Is it that important?"
Unexpectedly, Young Master Chen remained standing with his hands behind his back, raising an eyebrow at the seated young lady.
She asked again, "Is winning or losing that important? Because of my bet with my mother-in-law, you're using a marriage contract to pressure me. If it were just a marriage contract, that would be fine; I'm just not as good as you, and I'll accept it."
But... what does this bet have to do with you... these people are all your Chen family's employees, are they really that insignificant to you? How can you use them to force me? You!" At this point, his throat tightened and he choked up.
Chen Junbo's narrow eyes seemed to be frowning but not quite, his thin lips were tightly pursed, and his ashen face indicated that he was not in a good mood at the moment.
Seeing him like this, Li Yang also met his gaze without moving, his eyes deep!
Their eyes met, and the two men were locked in a silent contest, neither uttering a word.
After a while, a hazy mist gradually rose in Li Yang's eyes.
Chen Junbo finally lowered his gaze, placed the scroll in his hand on the round table, and coughed lightly, saying, "I had no such intention."
"In short, if you want to help those waiters, think carefully about how to win, instead of always thinking about losing." As he spoke, his eyes swept over the painting. "This is Mr. Zheng's 'Ink Bamboo Painting,' which is worth a thousand gold pieces. Consider it a congratulatory gift for taking over the flower shop."
Li Yang was stunned: Weren't they just arguing? Why are they suddenly giving out gifts...?
With the painting before her, she didn't know whether to accept it or not. Her eyes were filled with tears as she stared blankly back and forth between the painting and Chen Junbai.
Perhaps her bewildered appearance pleased Young Master Chen, for he cleared his throat and said, "Get some rest." With that, he turned and went back to his room.
Li Yang gently unrolled the scroll, revealing one or two bamboo stalks and four or five bamboo leaves, sparse and ethereal like a gentle breeze passing through the forest.
This is a painting worth a fortune!
Chen Junbo was quite generous today.
Having gained an advantage, his earlier generosity had faded considerably. Li Yang extinguished the round table lamp and returned to his own half-room, lying on the bed and gazing at the layered gourd-shaped canopy above the bed.
Chen Junbo's words weren't entirely unreasonable; having too many people in the shop while business was slow became a burden. She simply couldn't accept his callousness in uttering such words, as if they weren't talking about living, breathing people, but merely an abacus or an oxcart.
But if he really had to support all of them, Li Yang counted their monthly allowances... it would be quite an expense.
Sigh, Chen Junbo only suggested a "smarter" method so that she could win; she shouldn't have gotten angry...
Suddenly, it flashed through her mind: Mr. Zheng's painting is worth a fortune?!
She immediately dismissed the idea. Chen Junbai gifted the painting to her; if she dared to sell it, who knew if this young master would go crazy...
When Zhong Qian saw the painting the next morning, he was full of praise for it!
"Young Madam, you are truly exceptional! A painting by Mr. Zheng is priceless, and this 'Ink Bamboo Painting' is one of his masterpieces! I have only ever heard of it before, and to see it in person today is truly an honor..."
Zhong Qian found an empty wall next to the counter, pulled over a stool, and stood on the stool while holding onto the wall. He kept praising, "With this painting here, which calligrapher in town wouldn't want to come and admire it? If the people in town knew that this was a gift from the young master to the young mistress, I wonder how many people would be so envious that they would shed tears."
After hanging the painting up, he turned to Li Yang and asked, "Young Madam, is it straight now?"
Li Yang's mind was filled with what he had just said about it being "worth a fortune" and "all the scholars in the city coming to admire it." Suddenly, he heard him ask him a question, so he looked up and said, "You've got it straight. You'd better get down now."
He didn't look like the type to do manual labor. It was just a simple task like sticking a hook into the wall, yet his legs were trembling on the stool. One waiter was holding him up with his left hand, another was blocking him with his right, and yet another waiter was standing behind him protecting him...
As soon as Zhong Qian's feet touched the ground, he clamored to post a notice so that the whole city could see Mr. Zheng's "Ink Bamboo Painting" in the East Market Flower Bureau.
Li Yang didn't stop him; after all, it's always good for people to be enthusiastic!
Sure enough, upon hearing the news, people flocked to the flower market, almost breaking down the threshold.
Zhong Qian was quite shrewd. He assigned two waiters to stand on either side of the painting, like two generals, and a long table to separate the crowd from the painting. He explained that this was so that they could see it but not touch it, which would encourage them to come to the shop again and again to admire it, thus ensuring the flower arrangement business would be prosperous.
Upon hearing this, Li Yang was skeptical of the "prosperity" claim, but the shop was indeed bustling with activity and looked quite festive.
Chen Junbai returned to Lanxin Pavilion and saw Li Yang sitting upright at the table, her face no longer showing the resentment she had displayed the night before, assuming her anger had subsided. He cursed inwardly: This little woman's every word was meant to provoke him; when she couldn't win an argument, she would cry and whine, keeping him up all night, while she herself seemed to have calmed down quickly!
He remained silent, took his plain clothes to change, and when he washed his hands and stepped out from behind the screen, Li Yang was already standing and waiting beside him on the side of the embroidered screen.
Such treatment made even the worldly-wise General Manager Chen pause in his tracks. "Is there something you need?"
Li Yang: "I really like the ink bamboo painting you gave me yesterday."
Chen Junbo gave a soft "hmm," glanced at her, and went straight to the table to boil water.
Li Yang hurriedly ran to the table, "I'll do it." He snatched the teapot from Chen Junbo's hand and got busy. Seeing Chen Junbo's mischievous look, he began to explain, though it was unclear who he was explaining to, "Last time at the tea shop, I heard Miss Ziyan talking to someone about how to judge the water when brewing tea. Today is a good opportunity to practice how to judge the water when it's boiling twice."
As he spoke, he moved the lid off the pot, his face directly facing the spout. Soon, the steam made his eyes blink incessantly, and he reached out to vent the steam.
Chen Junbo finally chuckled and pulled her to sit down beside him, saying, "You can still see this way."
With just this one action, the minor disagreement between the two was resolved.
Li Yang blushed deeply, staring blankly at the teapot in a daze...
"It's boiling for the second time." Chen Junbai smiled, picked up the teapot, took some tea leaves from the jar and put them into the gaiwan, brewed two cups, and handed one to Li Yang.
Savoring the aroma and tasting the tea, Young Master Chen was quite satisfied. He put down the covered bowl and said, "Speak."
Li Yang pouted. She disliked his ability to guess everything, as if she could be seen through at a glance when she was around him.
However, she needed his help now, so she had to lower herself and say, "Well, I heard from Zhong Qian that the painting you gave me is a priceless masterpiece. Today, there has been a constant stream of people coming to the shop to admire it, and business seems to be doing even better."
Upon hearing this, Chen Junbai closed his eyelashes slightly, picked up his teacup, and gently skimmed off the foam. "That's a good thing. Congratulations, young mistress."
"Yes, it's a good thing, thank you." Li Yang twisted her clothes, paused, and looked up at him, saying, "How many more paintings like this do you have?"
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