"What do you want to do?" Yang Song slumped to the ground, shouting menacingly but inwardly, "Don't think I'm afraid of you. If you're so tough, why don't you call for help?"
"Skill! Ha, you call this skill? I'm a woman old enough to be your mother, and you're talking to me about fairness?" Tao Wanniang sneered. "Get up, all of you! You're all idle all day long. If you were my son, I'd be ashamed to look at you!"
"It's all your fault!" Yang Song patted his butt and stood up, saying irritably.
"Young man, don't be so impulsive. I'm here to give you a proper job. So, are you in or not?"
Tao Wanniang said patiently.
"What kind of job? You're not trying to mess with us, are you?" Yang Song asked warily.
"What would I, a restaurant owner, do to you? If I did, would you run away, or would your shop?" Tao Wanniang retorted. "You're so young, yet you think so darkly. Have you been beaten down by life?"
Yang Song was speechless, staring warily at Tao Wanniang. After a pause, he finally spoke, "Then tell me, what do you want from us?"
"I own a restaurant, but even the best wine needs advertising, so I need someone to spread the word that my little restaurant is opening. To put it simply, I need to distribute flyers."
"Ten coins per person per day, how about that?" Tao Wanniang said decisively.
"Ten coins for a beggar?!" Yang Song immediately shouted.
"Ten coins is too little? But you don't have a single coin right now!" Tao Wanniang waved her hand, looking like a casual person.
"Boss, how about we do it? We don't have any money!" one of the henchmen tugged at Yang Song's clothes.
"That's right, ten coins a day is still money!"
"You guys..." Yang Song gritted his teeth, hating this underling who was dragging him down. It wasn't that he didn't want to do it, he just wanted to negotiate the price!
"You can discuss it. I still have customers in my shop. Once they leave, you should decide what to do and come find me at the restaurant." After saying this, Tao Wanniang left the group with a graceful back view.
The diners in the restaurant paid their bills promptly after finishing their meals, which Bai Yumei found rather straightforward.
Qian Feng was the most talkative; after finishing his meal, he even asked Tao Wan's mother if there were any new dishes.
"That's all for now, we'll talk about the new ones later." Tao Wanniang was also very direct. "Brother Qian, although I am very grateful for the money you send me every day, you must have something to do, right? You're not young anymore, shouldn't you be thinking about settling down?"
Qian Feng froze, looking up at Tao Wanniang's oily face and the soot on the tip of her nose. He couldn't help but swallow.
Was she giving him a signal? Although Tao Wanniang had such a big son, her down-to-earth demeanor was truly reassuring. Besides, having two sons meant she was easy to raise. Although she was a bit older, she was quite good-looking, especially her eyes, which seemed to see right into people's hearts.
"Sister Tao, this... is a bit sudden, please allow me some time to think about it!"
"Think about what? Do you need to think about this? Didn't you say that you've spent all your money on food? You're not young anymore, you should think about the future."
Tao Wanniang looked at Qian Feng's dumbfounded expression. Had he stopped thinking after eating his fill? Which word she said was he not understanding?
"Sister Tao, this is really too sudden. Although I am over thirty, I am penniless and will be traveling far away with the general at any time, so..." Qian Feng's rugged face showed embarrassment.
Tao Wanniang was increasingly confused, and finally said simply, "Alright, alright, you should leave now."
"Hehe, Sister Tao, don't be angry. I'm extremely surprised by your kindness. Let me go back and think about it!" Qian Feng stood up, looking flustered, and almost tripped over the stool. Finally, he smiled at Tao Wanniang and quickly walked out.
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Tao Wanniang muttered.
Bai Yumei helped tidy up the table and asked, somewhat puzzled, "What's going on? I've never seen him act this strangely before."
"Who knows? The official opening is in three days. I plan to check tonight how well my son and daughter-in-law can read. It's time to get them out there and help with the work." Tao Wan's mother didn't pay any attention to Qian Feng's unusual behavior.
Just before the lunch break, Yang Song and a few others arrived and pushed the door open to come in.
"You're here. Have a seat. Have you made up your mind?"
"How many days will this job take you to complete?" Yang Song asked with a stern face.
"Three days, my shop will open in three days," Tao Wanniang said. She would also tear down the notice on the door tomorrow.
It was only three days, ten coins a day, that's thirty coins in total. Yang Song was a little disappointed, but then he thought about how Tao Wanniang had ruined his original job, and if he didn't earn any more money, his family would really starve.
"I'll work for you, but you have to provide us with meals," Yang Song said. "Two meals a day... no, one meal a day, you have to provide lunch!"
“Sure, I run a restaurant, why would I worry about not being able to feed you?” Tao Wanniang replied. “However, you probably don’t have any work to do, right? I need to explain to you how to do it.”
"So what if I tell other people about your restaurant? Who do you think you are? Anyone can do that," Yang Song said disdainfully.
Tao Wanniang took out a stack of forms that were placed behind the counter.
"See this? This is a hundred forms a day. You can distribute them yourselves, starting from the next street. Give one to everyone you see, understand?" Tao Wan's mother explained. "Don't try to fool me. If I find out you haven't given anyone a form, I'll deduct your pay!"
"This...this is just entertaining customers!" Yang Song said angrily. "When Baihualou has shows, the waiters in the building go from far away to hand out the orders."
"Oh, we've met before? That's even better! Are you going to take this job? If you don't, that's fine too. I have my son and daughter-in-law; they can do this too, and I'll save money!"
"Boss, take it, it's not that difficult."
"Yeah, if we divide it among ourselves, it's not much."
Hearing his underlings' persuasion, Yang Song could only grit his teeth and agree. "Okay, when do we start?"
"Tomorrow morning, shall we? Aren't you going to keep watch? Don't you know when my shop opens?" Tao Wanniang asked with a smile.
Yang Song's face stiffened. They had indeed been watching this place the whole time, so they knew that there was no one here who could help these two women! "There are only the two of you in the shop. Even if we wanted to do something, you couldn't do anything about it!" Yang Song said with a grim face.
Tao Wanniang smiled and said, "Young man, don't be so aggressive. If I let you in, wouldn't I have something up my sleeve?"
No sooner had Tao Wanniang finished speaking than another person walked in from outside. He was tall and strong with a resolute face. It was Ling Yunzhou, who had come to investigate the shopkeeper's true situation for Qian Feng.
"Which one of you is Sister Tao?" Ling Yunzhou walked into the restaurant and saw five young men confronting two women. He sensed something was wrong, and his gaze swept calmly over Tao Wanniang and Bai Yumei before he asked.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com