Ling Dapeng didn't know how he swung his fist. When those people ran up, or when Qian Yuanbao shouted that the waiter was hitting people, he actually punched Qian Yuanbao's fat face.
"Quickly pull them apart." Seeing the chaos on the stage, Luneng immediately called over several other waiters.
Ling Dahu didn't know that the people fighting up there were his younger brother. He only saw several people fighting together, and then he saw a girl holding a pipa looking anxious.
"Let go of him!" Ling Dahu and two other waiters pulled the man apart. "Dapeng, what are you doing?"
"Come on, I've never been afraid of anyone in a fight!" Ling Dapeng was already feeling sullen, and not only was he splashed with wine, but four people were also ganging up on him, which only fueled his anger. Even though Ling Dahu was holding him back, he still shouted fiercely.
"Fine, very well, the waiter at Zhaixinglou has quite the temper." Qian Yuanbao covered his bruised eye and said fiercely, "Manager, this waiter is quite aggressive. I'm warning you right now. If this waiter who hit me doesn't kowtow and beg for mercy, I'll never forgive Zhaixinglou!"
"Exactly! How can a restaurant as big as Zhaixinglou tolerate its staff beating people? Manager, is Zhaixinglou trying to bully its customers because of its size?"
"Dapeng, what happened? How could you hit someone?" Ling Dahu grabbed Ling Dapeng tightly and asked in a low voice.
"They bullied me first, and they even threw wine in my face!" Ling Dapeng said viciously. "So many of them ganged up on me, brother, it's obvious they're the ones bullying me!"
Luneng sent someone to invite Tao Wanniang. He can handle the other waiters directly, but the Ling brothers are not only the sons of Manager Tao, but also the sons of the current general!
Ling Dapeng got into a fight with the guests. Tao Wanniang was a little surprised, but she immediately told Wang Hongyu to take over the dishes from her hands and walked out with a stern face.
Everyone had come down from the stage, but the two groups were clearly facing off.
"Manager Tao, what do you think we should do about this?" Lu Neng threw the hot potato to Tao Wanniang.
"What happened? Who started it?" Tao Wanniang glanced at her two sons, and her eyes also caught sight of the Jiaosifang girl holding the pipa.
"Him!" Qian Yuanbao and his group exclaimed in unison, pointing at Ling Dapeng.
“Mother, he was the one who started harassing Miss Shishi. When I tried to stop him, he threw wine in my face, and then all of them swarmed at me. If I didn’t fight back, I would have been beaten up!” Ling Dapeng said righteously. “Mother, kick them out! People like that don’t deserve to be in our Zhaixing Tower!”
"Are you the waiter's mother?" Qian Yuanbao sized up Tao Wanniang, momentarily confused about her identity. How could the shopkeeper be so polite to her, that she was the waiter's mother?
“Yes, I am. I am also the head chef of this restaurant. I own half of this restaurant,” Tao Wanniang said calmly. “Since it was our waiter who made the move, he should apologize to the guests. Ling Dapeng, apologize to these guests.”
"Mother!" Ling Dapeng looked at Tao Wan's mother in disbelief. "No, this fat man is flirting with Miss Shishi."
"Ha, a girl from the Jiaosifang, would it be considered harassment if I invited her for a drink?" Qian Yuanbao sneered. "This Manager Tao is a reasonable man, waiter, why don't you hurry up and apologize to me?"
"What's wrong with the girls from the Jiaosifang? They don't want you, so you're just harassing them. You're a grown man, harassing girls, and you even have the nerve to say that? How can you be so confused? Do we at Zhaixinglou need customers like that?"
Tao Wanniang frowned, glancing at the indignant Ling Dapeng, her heart filled with annoyance. Most of the women in the Jiaosifang were official courtesans, and this Shishi wasn't the type to sell her art but not her body. The girls arranged by the Prince Rui's mansion were there to entertain guests at various banquets. It wasn't that she looked down on this woman, but did her foolish son even know that?
"Esteemed guests, my son was raised in the countryside from a young age and doesn't know any manners. He may have offended you today, so this meal is on you at Zhaixinglou. Please order whatever you'd like!" Tao Wanniang said politely. "As for my son, he's a bit of a hothead. I'll take him home and discipline him myself, how about that?"
"Esteemed guests, we apologize for the poor service at Zhaixing Tower. Miss Shishi, please serve us some wine," Lu Neng said, trying to smooth things over.
When Shishi's name was called, she could only step forward with her pipa and curtsy to Qian Yuanbao and the others.
"Gentlemen, it is Shishi's fault. If Master Qian thinks highly of Shishi, Shishi will certainly treat you with great hospitality when you come to the Jiaosifang in the future."
While Shishi was serving wine to Qian Yuanbao and the others, Lu Rangran pulled Ling Dapeng away.
Ling Dapeng stared wide-eyed as he watched Shishi drinking with the group of people at the table. He was utterly shocked and didn't come to his senses until he was pulled away.
"Ling Dapeng, don't you know that Shishi is a hostess? That's between them, are you stupid!" The waiter named Li Qing couldn't help but scold Ling Dapeng. "That's what they do, otherwise why would the manager ask the girls in the brothel for advice!"
Ling Dapeng either genuinely didn't know, or he looked incredulous. "But she doesn't want to."
"Are you really stupid or just pretending? How much can you earn just for playing a tune at a restaurant? A customer drinks a drink and requests a song, and that's a string of cash, understand?"
Tao Wanniang then came out and gave Ling Dapeng a deep look. "Everyone else, go back to your work."
"Mother..." Ling Dapeng called out nervously when he saw Tao Wan's mother.
"Don't call me mother, Ling Dapeng. Go home. The restaurant doesn't need you to work there," Tao Wanniang said calmly.
"Why, Mother? Just because I saw a customer bullying a girl and stopped him, you won't let me work at the restaurant?" Ling Dapeng asked angrily. "Mother, how can you be so unreasonable? It was clearly not my fault."
“It wasn’t your fault, you started it first, didn’t you?” Tao Wanniang had suspected Ling Dapeng of having ulterior motives before, but she never expected him to dare to hit a guest.
"I was just standing up for what was right," Ling Dapeng said stubbornly.
“We’re a restaurant, and Shishi is from the Jiaosifang. What are you doing getting involved? There are so many people, do you even have a brain? We’re a restaurant, what could possibly happen in broad daylight?” Tao Wanniang said through gritted teeth.
"What's wrong with Jiaosifang? The girl didn't want to drink, so I helped her. What did I do wrong, Mother? You've been looking down on me for a long time, haven't you? You just deducted my pay a few days ago, and you won't give me the leftovers from the kitchen. Now, you're trying to kick me out of the restaurant because of a few low-class customers."
Ling Dapeng, enraged, said angrily to Tao Wanniang, "Fine, then don't do it. Xiaoyun is right, you just look down on me and Xiaoyun."
Tao Wanniang angrily kicked Ling Dapeng. "Get out of here right now!" That ungrateful wretch! He's holding a grudge over being docked four taels of silver, and she even paid for it herself!
Ling Dapeng glared at Tao Wanniang angrily and ran away.
Tao Wanniang scoffed dismissively, too lazy to bother. Turning around and seeing Shishi standing in the corner, she felt a surge of anger.
"From now on, Miss Shishi, please go to another restaurant. Our Zhaixing Tower can't accommodate someone as important as you." This girl is hypocritical and incompetent!
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