It was nearly noon when the female guests finally left the venue. They left with endless sighs, still discussing the plight of the Dejitang employees in the excerpted play and reminding Du Zhong earnestly.
"Shopkeeper, hurry up and make that new batch of Guyuan Paste!"
Shopkeeper Du stood at the entrance of the theater in person, politely seeing off all the guests. Then he stood in front of Li Ying seriously, bowed respectfully, and said,
"Madam Li, if it weren't for your brilliant strategies, Dejitang would surely have suffered losses this time. Thanks to your donation, the employees can live more comfortably. Everyone is very grateful to you."
He looked at Li Ying sincerely. "The private rooms in Tianxiang Tower have been prepared with food and wine. I wonder if Madam Li would do me the honor of joining us?"
Li Ying smiled. "Shopkeeper Du, what are you saying? Of course I'll come to Dejitang's victory banquet."
The employees were overjoyed after receiving their rewards. They flattered Shopkeeper Du and Li Ying a bit and then the banquet began.
"I'm an old man named Su. I've lived most of my life, but this is the first time I've eaten in a grand place like Tianxiang Tower. Thanks to the shopkeeper and Madam Li, I've got this eye - opening opportunity."
The employee named Sumu grinned at them. The other employees nodded in agreement. However, Shihu whispered softly,
"However, this so - called Tianxiang Tower claims to have chefs from all over the world, but it's just so - so! Maybe I'm just a country bumpkin who can't appreciate fine food, but I think it's not as good as Madam Li's seafood stir - fry."
Sumu quickly tugged at his corner of the clothes and stole a glance at Du Zhong, obviously afraid that this impulsive young man would say something wrong and displease the shopkeeper.
Du Zhong picked up a chopstick of the roasted fish, chewed it a couple of times, put down his chopsticks, and frowned.
"Indeed, although the seasoning of this fish is heavy, with thick sauce, it still can't cover up the faint earthy smell. It's not even one - tenth as good as Madam Li's cooking."
Since the shopkeeper said so, the employees also gained courage and echoed one after another, "That's right. If Madam Li opened a restaurant, customers would surely flock to it. Defeating this Tianxiang Tower would be a piece of cake."
Li Ying's mind stirred. She actually had this intention. She smiled and said, "If I were to open a restaurant, renting a shop, decorating it, and all the miscellaneous expenses would cost at least dozens of taels of silver. I can't afford it."
Several employees looked disappointed. "We were still hoping that if Madam Li could open a food stall in the town, we wouldn't have to travel back and forth between the dock and the shop every day."
Du Zhong's eyes lit up as if he had suddenly remembered something. "Dejitang actually has a canteen. But since no one cooks in the shop, it has been empty and is occasionally used as a storage room. If Madam Li doesn't mind, would you like to come and take a look?"
Li Ying understood very well that Du Zhong's words were meant to strengthen their cooperative relationship. She didn't decline anymore.
The canteen was small. When she opened the door, dust flew everywhere, making her sneeze involuntarily. But all the cooking utensils were complete.
She pushed open the small window facing the street. A beam of sunlight shone in, and every tiny speck of dust in the air was floating merrily. Li Ying almost fell in love with it at first sight.
As long as it was tidied up a bit, it would be perfect as a take - out window.
"What do you think, Madam Li? If you rent this place, I'll tell the employees to regard your shop as our canteen. If you don't want to give up your business at the dock, you can just arrange an employee to deliver the stir - fries there every day. You're guaranteed to make a profit."
Seeing that Li Ying looked hesitant, as if still thinking it over, he added, "I heard that in order to promote our Penfu Glue business these days, Madam Li didn't even go fishing in the sea. You've been buying all your ingredients from the local fisher girls. I really feel bad about it."
"How about this, Madam Li. From now on, for any fishermen who sell their aquatic products to you and come to Dejitang for treatment of gout, we'll waive the consultation fee, and they only need to pay the purchase price for the medicine. What do you think?"
After dealing with Li Ying several times, Du Zhong had already figured out her personality. He knew exactly what bargaining chip to offer to make her interested.
Sure enough, as soon as he said this, Li Ying no longer hesitated and readily agreed.
The two of them went to sign the contract. Several employees were eager to help her clean up, carrying tables and chairs.
After that, she and Du Zhong went to the backyard to check the donkey hides that had been processed for two days.
According to Li Ying's instructions, the donkey hides had been cooked and cut into small pieces. Several new employees were holding small daggers and carefully scraping off the remaining fat on the back of the hides.
Du Zhong casually picked up a piece. Before showing it to Li Ying for inspection, he just took a quick look and frowned tightly.
Although the hides had been soaked in yellow rice wine and the stench had been greatly reduced, they were still dusty, obviously with a lot of hard hairs remaining and not cleaned properly.
His face instantly darkened.
Scraping donkey hairs was probably the easiest step in the process of making Penfu Glue, but it was a bit tiring. He had paid the new employees twenty copper coins a day, hoping that they would be meticulous and do a good job.
Who would have thought that these employees had only been here for two days and had already learned to cut corners and slack off?
Li Ying noticed Du Zhong's barely - contained anger. She also saw the new employees looking confused and nervous. She quickly stopped him.
"Shopkeeper Du, I still have some details to discuss with you about the business of this canteen. Can we talk privately?"
Although Du Zhong was puzzled, he still composed himself.
After they left the backyard, he frowned and said shamefacedly, "I'm making a fool of myself in front of Madam Li. These new employees were recruited in a hurry. It's inevitable that there are some lazy and dishonest people among them. I'll definitely get rid of this black sheep as soon as possible."
He said this with determination, but Li Ying just waved her hand indifferently.
"Shopkeeper, you mustn't do that."
Seeing Du Zhong looking puzzled, Li Ying simply spoke bluntly. "Think about it. Today Dejitang has made a big splash in the theater. Everyone in the town, young and old, is praising your kindness. When Dejitang's reputation is at its peak, what if there suddenly spreads a rumor that you're treating your employees harshly?"
Du Zhong was like a man struck by lightning. He felt ashamed.
That's right.
The business world was like a battlefield. In normal times, if he found out that there was a black sheep among the employees, he could just replace them.
But now, thousands of eyes in the town were fixed on Dejitang. If he took immediate action today, by tomorrow, there might spread a rumor that "Du Zhong is hypocritical and pretentious".
The Penfu Glue business, which had finally shown signs of improvement, mustn't take a turn for the worse so soon!
"According to Madam Li's suggestion, are we just going to let this lazy and dishonest person do whatever he wants? It's a small matter that he's slack at work, but if this kind of person with a bad heart is instigated by others and steals the recipe of Penfu Glue..."
Du Zhong's concerns were reasonable, but Li Ying just slightly squinted her bright almond - shaped eyes.
"This person is probably not just here to loaf around. It was really strange that the Qin family came to cause trouble on the day when we recruited new employees. If I'm not wrong, the spy probably sneaked into the shop during that chaos!"
Hearing this, Du Zhong's face became even uglier.
He couldn't fire all the twenty new employees, and he couldn't find out who the black sheep was. Was he just going to sit back and wait for disaster?