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A group of people gathered around the table, and Ziyan quickly exchanged a glance with her father.
She instructed, "Dad, hurry and get something to eat for Grandpa, Uncle, and the cousins."
"Mm-mm-mm," Zi Lao Er nodded repeatedly at his daughter's hints and walked away. A clerk also poured tea for everyone.
Ziyan took the opportunity to help Zi Lao Er and approached him, Zhou, and Ziying, who were feeling anxious.
She leaned down and quietly advised them, "Just insist that our family works for Boss Mo; Boss is Old Master Mo."
Ziyan's careful reminders made the originally anxious Zi Lao Er, Zhou, and Ziying finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Afterward, Ziyan sent Zi Lao Er away. She knew that Zi Lao Er often felt guilty when dealing with her own father and brothers.
She and Ziying prepared several large plates of high-quality Braised Meat deliberately loaded with chili oil and pepper, bringing them to the table of the Purple Old Man and sweetly inviting everyone to taste.
The first to pick up his chopsticks was their cousin named Zi Xiaobao. He quickly grabbed a piece of Braised Meat and sent it into his mouth, only for everyone to hear a horrified "Ah—!"
Then, with tears in his eyes, he picked up a cup of tea in front of him and gulped it down.
However, as soon as the tea entered his mouth, he let out a scream and sprayed all the tea out.
The intense spiciness combined with the scalding hot tea created an overwhelming sensation.
Immediately, the others who were about to eat stopped in their tracks, looking at the delicious dishes with expressions of fear as if facing a flood or beast.
At that moment, they looked at Ziyan and her sister with very complicated expressions.
It was the old man who spoke first: "You little girl, you didn't poison the meat, did you? Look at what you've done to your cousin!"
Ziying was about to argue back angrily when Ziyan quickly pulled her aside.
With a charming smile, she sweetly called out, "Grandpa—how could that be! It's Brother Xiaobao who is too impatient. As the saying goes, haste makes waste; this delicacy needs to be savored slowly. And tea? It should be enjoyed gradually."
"Mm!" Purple Old Man nodded, calming down from his anger, and then asked, "Where's your father?"
"Grandpa, today is the first day. As you can see, there are so many people here. My father naturally doesn't have the time to spare. If even Shopkeeper slacks off, then Boss will fire our whole family."
"Fire what?"
Uh? Ziyan realized she had momentarily spoken too quickly and used terms that the ancients wouldn't understand.
She quickly explained, "It means he would dismiss our whole family. There seems to be some misunderstanding here. Grandpa, where did you hear that this shop is ours? This shop belongs to Doctor Mo across the street; we were invited to help him manage the store as Clerk."
"What? This shop isn't yours?" Zi Lao San interjected with an incredulous look at Ziyan.
"Yes, our family is here to assist Mr. Mo as Clerk. How could my third uncle not know our family's situation? Where would we get the money to run such a large shop?"
"Ah, that's true! Dad, could it be that we really misunderstood?" Zi Lao Si said to Purple Old Man.
In an instant, Purple Old Man seemed to awaken as if struck by thunder.
But still unwilling to accept it, he asked, "Then why did Mr. Mo hire your family to manage the store? You just said something about being the Shopkeeper. Who's the Shopkeeper? Your father?"
"Yes! My father was invited by Mr. Mo to be the Shopkeeper. Mr. Mo even praised my father as the most honest and reliable choice."
Ziyan immediately showed a confident and proud expression as she answered.
"If he's the Shopkeeper, then doesn't everything like purchasing and serving all fall under his management?"
Purple Old Man pressed on stubbornly.
"Yes, those are managed by my father, but when it comes to hiring people, that's not under his control; that has to be decided personally by Mr. Mo."
Ziyan had already sensed the hidden meaning behind Purple Old Man's words, so she immediately decided to nip Purple Old Man's inappropriate thoughts in the bud.
Using the selfish relatives from the Old Zi Family was absolutely out of the question.
At that time, everyone stayed by this old man's side, and all families could solve their basic needs, except for her family of four who were driven into Mountain Valley. It was already difficult for them to survive.
Now that life was finally improving a bit, these people shamelessly came knocking at their door.
Moreover, last time these so-called relatives almost sold her sister to that scoundrel son of the Village Head's House.
What a joke! Ziyan squinted her eyes disdainfully and calmly looked back at Purple Old Man.
"Then why did Old Man Mo specifically take a liking to your family?" Purple Old Man asked, pouting his lips and still pressing on.
"Of course it’s because he saw that our family is kind and hardworking. Didn't I mention this before? My father is honest and straightforward—oh! Mr. Mo certainly has a special regard for my father.
By the way, Grandpa, you all take your time eating. The granddaughters can't delay too long; after all, we are being paid to do work for others and can't just chat idly! I hope you understand."
After saying this, Ziyan no longer paid attention to them but hurriedly pulled her sister back to the Braised Meat Counter to continue helping.
This left Purple Old Man with his two pampered sons and grandsons staring at each other in confusion.
In the end, they endured the extremely spicy taste and started eating Braised Meat. Perhaps they usually ate little meat; before long, they devoured every last bit of the spicy dish.
It seemed they were still not full as they looked over towards the Braised Meat Counter, especially Zi Xiaoping and Zi Xiaobao who were waving at Ziyan.
Ziyan nodded and walked over to ask, "What’s wrong?"
As soon as Ziyan approached, Zi Xiaoping and Zi Xiaobao almost simultaneously blurted out: "Sister Yan, please bring some more good meat for our brothers, uncles, and grandpa."
"That's not possible. Free samples are limited. The amount prepared today was already insufficient. Besides, you all have eaten way beyond your share today; that will incur extra charges. These few plates of meat will cost us half a month's wages when the accountant deducts it later. Moreover, our family owes Doctor Mo several dozen taels of silver for my treatment. Even if we work hard for three to five years, we might not be able to pay off this debt!"
"What? When did your family owe money to anyone outside?" The Purple Old Man's mustache twitched high.
"It was when I was knocked out by the Mad Cow and almost died. My father had no choice but to seek Doctor Mo in this city for treatment and to get medicine on credit. He didn't want to worry you all, so he didn't tell anyone about it. Otherwise, with so many people in the city who could help, why would they come to us? It's because we couldn't pay, and Mr. Mo understood that our family has good character, so he gave us a chance to work off our debt."
Ziyan fabricated a story about being in debt.
"Good-for-nothing! Hmph, what bad luck! We're leaving. If anything happens to your family in the future, don't say it has anything to do with the Old Zi Family."
The Purple Old Man angrily stood up and signaled for everyone to leave.
"I knew it! When will her family ever turn things around and open a shop? Pfft, dreaming!"
Zi Lao Si muttered gleefully while reaching out to help the Purple Old Man leave the table and head towards the door.
As they reached the entrance, they bumped into Zi Chengming, who was rushing towards County Town with an Ox Cart.
Upon seeing the Purple Old Man, Zi Chengming called out loudly, "Old Purple, I wasn't wrong, right? This shop belongs to your Second Brother's family?"
To his surprise, as soon as he mentioned it, the Purple Old Man shouted angrily, "What Second Brother? Zi Chenglie has nothing to do with my Zi Family from now on; I’ll pretend he doesn’t exist! Hmph!"
"Exactly."
Zi Lao San echoed his father's sentiment: "Dad, be careful. Let's take our time walking; there's no rush. It's not worth getting hurt over this good-for-nothing."
Watching the group from the Zhi Family Old Residence walk away, Zi Chengming stood there in confusion, unable to make sense of it all.
Zhou then called out, "Chengming, come over here and sit down to try some Braised Meat."
"Uh? Yeah, yeah."
Zi Chengming found a table close to the Braised Meat Cabinet and sat down, then continued asking, "So, what's going on with your old man?"
"I wanted to ask you, did you tell our old man that my family is opening a shop here? You really are quick on your feet!"
Zhou asked in a neutral tone.
"Uh? No, no, it was your old man who hasn't been feeling well these past few days. He went to County Town, you know, to that Jishitang across from you all to see a doctor. Just as we were hearing the commotion from your side, we spotted Second Brother. They said they wanted to come in and take a look. I was busy at the time, so I came late."
"This shop isn't ours; my family is just working for someone else. Please don't spread any rumors in the village," Zhou said firmly.
"Oh? So that's how it is. Hehe, I'm sorry! Sister-in-law, I misunderstood."
Upon hearing that the shop belonged to someone else, Zi Chengming could only chuckle awkwardly and said somewhat shyly, "Sister-in-law, is it really free today?"
"Of course! Our Boss is a person of his word; if he says it's free tasting, then it's free tasting."
"Mm-mm-mm, sister-in-law, then, then, then please give me some!" The weight on Zi Chengming's heart lifted.
After the Purple Old Man and the others left, the shop returned to its lively and festive atmosphere.
All the tables upstairs and downstairs were filled with people. For those who arrived later, Ziyan had no choice but to prepare takeout for them to take home and enjoy.
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