Chapter 37

After a busy day yesterday, Li Qi could finally have a well-deserved long sleep today, since he didn’t need to do business today!

After waking up, Li Qi first went to the kitchen.

At that moment, the two Chen brothers were holding rags and brooms, diligently cleaning the kitchen.

Last night, Li Qi had officially taken them as his disciples, and cleaning the kitchen naturally became their required course.

After all, no matter how skilled Li Qi was in cooking, he couldn’t manage everything alone and needed a few helpers.

Although the Chen brothers and Wu Xiaoliu had no background, they were loyal and trustworthy.

Li Qi didn’t want to repeat the mistake of recruiting a batch of people from outside, only to have them poached after they had learned everything.

That would be a real loss!

Since he had plenty of time now, even though the Chen brothers might not be as talented as Wu Xiaoliu, they were hardworking, and Li Qi believed they could make up for their lack of talent with effort.

"Brother Li!"

"Brother Li! You’re here!"

The two Chen brothers saw Li Qi walk in and quickly put down their work to greet him.

Li Qi nodded and smiled, "You don’t need to worry about me, just keep working."

At this point, Li Qi suddenly noticed that someone was missing and asked, "By the way, where’s Xiaoliu?"

Chen Xiaozhu shook his head, "I don’t know. I haven’t seen him this morning. Maybe he’s still sleeping."

Still sleeping?

Li Qi’s brows furrowed slightly.

It was fine for him to be lazy, but he wouldn’t be happy if his disciples were lazy!

Just as Chen Xiaozhu finished speaking, Wu Xiaoliu’s voice came from outside the door, "Who’s saying bad things about me?"

Before the sound had even faded, Wu Xiaoliu swaggered in, his face dirty. Seeing Li Qi, he immediately bowed and smiled ingratiatingly, "Brother Li, you’re up!"

Li Qi sneered, "Lord Liu, did you sleep well last night?"

Lord Liu?

Wu Xiaoliu’s face fell, "Brother Li, don’t tease me. I didn’t sleep well at all last night."

Li Qi, seeing his dirty face, asked in confusion, "Did you go stealing last night?"

Wu Xiaoliu rolled his eyes and complained, "Brother Li, you don’t know. You fried stinky tofu in my room all day yesterday, making the whole place smell. Even the bedding and pillow were stinky. How could I sleep? So I got up early this morning to clean the room and have been busy ever since."

"Uh... Brother Li knows that you’ve made a significant contribution to Zui Xian Ju, so you don’t need to clean the kitchen today. Go back and rest well!"

Li Qi’s face was strange, but he was secretly delighted.

Wu Xiaoliu’s face lit up with joy. He winked at the Chen brothers and then smiled ingratiatingly at Li Qi, "Brother Li, you’re really too good to me."

"Of course, of course!"

Li Qi barely held back his laughter and then asked the Chen brothers, "By the way, have you seen Uncle Wu?"

"Oh, I saw Manager Wu at the counter just now," Chen Xiaozhu replied.

"Alright, you two keep working. I’ll go talk to Uncle Wu."

Li Qi patted Wu Xiaoliu’s shoulder and said, "Go rest quickly. We still have business to do tomorrow!"

"Alright!"

Leaving the kitchen, Li Qi went straight to the counter, where he saw Wu Furong standing and clicking the abacus.

"Uncle Wu!"

"Ah, Young Master Li, you’re up!"

Li Qi nodded and walked over, asking, "Uncle Wu, what are you doing?"

Wu Furong smiled warmly, "I’m doing the accounts. By the way, Young Master Li, do you know how much we’ve earned in the past four days?"

Li Qi shook his head.

He had never looked at the accounts, as his goal wasn’t to make money from selling stinky tofu, but he wasn’t stupid and had a rough idea in his mind.

Wu Furong’s eyes widened in surprise, and he said tremulously, "Young Master Li, we’ve earned nearly 400 guan in the past four days. With six days left, it won’t be difficult for you to earn 1,000 guan by the 15th."

"Oh!"

Wu Furong’s words only earned a calm response from Li Qi, who showed no emotion on his face.

Wu Furong, surprised by Li Qi’s calmness, asked, "Young Master Li, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Huh?"

Li Qi was slightly taken aback and smiled, "Uncle Wu, you’re overthinking it. I’m fine, but it’s not time to celebrate yet. We still need to work hard."

"That’s right, that’s right!"

Wu Furong, realizing he might have been too excited, blushed and nodded.

After chatting a bit more, Li Qi suddenly heard a knock at the door.

"Manager Wu, are you there?" a rooster-like voice called out.

Wu Furong’s face changed, and he said in surprise, "Cai Lao San? What’s he doing here?"

Cai Lao San? Isn’t he the steward of Feicui Xuan?

Li Qi was both pleased and surprised. He said to Wu Furong, "Uncle Wu, if Cai Lao San asks about me, tell him I’m out. Remember, don’t say I’m here." With that, he quietly slipped back into the inner room.

"Ah? Li—!"

Wu Furong hadn’t reacted in time, and Li Qi was already gone, leaving him puzzled, muttering, "How did he know Cai Lao San was here for him?"

"Manager Wu, Manager Wu!"

At this moment, Cai Lao San called out again.

"Coming, coming!"

Wu Furong, full of questions, opened the door.

++++++++++++++

Li Qi quietly returned to his room, waving his fists excitedly and muttering to himself, "I didn’t expect this old fox to lose his cool so quickly. It seems those officials yesterday really shook him up!"

After a while.

"How come it’s not over yet?"

Li Qi paced anxiously in the room, several times wanting to sneak over to check, but he held back.

After another cup of tea, Li Qi couldn’t contain his curiosity and was about to open the door to check.

Suddenly, he heard rapid footsteps outside.

"Young Master Li, Young Master Li!"

It was Wu Furong’s voice.

Li Qi quickly opened the door and asked impatiently, "Uncle, what did Cai Lao San want?"

Wu Furong walked into the room, glancing suspiciously at Li Qi, "He came to discuss buying the shop."

"What? Buying the shop?"

Li Qi’s mouth dropped open in surprise, "Uncle Wu, are you kidding me?"

Wu Furong shook his head, "Of course not. Cai Lao San really came to discuss buying the shop, but the price he offered is different from the original."

"How much did he offer?"

"8,000 guan!" Wu Furong gestured.

Li Qi’s brows furrowed, "What did you tell him?"

Wu Furong shook his head, "I told him I need to discuss it with my wife. He’ll come back tomorrow."

Although Wu Furong knew that Zui Xian Ju wouldn’t be sold to anyone, he was always cautious and didn’t want to say the wrong thing. So he wanted to come back and ask Li Qi’s opinion, as Li Qi was now in charge of Zui Xian Ju.