Chapter 25: The Buffet Fiasco

Chapter 25: The Buffet Fiasco

Cheng Yunshuo and Lu Lingyun had always treated each other with mutual respect, maintaining a clear boundary between them.

He nodded at her, his gaze falling on the woman behind her wearing a bamboo hat.

Without waiting for a question, Lu Lingyun said, "She is my close friend, here to visit me."

With several men still around Cheng Yunshuo, Lu Lingyun did not even mention Wang Qiluo's name.

Cheng Yunshuo nodded and led Xing Dairong, who was engaged in lively conversation with others, toward the banquet hall.

One of the two men behind him spoke up, "This young lady looks like General Wang's daughter."

Lu Lingyun frowned slightly as he mentioned her name. At this moment, Cheng Yunshuo introduced them, "These two are my friends. This one is Luo Heng, son of the new Chief Judge of the Supreme Court."

Upon hearing that he was the son of the Chief Judge of the Supreme Court, Lu Lingyun's palms tightened.

On the other side, Luo Heng spoke in a familiar tone, "Are you Miss Wang? I am Luo Heng. Three months ago, I met you and General Wang with my father in the outskirts."

Luo Heng was gentle and polite, making people feel good just by talking to him.

Lu Lingyun felt a surge of tension. It must be him, it has to be him.

In her previous life, he married Wang Qiluo but abused her to death.

"Since we've met, why don't we have dinner together here with Yunshuo?" he continued.

At this point, Cheng Yunshuo added, "Do you all know each other? Since you do, let's eat together."

Wang Qiluo, standing behind Lu Lingyun, did not rush to speak. Lu Lingyun quickly declined, "No, it's getting late. My aunt instructed me to send my sister back early. She is not yet married, so it's not appropriate for her to dine here."

Lu Lingyun refused politely, gesturing for Wang Qiluo to remain silent.

Xing Dairong scoffed, "You old-fashioned people, always fussing over rules. What's so inconvenient about having a meal together? Don't you find it tiresome?"

If it were any other day, Lu Lingyun would have let it go, but today it was for Wang Qiluo, so she retorted, "Miss Xing, unmarried women should avoid meeting strangers. You may not care about such things, but you can't expect others to be the same."

Her words implied that if Xing Dairong wanted to be shameless, she could do so herself, but not drag others down with her.

"What do you mean?!"

"Alright," Cheng Yunshuo quickly intervened, "It's indeed inconvenient. Let's go have our meal."

For Lu Lingyun, he naturally showed respect.

After all, people were truly different.

Their initial status determined their weight.

Lu Lingyun was his nominal wife, and a formal wife deserved respect.

He led Xing Dairong and his two friends toward the banquet hall. As they passed by, Luo Heng smiled faintly at Wang Qiluo, but Lu Lingyun casually blocked his view.

After they left, Xing Dairong remained indignant.

"Wasn't what I said true? Life is about freedom; why bother with so many rules! Look at me, I never feel uncomfortable dining with you all. We're all friends."

"I agree with Miss Xing," Luo Heng echoed.

"Some people are just stubborn and old-fashioned!"

As they walked away, Wang Qiluo frowned and held Lu Lingyun's hand, "Lingyun, is that the remarkable woman?"

"Yes."

Wang Qiluo whispered in her ear, "I think she's really annoying."

Lu Lingyun chuckled, tightening her grip on Wang Qiluo's hand, thinking about Luo Heng's interest in Wang Qiluo, "Do you really know that Luo Heng?"

"We only met once; it doesn't count as knowing him." Wang Qiluo shook her head, which was why she had remained silent earlier.

Hearing this, Lu Lingyun said, "Stay away from him and don't pay him any attention."

"Why?"

Lu Lingyun thought for a moment, "Just look at how he responded to Xing Dairong. Is he really a good person?"

Wang Qiluo nodded seriously, "You're right."

Seeing her reaction, Lu Lingyun felt relieved. It seemed she had nipped this budding issue in the bud, but she couldn't let her guard down. She needed to keep an eye on things in the future.

They chatted and laughed as Lu Lingyun personally saw Wang Qiluo off, arranging for two servants from the marquisate to accompany the Wang family carriage back home.

Once the news of Wang Qiluo's safe arrival reached them, the meal in the banquet hall was almost finished.

The servants reported that Cheng Yunshuo's two friends were chatting happily with Xing Dairong, leaving Cheng Yunshuo barely able to join in.

The two friends praised Xing Dairong's buffet idea highly, and she proposed several new projects.

She talked about opening a milk tea shop and an underwear store in front of them.

While a beverage shop was acceptable, her description of the underwear store changed Cheng Yunshuo's expression.

Finally, Cheng Yunshuo declared Xing Dairong drunk and forcibly took her away, ending the banquet.

His two friends laughed heartily, praising Xing Dairong as a remarkable woman.

Lu Lingyun called for all the servants who had heard and ordered them to keep their mouths shut.

But unexpectedly, Xing Dairong's desire to open an underwear shop was genuine.

She thought that ancient women did not have undergarments, so her modern underwear would be revolutionary and highly attractive to women of this era.

She envisioned that once her shop opened, money would surely pour in!

Modern underwear shops were also highly profitable!

This industry had low entry barriers, was easy to operate, and would definitely be a hit!

For several days, she pestered Cheng Yunshuo, earnestly explaining her plan. Just as she was about to convince him, the Jufu Buffet she had set up was shut down by the authorities.

Kang Ping rushed over to find Cheng Yunshuo, "Prince, something terrible has happened! Our buffet restaurant has been closed down!"

Upon hearing this, both Cheng Yunshuo and Xing Dairong turned around, "What happened?"

Kang Ping looked troubled, "It's those suppliers of ours. They've reported our buffet to the authorities."

"Why would they report us?"

"Because we can't pay them," Kang Ping handed over a thick ledger, "Since opening, the buffet has been losing money every day. We've been delaying payment for supplies, and now we owe them 1,150 taels."

Xing Dairong snatched the ledger. The numbers were the Arabic numerals she had taught, but she still couldn't make sense of the accounts.

Cheng Yunshuo took the ledger and glanced at the figures. Page after page, he saw a shocking number jump out at him.

"One thousand one hundred and fifty taels?!"

"Yes," Kang Ping nodded, "Our daily cost for supplies is around forty to fifty taels, but the highest daily profit we've made is only ten taels, and the lowest is just five. Every day we lose more than eighty percent. Now we owe the suppliers 1,150 taels."

"How could we owe so much!" Xing Dairong frowned, "How did you manage it!"

"Miss Xing, we followed your instructions exactly. Even at the original price of forty wen per person, we still lost money! You don't know how much these people can eat. Some customers come in and eat enough for their entire family! We often see people eating dozens of pounds of food, then go home and induce vomiting to feed their whole family."

"How is this possible!"