Quadruple split.

Chapter 2701 [The Pig-Headed Butcher]

Game time AM10:23
In the City of Freedom, in the Nightless District, at the flagship store of [Pig Head Butcher], the second-floor private room is called [Pig Nose].

"So, you're putting me in a really difficult position..."

With dark skin, seemingly bloated fat concealing muscular muscles, and a face full of swagger, the boar-man shopkeeper David TuTu took a drag of his heavily smoked cigarette and shook his head, saying, "We're all friends from the next street, so let's not beat around the bush. Although the locations of my two shops are indeed a bit controversial, I did inform my neighbors before I opened. You had no objections then, but now that the shops are up and running and business is booming, you're coming to try and steal my thunder?"

bah—

With a loud crash, David slammed his hand on the table in front of him, creating large, fine cracks. His eyes widened as he exclaimed, "How can it be so cheap?"

“I understand your concerns, Manager David.”

The young man sitting opposite him casually caught the tea that had been thrown into the air, took a small sip, and said with a wry smile, "But the problem is that when you opened your business a year ago, our Cavos was in a state of chaos. Countess Leisa, the head of the family, was even far away in the Southeast Continent. In addition, most of the members of the Bella Street Committee were not notified in advance, but were only 'informed' the day before your opening. As for what you just said... we really can't agree with it."

"joke!"

David stared intently at Cole and said in a deep voice, "Do you expect me to personally go find that countess who's nowhere to be found at that time? Or do you mean that wherever you move, you have to clean up all the disputed territories around you? Even properties that have already been taken over by others are coveted? Cole, think about it yourself, what kind of robber logic is this!"

Cole Shulen sighed and said helplessly, "I'll say it again. Although I personally understand your troubles, the reality is not as you said. There are two 'Pig Head Butchers' that have opened shops in the disputed area. Instead, your shop is located directly at the beginning and end of Bella Street."

David chuckled coldly, raising an eyebrow. "So what? What's wrong with that?"

"That's not good, dear manager, that's very bad."

Cole slowly put down his teacup and said softly, "The City of Liberty has its own rules, which we both know. Your 'overstepping' behavior can be seen as a provocation against Bella Street. This provocation is like a time bomb. Although it may never explode, if it is detonated one day, it may cause you some unnecessary losses."

"Is it possible, young man Cole, that the bombs you mentioned... I've already planted quite a few?"

David rolled up his sleeves, pointed to the deep, bone-revealing scar on his right arm that stretched from his shoulder to his wrist, and gave a ferocious smile: "My arm was chopped off five years ago; the back of my neck was hacked three times seven years ago; as for my buttocks and groin, which are inconvenient to show now, there are large areas of burn marks, but luckily, because I happened to get up to pee when I was attacked, so they are still there."

Cole nodded slightly and raised his tea to David, who was showing off his scars: "Your Excellency, Manager, you are undoubtedly an admirable tough guy."

"So, do you know why I have the ability to get rid of these unsightly scars that don't make me more attractive, but instead keep them on my body?"

David stuck out his overly long tongue, licked his upturned nose, and grinned, "Guess?"

Cole shook his head and shrugged. "Sorry, shopkeeper, I'm actually not very good at riddles."

"Correct."

Sitting in the high-backed chair next to Cole, wearing a black veil, the elf, though beautiful, had an unusually weak presence and exuded a cold aura, but looked like just an ordinary girl. She nodded and agreed, "He wasn't good at betting and riddles at the academy, and often lost his lunch to Rada and Dave."

A momentarily stunned by the sudden interruption, David even forgot his lines: "...?"

"so--"

Cole smiled slightly without changing his expression and said in a light tone, "Could you please reveal the answer directly, Manager?"

"The reason I keep them is partly to remind myself that no matter how much trouble I face, I will always be the one who survives to the end, laughs last, and wins last."

David leaned forward slightly, staring intently at Cole: "On the other hand, I want to remind those who want to oppose me and cause me trouble that I am always the one who survives to the end, laughs last, and wins last."

Cole nodded slightly and said calmly, "I see. I completely agree with your point of view."

"Ok?"

The girl, named Lorna Moonshine, who is currently assisting Cole, whom Futaba calls a "clown" who makes a fool of himself everywhere, as a "doll," turned to look at Cole with a rather expressionless face and an air of deathly tranquility: "Do you agree?"

Cole: "Huh?"

"David."

Lorna then turned to the boar-man shopkeeper across from her and asked curiously, "You survived to the end, wasn't it because you didn't die? You laughed last, wasn't it because you didn't cry? You won last, wasn't it because you didn't lose? What if you had died, cried, or lost?"

David clenched his fists, staring silently at Lorna next to Cole, before slowly shifting his gaze to Cole and saying coldly, "Kid, are you threatening me?"

"Uh……"

Cole paused for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile and said helplessly, "Alright, let's just say that, Manager. If you think we're threatening you, that you might die, cry, or lose, then that's fine with me."

"Give me a reason."

Although he didn't immediately erupt in anger, David stared intently at Cole with an increasingly gloomy look in his eyes, and said, word by word, "Give me a reason to believe that I will fail."

Cole tilted his head and thought for a moment, then took out a silver pocket watch with two clowns painted on it from his pocket. He opened it, glanced at it, and said softly, "Hmm... that's about right."

"Ok?"

David's gaze sharpened slightly, and he said in a deep voice, "What do you mean by 'enough'? What are you going to do?"

"It's not about what I want to do, Manager."

As Cole listened intently to the increasingly rapid footsteps outside the door, he said calmly, "It's not about what we've already done."

Bang!

The next instant, the door to the private room was suddenly kicked open from the outside, and a panting orc rushed in. He glanced at Cole and the others, then darted to David's ear. Just as he was about to say something, he was slapped away.

"Don't do it sneakily."

Having already anticipated what was going on, David took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Just say what you want to say."

"Okay, boss..."

The orc trembled as he covered his face and scrambled to his feet, stammering, "We... no, I mean, our seventh and eighth branches on Bella Street... something... something happened!"

David's eyes widened immediately, and he asked sharply, "What happened? What happened? The shop is gone?"

"The shop...the shop is still there."

The orc underling swallowed hard, hesitated for a few seconds, and then gritted his teeth and said, "But the people inside... all the people inside have been replaced!"

"Replaced?" David's face stiffened, and he said in a dry voice, "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that since last week, the No. 7 and No. 8 branches of 'Pig Head Butcher' that you have located at the end of Bella Street have only our people working there."

Cole smiled and said in a light tone, "Of course, you don't need to worry about this ruining the reputation of 'Pig Head Butcher'. We can assure you that there have been no problems with the food at those two stores this week, except that it is cleaner and more hygienic. In fact, even the turnover is 30 percent higher than the average weekly income."

David turned stiffly to look at Cole, his voice trembling as he said, "You...you guys..."

"Please rest assured, we will not touch a single penny of the income earned during this period. In addition, you do not need to reimburse the cost of various ingredients. The Countess said that these costs will be borne by the Caworth family, who offered to help."

Cole didn't give David a chance to make a harsh statement, but calmly continued, "As for the shop's staff and chefs, you don't need to worry about their safety either. During this week, they were invited to the Roman Abyss, and apart from having their freedom slightly restricted, they did not suffer any unpleasant treatment. Their expenses in the Roman Abyss will also be paid by Countess Leisa."

David twitched the corners of his mouth, gave a dry laugh, and then slumped into his chair without saying a word. He simply waved away the underlings who were standing by his side.

"Well, if you don't mind, we'll have your staff return to stores number seven and eight of [Pig Head Butcher] later today, and our people will also make sure to hand over the duties properly before leaving and stand their last shift."

Cole stood up, bowed gracefully to David, and said slowly, "Well then, please allow us to apologize again for the inconvenience caused by [Pighead Butcher]. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now, as there are still many matters to be handled at the manor."

"Wait a moment."

As soon as Cole finished speaking, David, who was sitting opposite him, immediately called out to him and Lorna, who had also stood up, and said in a low voice, "Brother Cole, and this young lady, if you don't mind, please sit for a while longer."

Cole immediately smiled with satisfaction, then sat back down: "Alright, since the manager is so sincere in inviting me to stay, I'll stay a little longer."

"Ok?"

Lorna looked at him curiously and asked, "Aren't you leaving?"

Cole shook his head and said gently, "Okay, let's not leave yet."

"Is it okay if you don't leave?"

Lorna didn't sit down, but continued to ask, "Didn't you just say you still had a lot of things to do?"

Cole's smile began to stiffen slightly: "Well... it'll only be a little while, it's alright, after all, time isn't that tight."

"Well, I see."

Lorna nodded slightly, then sat back down next to Cole and smiled, "I also remember you didn't seem to have any other plans this afternoon."

Cole: "..."

"Hahahahahaha~"

Just then, David suddenly burst out laughing, and while avoiding further embarrassment for Cole, he said cheerfully, "This girl is really cute. Didn't you see? The only thing Cole had to do this afternoon was to persuade old David to give up some foolish ideas. So if I had let him go just now, it would have become the 'matter' he would have to deal with right away."

Rona nodded indifferently: "I see."

"The store manager is joking."

Cole gave a bright, cheerful smile, then quickly changed the subject—which everyone knew was a joke—and asked directly, "So, is there something you want to tell me to do before I leave?"

"Nothing particularly important."

David said that first, then, fearing the girl might say something like, "Since there's nothing important, let's go," he quickly added, "But from what you just said, Brother Cole, it seems your people have been helping out at our two branches lately, right?"

Cole nodded slightly and calmly replied, "Exactly."

"Then let's do it this way—"

David coughed lightly and said in a serious tone, "Since your friends are doing a good job, and their turnover is even higher than that of my incompetent subordinates, why don't we let them continue to look after those two stores? Of course, I certainly can't let them work for nothing, so I'll personally pay their salaries."

Cole shook his head and laughed, "I couldn't possibly accept that."

“What are you saying? We’re all neighbors. I’m overjoyed that you’re willing to help manage the business. Besides, to be honest, our business on Cammy Street is already quite busy. I’d be more than happy if Brother Cole were willing to help.”

David gave a憨态可掬 smile and said seriously, "Then it's settled. From now on, we'll split the revenue of the No. 7 and No. 8 branches of [Pig Head Butcher] 50/50. I'll take care of the costs and personnel expenses. You just need to help run the business."

"OK?"

"Okay, okay."

"Not very good."

"There's nothing wrong with that, we're all neighbors..."

"What I mean is, it's not fair to you to split it in half, after all, you're the head manager of [Pig Head Butcher]."

"Hey, it's nothing, I don't care about such trivial things at all..."

"So let's just change the store name a little."

"Uh?"

"That way, it will be fair for us to split it 30/70."

"This……"

"What's wrong?"

"That's so right! Oh my, look at my brain, how come I didn't think of changing the name just now! Also, a 30/70 split is really not suitable. After all, we'll have to trouble Brother Cole to rack his brains to come up with a new name. Let's go with a 90/10 split, 90/10 will do."

"That's so embarrassing."

"You absolutely must accept! You absolutely must accept! Please don't refuse!"

"Then... that's fine too."

Chapter 2692: The End