I open a restaurant in Mysterious Recovery

Chapter 731 The "Store Manager's" Stance
"Let's check on Fang Shiming's situation first."

Lu Zhiwen clearly hadn't made up his mind yet, or rather, the answer was already clear, but he was still somewhat unwilling to accept it.

Without the help of Ghost Messenger Lao Fan, Fang Shiming's strength was not much stronger than that of a novice Ghost Tamer.

Most of his original supernatural abilities were taken away by the "manager" of the Peace Hotel because he offended the hotel, and later sold to Cao Yang. So now he is really in a sorry state.

However, Li Jun and Zhang Lei did not go too far.

Without him.

Fang Shiming is an employee of the Peace Hotel. Even if we don't care about the monk, we can't completely slap the "manager's" face. Surely no one really thinks that just because the "manager" says he doesn't care about Fang Shiming's affairs in reality, he can really be indifferent to everything?
At least, people at headquarters wouldn't think that way.

Moreover, Fang Shiming now possesses the Seed of White Mist, so he's not someone they can kill at will. They can only teach him a lesson so he won't try to take over headquarters again.

Now that Cao Yanhua has achieved a victory in the battle against the ghost bus and the ghost messenger Lao Fan, he can finally stand up for himself.

Looking at Fang Shiming, who was standing there in a disheveled state, Cao Yanhua gave a rather subtle and restrained smile. Otherwise, given Fang Shiming's personality, he would definitely have thought that Cao Yanhua was mocking him.

We've already gained the upper hand; there's no need to provoke this crazy guy any further.

"Mr. Fang, do you still stand by your previous agreement?"

Fang Shiming straightened his disheveled clothes, his cold gaze sweeping over Li Jun, Zhang Lei, and Lu Zhiwen as if looking at dead men, before finally settling on Cao Yanhua.

That look sent a chill down everyone's spine, and they all understood one thing:

This feud has escalated to a huge level!

It could even be said that they have become mortal enemies.

However, no one was afraid, and no one backed down. They all stared straight ahead without yielding an inch.

"I, Fang Shiming, keep my word and will not go back on my word. You are all very good, truly very good."

Fang Shiming said the words through gritted teeth, then left without looking back, leaving only the ghost messenger Lao Fan behind.

"Should we put away the ghost messengers?" A thought flashed through Zhao Jianguo's mind.

"If you're looking to die, don't drag us down with you."

Shen Liang snorted coldly, and the way everyone looked at him like he was an idiot jolted Zhao Jianguo awake, and cold sweat immediately broke out on his back.

He had just been tempted by greed and wanted to keep the ghost messenger.

If this is just a wild, vengeful ghost, then there's naturally no major problem. Since it's been suppressed by headquarters, it's now headquarters' property.

The problem is, the ghost messengers have masters.

It's not Fang Shiming, but the "store manager"!
If they dare to detain the "store manager" today, or even seize his property, given the "store manager's" vindictive nature in the past, the headquarters might truly become a thing of the past.

"This is headquarters, so let it stay here. Once it regains its senses, it should return to the Peace Hotel on its own. Just in case, Mr. Qin, I'd appreciate it if you could stay here a little longer," Cao Yanhua arranged.

Old Qin nodded, not paying much attention, and readily agreed.

“I’ll stay too, and see if there’s another chance,” Wei Jing suddenly said.

Everyone present instantly understood his intentions and became somewhat excited, after all, Wei Jing was once a strong candidate who was qualified to compete with Fang Shiming for the position of Ghost Messenger Lao Fan.

If we can take advantage of tonight's opportunity to turn Ghost Messenger Lao Fan into one of our own... our own ghost, the gains will be enormous.

Moreover, without the ghost messenger Lao Fan, Fang Shiming should calm down a bit.

After all, there's no such thing as being able to thief from a thousand miles away, but there's a question: "Old Wei, you don't have any intermediaries left, do you still have a chance?"

To control a vengeful ghost through a "marriage," in addition to having a "shop manager" act as a matchmaker, there also needs to be a piece of the puzzle that can arouse the ghost's "interest."

The reason Wei Jing was qualified to compete with Fang Shiming for the "marriage" authority of Ghost Messenger Lao Fan was because he had an arm at the time, an arm with nine suppression slots, which was part of Ghost Messenger Lao Fan's puzzle.

However, this arm was already lost when Fang Shiming "married" the ghost messenger Lao Fan, turning him into an ordinary person and disqualifying him from competing.

"Give it a try, no one's going to die anyway," Wei Jing said calmly.

Everyone knew the probability was almost zero, but looking at Wei Jing's calm face, Cao Yanhua could only agree, "Alright, let's give it a try. Maybe there will be a pleasant surprise?"

Everyone left one after another. Apart from Old Qin, Lu Zhiwen and Wei Jing were also present.

"Thinking about it carefully, Lao Wei's choice today is actually quite interesting." Not far from the venue, Zhang Lei leaned against the wall, lost in thought.

Li Jun was also there.

They can't really just ignore everything. If anything unexpected happens, they can lend a hand. Anyway, given their current situation, whether they sleep or not is not an issue at all.

They no longer need to sleep to restore their energy.

However, waiting time is always so boring. Hearing Zhang Lei say that, Li Jun immediately perked up. "What's so interesting about it? Tell me?"

"Okay, let me analyze it for you."

Zhang Lei chuckled. Although he was deeply corrupted by the supernatural and was not in the white mist ghost realm of the Peace Hotel, his normal human emotions no longer seemed to be suppressed as before.

Otherwise, Li Jun wouldn't have been curious about this issue, and Zhang Lei wouldn't have brought up such gossipy topics. Shen Liang, who had also stayed behind to prepare for the rendezvous and logistics, looked over with the same curiosity and doubt, and even pricked up his ears, wanting to hear what insightful opinions Zhang Lei had.

"From a supernatural perspective, this is a struggle between headquarters and Fang Shiming's circle of friends. But what if we look at it from another angle, for example, family ethics?"

Family ethics?

Li Jun was completely bewildered and still couldn't figure it out. Shen Liang, on the other hand, thought for a while and then his expression suddenly became very strange.

"Captain Shen, you've thought of something?" Zhang Lei asked curiously.

Shen Liang nodded, then asked thoughtfully, "You've been quite free lately, haven't you? You've been watching a lot of... TV dramas?"

"I'm not exactly free, but sometimes when I'm bored, I just wander around and look for interesting things." Zhang Lei touched his nose, looking a little embarrassed.

Li Jun was very frustrated. "What exactly are you talking about? Can you explain it to me properly?"

"Okay, I'll explain." Zhang Lei quickly agreed, so as not to let Shen Liang dig deeper, which would make him seem idle and not working hard.

"It's actually very simple. Look, Ghost Messenger Lao Fan and Fang Shiming are already married. Regardless of who is the wife and who is the husband, their relationship is recognized and protected both by civil law and by the Peace Hotel, right?"

Li Jun nodded. "Yes, you're right."

"Now here's the problem. Their marriage is in two steps: the first is the marriage certificate in the real world, and the second is getting the store manager's approval at the wedding. After the second step is completed, Lao Wei and Lao Guo competing for the ghost messenger Lao Fan can be considered legitimate competition, for love. But what about after the second step is completed? What does that mean?" Zhang Lei was trying to persuade them.

Li Jun hesitated, then asked, "Break up someone else's family? A third party? A fourth party?"

"That's right! Although it's not quite appropriate to say it like that, from another perspective, Lao Wei's current state does indeed deviate from normal universal values. Of course, from our point of view, this is a good thing, after all, the ghost messengers are too much of a threat in Fang Shiming's hands."

Don't be fooled by our victory today; it was just a surprise attack. Fang Shiming was too overconfident and didn't dodge. But with today's experience, next time he faces a supernatural bus, if he can't resist, won't he at least dodge?
Therefore, recruiting Ghost Messenger Lao Fan is the best option we can think of. That's why we don't have any aversion to Lao Wei's actions; on the contrary, we hope he succeeds and will offer help and support when needed.

However, from the perspective of family ethics, this is somewhat inappropriate.

In our eyes, Lao Wei is the protagonist, Fang Shiming is the villain, and the ghost messenger Lao Wei is the symbol of the protagonist's victory over the villain, or rather, the spoils of war.

But from Fang Shiming's perspective, we are the villains.

Zhang Lei's analysis was very insightful, but Li Jun disagreed. "Old Zhang, what you said is quite good, but you're taking the wrong stance. We need to look at it from a supernatural perspective, not from a family ethics perspective. The so-called marriage is just a means for Fang Shiming to control the ghost messenger, Lao Fan. It doesn't mean that we have to drag everything into a battlefield that is advantageous to Fang Shiming. Otherwise, we wouldn't need to resist at all; we could just hand over the headquarters to Fang Shiming, wouldn't that be better?"

Zhang Lei shook his head, his expression shifting from gossipy to serious. "Old Li, you're right, that's indeed our perspective. But if we don't consider Fang Shiming's perspective, what about the store manager's? From what perspective do you think he'll view our choices today?"

From the perspective of a "store manager"?

Li Jun's expression instantly turned extremely serious. He finally understood that Zhang Lei wasn't just chatting or gossiping; he was reminding them of a very important factor:
"Store Manager!"
“The store manager’s worldview is that of a normal person. Tonight’s events will naturally be viewed from the perspective of normal family ethics. In other words, everything we did tonight has been regarded as the actions of villains.” Shen Liang’s face was grim. “I need to report this situation to the department head. In any case, we cannot let it affect the store manager’s opinion of us, otherwise our future will be difficult.”

Shen Liang is a man of action, and he immediately reported such an important matter.

Cao Yanhua, who had originally planned to rest for a while, had to drag his tired body back to the office. Listening to Shen Liang's detailed explanation and report, his weariness vanished, and he said with a serious expression, "Your analysis makes a lot of sense. Tell Wei Jing that we only have one night. Either we make it a fait accompli, or we must send Ghost Messenger Lao Fan back to the shop before six o'clock."

"You want to snatch Ghost Messenger Lao Fan from Fang Shiming in one night?" Shen Liang asked in astonishment.

Cao Yanhua said with a solemn expression, "I know it's almost impossible, but there's no other way. At least there's still a chance tonight, but by tomorrow, once Fang Shiming reports this to higher authorities, there will be no chance at all."

Yes!

If it's a worldview that the "store manager" doesn't approve of, then why would Ghost Messenger Lao Fan give Wei Jing another chance?
Shen Liang said, "I understand, Minister. I will inform Wei Jing immediately. However, should we keep an eye on Fang Shiming? I'm worried something might go wrong."

"The store manager is still at the old house and won't return to the Peace Hotel until after 3 a.m. Tong Qian is with him. If Fang Shiming goes there now and brings up this matter, Tong Qian should be able to help. But Tong Qian is inflexible and a bit rigid, so she can have very little effect. Given Fang Shiming's personality, he certainly doesn't seem like the type to procrastinate. We must get there before him."

Cao Yanhua stood up and paced back and forth in the office a few times.

He hadn't thought it through yet, but as he had just said, they didn't have much time left. They needed to meet the "shop manager" before Fang Shiming to form a first impression and avoid being misled by Fang Shiming.

"Is Guo Fan still being held back by Ye Zhen? If he can get away, have him go to the store manager and tell him what to say."

Previously, Guo Fan drove the ghost taxi, taking Li Jun to the old house in the forest, but they were blocked by Ye Zhen.

Fortunately, Guo Fan drove Li Jun back without being stopped by Ye Zhen, which led to the scene where Li Jun and Zhang Lei together taught Fang Shiming a lesson.

However, Ye Zhen kept pestering Guo Fan and was unwilling to fight Fang Shiming tonight, so Guo Fan had no choice but to take Ye Zhen away first.

"I'll contact you right away."

Meanwhile, in the lobby of the Peace Hotel branch in Dahai City.

"Eat up! What are you standing there for? Don't you like the food?"

Ye Zhen drank milk and ate meat with gusto, while several bottles of newly opened wine were placed in front of Guo Fan, which annoyed him greatly. "If you want to get me drunk, just say so. There's no need to test me like this. Besides, I don't have any money on me, so I can't pay the bill."

"Oh, you there. Hey you, take these things away first. This guy's a penniless wretch."

Ye Zhen gave a signal, and a robot came over, sealed all the new wine, and then took it away.

Fortunately, new wine is different from real wine. Even if it is opened and then resealed, it will not affect the taste or quality, and no one will care.

This is a "divine brew" that can strengthen the body.

Guo Fan's lips twitched as he stared at Ye Zhen, unsure what to say. Just then, his phone rang. "What? It's already over? Fang Shiming abandoned the ghost messengers and ran away?"

(End of this chapter)