Wanjin Lady

Chapter 37 Listen to Qianggen

Zhang Jiping, the old fox, popped his pipe between his lips, looking as if he were lost in thought. He said vaguely, "Young Master, if you don't know how to run a business, you can learn slowly. After three to five years, the winery might be able to make a comeback."

"Three to five years?" someone raised his voice. "We all have families to support. How can we afford to be tortured like this?"

"That's right. For three to five years, are we going to have to starve to death with her?"

Zhang Jiping sighed, "It's not easy to leave at this time. Loyalty is the key to success in life. If you have a future, I won't stop you. But I'm old, where can I go? Hey, my boss is in trouble, so we'll stick together through thick and thin."

A group of people praised Zhang Jiping for his "loyalty", but the man in blue clothes who had previously refuted everyone and left lowered his head slightly, with a hint of ridicule on his face.

He was originally standing outside the crowd. Seeing everyone gathered around Zhang Jiping in a friendly atmosphere, chattering about something, he found it extremely boring and quietly left the crowd.

Instead of spending time chatting, you might as well clear the weeds at the front door.

Although the winery is closed and there is nothing to do, we must at least do our job.

I just don't know how the boss is doing. If this goes on, the people in the winery will become restless and it will soon be in disarray!
As for the young shopkeeper——

He met Wen Wan two months ago.

The young shopkeeper was young and introverted. He spoke in a soft voice and was polite to his employees.

Unfortunately, it is difficult for him to even look at the account books, let alone shoulder the heavy burden of running a winery.

The winery is no different from other businesses. Almost all the customers who come and go are men. Although the shopkeeper Wen is well-educated and well-mannered, he is afraid that he cannot control this group of young and energetic winery employees, let alone the group of wine dealers who do business with the Wen family.

Ma Changshun also felt that his future was bleak.

He pushed open the door, intending to find a broom to sweep the front yard, but suddenly he saw a woman sitting in the middle of the main room, with a maid and an old servant standing behind her.

The three of them sat in the house in silence, their eyes watching their noses and their noses observing their hearts. It was unknown how long they had been listening inside.

Ma Changshun's face changed slightly, and he immediately clasped his fists and saluted: "Young Master——"

"I'm here." Pian Wenwan smiled and pointed to the seat next to her as if nothing had happened. "Master Ma, please sit down."

"Hey, hey..." Ma Changshun felt like he was sitting on pins and needles and kept twisting his body.

The sounds of discussion outside could be heard clearly.

"If you ask me, we should just go and join the Cheng and Yuan families. I heard their winemaker makes three taels of silver a month. Although Bozhou is a bit far, it's better than waiting to die here!"

"Who says not? That little girl doesn't know anything about business. She's only been to the winery two or three times. I'm afraid she doesn't even know how to make wine. If she were to take over the winery, it would be ruined sooner or later! Since we're all going to die anyway, why not just do it quickly?"
——Yes, since there would be no grain to make wine in the second half of the year, the boss laid us off early and saved a lot of wages!

—You wish! He'll definitely keep us captive and withhold wages for another year or two, draining the winery and us too. I think today is worse than tomorrow, so I'll just go find my boss and resign from this job tomorrow. Let's part ways amicably! Let's go together!

——Let’s go, whoever doesn’t go is a grandson!

Ma Changshun sat upright and glanced at Wen Wan in the main seat. He saw that she was listening with great interest, and a drop of cold sweat dripped down his forehead.

Could it be that the young master heard everything?

Ma Changshun felt very uncomfortable. Although he was usually too straightforward and was not liked by his colleagues, he couldn't bear to watch his boss catch them in the act. He was about to speak up to stop the discussion outside, but Wen Wan asked Hongmei to pour him some tea and calmly interrupted him, "Master Ma, have some tea."

Ma Changshun gritted his teeth and held the teacup, his eyelids slightly raised, feeling that there would be a bloody storm today.

Wen Wan saw Ma Changshun sitting upright and couldn't help but smile, "Master Ma has been at the winery for four or five years, right?"

"To answer the young master, I have been working at the Wen Family Winery since the ninth year of the Xianping reign, which means it has been five years now."

"Five years. That's quite a long time. I'm sure Master Ma knows everything about the Wen Family Winery."

Ma Changshun answered humbly and pragmatically, "There are many experienced craftsmen in the distillery, and everyone knows each other well. After working in this distillery for a long time, it's no different from my own home." He smiled gently, neither confirming nor denying.

"Master Zhang also smokes pipes in the winery?"

Ma Changshun became alert and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

Wine is flammable, and the first rule in a winery is that it cannot be exposed to open flames.

But Zhang Jiping was a veteran in the winery, and there were countless rules he didn't follow. In the past, Ma Changshun would have answered without hesitation, and even threatened to accuse Zhang Jiping of his crimes.

Now, he is no longer a young and energetic boy.

He twirled the corner of his clothes and answered without a single leak, "Well... sometimes I smoke, sometimes I don't. The old boss knows the situation."

Wen Wan curled her lips slightly and smiled calmly.

well.

The head chef who has hidden thoughts, the second chef who is trying to protect himself, and a group of low-level employees who are clamoring to leave.

Finally finding a moment to talk, Ma Changshun defended his colleagues, "Young Master, they're not usually like this. This month's wages weren't paid on time... and there's no work... Everyone's pissed."

"It's okay." Wen Wan held a bowl of tea, calm and composed, "Young people are quick-tempered."

young people?
These young guys talking here are only a few years older than the young master!
Ma Changshun always felt that the young master today was a bit unpredictable.

Gradually, the noise outside died down. Wen Wan placed the teacup on the table and gestured to the people behind her, "Hongmei, Aunt Chen, go open the door and invite the masters in."

Ma Changshun's eyelids were twitching and he felt like there were needles under his butt. He couldn't sit still.

He just stood there, for fear that the young master would think he was in cahoots with the outsiders.

Just sit down, for fear that his colleagues would think that he had secretly defected to the young master.

The door was wide open, and Chen Ma's voice was loud, "Masters, the young master wants to see you."

Shaodong’s family?
Everyone was confused and looked towards the main hall. After seeing the woman sitting in the main room, their expressions varied and were very interesting.

The person who had been making the most noise was hiding behind Zhang Jiping, his voice trembling unnaturally. "Why is she here?"

Some people glanced at each other anxiously, "Yeah, how long has she been here? Did she hear everything?"

Some people were disdainful, "So what if they heard it? We're a bunch of grown men, why should we be afraid of a little girl?"

The man urged, "If you have the guts, lead the way in. The young master is calling you."

"It's not my turn to lead this matter. Didn't you just say that whoever doesn't go will be a grandson—"

"That's enough." Zhang Jiping put away his pipe and tucked it into his belt, then walked hunched over with his hands behind his back. "You're a bunch of cowards! The young master won't eat you, so what are you afraid of?"

Sorry, everyone who's been following this story, I'm about to prove myself wrong again.

I just said a few days ago that I would update 4,000 words a day, but it seems that's not possible now. I have to wait for the competition on the bookstore website. Too many words will affect the competition results. Sorry.

The update schedule will depend on the PK schedule, with varying updates of 2,000 or 4,000 words. I estimate it will become more regular after that.

Just pretend I didn't say anything before.

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(End of this chapter)