Wanjin Lady

Chapter 40 Master Chef

"He's staying at my Wen family and won't leave. Then let him stay. Let's see who can outlast the other."

Chen Ma nodded and patted her chest to assure him, "I understand. Don't worry, young lady. I have the strength and the means. I will make sure that old man is left with a life in which he cannot live but must die."

Well...it's not that exaggerated.

As they were talking, Ma Changshun caught up. He stood outside the carriage and spoke frankly this time. As soon as he saw Wen Wan, he got straight to the point, "Young Master, if you do this... you'll drive the master chef away. The winery can do without me, Ma Changshun, but it can't do without the master chef. When the Wen family recovers in the future, they'll still have to rely on Master Zhang for winemaking. Why offend him now?"

The young lady sat in the carriage, and with her bare hands she opened the curtain, revealing her elegant and plain face.

well.

Ma Changshun finally woke up from his daze and realized that her move was aimed at Zhang Jiping. Although her reaction time was a bit slow, she was taller than the short ones and didn't mind him now that she was in need.

Zhang Jiping is not easy to get rid of.

This man had been with Old Man Wen for over a decade, enjoying great respect within the Wen family winery, and had rarely made any major mistakes. If she forcibly dismissed Zhang Jiping, she wouldn't be able to get past Old Man Wen, nor would she be able to get past the people of Ping County.

Wen Wan doesn't care about rumors.

But since it concerns the corporate image, she has to take it seriously.

The young lady narrowed her eyes and smiled, "Master Ma, my Wen family will never accept someone who has no respect for the winemaking industry."

Ma Changshun was stunned and immediately thought of the pipe on Master Zhang's waist.

Master Zhang always has a pipe in his hand.

The boss reminded Master Zhang several times, and Master Zhang agreed verbally every time, but he never stopped asking in private.

Although Master Zhang himself knew that open flames were not allowed in the winery, he would stay away from it every time he took a few puffs.

But in the end... it broke the rules.

If by some accident the entire winery catches fire, all the hard work of the owner... will be reduced to ashes.

"If you're pleading for mercy on this matter, can I assume... that you also think smoking a pipe in a winery is a minor or serious matter?"

Ma Changshun felt as if he had suffered a great humiliation, and his neck instantly turned red. "How can a winemaker take safety lightly? If anything unexpected happens, this winery and all the employees will be burned to ashes!"

Ma Changshun lowered his voice again. "Young Master, I don't have any other intentions. I'm just worried... that without a master chef, the winery won't be able to continue in the future."

"You're right." Wen Wan stared at Ma Changshun's smile with satisfaction. "A winery cannot be without a master chef, but things change over time. How does Master Ma know that you won't be the future master chef of our winery?"

Master Ma's expression changed slightly.

What the young master meant was—

Want him to take charge of the Wen family winery?
Ma Changshun's heart was pounding: How could that be possible? How could he do that?
But another voice immediately sounded, why not? !
He has the skills!
He is very familiar with the process of winemaking and brewing. Over the years at the Wen Family Winery, the wine he brews is no worse than anyone else's!
Then a bolder idea came to my mind.

Zhang Jiping is not worthy of being the master chef of Wen Family Winery!
Ever since his old boss became seriously ill, Zhang Jiping had no one to supervise him and got drunk every day, causing his subordinates to also start drinking and smoking.

The backyard was overgrown with weeds, and he would tend to it every few days, only to be met with sarcastic remarks from Zhang Jiping. Later, every time he swept the yard, Zhang Jiping would lead a group of people to form a circle under the eaves, pointing and commenting as if watching monkeys. Over time, he also became lazy.

He was just not good at speaking and was unwilling to lower himself to cater to the Zhang faction, so he had no chance of getting ahead in the Wen family winery.

So, is this his chance now?

"Master Ma, here's your chance. Whether you're willing to board this shabby boat of mine is up to you." Under the sunlight, the young lady smiled brightly. "A friendly reminder, this shabby boat of mine still has a lot of potential."

As Ma Changshun looked on hesitantly, Wen Wan left the winery and returned to the Wen residence.

Hongmei calculated the family's financial situation and reluctantly reminded Wen Wan, "Miss, if we pay the winery workers tomorrow, our family's financial resources will be completely depleted."

Wen Wan smiled heartlessly, "Don't be afraid. Too many lice won't itch, and too many debts won't worry."

Lu Ping was worried, "If only the government could catch Shi Jinquan now."

Hongmei was so angry that her mouth twisted. "Don't mention it. I heard from Master Tu that after we reported the case, the government didn't do anything. Sometimes they said they were short-handed, sometimes they said it was too hot. Their interjections were that they wanted us to pay them money before they would work. If this keeps going on, Shi Jinquan will run away to the ends of the earth!"

"Forget it. Relying on mountains will only make them fall, relying on people will only make them run away. In the end, you can only rely on yourself. I'm afraid Shi Jinquan won't be caught for a while, so I'll have to bear this one thousand taels of debt for now. Speaking of debts, Hongmei, has Concubine Liu found a suitable accountant?"

"The account books for the four taverns, Yangcheng, Anyang, Shou'an, and Guangji, were urgently sent here today and should arrive in two days. As for the accountant... Aunt Liu said she'd contacted them all, but when they heard it was the Wen family, they refused to come."

"I understand." Wen Wan sighed, "He's just afraid of falling into this trap."

If there was no other choice, she had to do it herself.

She still couldn't believe it. As a modern university graduate with a master's degree, how could she not understand the ancient account books?

However, Wen Wan still did not give up. "What about Qingshan Academy? There must be poor students in the academy who need to earn some extra money. It won't affect his studies. He can just sort out these account books in ten days or half a month."

"It will take a while. We need someone urgently, and it's not easy to find Concubine Liu."

Wen Wan was deflated.

But in order to save money, Father Wen couldn't find any other trustworthy accountant, so the Wen family only had one accountant, Shi Jinquan. The account books of other branches and taverns were recorded by the manager and sent to Pingyang every six months.

It’s just that Old Man Wen cut corners and the person he found to be in charge could only read vaguely, so his memory of the account division was a mess, and even a titanium eye couldn’t extract the key points.

In other words, although Shi Jinquan took away the Wen family's general ledger, as long as Wen Wan took the time to sort out the separate ledgers of the five wine shops and one winery, she would be able to understand the Wen family's finances.

At the gate of Wen's house, there were two people waiting for her.

A thin young woman in coarse clothes was snuggled up to a chubby little boy. The mother and son seemed to have been waiting for her for a long time, and they immediately came forward when they saw her carriage.

"Is this Madam Wen, the young master of the Wen family?" The woman, holding her son's hand, spoke softly, with a hint of anticipation. As soon as she saw Wen Wan lifting the curtain, she immediately introduced herself, "Madam Wen, I'm Mei Qing, and this is my son Chongrong."

The little boy wasn't shy. Even though he was dressed simply, his face looked clean and radiant. He looked up at Wen Wan, his canine teeth showing through his smile, and then he gave her a crisp greeting, "Hello, Shopkeeper Wen."

Wen Wan didn't recognize this woman.

(End of this chapter)