Chapter 158: The Harmonious Manor
She didn’t even know those two people, yet she had accepted their money for no reason at all. And it was as much as two “fifty-yuan” bills!
If she accepted it before Sister Owner had said anything about the money and made the guests unhappy, wouldn’t she have ruined Sister Owner’s grand plans?
Taoya couldn’t help but sob.
It was exactly lunchtime. A-Feng was running back and forth delivering meals to the guests when he suddenly spotted a young girl who looked a year or two younger than him standing in the courtyard, crying.
A-Feng was startled. He hurriedly placed the dirty bowls he had cleared into the washing sink and said to the plump auntie, “Auntie, there’s a little girl outside, and she’s crying!”
The auntie had just finished stir-frying a dish and hadn’t even set her spatula down yet. Hearing this, she was also startled.
“Let me see, where is she?”
Brandishing her spatula, the auntie ducked out of the kitchen. Sure enough, she spotted a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl standing in the courtyard, looking thoroughly messy and weeping.
“What’s all this? Did someone bully her?”
Awakened by the auntie’s booming voice, Taoya grew even more frightened.
A-Feng hurriedly squeezed past the auntie, helplessly gesturing for her to step back a little. Then he asked Taoya in a low voice, “Little sister, where did you come from? Why are you crying? Did someone bully you?”
Taoya had only been sobbing at first, but hearing the concern from the auntie and A-Feng, she couldn’t hold it back anymore and began crying even harder.
This terrified the auntie and A-Feng, who went sprinting to the front counter to find someone.
When Jian Xingxia and Lin Sanniang heard the news, their hearts leaped into their throats—when running a business, the thing one feared most was an incident.
However, the moment they ran out into the courtyard, the two exclaimed in unison, “Taoya?!”
Seeing that her mother and Sister Owner were both here, the crushing weight of guilt from making a mistake hit Taoya all at once. She instantly threw herself into Lin Sanniang’s embrace, bursting into a loud wail.
Lin Sanniang first soothed Taoya, “It’s alright, Mother is here, Mother is here. Don’t be afraid.”
Then she guided her, “Taoya, why are you crying? Tell Mother. Mother is here, and if there’s anything Mother can’t handle, the Owner is here too.”
The moment the Owner was mentioned, Taoya felt even worse. Looking at Jian Xingxia’s concerned gaze, Taoya pitifully extended her hand and offered a one-hundred-yuan bill.
Jian Xingxia: “?”
Lin Sanniang, the auntie, A-Feng: “???”
“What is this?”
“Where did you get this money?”
Jian Xingxia felt her heart nearly fly out from fright.
Fortunately, Taoya managed to stop crying after a short while and explained what had just occurred. “…I didn’t want to take the money, but they forced it upon me.” She looked at Jian Xingxia with tearful eyes. “Sister Owner, did I cause trouble for you?”
The moment Jian Xingxia heard her description, she recognized them as Cai Wei and Qin Yue. The two had just checked out and called for Hu Lin’s car; they were just waiting to finish taking photos before heading down the mountain in a short while. Qin Yue didn’t live locally, so Cai Wei had to take her to catch her ride early this afternoon.
Jian Xingxia took the money and said with a smile, “It’s no problem at all, Taoya. I know the two of them. I’ll return the money to them in a bit.”
With that, she rubbed Taoya’s head. “But in the future, if you encounter people who scare you or things you don’t want to do, just run away quickly. There’s no need to be afraid; your mother and I will back you up.”
Taoya looked up at Jian Xingxia. “Sister Owner, you don’t blame me?”
“You didn’t do anything wrong, so why should I blame you?” Jian Xingxia said, amused.
She had already experienced Qin Yue’s unyielding, young-lady temperament yesterday. When she first arrived, Qin Yue hadn’t been very happy, keeping a stern face the entire time. But once she went down to play by the stream, tasted the fresh fruits and authentic farmhouse dishes, and received a bouquet of flowers specially picked for her by Jian Xingxia, Qin Yue had instantly cheered up.
She had forced two hundred yuan upon her, insisting on buying that bouquet.
“Take it! You said it yourself, picking one or two flowers when leaving is free. But this bouquet you specifically harvested for me deserves payment!” Qin Yue had pulled out two hundred yuan on the spot. “It’s not like I can’t afford it!”
Qin Yue had also remarked, “And don’t you stand here making excuses with me. You need to make a bit more money, raise the standards of this manor, and keep the service up. Right now, it’s just a bit novel, but it’s still far cry from my standards!”
“For instance, since there’s wading by the stream, how come you haven’t prepared any replacement slippers and clothes?”
“Have the dining bowls been sanitized with a sanitizing cabinet? I asked the waiter A-Feng, and he said they were sanitized with boiling water. That doesn’t meet the standard, does it?”
“Is there a service to directly pack the fruits and ship them via express delivery? You can’t expect me to lug around two days’ worth of harvested fruit, can you? Although I ate some, there are still over a dozen catties left!”
“There are too many insects, and the mosquito coils smell way too strong…”
She had listed a whole abundance of issues.
But Jian Xingxia wasn’t angry in the slightest, because she knew that every single issue Qin Yue raised hit the mark. Some were areas where service fell short at the current phase, while others were directions for potential development to consider in the future. Although Qin Yue appeared to be complaining, her eyes and perceptions were exceptionally sharp.
Thus, Jian Xingxia could only brace herself to accept the criticism… and the money. If she didn’t accept it, this young lady might well leave her a bad review.
Sure enough, when Jian Xingxia informed Cai Wei about Taoya’s hundred yuan over WeChat, Cai Wei sent back an emoji of a crying face in agony.
“Yueyue insisted on giving it, so just keep it. If you don’t accept it, she’ll only be unhappy.”
But a short while later, Cai Wei sent another WeChat message: “But Yueyue actually likes your manor quite a bit. She said she’ll come to Jinmen Town to find me next week too [Proud Sunglasses Emoji].”
Jian Xingxia put the money away—the employees couldn’t carry away the manor’s cash revenue, and she had no choice but to convert it into goods for Taoya instead.
Taoya stared with wide eyes at the feast before her—two massive chicken thighs, a large bowl of old duck soup with sour bamboo shoots, a bowl of braised pork, a bowl of salted egg yolk tofu, a bowl of steamed egg custard, a bowl of stir-fried eggplant with green beans, and two meat buns that were nearly as large as her face.
A-Feng also brought over a cup containing a highly bizarre substance. It looked like traditional medicine, but it smelled sweet. Upon leaning closer, she could even feel something in the cup jumping onto her face, ice-cold and crackling softly.
She looked up at A-Feng.
A-Feng arched an eyebrow at her. “Try it. Sister Owner gave it to us; it tastes even better than sugar water.”
Taoya carefully took a small sip.
The unique mouthfeel of the Coca-Cola burst inside Taoya’s mouth. She hurriedly set the cup down and clamped her hand over her mouth—she felt a multitude of tiny bubbles erupting inside. She could barely hold it back!
“Burp—”
Taoya let out a resounding burp, making A-Feng roar with laughter.
Jian Xingxia tossed a towel over at A-Feng. “Don’t bully Taoya!”
A-Feng chuckled. “I swear, I didn’t mean to bully her.” He simply wanted Taoya to also experience the magical sensation he felt when he drank Coca-Cola for the first time yesterday. After all, Sanniang had drunk it long ago and wasn’t curious in the slightest. The plump auntie had gulped down two large cups, let out a burp, smacked her lips, and simply remarked, “Quite interesting,” and that was it. A-Feng chuckled; children were still the most amusing to tease.
Taoya puffed her cheeks in a pout, but after a short while, she couldn’t resist taking another sip. It truly tasted better than sugar water and felt cooler than well water.
Seeing that Taoya couldn’t finish all the food, Lin Sanniang said to the auntie, “Auntie, there’s no need to prepare my meal in a bit. I’ll just eat Taoya’s leftovers.”
The auntie had grown familiar with the group by now, so she didn’t stand on ceremony. “Alright, I’ll heat them up for you in a bit.”
Taoya ate the meat in massive bites. Previously, she would always worry a bit, feel a trace of self-consciousness, and try to behave with polite restraint. But today, her mother was here, and her mother told her to eat in massive bites, so she happily did so. Moreover, by eating quickly, she could catch up to help out with the labor.
She had seen it—now that the manor had opened a guesthouse, a whole abundance of people had arrived. Sister Owner, her mother, and the others were run off their feet, and even A-Feng was running around just to clear the bowls.
Taoya quickly finished her meal, carried the remaining food into the kitchen, and proactively took on the dish-clearing duties. With one more person helping out, the service at the guesthouse gradually grew perfectly organized.
