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Lin Yuan shook her head with amusement, "Don’t tell me Master Liang doesn’t know why I decided to let you go?"

Seeing his silence, Lin Yuan felt helpless and decided to make it clear, "I believe, among everyone present, only you, Master Liang, are unaware. It’s quite simple, first off, I cannot complement your cooking skills; hold on, let me finish before you object.

Firstly, I don’t oppose you grinding plum blossoms into juice, but if you truly had superior culinary skills, you would have thought of the bitter taste of the juice and would have used some method to process it beforehand. Clearly, you didn’t think of that."

Liang Shiyou licked his lips awkwardly, unable to refute this point since he indeed hadn’t thought about processing the juice earlier.

Still, stubbornly, he said, "I, I was just confused for a moment; I can still cook other dishes well."

Amused internally, Lin Yuan had originally wanted to be harsher, but upon turning her head and accidentally seeing the ledger on the table, she dismissed that idea and changed her tone, "So, I just said to make you a helper, if in a month, you can make a dish that satisfies me, I will restore your position as head chef. How’s that, fair enough? "

"Fair, fair," Shopkeeper Xiao stepped forward, blocking Liang Shiyou and nodding repeatedly.

This time, Liang Shiyou did not contradict him, but boastfully puffed out his chest, "Where’s the need for a month? Today, I can make a satisfying dish for you!"

"Not today, I’m busy." Lin Yuan reconsidered, "How about tomorrow? Tomorrow morning, I will come for the breakfast prepared by Master Linag, how’s that?"

Breakfast is just a small dish!

Confident, Liang Shiyou nodded, assuring her of his abilities.

Lin Yuan had only mentioned one reason for firing Liang Shiyou, but there was another she kept to herself; Liang Shiyou’s character was not adequate. Suppressing juniors, being envious of his peers, and his brash behavior were not traits she wanted to keep around.

However, since everyone’s attention was on tomorrow’s breakfast, she did not care whether to mention it now or tomorrow.

After dealing with the kitchen, she allowed everyone to leave. However, she had scheduled another day to bring tailored recipes for them to study thoroughly.

Hearing about new recipes, several head chefs were both excited and anticipatory, making Liang Shiyou turn green with envy.

After sending the chefs away, Lin Yuan looked through the ledger on the table with a frown, when she overheard Xia Zheng speaking in a half-mocking tone, "So, are you reluctant to let that Master Liang leave?"

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow, not needing to look up to imagine Xia Zheng’s facial expression.

"Of course, I’m reluctant to let him leave. He’s swallowed so much of my money, if I let him off easily, wouldn’t that be too generous of me?"

Xia Zheng clicked his tongue twice, supporting his chin with his hand, his eye gleaming craftily, "So, you think there is still a chance to get money back from him?"

"Whether or not it can be retrieved, I have to try to find out!"

Lin Yuan casually set the account book aside and looked up at Xia Zheng with a smile. Liang Shiyou had made an agreement with Lin Yuan to retry the dishes early the next morning and then ran off to the kitchen, even Shopkeeper Xiao had disappeared without a trace.

Actually, by now, Lin Yuan had almost figured out the relationship between Shopkeeper Xiao and Liang Shiyou.

Xia Zheng had also asked around, and Liang Shiyou was Shopkeeper Xiao’s nephew.

Shopkeeper Xiao initially had some capability, having owned a few shops before, such as restaurants and dry goods stores.

Otherwise, Xia Zhen would not have hired him to manage Yi Ran Residence.

However, the businesses Shopkeeper Xiao had run before were minor, and managing such a large Yi Ran Residence proved rather difficult for him. Therefore, the declining business of Yi Ran Residence over the years was largely associated with his management.

As for Liang Shiyou, it’s even less necessary to mention him.

As the youngest child pampered by his family, he ended up achieving nothing.

Fortunately, with his brother-in-law managing Yi Ran Residence, he managed to benefit somewhat.

Otherwise, with his domineering nature that disrespected the Boss, who would have wanted him?

"Alright, let’s not talk about them anymore. Just thinking about such people in my restaurant makes me uncomfortable."

Lin Yuan waved her hand, not wanting to mention Shopkeeper Xiao and Liang Shiyou, those two parasites, any further. She leaned forward, rhythmically tapping her fingers on the table, producing a thudding sound.

"I mentioned to you before that I wanted some standardized uniforms, do you remember?" Seeing Xia Zheng nod, Lin Yuan continued, "Originally, I thought it would make my restaurant look more upscale, so I wanted to use Red Smoke Pavilion’s clothes, but..."

But the clothes from Red Smoke Pavilion were simply too expensive.

If she were to customize outfits from Red Smoke Pavilion for all her staff, it would mean a significant expense.

Initially, she hadn’t thought about this much, but now with the incident involving Liang Shiyou and Shopkeeper Xiao, she had become even more cautious with her finances.

"So, you want to change the place?"

Lin Yuan nodded. She remembered the clothes shop she had visited when she first came to the Capital City.

Although the shopkeeper was very shrewd, she liked the little girl there.

Moreover, the clothes made by that shop were quite good.

Even if they weren’t as good as those from Red Smoke Pavilion, they were much better than those available in Zhuma Town, and even better than the craftsmanship of Mo Sanniang.

Xia Zheng understood that Lin Yuan, now busy researching new recipes and examining account books, naturally didn’t have time to manage the clothing matter. Thus, he would have to take care of it.

Since Liang Shiyou’s continuity would be decided the next morning, Lin Yuan didn’t delay any further and hurried home with the account books to study them.

She had already drawn all the designs for the standardized uniforms for the staff, and she had to have Xia Zheng take these drawings to the clothes shop. Both of them thus returned home early.

Watching the carriage carrying the two of them slowly move away, Shopkeeper Xiao came out with a worried expression, hesitated at the doorway for a long while, and then, as if making up his mind, went back inside.

This night was fated to be sleepless. Lin Yuan spent the night working by lamplight and only finished checking the three large account books in the latter part of the night. To be precise, it was two large books; the thin booklet she finished in half an hour and didn’t need to look much further.

Closing the account book, Lin Yuan’s face was expressionless. After a long while, she finally curved her lips into a thin, cool smile.

After resting briefly, Lin Yuan stood up, feeling her head heavy and dizzy, annoyed that her body was too weak. She used to stay up all night studying recipes without such effects, suggesting she needed to take better care of her health.

After greeting Lady Liu, Lin Yuan headed out to Yi Ran Residence, where Xia Zheng was already waiting early at the door.

Arriving at the restaurant on an empty stomach, Lin Yuan was in a bad mood. But Xia Zheng appeared energetic and spirited, as if he had done something delightful the previous night.