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Lin Yuan’s words were neither loud nor soft, but they were clear enough for all the customers in the store to hear. Many people who were in the midst of transactions looked over, and some had even begun to point and whisper.

Unable to withstand the gaze of the crowd, the steward called over the young lad who had just served Lin Yuan the vinegar.

The lad certainly hadn’t expected the maid who had just begged him for vinegar to complain to the steward in the blink of an eye. Stunned, he was called over by the steward.

Giving Lin Yuan a fierce glare, the lad nodded and bowed, fetching the scales and, under the steward’s supervision, reweighed the vinegar with a sweaty forehead. As it turned out, there was only one and a half pounds, a full half-pound short!

Lin Yuan sneered, "I only bought two pounds of vinegar, and you’ve shorted me half a pound. If I were to buy two hundred pounds, wouldn’t I be short fifty pounds! I never would’ve thought, I never would’ve thought that Jin Ji Vinegar Workshop would stoop to such cheating of customers!"

Shaking her head as though regretfully, Lin Yuan’s impression of the Jin family’s Second Wife couldn’t have been worse.

Among the customers buying vinegar in the shop, naturally, there were quite a few like the young lad who profited dishonestly, but there were also those who were genuinely diligent and honest. Right then, quite a few people found excuses to leave Jin Ji Vinegar Workshop early.

Seeing his business being disrupted by this maid, the steward’s muddy eyes were filled with fury. But as someone seasoned in business, he knew that this was absolutely not the time to break off relations with this maid, especially since this time, he was in the wrong.

"Miss, it was our shop’s lad who was thoughtless, and mistakenly weighed your vinegar incorrectly. Please don’t be angry, miss. Hurry, hurry, why haven’t you added the missing vinegar for the miss? Right, add another half a pound as our compensation."

The lad was fiercely kicked by the steward and didn’t dare utter a word, hastily smiling as he grabbed a jar to fill more vinegar.

Lin Yuan, however, grabbed the vinegar jar and said coldly, "Wait!"

The steward thought she was not satisfied and was about to tell her not to be too demanding when he saw the maid looking at the lad with a smile that was not a smile and asked, "How much is this rice vinegar per pound in silver?"

Asked like this, the lad’s forehead broke out in an even more profuse sweat, and his back was soaked with cold sweat as well.

With such a look, the steward had no trouble seeing the issue, cursing the fool inwardly and quickly feigning anger as he smacked the lad on the forehead, reprimanding, "You worthless brat! See how I take care of you!"

He then turned and offered a disingenuous apology to Lin Yuan, "Miss, please forgive us. This lad of mine is asking for it; please don’t lower yourself to his level. How about this: I’ll refund your silver, and you can take the vinegar for free; we won’t charge you a dime, alright?"

Lin Yuan laughed, "So what the steward means is, you acknowledge that he was calling out random prices and deceiving the customers?"

The steward was at a loss for words, regretting his own tongue and wishing he could bite it off. He had fallen into this maid’s trap with just one slip. He felt as though he was suffocating.

While he was struggling, suddenly a sound like a silver bell rang out from the back hall, and then a young lady wearing a veil slowly walked out, leaning on a maid.

Even though she was veiled, judging by the gold-laden adornments she wore on her head and hands, Lin Yuan knew this was the Jin family’s Second Wife’s daughter, Jin Lingling.

Lin Yuan curved her lips into a slight laugh, unable to hold back anymore, huh? Actually, she had noticed Jin Lingling eavesdropping behind the door the moment the steward had offered to compensate her with more vinegar.

"You little country girl, still as sharp-tongued as ever," Jin Lingling raised her eyebrows as she looked at Lin Yuan. Although she spoke with a smile, her eyes, lifted in disdain, were filled with scorn and disgust.