"Yang Ge’s gone?"
Zhao Miao’s voice rose beside him, and when Yang Ge turned around, he saw her standing on tiptoes, craning her neck to look into the crowd, "Didn’t we agree to eat spicy chicken chunks tonight?"
Yang Ge withdrew his gaze, his eyelids drooping, "Yeah, he had some urgent business to attend to and had to rush back to Jiangzhe..."
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Zhao Miao let out a disappointed "Oh": "That’s really sudden."
Yang Ge laughed, "It’s just spicy chicken chunks, right? Can’t I make them for you tonight?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Miao’s face instantly broke into a joyful smile, flashing a small tiger tooth with a hehe laugh, "I knew it, Er Ge cares for me the most."
"Go stand over there."
Yang Ge turned his head, lips pursed, towards Zhao Hong who stood behind Xiao Baoqi with a broom pretending to sweep the floor but intently staring at Xiao Baoqi’s hand gestures, and called out, "Xiao Hong, come here."
At the sound, Zhao Hong looked up to find Yang Ge staring at him, and he panicked, "Store Manager, I’m sweeping the floor..."
With hands clasped behind his back, Yang Ge began walking toward the backyard, "I told you to come here!"
Looking panic-stricken, Zhao Hong gazed at Zhao Miao.
Zhao Miao forcefully gestured with her mouth towards Yang Ge’s retreating figure.
Left with no choice, Zhao Hong clutched his broom and followed resolutely in Yang Ge’s footsteps.
The two of them, maintaining a distance of two or three meters, walked one after the other into the middle of the backyard courtyard.
Yang Ge pointed at the pile of clutter in the courtyard, "I’m planning to convert this area into an open-air teahouse. Clean up all this mess for me, put things where they belong, throw away what needs to be thrown out, then take some measurements to see how we can fit five small tea tables along with the matching chairs, decorative flowers and flowing water, and also make a serving passageway on the side… Hear me clearly, I want you to do this, not for you to hire someone else to do it!"
Zhao Hong looked around the courtyard cluelessly, completely at a loss, "Bu-but Store Manager, I don’t know how to do this."
Yang Ge: "Who knows everything from birth? If you don’t know, you learn. If you need to look it up, look it up; if you need to find craftsmen, find craftsmen. Need money? Ask your Erniu. Need books or craftsmen? Have your Erniu help find them for you."
"I have only two requirements."
"First, all the items must be both beautiful and sturdy. If you dare to produce a pile of crap or something that crumbles at the slightest touch, if you ever expect to eat a meal here with a bit of meat in it again, I’ll offer you my head to sit on!"
"Second, drive the cost down to the lowest possible. If I find any item costing more than ten percent above market price, you’re going to sleep in the stables. Even if your own father shows up, don’t think about moving out of the stable without my permission, understand?"
After listening, Zhao Hong turned pale, sweat beads appearing on his forehead, and his lips quivered, unable to utter a single complete sentence.
Yang Ge didn’t care what he was thinking and continued asking, "How long will this work take? Speak up!"
In a panic, Zhao Hong glanced around and replied without thinking, "Three months!"
Yang Ge: "One month, I’m giving you one month’s time. Within this month, as long as you do not disrupt the normal business of the inn, I will not interfere with whatever you’re doing."
"After one month, I will come for the inspection, and if it’s not done, or if it’s too expensive, or ugly, you best not wait for me to remind you, take the initiative to move into the stable to live."
Having said that, he turned and strode through the front hall, stepping out of the inn, waving to the brocade-clothed imperial spy selling pancakes across the street, "Wrap up two pancakes for me."
Seeing this, the brocade-clothed imperial spy quickly wrapped the pancakes in lotus leaves, with a beaming smile handing them to Yang Ge with both hands, "My lord, your pancakes..."
Yang Ge, taking the pancakes with one hand and grabbing him with the other, walked back to the backyard and said in front of Zhao Hong, "Within one month, no information is to get out from my inn, nor is anyone from official circles to set foot inside. If you can’t take responsibility for this, report my words to the emperor, and I’ll hold the emperor accountable for anyone who breaks my rules!"
This brocade-clothed imperial spy suddenly looked ashen, not daring to utter a word.
Yang Ge released him, took a bite of his pancake, and his expression slowly softened as he chuckled, "Oh, improving your skills, huh?"
He cheerfully pulled out two copper coins from his purse and stuffed them into the spy’s hand, "Not bad, keep up the good work!"
After speaking, he turned and dragged the spy away, leaving Zhao Hong standing alone in the center of the courtyard, glancing left and right, his face turning from pale to red, and from red back to pale.
Soon, he sat down heavily on the ground, his hands slapping the floor, and he burst into tears with a "wah" sound.
The noise was so loud that the mahjong players in the front hall heard it.
"Yo, is Er Ge training hawks here?"
"Hey, haven’t you heard what Er Ge said? Without regular pruning, the sapling doesn’t grow straight; without discipline, a person gets all tangled up..."