Duke of Zhenguan

After glaring at his spineless underlings, the leader of the idlers pushed back his stool, stood up, and shouted at Lin Chuan:

"Shopkeeper, how much?"

"The guests have eaten eight bowls, which cost a total of four hundred coins!" Lin Chuan said with a smile.

The idler nodded, pretended to rummage in his pocket, and then said with an embarrassed look:

"Shopkeeper, I forgot to bring my money today. I'll pay another day!"

The idler's performance was far too perfunctory. Lin Chuan sighed and asked softly:

"Sir, is the noodle soup not to your liking?"

Looking at the bowl, which was cleaner than a dog had licked clean, the idler's face darkened, his eyes glaring at Lin Chuan like copper bells, and he said in a cold voice:

"Are you deaf and can't understand me? I didn't bring any money. I'll bring my buddies next time and pay then!"

Seeing that these idlers were not only eating for free but also threatening to come back again, Lin Jiu and Lin Twelve, who had been watching from the kitchen, rushed out with kitchen knives in hand.

Lin Chuan quickly stopped the two and advised them:

"Ninth Uncle, Twelfth Uncle, it's opening day, you can't use knives!"

Tian Hu, who had been silently eating noodles, finally put down his chopsticks and stood up.

I originally thought these troublemakers would be more capable and would step in to resolve the situation once things got bigger, but it turns out they're just a bunch of good-for-nothings.

He turned and walked up to the leader of the idlers, smiling as he said:

"I heard what you just said, sir. Since the noodles are delicious, I'll pay for them. A grown man shouldn't take back what he said!"

The idler glanced at Tian Hu, who was more muscular than himself, then at his underlings standing behind him, and impatiently cursed:

"What's it to you? Get out of my way!"

"How did such an idiot manage to survive until today?"

Tian Hu sighed speechlessly.

"That woman's..."

"Snapped!"

The moment the leader of the idlers uttered his curses, Tian Hu slapped him across the face.

Several blood-stained teeth flew everywhere, and the idler fell to the ground with a thud without even uttering a sound.

We've hit a brick wall!

The remaining three idlers exchanged a glance, and without prior arrangement, their knees buckled, and they knelt down with a thud.

Tian Hu, who only wanted to establish his authority, was also surprised by the result of his slap. He awkwardly bent down and touched the idler's neck. Luckily, the man was not dead!

He stood up, looked at the three idlers kneeling on the ground, and coldly warned:

"If there's a next time, I'll break your legs!"

Go back and tell your cronies that if they want to beg for food, they should go somewhere else. This is not a place for people like you!

"yes!"

"yes!"

"..."

The three kneeling idlers responded in unison.

"roll!"

Tian Hu waved his hand impatiently.

The three idlers hurriedly got up and tried to run away.

"Trying to eat for free? Pay for your noodles, and drag the person lying on the ground away too!"

Tian Hu shouted, and the three idlers searched their bodies thoroughly with bitter faces, but they couldn't find a single copper coin. Finally, they rummaged through the unconscious leader's arms for a while and found a small piece of silver.

He carefully handed the silver to Lin Chuan:

"Shopkeeper, is that enough?"

"That's enough!"

Lin Chuan took the silver and nodded with a smile.

The three idlers, as if granted a pardon, helped the unconscious man up and fled Lin's Noodle Shop as if they were escaping.

Lin Chuan looked at the disheveled figures of the idle men and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Tian Hu:

"Thank you so much, Brother Tian, ​​for your kind assistance!"

Tian Hu waved his hand and said with a smile:

"I hope Young Master Lin doesn't mind me meddling!"

"Brother Tian, ​​what are you saying? How could I be an ungrateful person!" Lin Chuan said with a helpless expression.

"Haha, it was nothing, just a small favor. If any fools dare to cause trouble again, young master, you can just send someone to Qunfang Pavilion to give them a heads-up!"

"I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now!" Tian Hu said with a smile.

"Brother Tian, ​​your kindness is so great, I don't know how to thank you enough!"

"Haha, Young Master Lin, you're too kind. If you need anything, just send someone to let us know. Madam has been waiting for you to visit the Qunfang Pavilion!"

After exchanging pleasantries, Tian Hu and his men took their leave.

Lin Jiu watched Tian Hu and the others leave, and said to Lin Chuan with a wry smile:

"No wonder you weren't worried about anyone causing trouble, Da Lang! You've already hired people to help you!"

"I wasn't sure before, so I didn't tell Uncle Jiu!" Lin Chuan explained.

Excluding the eight bowls eaten by a few idlers, although only two bowls of noodles were sold in a day, sixty coins were still earned after deducting costs. After hesitating for a night, Li finally did not mention the price reduction to Lin Chuan the next day.

But the second day was even worse than the opening day; not a single bowl of noodles was sold.

By evening, Lin Chuan had no choice but to invite both Lin Jiu and Lin Shier's families to the noodle shop to finish their noodles and chicken soup.

On the third day, after opening for half a day, not a single bowl of noodles had been sold. With noon approaching, Li finally couldn't bear it any longer and whispered to Lin Chuan again:

"Brother, how about we lower the price a bit? Forty coins a bowl..."

"Mother, don't worry!" Lin Chuan comforted her in a low voice.

Li wanted to persuade her further, but was interrupted by a sharp shout:

"Shopkeeper, two bowls of noodles, please!"

Before the person arrived, the voice already followed. Hearing the voice, Lin Chuan knew it was a returning customer. He smiled and said to Madam Li:

"Mother, the guests have arrived! Quickly, go cook some noodles!"

Lin Chuan quickly went to greet them and gestured for the two young women who had entered to sit down:

"Please have a seat, esteemed guests. Your noodles will be served shortly!"

Still dressed in men's clothing and holding a horizontal sword, Cheng Churou looked at Lin Chuan, who was less than a foot away from her, and a blush suddenly appeared on her fair and jade-like face.

I didn't notice it last time, but today I realized that although the boy in front of me is a bit dark-skinned, he has a handsome appearance.

At this time, the atmosphere was more open-minded. Although the Cheng family was also a prominent family, it had long since become a military family. Cheng Churou was naturally lively, and since she was dressed in men's clothing, she nodded to Lin Chuan in the manner of her elder brother and sat down as Lin Chuan guided her.

Since returning home the day before yesterday, Cheng Churou felt that the food at home didn't taste very good. After craving it for two days, she finally found a time when her father wasn't home and slipped out.

As soon as the noodles arrived, Cheng Churou disregarded her manners, grabbed her chopsticks, and started eating heartily, just like Cheng Chun next to her.

Lin Chuan sat behind the counter, staring blankly at the doorway.

Li came out of the kitchen and asked Lin Chuan in a low voice:

"Brother, are these the two who came the other day?"

"Yes, it's them!" Lin Chuan replied softly.

Suddenly, Li sighed softly:

"These two young ladies are clearly from wealthy families. I wonder who will be lucky enough to marry them!"

Lin Chuan was somewhat amused and exasperated, and said in a low voice:

"Mother, we're not fortunate enough to have that kind of luck, so don't think such things!"

"Heh, I was just saying it offhand..." Mrs. Li laughed awkwardly.

After the two had finished eating and left, Li asked softly:

"Brother, you've only sold two bowls of noodles all day, and those were from repeat customers. Are you really just going to keep dragging this on?"

"Mother, we already have repeat customers, what are you afraid of? Don't worry, there will be more and more customers. I'm just afraid that you and Er Ya won't be able to handle it all!" Lin Chuan said with a smile.

Mrs. Li rolled her eyes at her son, clearly annoyed.

"You make it sound so nice, Da Lang!"