Chapter 746 - 748: The Wu Family
Chapter 746: Chapter 748: The Wu Family
Actually, Manager Huang was overthinking it. Wu Kun didn’t even need to be at Tianle Restaurant to know its current state.
Right now, he was at the manor, facing Old Sir Wu’s wrath while his brothers sat to the side, enjoying the show.
"Look at what you’ve done! You made such a massive spectacle of it, only to end up suffering such a tremendous loss.
"In less than a month, thousands of taels of silver are just gone. No matter how much wealth our family has, it won’t be enough for you to squander!" Old Sir Wu roared. Reaching the peak of his fury, he hurled the teacup in his hand.
Wu Kun dodged the flying cup with a slight sidestep. Looking at his brothers who were treating this as a joke, his face darkened. "Father, doing business inherently involves both losses and gains. Besides, my brothers have lost even more than I have."
Dragged down with him, the Wu family brothers’ expressions shifted. No longer content to just watch the drama, they began to loudly condemn him all at once.
"Kun, that’s completely unfair. Those things happened ages ago! How could you bring them up now? We are talking about your mess," Boss Wu retorted. "How much silver did you invest in Tianle Restaurant? Do you really think we don’t know? Mother even subsidized you a massive amount in private, and did we say a single word about it?"
Having recently lost a sum of silver himself, Boss Wu felt this was a direct attack on him. Any sense of brotherhood was completely irrelevant at this moment.
Another brother chimed in, "Exactly! You were so full of confidence back then, risking offending Mr. Gu to dive headfirst into this. Now the family has to clean up your mess. This is just unjustifiable."
Clearly, someone else had taken his words personally. The current discussion was supposed to be about Tianle Restaurant’s losses, not digging up old debts.
Seeing everyone criticizing him all at once, Wu Kun kept a dark expression and argued, "I remember you all saying something completely different back then. I asked the family about this beforehand, and none of you objected."
Putting on the airs of the eldest son, Boss Wu lectured, "But you were too bold, too reckless.
"It would have been fine if you had actually made silver—it would have represented our aristocratic families putting Mrs. Gu Jin in her place.
"But look at what you actually accomplished. You got completely played by them instead. All the other families are waiting to laugh at us. Now, when we go out, we have to face everyone’s mockery. I haven’t even dared to host a banquet these past few days!"
Mrs. Gu Jin had built up such a massive enterprise in East City, yet she had completely excluded their aristocratic families, allowing numerous officials in Yi Province to reap the benefits instead. By the time the aristocratic families reacted, they couldn’t even get a bite of the leftover scraps on the periphery.
Even though they were dissatisfied, the aristocratic families didn’t dare make enemies of all the officials in Yi Province. However, they simply couldn’t swallow this insult. As a result, they had all secretly reached a consensus: they wanted to find an opportunity to teach Mrs. Gu Jin a lesson.
Wu Kun had opened several restaurants in the past, and his businesses had always been quite prosperous. This time, when he stepped forward claiming to have a way to put Mrs. Gu Jin in her place—on the condition that the aristocratic families would help him withstand Gu Wenheng’s inevitable counterattack—everyone tacitly agreed.
Who could have known that Wu Kun would be utterly defeated in the very first round? Now that the Wu family had lost both their wealth and their dignity, it was no wonder Old Sir Wu was so furious.
"Now is not the time to discuss this." Since Wu Kun was his own son and had performed well enough in the past, Old Sir Wu softened his tone now that he had vented his anger.
"We took a massive loss this time and wasted a lot of silver, but at least Kun tested the waters for us.
"It seems this Mrs. Gu is quite capable. The previous rumors that she single-handedly established the sea trade weren’t baseless after all.
"We underestimated our enemy this time. From now on, it’s best if no one acts rashly."
They had already sent people to investigate Mrs. Gu Jin, but considering the vast distance of the round trip, their men likely wouldn’t return until after the new year. They had been too rash this time, but they had to accept their losses.
Wu Kun argued, "Actually, this isn’t over yet. Everyone was just looking for a novelty when the restaurant first opened, but people are ultimately more receptive to local cuisine. We will slowly win the business back in the future."
Still holding a grudge against Wu Kun for bringing up the past, Boss Wu scoffed, "Kun, how come I heard that every single customer entering your restaurant has been asking your manager when the next promotion will be?
"Right now, everyone is just spending the silver they previously deposited. Think about it—the more they eat, the more the restaurant loses. If you keep bleeding money like this, almost all the silver you’ve earned over the years will be completely wiped out."
Boss Wu had lost some silver before, but he had managed to cut his losses in time. Wu Kun’s situation was entirely different. Until all the silver he had practically given away was spent by the customers, this wouldn’t end. And the Wu family couldn’t afford to ruin their reputation by backing out.
"Wu Hao, that’s enough from you. He is your blood brother, after all. Do you really think you can gloat just because he’s struggling?" Old Sir Wu despised his sons’ infighting more than anything. He turned back to Wu Kun. "What do you plan to do next?"
Wu Kun replied, "I’ll stay at the shop for the next few days and try to find a new way out as quickly as possible."
It would be best to stabilize the business so it wasn’t losing money first, and then slowly figure out a long-term solution.
"I heard Lady Wu spent the better part of a day at your restaurant recently," Old Sir Wu mentioned.
Knowing his father had informants by his side, Wu Kun wasn’t surprised by the question. He nodded. "We rented Mr. Wu’s shop. Lady Wu is planning to start a small business in the adjacent storefronts, so she came to ask me a few questions that day."
Old Sir Wu pressed, "I heard she brought a young lady with her that day—her own niece."
Wu Kun played dumb. "I was busy greeting customers that day and didn’t really notice. Is there a problem?"
Old Sir Wu shot him a look. "You’re of age now. Look at your brothers; they’re all married with children. It’s time to start preparing for your marriage. If you have someone suitable in mind, tell your mother. If her family background matches ours, we’ll hire a matchmaker."
"Father, I’m not in a rush."
"Not in a rush? You still don’t have a powerful in-law supporting you. If you secure a strong marriage alliance, it will save you a lot of trouble," Old Sir Wu said pointedly.
Wu Kun remained silent.
"Father, you’re truly biased," Wu Hao said, his lips curling. "Out of all us brothers, you still value Kun the most. Are you going to break the rules this time and let him marry into an official family?"
In the past, they had always been lectured that the great aristocratic families had to stick together tightly to avoid being torn apart by outside forces. All the brothers had married women from other aristocratic families, and their sisters had been married off to aristocratic families as well.
They weren’t stupid. Their father wouldn’t mention Lady Liang for no reason; he was clearly intending to make an exception for Kun.
"Hmph, we thought wrong in the past. Sticking together is certainly important, but certain connections also need to be maintained.
"Look at the Hou family. They previously kept a low profile and chose a poor scholar for their daughter, yet now she holds an imperial mandate.
"Look again! This time, the Hou family has latched onto the Inspector General. Their clan will prosper for another few decades."