Chapter 198: Second Brother (Three)
Chapter 198: Second Brother (Three)
"Sister-in-law, there was no need to book a private room. It’s going to cost a lot. We could have our meal downstairs with other guests. Why waste money?" Chen Ming finally voiced out his thoughts as he got a good look at the private dining room and immediately realized that it would cost them a lot of money.
"Brother Ming, please don’t worry about the money. Just enjoy the meal." Zuan Hu tried to dismiss Chen Ming’s worries as she started ordering all the special dishes, pastries, and the wine.
"Jie Jie, Ah Ming is right. Let’s not waste any money. We all are on a tight budget here. Let’s go downstairs and eat with others." Chao Xing was in support of her husband’s thoughts and tried to reason with Zuan Hu.
Being the loyal official that County Magistrate Chen was, he only earned a limited amount of salary which was only enough for the family to eat, dress, and sleep properly. There was no money for them to enjoy the luxuries of lives.
Hao Ran hadn’t been able to start a new business ever since he lost the restaurant and the same could be said about Chao Xing who had been trying to open a new shop but to no avail. As for Chen Ming, he was still preparing for Imperial Exams in order to become an official. Hence, the situation of lack of money the Chen family was currently suffering through. If not for the Magistrate Office, the Chen family wasn’t even in the state to afford renting a small courtyard in the city.
Zuan Hu turned her attention toward Xiang Ling and so did the servant who was there to take their order for the meal.
Letting out a small sigh, Xiang Ling addressed the servant first. "Go and prepare the meal. Serve us wine and some snacks first."
"Yes, My Lady," the servant bowed respectfully as he accepted the order and left the room to convey the message to the kitchen staff.
Chen Ming, and especially Chao Xing, observed Xiang Ling closely and the latter noticed the slight difference in the behavior of the Inn’s servants toward Xiang Ling and everyone else.
"What’s going here?" She finally asked when she failed to understand exactly what she had missed.
Xiang Ling turned her attention to her second sister-in-law before she replied, "Don’t worry, Second sister-in-law, we don’t have to pay for this meal. This Inn belongs to our family."
Her words were followed by a long silence before Chao Xing suddenly burst out into a fit of laughter.
"B-belongs to us? HAHAHA... Belongs t-to... us. HAHAHA. You sure know how to joke. HAHAHA.... HA... HA..." She finally noticed the serious look on everyone’s faces and trailed off. "You can’t be serious."
Letting out a small sigh, Xiang Ling took out the restaurant’s deed from her sleeves and handed it to Chao Xing. The woman quickly grabbed the papers and started reading them.
"Mei Mei, why are you carrying the deed with you? You should keep them safely in a secret place." Zuan Hu was almost traumatized to see Xiang Ling taking out the papers from her sleeves. She wasn’t expecting her to be this careless in handling such important papers.
Xiang Ling just nodded her head in understanding and didn’t speak. She felt Zhang Xuan finding her hand from under the table and then giving it a light squeeze. She turned her attention toward her husband and gave him a soft smile.
When Chen Ming and Chao Xing finished reading through the deed, they both were at a loss for words. Chao Xing was the first one to get a hold on herself and she turned her attention toward Hao Ran. "Brother Hao, are you really the owner of this place?"
The unexpected question left both Hao Ran and Zuan Hu too stunned to speak. Taking the deed from Chao Xing, the two of them read through the content to only be left completely shocked when they saw Hao Ran’s name on the paper as the owner of the property.
"Mei Mei, what is going on?" Zuan Hu questioned as she turned her attention toward Xiang Ling who had been sitting there silently.
"First Brother, First sister-in-law, this is the compensation for what I did in the past. I sold away your restaurant, took away Xiao Yujin’s dowry, and left First Brother jobless. With this Inn, I’m finally paying you three back for my mistake." Xiang Ling answered calmly and even smiled, but neither Hao Ran nor Zuan Hu seemed the slightest bit happy.
"Stop talking nonsense! Didn’t we told you that we have already forgiven you for your past mistakes? You don’t have to try so hard, Xiang’er. We can’t accept this." Hao Ran sounded determined as he turned down the ownership.
"Your First Brother is right, Mei Mei. You have built this place with your own money. You trained every single servant here personally. You have dedicated every waking hour of the past several months to this place. How can you just hand over this place to us?" Zuan Hu was completely on her husband’s side.
Xiang Ling reached out for Hao Ran and Zuan Hu’s hands and took hold of them before she spoke while looking at them with a soft smile on her lips. "First Brother, First sister-in-law, please accept it. I’m not only doing it for you, I’m also doing it for myself. Even though you have forgiven me, I haven’t. Let me be guilt free. Besides, you already know that I have big plans for future. How am I going to fulfil those dreams if I ended up taking care of this business all the time? Even though I’m the one who built the foundation, you two will be the ones taking this business to great heights. The future of this place will all depend on your capabilities, and from what I have seen, you both will do a fabulous job as the owner of this place. Don’t forget that this place will be Xiao Yujin’s dowry in the future."