The bald manager snapped out of his daze. "Ms. He!" he stammered. "W-what are you doing here? I..."

He Mingxue completely ignored the bald manager and walked quickly over to Liu Ergou. With an apologetic expression, she said, "Er Gou, I'm so sorry. I had no idea something like this could happen in my own restaurant. It's been so long, and we shouldn't have to reunite under circumstances like these. I just never expected..." She trailed off, unable to help sighing.

Seeing how courteous she was, Liu Ergou cleared his throat gently. "Ahem, Ms. He, please don't say that. This isn't entirely your fault. You're a big boss, after all; you can't be expected to watch over one small restaurant all the time. If you did, how would you run your other businesses?"

He Mingxue didn't respond, only sighing again.

Liu Ergou continued, "Honestly, Ms. He, I shouldn't have bothered you over something so trivial, but they were just too out of line. I really couldn't take it anymore!" He pointed toward the private room. "We already reserved this room and paid for it. Then this other person barged in, claiming he had booked it. We thought the manager would sort it out fairly when he arrived, but to our surprise, he told us that even though we booked the room, we had to give it up for this guy. Shouldn't it be first come, first served? If we had missed our reservation time, I would understand giving the room to someone else. But we were right on time! We didn't delay at all! And still, your manager told me that no matter how punctual we were, this room wasn't ours. So, Ms. He, I was really out of options!"

After listening to Liu Ergou, He Mingxue's already dark expression grew even colder. She turned her head to look at the bald manager.

Seeing He Mingxue's gaze land on him, the bald manager hurriedly tried to defend himself. "No, Chairman, listen to my rebutt... I mean, listen to my explanation! This guy is making things up! I never said any of that! He's slandering me, it's pure slander!"

Han Jiajia, who had been standing to the side, scoffed at the manager's words. She pointed a finger at the security camera on the ceiling. "How interesting. He dares to slander someone right in front of me, a police officer. Since you claim he's slandering you, let's just check the surveillance footage. The camera will surely clear your name!"

At her words, the bald manager immediately snapped his mouth shut, not daring to say another word. He Mingxue's face, however, had turned livid.

"Fine. Just fine. I can't believe I have someone like you working in my restaurant," she seethed. "The evidence is right there, and a police officer is present, yet you still have the nerve to lie so brazenly! It looks like if I hadn't shown up today, this restaurant would have been renamed after you sooner or later! Am I right?"

At He Mingxue's fierce reprimand, the bald manager's legs gave out, and he collapsed to the floor. His mouth hung open, but no words came out.

Looking at the manager's pathetic state, He Mingxue felt not a shred of pity. She continued coldly, "Regardless of whether I know Liu Ergou, your actions today have violated the rules I established! Do you even remember the rules of this restaurant?"

The bald manager nodded.

Seeing this, He Mingxue continued, "Since you remember them, there's nothing more to discuss. Pack your things and get out. I don't want to say another word. You'll be paid your salary in full."

The manager could no longer contain himself. He scrambled toward He Mingxue and tried to grab her legs, but she stepped back to avoid him. "Ms. He! Ms. He, I know I was wrong! Please, I'm begging you, give me another chance!" he cried.

He Mingxue, however, offered him no such opportunity. "Further discussion is pointless. Go!"

Seeing that He Mingxue was giving him no quarter, the manager finally fell silent, not daring to say anything else. Just as he was turning to leave, Han Jiajia tugged on Liu Ergou's arm.

She whispered to him, "Er Gou, I didn't get a chance to tell you. The manager I spoke to on the phone wasn't this man. Can you ask her what's going on?"

Liu Ergou immediately turned and quietly relayed Han Jiajia's words to He Mingxue.

He Mingxue frowned and called out to the departing manager, "Wait!"

The manager, who had been preparing to leave, was instantly overjoyed. He thought He Mingxue was having a change of heart. Before he could say anything, she asked, "I heard from my guest that you weren't the manager in charge before this. Someone else was. Where is that person?"

The manager replied quickly, "Oh, are you talking about Old Li? He wasn't very honest. He stole something from a guest and was fired by management, so I took his place."

He had barely finished speaking when Han Jiajia slammed her hand on the table. "You're lying!" she shouted. "Manager Li, steal? I'd steal before he ever would! I bet someone framed him to push him out!"

Hearing this, He Mingxue's frown deepened. She took out her phone and made a call. After a brief conversation, she hung up and said, her brow furrowed, "I've confirmed it. The Manager Li you mentioned was indeed forced out. This one here," she gestured at the manager, "got the job through connections. Disgusting!"

At this point, He Mingxue's brows were knitted together tightly. "It seems I need to do a thorough house-cleaning at this restaurant."

With that said, she turned to Deng Peng, who was still sitting there enjoying the show. "Alright, everyone, this matter is resolved. This private room wasn't booked by you, so please don't disturb our other guests. It's time to leave."

Instead of getting angry at He Mingxue's order, Deng Peng simply smiled and walked up to her. "Beautiful lady," he said in a gentlemanly manner, "my surname is Deng. My full name is Deng Peng. Might I be so fortunate as to make your acquaintance today...?"

Before Deng Peng could finish, He Mingxue snapped to the nearby security guards, "Get these irrelevant people out of here. Do you understand?"

The security guards immediately moved toward Deng Peng and gestured for him to leave. The message was unmistakable.