CHAPTER 770: CHAPTER 770: BEATEN UP

Manager Hu’s eyelids flicked up as he glanced at Gu Youlu and the others, and then brought out a copied contract and slapped it onto the table: "The contract forbids divulging the Gu Family’s residence to anyone else, violators to compensate with one hundred thousand taels of silver. If you want to know, bring one hundred thousand taels of silver."

They demanded one hundred thousand taels less than the Qi Family, which was indeed very conscientious.

When Gu Youlu and his group heard this, they immediately became furious. Another one hundred thousand taels—did Futai Building and the Qi Family even know how much silver that was? Let alone their Gu Family, even the Lai Family might not be able to produce such an amount.

Qian Chengcai directly grabbed Manager Hu’s collar and said, "Do you know who we are? If you know what’s good for you, you’ll spit out the Gu Family’s address right now, or else we will wreck this Futai Building of yours!"

Manager Hu, a man seasoned by countless battles, smiled nonchalantly and retorted, "Go ahead and wreck it. Once you’re done, we’ll naturally go to the Prefecture Government Office to claim our losses."

Qian Chengcai gasped, glaring with his big-bagged eyes, he said, "Do you even know who we are? We are from the newly appointed Vice Magistrate! We are benefactors of Lord Vice Magistrate; you dare to report us to the government, do you still wish to keep your restaurant open?"

Upon hearing these words, Manager Hu actually gave Qian Chengcai a serious look and silently thought to himself: The Vice Magistrate truly has bad luck to have benefactors like you.

Manager Hu pulled back his collar, straightened his coat, and pointed towards the door, saying, "If you want to wreck the place, do it yourself."

Gu Youlu pointed at him and asked, "Are you really not afraid?"

Manager Hu replied, "We are law-abiding citizens, honestly running our business, why should we be afraid? Those who should fear are the ones wrecking the shop and those sheltering the wreckers."

Manager Hu shifted his gaze and looked at Lai Bai, "Our restaurant has been wrecked over such matters before, not for the first time, and we’ve managed to recover our losses every single time. The ones wrecking have never ended up with a good outcome."

He continued with a meaningful tone: "Ever since the Water Bandit Case, officials in Jianghuai and Jiangnan place extreme importance on their official reputation."

After saying this, he no longer paid attention to Lai Bai and his group, and went back to doing his accounts.

Lai Bai, the youngest son of Housekeeper Lai, was the ’noble young master’ among the servants and was quite prone to bullying others due to his position. But Manager Hu’s words frightened him, as the Water Bandit Case had caused a huge uproar at the time, and even three years later, people would still talk about it.

Lai Bai didn’t want to ruin Lord Lai’s official reputation and, for the first time, softened his tone, asking, "Is there no other way?"

With that, he took out a ten-tael piece of silver and handed it to Manager Hu.

Manager Hu didn’t even glance at the piece of silver and repeated his previous words: "If you want to know the Gu Family’s residence, bring one hundred thousand taels of silver, otherwise, please leave. If you feel uncomfortable, go ahead and wreck the shop, and we’ll settle the account afterward."

Having lived as a privileged gentleman for over two years, Qian Chengcai was not accustomed to such humiliation. Hearing this, he immediately rushed out and smashed two tables in the lobby.

With two loud bangs, the tables were flipped.

The dining guests were stunned, and after coming to their senses, they pointed at Qian Chengcai and angrily asked, "Who are you? Daring to smash our table? Do you know how long we waited to get this seat?!"

Futai Building’s business was exceptionally good, and even better during the New Year. However, due to the holiday, Futai Building had half of its staff on vacation. Therefore, it was quite difficult for the Prefecture City People to enjoy a meal there, and they had relied on their social standing to get a meal, which was now interrupted by someone flipping the tables.

Flipping the dining table while eating is just like smearing someone’s face in it or desecrating their ancestors’ graves. How can this be tolerated? Absolutely not!

"My brothers, this scoundrel has flipped our dining table, slapped our faces like this. Everyone, hit him back, beat him to death!" A young nobleman clad in brocade spoke as he was the first to roll up his sleeves and punch Qian Chengcai.

The others also swung their fists, delivering a rain of punches and kicks to Qian Chengcai, who howled in pain, "Stop, oh, stop! How dare you hit me, Lai Vice Magistrate won’t let you off, I am the Lai Vice Magistrate’s nephew, my grandmother’s family name is Gu, ah!"

Among the guests at another table, a middle-aged man in his forties said upon hearing this, "So it turns out you’re Vice Magistrate Lai’s unworthy nephew, then you guys keep hitting him. If anything happens, the Yan Family of Linhe Prefecture will cover for you."

The Yan Family of Linhe Prefecture is a noble family with many officials in the clan. The lowest rank is eighth-rank, and there are second-rank officials among them, a family not to be trifled with that the people of several nearby prefecture cities are all aware of.

Now that Qian Chengcai has flipped Elder Yan’s dining table, he’s probably going to be skinned.

Upon hearing this, the group of young men immediately said, "Eh, Lord Yan be assured, this scoundrel doesn’t understand the rules, flipping tables while others are eating, we fear if we don’t hit him, we’ll end up sharing his surname."

After another round of thuds and thumps, Qian Chengcai was left spitting blood from his mouth.

Qian Guangzong and Gu Youlu were both scared to death, not daring to help, and even worried about being dragged down by Qian Chengcai, hiding in Manager Hu’s accounting room, afraid to come out.

Lai Bai, however, could not hide, and immediately went downstairs, kneeling before Elder Yan: "I am a servant of the Vice Magistrate’s, begging Lord Yan for forgiveness. My master had no knowledge of this affair, it’s all young master Chengcai’s fault. Rest assured, once we return, my master will surely discipline young master Chengcai well. I beg you to show mercy and not to make a big fuss."

Lord Yan didn’t bother with Lai Bai, turning to Manager Hu who had come downstairs: "Manager Hu, according to the rules, you’ve got to replace our meal."

Manager Hu smiled, "Naturally it must be replaced, the kitchen is already on it, and it will be ready in just three quarter-hours."

That’s the rule of Futai Building; no matter who ruins a guest’s meal, Futai Building will replace it for the guest.

Lord Yan, after hearing this, nodded in satisfaction.

Manager Hu knew how to handle the situation, telling Lord Yan, "The private room upstairs is empty, I have reserved it for you. Please enjoy your meal in the private room."

Elder Yan finally broke into a smile and led his table of people to the second-floor private room.

"Lai Bai..." Lai Bai wanted to follow, but was stopped by Manager Hu: "You better hurry home and have the Vice Magistrate himself come to apologize. Otherwise, if Lord Yan writes to his brother, this matter will reach the Capital, and the Imperial Censorate hearing this will surely impeach Vice Magistrate Lai."

What Lai Bai feared the most was exactly this, so he didn’t dare say more and waited until the young men stopped before immediately signaling to Qian Guangzong and Gu Youlu to carry Qian Chengcai back to the Vice Magistrate’s residence.

When Gu Dagu learned that Qian Chengcai had been beaten, she was hysterical, cursing Futai Building nonstop: "This damned Futai Building, daring to beat my Chengcai, once Lord Lai returns, I must have Lord Lai take action and shut down Futai Building!"

Housekeeper Lai frowned deeply upon hearing this; the Old Gu Family was getting more and more excessive, causing such big trouble for the master and still daring to clamor for the master to shut down Futai Building. Do they think their master is the Emperor, able to help them with everything?

Granny Gu wasn’t stupid either, after hearing the whole story from Lai Bai, she grabbed Qian Guangzong by the collar and slapped him: "How could you be a father like this, letting Chengcai do such things, causing such trouble for Lord Lai, I’ll beat you to death!"

As she spoke, she raised her cane and began beating Qian Guangzong furiously.