Chapter 245: Another Great Team-Up

Two days later, Lin Dong met Liu Hua’s brother in the front yard.
Around twenty years old, not very tall, with a fair complexion but somewhat weary, clearly still struggling to emerge from his troubles.
“Sit!”
After giving the order, Lin Dong sat down on a stone bench and instructed Liu Hua nearby, “We have guests. Bring tea.”
“I dare not!” Liu An quickly waved his hands, looking somewhat awkward.
“No need to be polite. Liu Hua has been worried about your situation. I feared he wouldn’t be able to focus on his work at the inn, so I had him come to see you.” Lin Dong nodded toward the stone table across from him and smiled. “He said you used to be highly regarded by the boss, right?”
“Not at all…” Liu An humbly replied, “As my own brother, of course my brother would speak highly of me.”
“If you weren’t good, why would so many workers team up against you?”
Lin Dong looked at Liu An with a smile. A worker who could arouse jealousy among others was either extremely bad or, more likely, so good that, with the boss’s encouragement, he posed a threat to his peers.
Lin Dong had a good first impression of this man and believed he belonged to the latter category. If that were the case, he might even be an outstanding worker. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to threaten everyone on his own.
Hearing this, Liu An’s expression darkened as he lowered his head. “Maybe I’m not popular at the shop?”
Lin Dong shook his head and said calmly, “If you had been as humble in front of your former boss, it’s no wonder you got framed by others.”
Liu An stared at Lin Dong in shock, then his body trembled as if he understood something.
“Come work at our Lin’s Inn!”
Seeing Liu An’s reaction, Lin Dong thought that Liu Hua’s loyalty had already increased by two points. If he could keep Liu An at the inn, his loyalty could easily reach ninety points. Lin Dong was genuinely interested in Liu An—clever and by no means inferior to Liu Xiu back then. Compared to Ma Chun, who excelled in eloquence, Liu An was definitely better.
If he was smart enough, even if his other traits didn’t meet the standards of an outstanding worker, with proper development and experience, he would be an excellent handler of emergencies at the inn.
If he proved to be completely trustworthy, as more branches of the inn opened, Ma Chun could handle overall management and diplomacy, while Liu An would take care of emergencies. The two could complement each other well, even matching the kitchen duo of Jiang Kui and Qiao Tianhao.

Liu An stared at Lin Dong in a daze. Before coming here, he had already decided that all he asked was for Manager Lin to help clear his name and allow him to return to the shop. But that intense gaze made it impossible for him to refuse. Subconsciously, he felt that if he refused, he would regret it for life. The reason was that he had seen that kind of look before—his former boss always had it when reviewing the accounts every year.

Lin Dong wasn’t in a hurry. He just kept looking at Liu An, making him restless, his mouth opening and closing without him being able to say a word.

As the atmosphere grew tense, Liu Hua came over with a tray. After setting down the tea, he glanced at Liu An, who was sweating profusely, with a questioning look in his eyes.

“Liu Hua, come sit with us,” Lin Dong said, gesturing to the stone bench nearby.

Liu Hua quickly nodded and sat down between the two of them.

With his brother around, Liu An’s anxious mood improved somewhat. Looking at Lin Dong, he stammered, “Thank you for your kindness, Manager Lin. But I…”

“You want to return to your old shop?” Lin Dong asked calmly. “Which shop was that?”

“The Baili Silk Shop on Huakai Street in the south of the city,” Liu An replied hesitantly. “Boss Li used to value me quite a bit. This time, it’s just because the money really was lost—and quite a large amount at that.”

“Did he really value you that much?” Lin Dong asked with a smile. “How much was your monthly salary?”

“One tael of silver,” Liu An said, glancing at Liu Hua before explaining, “The boss would also give me five qian in bonuses each month. Although it’s not as much as what I earn at Lin’s Inn, it was the highest among the workers.”

“And your boss often praised you in front of the other workers,” Lin Dong said mockingly. “From time to time, he would use you as an example and scold others harshly if they made mistakes, right?”

“That… that’s…” Liu An became anxious and argued, “As a boss, one has to do that. Otherwise, how can the workers be more diligent?”

“At Lin’s Inn, if someone makes a mistake, Manager Ma just scolds them privately,” Liu Hua muttered softly.

Liu An wanted to say that Manager Ma wasn’t the boss, but seeing Lin Dong present, he swallowed his words.

Lin Dong said slowly, “If I’m not mistaken, after scolding them, they’d deduct their salary, right?”

Liu An was stunned and blurted out, “How does Manager Lin know about our silk shop?”

“Otherwise, everyone wouldn’t have framed you, nor would they have conspired to steal ten taels from the silk shop,” Lin Dong said casually. “These days, it’s normal to have one or two disloyal employees. But if there’s a whole group of them, that’s when there’s a problem. You should understand what the problem is by now, right?”
Liu An’s expression darkened. He indeed understood now.
“If they really valued you, it’s just ten taels of silver…” Lin Dong said bluntly. “I’ve heard of Baili Silk Shop; it’s quite reputable in the south of the city. Twenty taels in just one morning? It must have been rainy that day. Even under normal circumstances, twenty taels in a morning means at least thirty taels in a day. After deducting various costs, the daily profit should be at least three or four taels.”
Seeing Liu An’s increasingly grim expression, Lin Dong didn’t hesitate to add salt to his wounds: “For the profit of three days, or just to show off, they casually investigated and drove out their most trusted employee. Your former boss was really ruthless!”
“That’s true!” Liu Hua said disdainfully. “I’ve always said your boss doesn’t really care about you; you just won’t believe it. If he truly valued you as much as he claims, why would he rather run back and forth between the cloth store and the silk shop every day instead of letting you manage the silk shop? At our Lin’s Inn, the inns in Xilan City are always under the responsibility of Manager Zhang. The owner hasn’t even gone there in over half a year. The inns in Qiufeng City are also managed by Manager Ma. I don’t know about Xilan City, but here, when Manager Ma is busy serving guests, the employees handle the billing themselves and record it. Unlike your place, where there’s a detailed record of every piece of cloth, making accounting much easier. The money and accounts are all tightly controlled by your boss.”
Taking a breath, Liu Hua said proudly, “Look at our owner. When faced with big problems, like when all the restaurants slashed prices desperately this time, Manager Ma couldn’t make a decision, so our owner stepped in to decide. If we followed your boss’s example, our owner would still be stuck in Xilan City, unable to leave.”
“That’s because… because…” Liu An said helplessly. “Bosses are different. Some like to do things themselves, while others prefer to delegate to trustworthy people.”

“It’s not as strict as your silk shop’s. At the very least, they don’t lock the counter just to use the restroom.” Liu Hua said disdainfully, “All in all, it’s still because your boss can’t trust anyone. In his eyes, employees are just people who work hard for him. Even if you’re diligent and smart and can help him earn an extra hundred taels of silver a month, he still fears you might steal all the silver from the counter while he’s away, or even team up with customers to swindle the silk shop out of its money.”
Liu An was speechless, his face red, unable to say a word.
Over by the side, Lin Dong stopped tapping his index finger on the table and suddenly stood up.
The two were startled and quickly stood up as well.
“You two, come with me to the back yard,” Lin Dong said.
“To the back yard?” Liu Hua was a bit confused.
“To give you a makeover!”
Lin Dong nodded. Given the situation, it wasn’t too surprising that Liu An had joined Lin Ji Inn. But even if he joined Lin Ji Inn, Liu An might still be reluctant to leave his former boss. With another boss in his mind, no matter how well Lin Dong treated him, Liu An likely wouldn’t be able to wholeheartedly serve Lin Ji Inn. If it were just an ordinary employee, it wouldn’t matter much—such a small issue wouldn’t affect their dedication to Lin Ji Inn. But if Liu An truly had the potential to become a right-hand man, that thorn in his heart had to be removed first; otherwise, it was possible that his former boss might be hired as a lobbyist, and a small oversight could lead to secrets like the delivery routes being exposed.
Seeing Lin Dong walk toward the back yard, Liu An glanced at Liu Hua.
“Let’s go! We do whatever the boss says,” Liu Hua said, patting Liu An’s shoulder and smiling. “Our boss isn’t only generous—he’s also one of the best people around. Otherwise, Lin Ji Inn wouldn’t have such a good reputation. I think the boss really likes you. Whatever he asks you to do, you must not refuse. If you can join our Lin Ji Inn, it’ll be a thousand times better than working at Bai Li Silk Shop. Trust me, you won’t regret it.”
Liu An hesitated for a moment before slowly nodding.
They went to Old Ding’s room. Lin Dong knocked on the door. “Old man, are you in?”
“Good boy, it’s rare to see you…” The door creaked open. Old Ding was lying on a wooden bed, legs crossed, holding a wine jar, burping contentedly. “It’s been a while since someone invited me for a drink.”
“We can talk about drinking later. I’ve come to see you for an important matter,” Lin Dong said with a smile.
“An important matter?” Old Ding asked, his eyes still blurry from drunkenness. “What important matter can an old man do?”

“Of course it’s makeup. Get me two bodyguards,” Lin Dong said with a smile.
Old Ding was at a loss for words: “Bodyguards? Do you really need to fabricate them? Are you so poor you don’t have money to hire bodyguards? Just find two guys to act as cover?”
Lin Dong laughed awkwardly. “Do I look like the kind of person who pretends to be someone he’s not? I plan to solve a case later, so I need to make the parties involved look like bodyguards so I can take them along.”
“You know how to solve cases?” Old Ding was surprised.
“No!”
Lin Dong remained calm. Sometimes, not knowing how to solve a case can still lead to solving it.