Chapter 464: Bearing Temporary Anger

“Butler Yang, why are you back so early?”
After hesitating for a moment, Li Chongshang stood up, forcing a smile on his face. If there was anything he disliked about Butler Yang Laiting, it was his habit of returning in the evening and stepping on the hall’s carpets with his muddy feet.
These carpets were top-quality ones he had chosen from Hongji Textile Shop, a well-known brand in the capital. They were soft and elastic, making one’s steps light as if flying. Just the carpets for the hall, along with several bedrooms and guest rooms, cost ten thousand taels of silver.
Li Chongshang actually didn’t like the feeling of stepping on carpets that made his feet seem to float—he found it unsteady. But when he first arrived at Qingpine Villa, he was the one who decided to purchase these carpets. Back then, he paid ten thousand taels of silver, and that was indeed the full amount he paid. Over time, he began to regret it, and his regret grew increasingly stronger. Eventually, he even developed a strange aversion to them.
As for the other items in Qingpine Villa, he would try every means to get them replaced. But it came to these carpets—he not only never thought of replacing them but also took great care of them. The reason was that replacing them would mean incurring a huge loss in his eyes.
He had bought these carpets based on Ren Qingsong’s preferences, which Ren had praised many times. If he wanted to replace them, he would have to get the same kind of carpets. He had considered using the excuse of stockouts, but the risk was too high—he feared Ren would be able to tell the difference between good and bad carpets.
So, he still had to pay ten thousand taels of silver for new carpets. At Li Chongshang’s current purchasing rate for Qingpine Villa, he was losing at least forty thousand taels of silver.
Li Chongshang shared the same creed as Lin Dong in life: he would do anything but suffer a loss. That’s why he always disliked Yang Laiting stepping on the carpets barefoot. If Yang Laiting hadn’t interfered with his plans to make money, just for this reason alone, he would have found a way to persuade Ren to drive Yang Laiting away.
In Li Chongshang’s view, Yang Laiting neither knew how to flatter nor read people’s expressions. He had become the chief Butler of Qingpine Villa only because he had followed Ren for decades. Though he hadn’t made any contributions, his loyalty earned him tolerance from Ren. If someone really wanted to get rid of him, it would be easy—just frame him with false accusations. After all, this chief Butler, who even treated mud-covered feet as brothers, wouldn’t have the wit to resist.

Yang Laiting, who was completely ignored by Li Chongshang, had a dark expression. He thought that the entire QingSong Villa belonged to Ren Qingsong, who gave him absolute authority there. What he didn’t realize was that not only Li Chongshang, but even the maids and servants now believed that Li Chongshang was the real master of QingSong Villa. Otherwise, with Li Chongshang’s actions, there would surely be people complaining to him.

Striding into the main hall, Yang Laiting suppressed his anger and glared coldly at Li Chongshang, his message clear: move aside!

Li Chongshang ignored him. He was only worried that if he dismissed Yang Laiting, Ren Qingsong would hire another steward who definitely wouldn’t be as indifferent as Yang Laiting. If Yang Laiting started interfering in the affairs of QingSong Villa, he wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore; if another one appeared, he could simply find a way to sideline them.

Li Chongshang was quite confident in his control over QingSong Villa.

“Move aside!” Yang Laiting snapped through gritted teeth. Li Chongshang’s attitude had pushed his anger to its limit. Under normal circumstances, he would have tolerated this and dealt with it later—after all, just driving someone away wasn’t enough; he had to recover the stolen money as well.

The money of QingSong Villa, though easily obtained, hadn’t come out of thin air. It was the result of over forty years of hard work by the headmaster and himself in Southwest City.

But the situation was different with Manager Lin present. The most important guest of QingSong Villa couldn’t even receive the respect due to a VIP—this meant far more to him than hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

“Is there something, Manager Yang?” Li Chongshang glanced at Lin Dong and Yun Lan, somewhat realizing that the servants’ loyalty was genuine. Given their demeanor and Yang Laiting’s attitude, they might indeed be the master’s friends. Yet he didn’t care much. In a small county like Southwest County, the most important people were at most family members or the county magistrate’s sons.

Although Li Chongshang didn’t know what Ren Qingsong was doing now, the fact that Ren Qingsong’s workplace was Xiangyan Mountain, ten miles away and off-limits to everyone, along with the ease of access there, clearly indicated that Ren Qingsong had an extremely high status.

A friend from a small county, no matter how wealthy, was still just a poor friend. Li Chongshang didn’t think his importance in Ren Qingsong’s eyes could be less than that of a few poor friends.

“Someone, arrest the second steward!” Yang Laiting shouted.

“Head butler!” Outside the door, several servants rushed in, but none of them seemed willing to take action. Though they wanted to, they didn’t think Yang Laiting had a chance. If they really tied up Old Li like that, not only would they lose their good positions when the master returned, but Yang the butler might also be thrown out. At his age, he surely couldn’t find another butler’s job outside; without support, his life would be miserable. The servants and maids in QingSong Villa liked Yang Laiting one thing, but whether he was fit to be a butler was another matter.

“Butler Yang, what an impressive figure!” Li Chongshang’s gaze was cold as he had already resolved to drive this head butler away. Compared to Yang Laiting, he knew his own limitations better—he understood that Yang, being a butler and highly respected in QingSong Villa, couldn’t be overpowered by the servants on the spot. Everything still had to be decided by QingSong.

Yang Laiting fully realized his status in QingSong Villa, while the servants and maids didn’t know it at all.

“Shopkeeper Lin…” Yang Laiting turned with a bitter smile.

Lin Dong smiled, stepped forward, grabbed Li Chongshang by the collar with one hand and another middle-aged man with the other, and with a slight swing, the two were flung flying.

With two thuds, they collapsed in pain.

“How dare you! Do you know who I am?”

Zhang Wanfu cried out in pain. He had come expecting to watch a spectacle, but never expected to end up in such trouble, and he became furious.

“Shopkeeper Lin, Miss Yun, please sit!” Seeing the two’s miserable state, Yang Laiting felt much better and quickly invited them to sit.

“Please, Uncle Yang!”

The three sat down in order, and Yang Laiting immediately ordered, “Bring the best tea!”

“Which brat thinks he deserves good tea? Someone, capture these two troublemakers who came to QingSong Villa!” Li Chongshang finally recovered his breath and sneered at Lin Dong. He had heard clearly that this man was just a shopkeeper. A shopkeeper from Xinan County—no matter how high his status, it couldn’t be that great.

The servants hesitated. First, Lin Dong and the other man were clearly guests of the head butler. Second, with just one hand each, they had easily thrown the two men several meters away—such strength was already terrifying.

Seeing no one step forward, Li Chongshang, feeling humiliated, was about to explode in anger when Zhang Wanfu pulled him back.

“Lord Zhang?” Li Chongshang was confused.

“Don’t rush. Have you forgotten about the household slave I told you about?” Zhang Wanfu gently patted the dust off his clothes, glared at Lin Dong disdainfully, and said, “He’s just a guy with some strength. Wait until my household slave arrives to avenge Manager Li.”
“Is this… not treating Lord Zhang too poorly?” Li Chongshang hesitated. This Lord Zhang was a powerful landowner in the surrounding areas and also his future business partner. If he really compromised now and tried to regain face through Ren Qingsong after Lord Zhang left, it would be hard to save face.
But if he kept Lord Zhang around, it might cause problems. Li Chongshang knew well his own master’s status—Lord Zhang wasn’t even worthy of standing in the same place. Allowing a local tycoon to stay at Qingsong Villa and see their family’s shame might upset Ren Qingsong.
As for the household slave mentioned by Zhang Wanfu, Li Chongshang didn’t take it seriously at all. He hadn’t learned martial arts, and although he knew of warriors, he didn’t believe a person who willingly became a household slave could be very strong. At the very least, with Lin Dong’s strength, one wouldn’t end up as a household slave.
Household slaves were the lowest-class people in the Great Han Nation. They were even worse than peddlers or beggars. After all, if a beggar was killed, the authorities would still send a few officials to go through the formality. If a household slave was killed, it was the master’s problem—no one else needed to get involved.
“Why should Manager Li treat them the same way?” Zhang Wanfu, however, was full of confidence in his household slave. He gestured toward the chairs on the side and said, “Manager Li, please!”
“Lord Zhang, please!” Seeing Zhang Wanfu’s insistence, Li Chongshang had no choice but to comply.
Seeing the two still refusing to leave the hall, Yang Laiting stood up in anger, but Lin Dong pulled him back down.
“Anger harms your health. Even if President Ren doesn’t come, he won’t give up easily,” Lin Dong said, shaking his head. Judging from Manager Li’s attitude, he wouldn’t calm down unless he was killed. It was better to wait until Ren Qingsong arrived and made him give up completely.
“Manager Lin, Miss Yun, I’m sorry for this,” Yang Laiting said with a bitter smile.
Lin Dong shook his head, but Yun Lan suddenly said, “Uncle Yang, giving too much power isn’t a good thing.”
Yang Laiting nodded in agreement. “Thank you, Miss Yun, for reminding me. If it weren’t for you two coming today, who knows if I might have been killed someday.”
“Manager Li… no, I should call him Boss Li,” Zhang Wanfu said with a smile from the other side. “With my household slave and Lord Ren’s status, our restaurant will surely be prosperous.”

“Not at all; Master Zhang is the real owner of this restaurant.” Li Chongshang’s anger dissipated quickly, and a wide smile spread across his face. He didn’t give any importance to Zhang Wanfu’s so-called highly skilled kitchen servant. All he knew was that he wouldn’t have to invest a single penny in this large restaurant—just need Ren Qingsong to step in and handle things when he’s free, along with doing some promotion, and he could still get a 40% stake. In the capital’s large restaurants, as long as one has powerful backers, they all make huge profits; all that’s left to do is wait to split the money.