Chapter 450: Chapter 451: Change of Ownership

Ouyang Bing finally agreed. In his view, this was the best possible outcome.

Jin Qianqian waited until the two had drafted the contract. Before they put pen to paper, she asked curiously, "We’ve known each other for so many years. Can you at least give me a heads-up? Just who is this ’enemy’ you keep mentioning?"

Then she added, half-joking, "If it turns out they’re someone we can’t afford to offend, what you’re doing would be pretty unscrupulous."

Ouyang Bing said, "There’s no harm in telling you, Madam. This time, they’ve declared they’re coming for revenge. It’s not a matter of deep-seated hatred, though.

When I was young, my parents arranged a childhood engagement for me.

But I’ve always seen her as a younger sister, so naturally, I resisted the idea. I ran off and opened a few restaurants out here all these years precisely to escape it..."

It was a very cliché story. The young woman had been waiting for him all this time. She waited through the prime of her life, even outliving her own mother, but he never returned. Now, she’d had enough. Rumor had it she was on her way over right now with her guards.

She had made a bold declaration, vowing to destroy the restaurant business he had built from scratch and leave him with nothing.

Some people who’d had previous run-ins with him had also come out of the woodwork, eager to watch the drama unfold. Some were even secretly plotting to get involved.

If it were just the young lady from the aristocratic family, Ouyang Bing felt it would be deserved if his restaurants were destroyed. But he wasn’t willing to let those rivals of his benefit from it.

Their two families had been friends for generations, and Ouyang Bing knew he was in the wrong. He certainly couldn’t fight back, so his only option was to stay away.

Unwilling to see the restaurant business he had painstakingly built suffer a blow, Ouyang Bing had been forced to make this decision.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered finding someone else to put on a fake front, but these families were not simple. They wouldn’t be so easily deceived.

After much consideration, he had set his sights on Jin Qianqian.

He knew better than anyone how this couple had started from nothing and built such a massive enterprise in just a few short years.

Though he was envious, he was also full of admiration. If his restaurants were in their hands, they might even flourish further.

Only then did Jin Qianqian feel at ease, signing the transfer contract with him and having her steward send it to the government office to be registered.

The two of them then drafted another agreement for profit sharing. From now on, Ouyang Bing would go from being the head boss of the restaurants to a junior partner.

Clutching the single sheet of the contract, Ouyang Bing felt a complex mix of emotions.

"If you regret it, we can still void the agreement," Jin Qianqian said, having just received the counted stack of silver notes from Lichun. But to her surprise, Ouyang Bing snatched them away.

"I’ll have someone send over the restaurants’ deeds and my staff’s indentures later. I won’t disturb you any longer, Madam." As he spoke, he didn’t even count the silver notes, shoving them directly into the arms of Mudou, who stood behind him.

Jin Qianqian said, "This is a full 50,000 taels in silver notes. If you don’t count it properly, I’m not responsible once you walk out that door."

Ouyang Bing replied, "I trust Mrs. Gu. From now on, I’ll have to trouble you to look after the Tianfu Restaurant."

Just as he was about to leave, Jin Qianqian called out to him. "Since you’re unwilling, you should have told the young lady clearly sooner. Dragging it out like this is no good for either of you."

Ouyang Bing knew this all too well. He simply waved a hand and left without looking back.

Jin Qianqian gave a wry smile. ’Well, I’ve certainly made more work for myself.’

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But she couldn’t bear to push away a money-making machine that had fallen into her lap. A little more work was just a little more work.

She didn’t linger in Fu County. She sent someone to Gaoling Village to ask Li Cuicui to look after her two children, while she herself took a group of people and hurried to the Prefecture City.

The moment she arrived in the Prefecture City, she was a whirlwind of activity. Before anyone could react, she had already closed the restaurant for renovations.

Old tables and chairs were replaced, and the stained exterior walls were scrubbed clean.

She also hired some craftsmen who were inside the restaurant, hammering and banging away all day. Before a day had passed, everyone in the neighborhood knew that the Tianfu Restaurant had changed owners.

With such a major event, people were naturally curious and started to inquire. After all, the Tianfu Restaurant chain, large and small, had over a dozen branches across several prefectures and cities.

For it to be transferred just like that was something many people found hard to accept.

Some people had ideas of their own, wanting a piece of the pie. But once they found out who the new owner was, they all gave up the notion.

Since ancient times, commoners do not fight with officials. And those who held official positions wouldn’t dare make such a big move and create a powerful enemy for themselves.

Jin Qianqian wasn’t just dealing with the main branch in Dao City. She had already sent people to all the other locations, instructing the local shopkeepers to hurry to Dao City as quickly as possible to learn how the flagship restaurant was being transformed.

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Ancient Wen Heng had never considered himself a good person. Seeing the captured bandits bound and forced to dig at the earth with their bare hands, he felt a certain satisfaction.

Didn’t these people enjoy disemboweling themselves? As soon as they were captured, they were searched. Even if they succeeded, a skilled doctor could immediately stitch up the wound, and then they would be steeped in saltwater to "pickle."

Compared to the Ten Great Tortures, this was child’s play. But it was enough to strike fear into their hearts and make them abandon any such notions.

If they didn’t want to suffer this fate, they had to stay alive.

Ancient Wen Heng had already selected a plot of wasteland for them. How much had they plundered from this continent? Then they would pay it back, bit by bit, with their own two hands.

Ancient Wen Heng knew some among them could understand him. He had his men repeatedly shout at them that if they couldn’t repay their debt in this lifetime, their children and grandchildren would have to, atoning for their sins generation after generation.

Someone finally couldn’t hold it in any longer and said in clumsy, formal speech, "You can’t do this to us! We only came to visit the Rong Dynasty, hoping to establish good relations between our two nations."

Ancient Wen Heng replied, "This *is* us establishing good relations with you. Now is the time for you to show your sincerity. Once you’ve filled this entire plot of land with crops, we will see your sincerity."

With that, he turned to a nearby guard and said, "As long as you don’t break their bones or hinder their work, just keep them breathing.

Make them understand that the grain in the hands of the Rong Dynasty’s common folk is not so easily obtained.

Tell them that if they don’t plant the crops properly, we’ll plant *them* instead."

The guards here were all chosen from among the surviving commoners. Ancient Wen Heng had already instructed them that they could vent their anger, but they had to leave the captives with enough life to repay their debts. Otherwise, it would be letting them off too easily.

When Zhou Shixiong heard about the methods being used here, he was silent for a long moment. Then he stood up, stretched his limbs, and led his soldiers out to capture more prisoners. It seemed he’d feel he was letting Brother Gu down if he didn’t bring back more people to reclaim the wasteland.

Life was about to get much harder for those bandits. They had barely made landfall when they were met with heavy snow that sealed the mountains.

The rations they had brought were long gone. If they didn’t find a place to resupply soon, they probably wouldn’t even survive the winter, let alone make it safely back to their homeland.

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