Chapter 1476 - 1471: Cultivating One’s Own People
"Never seen him!" Mu Shuangshuang shook her head outright.
"Lord, I’ve seen him!" The plump woman next to Mu Shuangshuang suddenly spoke up.
"You’ve seen him?" Wen Xiaoya immediately turned her gaze to the plump woman.
Mu Shuangshuang’s body went stiff. She thought she’d been exposed, but then heard the plump woman say, "That man’s so ugly, I remember him clearly. More than ten days ago, he showed up at my stall entrance with a bunch of big men."
"Then where is he now?" Wen Xiaoya asked.
"How would I know that, Lord? You know as well as I do, us common folk, we can barely keep up with our own business on a daily basis, where would we find the time to mind other people’s affairs?"
The plump woman, once she started talking, just wouldn’t stop.
But Mu Shuangshuang finally let out a breath of relief.
Wen Xiaoya impatiently flicked her hand, "Alright, alright!"
"If any of you have seen this man, remember to go to the General Mansion and tell General Wen Nantian’s servants this news!"
"Lord, what did this man do for you to want to put out a warrant on him?" Mu Shuangshuang asked.
Mu Shuangshuang was good-looking, her whole person looked fresh and dewy, and her skin was fair.
She didn’t look like someone from Xing City at all, so Wen Xiaoya couldn’t help looking at her a few more times.
Finally she said, "It’s not a warrant, just a search! If you provide useful information, there will be a heavy reward!"
Hearing it wasn’t a warrant, Mu Shuangshuang understood that Wen Nantian probably couldn’t find any other chef.
So he wanted to drag her out of hiding.
Sending a god away is easy, inviting a god back is hard.
Back then it was Wen Nantian himself indulging his daughter that made her feel she had to teach that woman a lesson.
"Alright, Lord, take care on your way!"
Mu Shuangshuang said gently.
Wen Xiaoya swung herself back onto her horse and continued questioning other people.
Right now Mu Shuangshuang was immensely grateful that she usually appeared in public so rarely; otherwise, with her place right across the way, it would be hard not to get exposed.
After a busy morning, gradually, fewer people came for breakfast.
Mu Shuangshuang prepared to close up; she didn’t make lunch, because that would require using her sauces.
And if she cooked, it would be too easy to expose her skills.
Before going back, Mu Shuangshuang called the two little kids into the stall and started chatting.
"Alright, tell me—what are your names, how old are you? How long can you work here for me?"
"I’m Cheng Le, and this is my younger sister Cheng Ying. I’m thirteen, she’s nine!
Big Sister, we can work here for a lifetime, as long as you’re willing to keep us!" Cheng Le said to Mu Shuangshuang.
A lifetime...
That did fit the requirements Mu Shuangshuang had for the people she was looking for, but these two little kids had no adult with them. Could they really help her manage such a big sauce market?
And there was also Zhenyuan Escort Agency’s base in Xing City!
"Lele, Xiao Ying, what about your family? Are they also in Xing City?" Mu Shuangshuang asked.
As soon as she said that, the two little kids both lowered their heads, neither willing to speak.
"Don’t be afraid, I mean you no harm. I just want to know if your family is also here.
If they are, I can ask your father and mother to help with the work as well, but the premise is they have to meet my conditions!"
Mu Shuangshuang valued people’s character when choosing them. If their character was bad, she absolutely wouldn’t hire them.
"We really can? You’d let my mother work?" Cheng Ying suddenly lifted her head, a glimmer of crystal light flashing in her eyes.
She stared at Mu Shuangshuang, full of hope, and the look truly shocked Mu Shuangshuang a little.
But Cheng Le nudged Cheng Ying with his elbow, "Don’t talk! Mother won’t come out to work, and no one would be willing to hire her anyway!"
"But if Mother comes to work, she could have a bowl of hot noodles every day. Brother, let’s ask Mother to try, okay?" Cheng Ying piped in with her sharp little voice.
"Yingzi, stop it, she won’t agree!"
Cheng Le shook his head, his face full of pain.
From the moment she saw these two kids, Mu Shuangshuang didn’t even know why, she just felt an inexplicable trust in them.
"Lele, Xiao Ying, do you trust Big Sister? If you do, then go back right now and bring your mother here.
When I hire people, I never look at outward things, I look at what’s inside. As long as your mother isn’t some great traitor or evildoer, or someone who steals and pilfers, and her character has no problems, I will definitely hire her!"
Mu Shuangshuang made herself very clear.
The doubt on Cheng Le’s face faded quite a bit, and with Cheng Ying egging him on,
Cheng Le finally plucked up his courage and dragged Cheng Ying home.
Mu Shuangshuang’s plan to close the stall was temporarily put on hold.
After waiting about the time it takes to burn three sticks of incense, Cheng Ying and Cheng Le came back, supporting a woman with a headscarf wrapped around her head, slowly walking over.
The woman seemed ill; every step was like she was stepping on cotton, and she looked like she had no strength at all.
Mu Shuangshuang went personally to support her.
Only then did the woman say, "Thank you, Boss Lady, thank you~"
"Just call me Mu Shuangshuang," Mu Shuangshuang said.
"Miss Shuangshuang, I heard from Le’er and Yingzi that you’re willing to hire me to work?" the woman asked.
"Mm! But I have a trial period; even Le’er and Yingzi haven’t yet become official long-term workers of my stall!" Mu Shuangshuang said.
"Then how long is that trial period?" the woman asked.
Then she started coughing.
Seeing how thinly she was dressed, Mu Shuangshuang didn’t even think twice before going to the cloth shop next door to buy her a padded jacket.
She bought each of the kids one as well.
When the woman took the newly bought padded jacket, tears immediately welled up.
Cheng Le and Cheng Ying tried to comfort her, "Mother, don’t cry, don’t cry!"
"Miss Shuangshuang, this padded jacket is too precious, we can’t accept it! We can’t!"
Cheng Ying’s mother handed the padded jacket back to Mu Shuangshuang. Although she was reluctant, she still knew you shouldn’t take reward without earning it.
"Just think of it as clothing issued by the stall. As long as you’re working here, you wear these clothes; if the day comes you’re no longer working here, just return them to me!" Mu Shuangshuang said.
Only then did Cheng Ying’s mother stop insisting on giving the clothes back to Mu Shuangshuang.
She helped the two kids put on their jackets; as for her own, she didn’t rush to wear it yet.
Right in front of Mu Shuangshuang, Cheng Ying’s mother untied the cloth covering her face.
It was a face that had been burned by fire.
Almost half her face was covered in scar tissue; at first glance, it really was quite terrifying.
But to someone like Mu Shuangshuang, who had been a police officer in her previous life, this was nothing at all.
She’d seen far more horrifying sights.
"Miss Shuangshuang, with a face like this, and a body that gets sick from time to time, do you... do you still want to hire me?" Cheng Ying’s mother asked Mu Shuangshuang.
As she said this, Cheng Le and Cheng Ying stared fixedly at Mu Shuangshuang.
In their eyes, that look clearly meant they hoped Mu Shuangshuang would keep their mother.
"Will you, Madam, ever betray me for profit? If one day someone offers a high price to buy any information you know about me, will you tell them?"
Profit can spur a person on, but it can also turn a person into a devil.
Mu Shuangshuang had met people who were wholeheartedly good to her.
She had also met ones who betrayed her for money.
If the woman before her was willing to sincerely follow her, she would absolutely not look down on her, and would even give her a chance to climb upward!