nycdaug Chapter 182: Being upright is not afraid of slanting shadows
Chapter 182: Being upright is not afraid of slanting shadows
Wang Dali was speechless for a moment. He hadn't checked the vegetables; he was only thinking about getting the food ready and serving it to the guests as quickly as possible, and had overlooked this important step.
He opened his mouth, wanting to explain, but found himself speechless.
"Why do you always blame us for everything? Is this how you do business? When problems arise, instead of thinking about how to solve them, you're thinking about how to shirk responsibility and extort money from us? Let me tell you, no way!"
Seeing that Wang Dali remained silent, one of the chefs assumed he had acquiesced and became even more emboldened, shouting, "That's right! Who do you think you are? Do you think you can do whatever you want just because you have some money? If you don't give us the money today, we'll make sure you can't operate your business anymore!"
Hearing the commotion in the kitchen, Li Jianjun walked in and saw Li Mu fighting three opponents by himself, and immediately frowned.
He was burly and imposing; the way he stood there gave him a tiger-like appearance, and everyone in the kitchen immediately fell silent.
"What's going on? Why are they arguing?"
Li Mu stopped him: "You go outside and keep the guests occupied. I'll handle things here. Pay the medical expenses first, and we'll talk about the rest later."
Li Jianjun glanced at him suspiciously, then looked around the kitchen before finally nodding, turning and walking out.
Li Mu turned his attention back to the three chefs.
“The deed has already happened, so I’ll make things clear now. I can pay for lost wages, but definitely not the amount you’re asking for. We can have people from the village committee and the health bureau testify. We’ll pay whatever amount is due based on the actual situation. I won’t give you a penny less, but I won’t give you more either.”
Upon hearing this, the three chefs immediately became agitated and shouted, "So you're determined not to pay, huh? Fine, then don't blame us for being impolite. We'll go to the health bureau and report you, making your cooperative go out of business!"
Li Mu looked at them calmly: "Do whatever you want. I have nothing to hide. You can sue me however you want for things I didn't do."
As things escalated, Wang Dali began to panic. He had originally intended to use this opportunity to extort money from Li Mu, but he never expected it to turn out this way.
He coughed, trying to smooth things over: "Muzi, look how this has gotten. Let's not be so tense. We're all from the same village, we'll see each other all the time, why make things so awkward?"
Li Mu Shao wasted his breath on him.
"Brother Dali, what's the point of saying all this now? Things have already come to this point, how do you plan to resolve this?"
Wang Dali stammered, unable to speak for a moment.
Li Mu looked at the three chefs and said, "I can pay for lost wages, but it must be calculated based on the actual situation. If you want to cause trouble, go ahead and sue me. I'll fight you to the end."
Seeing Li Mu's resolute attitude, the three chefs knew that continuing the commotion would not lead to anything good, so they all gave up.
"A thousand per person should be fine, right? You're a big boss, you can't not even afford this much money, can you?"
Li Mu looked at them, remained silent for a moment, and nodded: "Okay, one thousand each. We'll make up the difference once the matter is resolved."
Upon hearing this, the three chefs beamed with joy and nodded repeatedly: "Alright, alright, it's settled then."
Wang Dali also breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that things would escalate and become unmanageable. Now that both sides had reached an agreement, he quickly said, "Mu Zi, now that this matter is resolved, shouldn't we first appease the guests?"
Li Mu glanced at him, understanding that he wanted to use him to smooth things over so that he would owe him a favor. However, he didn't point it out and nodded: "Okay, then you seal up these problematic vegetables first, and I'll go to the front to appease the guests."
Wang Dali nodded quickly and directed the three chefs to seal up the problematic vegetables.
Li Mu then turned around and walked out of the kitchen, arriving at the main hall.
At this point, the lobby was in complete chaos, with guests shouting and demanding an explanation from the guesthouse.
Some guests were clutching their stomachs, their faces pale, and they looked to be in great pain.
Li Mu strode to the center of the hall and said loudly, "Distinguished guests, please be quiet for a moment and listen to what I have to say."
When he stepped forward, everyone quieted down and focused their attention on him.
"I know everyone is feeling very upset right now. It's our responsibility that there were problems after eating the food from our restaurant, and I apologize to everyone here."
As soon as he finished speaking, a chorus of boos erupted from the crowd.
Li Mu wasn't annoyed and continued, "Whoever goes to the hospital, hand over the bills! I'll compensate everyone right now! We'll cover all medical expenses and absolutely won't let anyone suffer any loss!"
Several guests who had already gone to the hospital were now crowding forward with their bills, demanding compensation from Li Mu.
Li Mu took the bill, looked it over carefully, and told Li Jianjun to remember it all and go to the bank to withdraw money.
Fortunately, only five people ate the problematic vegetables, and the medical expenses weren't too high. They quickly received compensation.
Seeing that Li Mu was sincere and compensated them promptly, the guests stopped pursuing the matter and left with the money.
Seeing how Li Mu handled the situation, the remaining customers' anger subsided considerably, and they all demanded refunds and return of their dishes.
Li Mu agreed to all of them and asked the waiter to take them to process the refund.
Wang Dali readily agreed and refunded all the customers on the spot, also giving them an extra coupon in the hope that they would visit again.
Seeing that the restaurant handled the situation reasonably well, the guests stopped arguing. After everyone left, Wang Dali closed the restaurant to deal with the aftermath.
The three chefs were already impatient, eagerly waiting for Li Mu to come up with a thousand yuan in compensation for lost work time.
Li Jianjun answered a phone call, said "uh-huh" a few times, and hung up. He then said to Li Mu, "Brother Mu, Lao Wang and Lao Zhang have arrived with their men."
Wang Dali didn't understand what this meant. Who's here?
Li Mu said, "Let them all come in. This matter needs the village committee and the health bureau to come in so that we can thoroughly investigate it."
A short while later, Lao Wang and Lao Zhang walked in with several people from the village committee and two staff members from the health bureau, with Zhao Dakai walking at the back.
Seeing this scene, Wang Dali panicked even more and plopped down on his bottom.
"Young Master Zhao, you... what brings you here? You didn't even tell me you were coming so I could have gotten ready."
Zhao Dakai gave him an annoyed look: "Do I need to tell you? If Mu Zi hadn't called to tell me that something happened here, I would still be in the dark! Tell me, what kind of thing are you doing?"
Wang Dali smiled awkwardly, unsure how to respond.
Old Wang frowned as he looked at the vegetables scattered on the ground: "What happened? Why are all these vegetables thrown on the ground?"