Chapter 2016: A Guest

The people of Prison Immortal Town busied themselves on their own, everyone had something to do, there was basically no need for Ye Zhangqing to worry about anything.

"Young Master Ye, this.................."

The old steward of the Li family, seeing this, was also at a loss, turning his head suspiciously toward Ye Zhangqing.

Just a moment ago he was still calculating whether to send a team over to help, but in the next second he saw this.

In response, Ye Zhangqing laughed and said.

"The villagers are enthusiastic; our people are like this, thank you for your trouble, seniors—we can handle it ourselves from now on."

"Then I wish Young Master Ye prosperous business; I'll take my leave now, old servant."

"Please take your leave, senior."

After seeing off the group from the lord's manor, the shop was already cleaned up—joking, with so many people tidying a shop that hardly needed cleaning, how long could it take?

Now only the stove and the fire room are still being cleaned.

After all, this thing needs to be altered to meet Ye Zhangqing's requirements.

As for those requirements, everyone already knew them inside out.

We can open for business at noon.

After an hour, Li Chengshan and Ma Lin had even finished the signboard.

It is said the characters were personally written by the town's old schoolteacher.

But looking at the sign that had been hung up, Ye Zhangqing always felt something was off, a feeling he couldn't put his finger on.

The characters seemed able to seize one's soul and affect the mind, yet upon closer look they felt utterly ordinary, as if an illusion.

He glanced sideways without changing expression at the old man with a goat beard who was boasting with Li Chengshan and the others.

"You old scholar, after all these years your calligraphy hasn't improved at all."

"I remember when you first came to town, your writing was already at this level, and after all these years it's still the same."

"Haha, isn't it because you've been out of touch these years, usually just teaching some kids."

"People grow old; where would you find the vigor of youth? Just finding a place to settle down is already good."

"With talk like that, how could we cultivators lack spirit? Haven't you heard of an old horse still aspiring to run a thousand miles? It's a shame you're still a scholar."

"Haha."

Facing the jokes from Li Chengshan and Ma Lin, the goat-bearded old man wore a cheerful smile and didn't mind.

He didn't dwell on it; once everything was ready, they officially opened for business at noon.

Other matters didn't require Ye Zhangqing's worry; he only needed to cook.

The hall was naturally taken care of by the people of Prison Immortal Town.

But when noon arrived and passersby saw this newly opened eatery called the Canteen, they all froze, unconsciously stopping to watch.

"What's going on? Is the business that good?"

"Are you blind? Can't you tell those are the shop's staff?"

"Staff?"

Hearing this, many people observed carefully and found that everyone wore a small apron, regardless of gender.

Indeed, it was the attire of a restaurant staff member.

But the number of staff—could it be excessively many?

For such an eatery, what would you do with thousands of staff?

Good grief, looking out from outside, not a single customer had entered yet, but the hall was already nearly full.

Putting it that way, aside from the empty chairs, everywhere else was packed with people; glancing around, heads swarmed.

For a moment, the curious crowd on the street were full of doubts—this eatery looked suspicious at first glance; is this a place to eat?

For a moment, nobody dared to enter.

Even if someone faintly smelled the food's aroma, facing the shop's staff they still hesitated.

They felt that going in wouldn't be very safe; they might get beaten to death.

In the back kitchen, Ye Zhangqing had already prepared the dishes, deliberately making the aroma richer.

Yet after such a long time, not a single customer had come; Ye Zhangqing frowned and said to the people in the back kitchen.

"You all take a break; I'll go up front to see why there isn't a single customer."

Seeing this, Ye Zhangqing was about to lift his foot, but was stopped by someone beside him.

"Such a minor matter doesn't require the young master to personally handle it; we'll take care of it."

"Right, surely the town elders are slacking off up front—how could that be acceptable?"

"Exactly, let them quickly attract customers; we in the back kitchen are idle."

"I'll go right away."

One of them hurried out of the back kitchen and rushed straight to the front hall.

Ye Zhangqing didn't think much of it either; such a small matter surely couldn't go wrong.

Meanwhile, in the front hall, this person had already found Li Chengshan and questioned him with a hostile expression.

"Town elder, what's going on? Our back kitchen staff are waiting—where are the customers?"

"They won't come in; what can I do?"

"Young Master Ye is already anxious; your behavior makes us look incompetent—will you still be able to eat with a clear conscience later?"

"This.......... I.......... if people won't come in, what can I do?"

"If they don't come in, are we just supposed to wait idly? Can't we take the initiative?"

"This............"

"Anyway, I've delivered the young master's words; what to do is up to you, the clan elder—we in the back kitchen will just look at the outcome."

After speaking, that person turned and left, leaving only Li Chengshan and the others frowning silently.

Though quite a few people had gathered on the street to watch the excitement, not many of them intended to go into the shop to eat.

If they don't want to go in, can we really force them to?

"If they won't come in, are we just going to wait idly? Can't we take the initiative?"

Recalling that person's words in his mind, Li Chengshan's eyes lit up, and he immediately turned to discuss with Ma Lin and the others.

After some discussion, Li Chengshan and his group settled on a plan, and immediately told the method to the people in the Front Hall.

For a moment, everyone's eyes lit up, directly saying Li Chengshan's plan was good, no wonder he's the Town Elder.

"Indeed, it has to be you, Town Elder Li."

"Yeah, how did we not think of that?"

"Exactly, how can we just sit and wait for death in this world? We must take the initiative."

"Since we have a plan, no more talk—let everyone get moving."

"Exactly, let's get moving."

Immediately, the people in the shop swarmed out onto the street; this sudden scene frightened the onlookers into a shiver.

Wondering what was going on, a huge crowd of people was indeed somewhat frightening.

Just worrying about a moment, they dispersed and went up to each diner, smiling and asking.

"Sir, our restaurant just opened today, offering a big discount—very cheap, come in and try it."

Their faces were full of smiles, their attitudes extremely enthusiastic, yet this made people feel afraid inside.

Therefore, the customer, without a second thought, politely shook his head to refuse.

I still have something to do today, so I won't go; I'll come another time............

Then, in the next second, only a muffled 'Boom' was heard; the Prison Immortal Town person wielded a magic implement and struck the customer hard on the back of the head.

Immediately, the customer fainted from the blow; one hand supported his body, and the Prison Immortal Town person laughed and shouted.

"One customer."

Huh???

Seeing this, the surrounding people were all dumbfounded, what's with just calling him 'one customer'?