Chapter 73: A Hero Saving a Beauty?

The Cashier didn't quite react in time to see the large hand swinging toward her, but just then, a fair hand directly gripped the swinging wrist.

"If you have something to say, say it, don't go around laying hands on people." An Yinan's gaze turned cold.

"You stinking brat, you dare meddle in my business?" Looking at the person spewing filth, An Yinan lifted her wrist upward, and her grip on the hand she was holding tightened slightly.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch." The man's face turned pale in an instant, his mouth twitched in pain, and his forehead was instantly covered in beads of sweat as big as peas.

"I told you to speak, not to spew filth, do you understand?" An Yinan smiled, gritting her teeth, but her gaze was growing colder by the inch.

Just then, the kitchen door was pushed open; it turned out that Liu Mei had hurried to the kitchen to call for help the moment she saw An Yinan go up.

"Girl, Ershu is here." Before he even arrived, Ershu Liu's booming voice had already rung out. In just a moment, Ershu Liu emerged in white clothes, brandishing a kitchen knife. Behind Ershu Liu was the chubby kitchen helper holding a fire poker, behind the chubby kitchen helper was the older woman holding a rolling pin, and behind the older woman was Liu Meijie, holding a stool and ready to strike at any moment.

None of them spoke; they just looked at the scene in the dining hall, a bit caught off guard.

Wasn't it said the little girl was being bullied? Wasn't it said the little girl was going to get beaten up? Why was it different from the scene in their minds?

"Get lost." An Yinan pushed backward, and the young man collapsed onto the ground.

"You just wait for me!" He then ran out of the State-run Restaurant first. The older man sighed, said nothing, and followed him out.

The terrified Cashier only just reacted now. Looking at the surprisingly united kitchen staff, she lost her usual arrogance, and her pale little face was streaked with tears. "Thank you, everyone."

"Thank you, if it weren't for you just now, that slap would definitely have landed on my face." The Cashier thanked An Yinan solemnly.

She knew that she was usually a bit lazy and rarely helped out in the kitchen. Aside from the head chef, she had the highest salary, and she was usually a bit arrogant and looked down on everyone, so she wasn't very popular.

Today, everyone came out mostly because of this young girl.

But it was enough to teach her a lesson.

"What am I going to do about tomorrow's food!" The young girl squatted on the ground, crying helplessly, like a pitiful child.

An Yinan was a bit speechless; she didn't understand how such an important procurement task could be assigned to a girl with no experience.

"This might be for the best. If that group wanted to retaliate and put something in the vegetable leaves, that would be a real disaster!" What could An Yinan do? Just coax her a bit.

"Really?" The young girl was clearly shocked; how could there be such bad people?

"Hmph, why wouldn't there be? Are there things people with black hearts won't do?" Ershu Liu let out a cold snort, placed his sharpened kitchen knife on the table, and sat down on the long bench.

"Then what should I do? It won't work without vegetables!" Through this incident, the young girl had smoothed out her usual arrogance, and her tone no longer had that sharp edge; she was actually much more likable.

The older woman thought for a moment and asked, "Didn't you ask the other surrounding villages?"

Hearing this, the young girl was even more on the verge of tears. "Last time they said they were raising prices, I went to ask around, but that bastard threatened the villages. Now, all the surrounding villages are afraid to take on the job of delivering vegetables to the State-run Restaurant."

"Threatening the surrounding villages? And those villages just accepted it?" An Yinan was a bit puzzled; what kind of situation was this?

"Among the villages around the County, Shitou Village is the largest and covers the most land. At the beginning, for the sake of convenience, we just found one village to supply the vegetables. Other villages couldn't support the vegetable volume of the State-run Restaurant," the young girl murmured.

"Foolish." An Yinan delivered the final verdict.

"You were the one who raised Shitou Village, and you raised the ambition of Shitou Village. With the situation of one growing while the other wanes, Shitou Village has completely overwhelmed the other villages economically, achieving a monopoly. It is very difficult for you to break this environment," An Yinan summarized directly.

Ershu Liu nodded after hearing this. The chubby kitchen helper and the older woman had already gone back to the kitchen; their work wasn't finished yet.

Liu Mei poured a cup of hot water for everyone, said nothing, and sat to one side.

"Then what should I do?" The young girl really didn't know how to handle it, and she looked at An Yinan expectantly.

An Yinan thought about what Aunt Li had said a few days ago, then looked at the young girl seriously. "Do you mind having villages further away deliver the vegetables? To break the deadlock, you need a third party to intervene."

"What is a third party? What is intervening?" The young girl didn't understand and was even more confused.

"It should mean not considering the surrounding villages and letting villages further away deliver the vegetables." Liu Mei roughly understood and said it out loud.

Ershu Liu drank a cup of tea. "That is a way. To not be threatened by Shitou Village, it can only be villages far away; don't even think about the surrounding villages."

The young girl shook her head. "I don't know any villages far away, and the vegetables need to be delivered tomorrow. I'm afraid it's too late, but I also don't dare to take vegetables from Shitou Village anymore."

As she spoke, the young girl cried again.

An Yinan thought for a moment. "I'll go back and ask the Captain to see if he agrees to this. I'll go to Liu Meijie's house tonight to give you word, but you need to list a procurement list and prices for me; I need to confirm."

"Okay, I'll go write it now." The young girl admired An Yinan immensely.

An Yinan felt, why did she have a feeling of a hero saving a beauty? Was it an illusion?

Liu Mei looked at An Yinan's questioning-life expression; why did she want to laugh so much?

Even though she was younger than the others, she made people feel like they could rely on her. She had her own set of rules for conducting herself, and most importantly, she had a heart of justice.

As for the matter just now, even she might not have had the courage to get involved, but the younger sister not only got involved, she even took action.

It took more than ten minutes for the young girl to write half a page of vegetable names, prices, and the amount of vegetables needed for tomorrow.

"I know, I will confirm as soon as possible. I will send word to Liu Meijie tonight, and Liu Meijie will send word to you," An Yinan said quickly.

"Mm-hmm, I'll wait." The young girl was extremely obedient; now, if An Yinan said one, the young girl would absolutely not say two...

"Take the steamed buns and wontons." Liu Mei looked at the girl who was about to leave and quickly said.

Ershu Liu slapped his forehead; he had forgotten too. "Wait for me."

In a moment, Liu Mei brought over wontons that were frozen into shape and steamed buns. When checking out, the Cashier insisted on charging a few dollars less...

"It's fine, this is all within normal loss," the Cashier explained quickly, seeing An Yinan's puzzled look.

An Yinan smiled. "Thank you."

The Cashier's smiling eyes were like twinkling stars in the sky.