No Credit, No Exceptions

Upon entering the courtyard, everyone was shocked by the dishes on Zhou Wanwan's table.

The table was laden Manman dishes, most of which were seafood.

The restaurant offers a wide variety of seafood, including steamed fish, braised prawns, spicy stir-fried clams, garlic scallops, oysters, and squid—a total of eleven or twelve different kinds.

The rest were all nourishing main dishes: tender chicken soup, mutton stew, and pigeon soup. Each dish was generously portioned, glistening with oil, and looked incredibly tempting.

Next to the vegetables were piles of various fresh fruits: apples, bananas, grapes, pomegranates, oranges, watermelons, cantaloupes...

Nie Rou frowned and said, "Zhou Wanwan, I didn't expect you to actually sneak a bite here. I told you to eat something for dinner, why aren't you eating?"

Cui Yingying swallowed hard and said, "Nie Rou, you, this servant, eat better than us young ladies."

Nie Rou glared at Zhou Wanwan and said, "Get out of here, you brat! Try eating alone behind our backs again next time!"

Zhou Wanwan walked straight to the side, Nie Rou pulled their hands, saying, "Yingying, Qingqing, Yiyi, you guys sit down quickly. I knew this brat wouldn't behave."

Cui Yingying, Cui Qingqing, and Cui Yiyi quickly sat down, the dishes on the table were simply too tempting.

They ate with their heads down, and after they finished, Zhou Wanwan had someone bring them milk tea.

They took a sip and were delighted. Cui Yingying looked at Nie Rou and said, "Rourou, you're quite a useful maid! I didn't expect these things to taste so good."

"I've never had such delicious milk tea before. Let's skip lunch tomorrow and come over for meals every day."

"Yes, the food here is much better than what we eat at home."

Nie Rou, head held high and chest puffed out, said, "Zhou Wanwan, did you hear that? Tomorrow, it has to be this table, and it can't be any worse than this table."

Zhou Wanwan looked at her and said:

"That's no problem at all. Shall we settle the bill for this table first?"

Do you know how much this seafood meal costs?

Nie Rou glared at her and said, "What did you say? You dare to take money from me? I'm your master now."

Zhou Wanwan said with a half-smile, "Do you expect me to treat you to a free meal? Why don't you go out and ask around, how much does a seafood feast like this cost?"

Nie Rou said irritably, "Do I need money to eat?"

Zhou Wanwan scoffed and said, "If you can't afford it, fine. This meal is already cheap, I'll still charge you ten taels."

Want to eat her food for free? Dream on.

These seafood items were all caught fresh from the sea, and the fruits were incredibly fresh.

Nie Rou curled her lip and said, "That's how poor people are, so stingy and petty. It's just ten taels of silver, they act like nobody can afford it."

Nie Rou immediately took out ten taels of silver.

Cui Yingying rubbed her stomach and said:

"But it really is delicious. I've invited more than 20 of my girlfriends to our house tomorrow."

Have your cook prepare two extra tables of food tomorrow.

Zhou Wanwan looked at her and said, "Thank you for your patronage, Miss. How much is the banquet you're planning to pay? I need to pay in advance; we don't offer credit."

Cui Yingying rolled her eyes in exasperation and said, "Why are you so petty?"

Zhou Wanwan sighed helplessly:

"I'm from a poor family, so I've learned to be independent early. I've never seen much of the world, and I don't have any money. I won't take on this kind of work."

But you've all tasted the food at my family's banquet; the seafood and fruit—everything there cost money!

And these fresh vegetables—you couldn't find them anywhere else in the entire county.

To put it bluntly, don't kill the eagle until you see the rabbit.

Cui Yingying stamped her foot and said, "Someone, give her one hundred taels of silver. Tomorrow, cook it for me according to the one hundred taels silver standard. If it's not delicious, I won't let you off the hook."

Zhou Wanwan quickly nodded and said, "That's impossible. My family's banquets are always excellent, and I also want to maintain a good reputation!"

Just kidding, this is business, reputation is very important.

Only then did Cui Yingying leave with her people.

Cui Yingying specially hosted a banquet at her residence, inviting only the daughters of prominent families in Dongshan Prefecture. The event was very dignified.

Lu Lan looked at Cui Yingying and asked, "I heard Zhou Wanwan has been staying at your residence recently?"

Cui Yingying was taken aback, somewhat surprised. "How do you know Zhou Wanwan?"

Lu Lan snorted coldly, her face full of disdain, and said, "That Zhou Wanwan is the worst kind of person. She's always out there swindling and cheating people. You'd better watch out, or you'll get fooled by her."

Upon hearing this, Cui Yingying's face turned pale instantly. "I asked her to arrange a banquet yesterday and gave her a hundred taels of silver! She wouldn't have taken my money and run away, would she?"

Shangguan Wan'er sneered and mocked, "Zhou Wanwan is truly despicable. She even tries to embezzle a hundred taels of silver. She's never seen money before. What a disgrace."

Then Zhou Wanwan came out and said, "I can't compare to you rich and powerful people, so naturally I can only earn a little money."

Lu Lan couldn't help but roll her eyes and said, "Everyone knows how awesome you are, Zhou Wanwan. You've made so much money off us, you should at least treat us to a meal, right?"

Zhou Wanwan frowned and said, "Lu Lan, don't talk nonsense. When did I earn your money?"

Lu Lan looked at her and said, "You've made a fortune in every bet you've made. If we're talking about the richest young lady in Dongshan Prefecture right now, you're probably the one."

Zhou Wanwan blinked and said, "Oh! Don't talk nonsense. My family is so big and powerful, how can we compare to you?"

Shangguan Wan'er sneered, "Yes, he has several older brothers! Their betrothal gifts all depend on Zhou Wanwan!"

Zhou Wanwan chuckled and said, "What can I do? My brother dotes on me! I'm more than willing!"

Lu Lan chuckled and said:

"Alright, stop pretending. All the things you won at the Nie Family a while ago were stolen by thieves."

They really think we don't know? They're putting on quite a show.

Shangguan Wan'er covered her mouth with schadenfreude and said:

"Oh, I didn't know that happened! What a pity!"

I don't know how those bandits were so clever; they just had to pick on such a fat sheep.

Zhou Wanwan, using the donkey as a pretext, asked, "How did you know?"

Lu Lan chuckled and said, "Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast. Who can you possibly hide your little secret from?"

Zhou Wanwan was overjoyed. She hadn't known she could do that!

The next time she gains something publicly, she'll have to rely on this kind of whitewashing.

She wanted everyone to believe she was a penniless person.

Lu Yao, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but say:

"Oh dear! Everyone's out here to admire the flowers today, there's no need to argue with a little maid."

Let's continue admiring the flowers!

This is a flower appreciation banquet, but the Cui Family only has so many flowers.

All the ladies looked around but didn't see any expensive varieties, and were greatly disappointed.

"I thought we'd see lots of flowers at today's flower viewing party! But it's just like this."

"That's right! These are just the kinds of flowers we see every day, nothing special."

Cui Yingying gritted her teeth and said, "Of course we have rare and expensive varieties. I'll have someone arrange it."

She pulled Zhou Wanwan aside and said, "I know you have many precious flowers and plants. Take them out."