Lan Hua felt a surge of joy at first, but then remembered what had just happened and felt a pang of guilt. Lin Yuan had entrusted her with the management of the tofu shop, showing trust in her, yet what had she done? She actually let this shameless woman walk all over her, rendering her unable to utter a single word in retort. She was truly too embarrassed to face Lin Yuan again.
The other women wore uncomfortable expressions, all reflecting on whether they had said anything inappropriate that Lin Yuan might have overheard.
However, Loudspeaker snapped out of her brief stupor and quickly adopted an air of nonchalance. She slowly stood up from her stool and greeted Lin Yuan with a smile, "Yo, Boss is here? Come in, come in, have a seat."
Lin Yuan glanced at her, then at the spoon that Loudspeaker had just kicked away, walked over slowly, bent down, and picked it up: "This spoon, why is it on the ground?"
Loudspeaker’s face changed, that was the spoon she had thrown away, and even kicked aside.
"Oh, that, I just accidentally dropped it and haven’t had the chance to pick it up yet!"
Lin Yuan raised her eyebrows, uttered an "Oh," and casually placed the spoon in the large basin used for washing utensils, but the water in that basin was now somewhat murky.
"Who’s on duty today?"
To facilitate management, the kitchen staff followed a division of labor, with each person taking turns. The person on duty was responsible for cleaning the kitchen after everyone had finished their work, and they also needed to keep an eye out for any messes or dirt around the kitchen, cleaning them up promptly.
And today, it just so happened, was Loudspeaker’s turn to be on duty.
Loudspeaker looked at the water and knew why Lin Yuan was asking. She quickly picked up the basin, while chuckling and saying I’m on duty, and carried it to the kitchen door, casually tossing the water into the yard. The originally neat and clean yard became greasy and dirty because of the water she splashed.
Lin Yuan frowned, and asked Loudspeaker, who was still shaking out the remaining water from the basin, "Is this how you normally dispose of dirty water?"
Loudspeaker froze for a moment, blinking guiltily. On her first day working here, Lan Hua had told everyone that dirty water should be poured down the drain beside and not to be tossed around carelessly. But Loudspeaker found it too far and carrying a large basin there was simply too tiring. So, she just poured it out in the yard.
Lan Hua had reprimanded her a few times at the beginning, and she listened at first, but later thought that this young girl was all bark and no bite. When Lan Hua scolded her, she just let it in one ear and out the other, giggling and saying it won’t happen again, yet she continued to pour out dirty water the same way. She didn’t expect to be caught by the Boss today.
"Well, that, that’s not it. Today I was..."
Before Loudspeaker could finish, Lin Yuan turned her head towards Lan Hua and asked, "How many times?"
Lan Hua, still feeling guilty about letting Lin Yuan down, was startled when she was addressed and let out a bewildered "Ah." After another woman whispered in her ear, Lan Hua hurriedly returned to her senses and said, "Several times now. She listened at first, but then, just..."
Then she just didn’t care anymore and splashed water everywhere.
"That drain is too far away, and this basin is heavy. Isn’t it just right to pour it in the yard?" Loudspeaker continued to make excuses. Saying it was far, when actually it was only a dozen or so steps away, Loudspeaker was simply too lazy to go there, and now she was shamelessly blaming the drain. Lin Yuan almost laughed out loud at such a lame excuse.
Seeing that Loudspeaker wouldn’t take responsibility until facing the harsh reality, Lin Yuan asked the other women working together, "When you dispose of water, do you also pour it out in the yard ?"