There was a certain air of hopeless defiance in her words. Yet amidst the collective sorrow, everyone exchanged uneasy glances, wondering silently—what on earth did Nurhaci have to do with this?
Leaning against the glass window, arms folded, Ye Rong sighed feebly, "Who else is there to blame but him? Honestly, if that man had been a little more ambitious when he fought his way to Europe, there wouldn't even be a Greece today, and that foolish girl wouldn't be here wrecking our business!"
The room fell into a stunned silence, as if a flock of crows had just flown overhead.
"Um, I wasn't going to say anything..." Chen Mo rubbed his chin in exasperation, observing a moment of silence for some unfortunate history teacher. "But, Sister Rong, I think it was Batu of the Mongols who marched into Europe, not Nurhaci."
"Eh? Is that so?" Ye Rong blinked innocently, then blurted something so absurd it nearly knocked everyone over: "Well, close enough! After all, wasn't that Batu the son of Nurhaci? If the son is useless, the father can't escape blame either!"
"Uh... Batu, Nurhaci's son?" Chen Mo could only shake his head helplessly, imagining Genghis Khan and Jochi rising from their graves to protest.
After a brief pause, watching Ye Rong still lost in her muddled thoughts, he simply pulled her into a gentle hug and murmured, "Relax. So we lost a few customers—no big deal. I'll bring more back for you. In the meantime, let's go easy on the innocent Greek people, alright?"
Being held like that, Ye Rong stiffened immediately. Realizing a few "light bulbs" were glaring nearby, she retaliated with a heavy stomp on Chen Mo's foot. "Forget it! Looks like there's no chance tonight. I'll cook personally tomorrow!"
Though her tone was fierce, a faint fluster betrayed her expression. In truth, she'd been acting oddly since morning, rejecting every male invitation outright—as if she were determined to turn over a new leaf.
Chen Mo, still smiling slyly, stared at her until she looked about ready to explode. Then, he snapped his fingers thoughtfully: "Tell you what—if I can bring a full house within an hour, how about you... promise yourself to me?"
"Dream on!" Ye Rong froze, shooting him a deadly glare. But when she saw that mischievous grin, she couldn't help but grumble under her breath: "Fine! If you can really do it, I'll wash your clothes for three months!"
"Deal!" Chen Mo shrugged nonchalantly, strolling out as if an army of brothers awaited his command just beyond the door.
Ye Rong and the other staff watched, bewildered, wondering if he really intended to strip to his underwear and dance across the street to lure customers. Then again, that might actually work… out of sheer fright!
Setting aside the confusion, Chen Mo ambled out leisurely, pushing his electric bike along.
But after riding just a few hundred meters, he suddenly turned into an empty alley and clapped his hands sharply. "Time to work, troops! Sacrifice yourselves for the restaurant! Anyone who slacks off loses next month's allowance!"
The threat proved quite effective. Even before the echo of the clap faded, Benben and Nuonuo popped out and lined up beside Cheche, looking ready to shout, "At your service!"
"Excellent!" Chen Mo waved for them to stand at ease, then pointed at Benben. "Benben, if you were to spam emails to QQ users, how many could you handle per second?"
"Eh, five or six hundred would be no problem," Benben said, swaying lazily, as if the task bored him.
"Good. Get on QQ, target all users with a Nancheng IP address, and don't stop until an hour is up! I'll send you the message in a moment."
"Problem? As if!" Before Benben could respond, Cheche snorted fumes beside him. "Last time he almost hacked into the bank system just to add a few extra zeros to your account! If I hadn't stopped him..."
"A few dozen zeros?" Chen Mo gave Benben a long, incredulous look, suddenly feeling immensely grateful he hadn't been summoned by the police yet.
Now wasn't the time to discuss that, though. He turned to his phone and snapped his fingers again: "Nuonuo, all those romance dramas you watch aren't going to waste. I have a very honorable mission for you..."
Hearing it involved romance dramas, Nuonuo immediately lit up and scrambled onto Chen Mo's shoulder.
But after listening for just a few seconds, Nuonuo shrieked, "Boss, I don't mind helping, but I'm worried Sister Rong might chop you into seventeen pieces and feed you to the dogs... Should I call the funeral parlor and book you a VIP suite?"
"Stop talking nonsense! Just do it!" Chen Mo barked, turning back to Benben. "By the way, do you know all the big websites around here?"
"I'm bored anyway," Benben said with a yawn.
"Good. Get on them and start flooding the boards! Once Nuonuo gives you the text, post it everywhere, the more sentimental the better! Alright, meeting adjourned!"
"What about me?" Cheche piped up indignantly, unwilling to be left out.
"You're on lookout duty," Chen Mo said, scratching his chin in thought. "If anyone approaches the alley, knock them out and toss them in a trash can! Also, keep an eye on these two troublemakers!"
Thrilled by the violent assignment, Cheche grinned from ear to ear, eager to test his skills.
Satisfied, Chen Mo turned to leave, but after only a few steps, a bad feeling made him spin around and glance at Benben—
And sure enough, when he saw what was on Benben's screen, he could only sigh helplessly. "I said the city's websites, not the porn sites... Damn it, you'll attract wolves if you're not careful!"
"It was just on the way!" Benben blinked innocently but finally logged out and quickly hopped onto Nancheng's local forums, logging into over a dozen accounts in seconds.
This time, Chen Mo stayed cautious, watching closely until he was reasonably assured of no further accidents, then slowly walked away.
He hadn't even made it out of the alley when Nuonuo's excited shriek reached him: "All done, Benben! Sending it now! I swear, if this post doesn't draw a few thousand replies, I'll give up chasing girls for life!"
Leaving behind the chaos in the alley, Chen Mo strolled away as if nothing had happened.
Finding it too soon to return, he wandered aimlessly for half an hour before finally making his way back to the restaurant.
In that short time, the place had emptied out completely; the staff stood around awkwardly, unsure what to do.
Clapping his hands lightly, Chen Mo pointed at the wall clock and said, "Don't just stand there! Guests are on the way. Should we give the tables another wipe?"
"Wipe? They're about to fall apart!" Ye Rong muttered, glancing at the darkening sky. It was well past mealtime; who in their right mind would still come?
No sooner had she finished speaking than—
Ghosts seemed to descend from nowhere!
A dozen cars screeched to a halt outside, and fifty or sixty guests stormed the restaurant, nearly bursting the door off its hinges.
And that was only the beginning—before the servers could react, another wave rushed in, looking less like diners and more like emergency rescuers.
Within moments, the once empty hall turned into a bustling scene straight out of a holiday sale.
Ye Rong stood frozen, mouth agape, but an odd feeling nagged at her. Though the guests were ordering dishes, their eyes kept drifting toward her, and many pulled out phones or laptops, pointing at her as if she were some exotic creature at the zoo.
Incredibly, a few young women even burst into tears while ordering.
The waiters were baffled: If you're too broke to dine out, why torture yourself? We're not forcing you to spend!
"Three months of laundry—don't forget!" Chen Mo leaned casually on the counter, waving cheekily at the teary girls.
Ye Rong stared at him like he was an alien. After a stunned pause, she snapped back to reality: "Mo Mo, what the hell did you do? Why do they all look at me like I'm starring in some soap opera?"
The answer soon became clear.
A middle-aged man strode up solemnly, grasped Ye Rong's hand tightly, and declared with heartfelt sincerity,
"Boss Ye, you have suffered greatly! All of us in the group stand with you. From today onward, we'll support your business! Stay strong—this is our land, and no foreign beauty, even a Greek one, will steal your husband from you!"