At night, in a hall of Nangong Aotian's Marquis Mansion.
Nangong Aotian and Dongfang Phoenix sat at the front together, and there were more than 20 people standing behind them, all around forty years old.
"Do you know why I asked you to come here?" Nangong Aotian said with a smile, looking at more than twenty people in front of him.
"Little people don't know." One of the twenty people said. This man was the most skilled chef in the career. He used to be the royal chef of a small principality.
Not only did they not know, but even Dongfang Phoenix didn't know why Nangong Aotian called these people here.
"I'm here to tell you something." Nangong Aotian said with a smile, "You should know that when you are selected by slave traders and become slaves, your freedom of life will be gone. I think you should know this.
Know."
After hearing Nangong Aotian's words, more than twenty people showed very frustrated and helpless expressions in their eyes.
"But compared to ordinary slaves, slaves like you with some skills are much better than ordinary slaves." Nangong Aotian continued, "After all, others will have a certain demand for you."
"But we are still slaves, and this cannot be changed." A chef looked at Nangong Aotian and said helplessly, "If you have anything to say, just say it. There is nothing we can't accept. After all, you can now control our life and death."
"
"I sold you here because I think you all have very good skills," Nangong Aotian said with a smile, "but I don't like slaves very much."
After hearing Nangong Aotian's words, the expressions of the more than 20 people below changed and became a little ugly.
"Aotian, you...what do you want to do to them?" Dongfang Phoenix was also shocked.
"Haha, I won't do anything to them, I am doing it for their own good." Nangong Aotian said with a smile, "I have prepared another contract for you."
"What contract?" Dongfang Phoenix asked first, and the people standing in front also looked at Nangong Aotian in confusion.
"My contract is like this." Nangong Aotian said, "The contract states that you are just slaves of my Nangong family. In the years to come, although you will still be slaves, you and I, the Nangong family, will be employed by you."
Everyone will enjoy the same benefits, such as rest and monthly commissions. Other slaves cannot enjoy these benefits."
"Are you planning to pay us a commission?" A chef below looked at Nangong Aotian and said suspiciously.
"Of course, I have conditions." Nangong Aotian said with a smile, "First of all, you must ensure your absolute loyalty. Secondly, you must absolutely obey my orders. Of course, I will not do anything to you. You are completely with me.
Same as anyone else hired.”
Seeing that these people were not talking, Nangong Aotian continued, "At the same time, your descendants will no longer be slaves, but completely free people. If you can make any contribution to our Nangong family, or your work performance can make
If we are satisfied, I will even let your descendants receive the same treatment as ordinary people, and even give them a good space for development, and when you reach a certain age, I will let you regain your freedom based on your performance."
"You...are you telling the truth?" the rising chef said with a trembling voice.
"Do you think I'm joking?" Nangong Aotian looked at this very skilled chef seriously and said, "Every word I say is very serious."
"If it is true, then you will be our great benefactor." Another person also looked at Nangong Aotian excitedly.
You must know that once these people become slaves, they no longer have any human rights. If they have descendants in the future, their descendants will still be slaves. This generally will not change.
"I have prepared a new contract. You can take a look. The term of this contract is thirty years," Nangong Aotian said with a smile. "In thirty years, if you make no mistakes and work hard, you
You will no longer be slaves and will be free again, and your descendants will also be free together."
"Is this true?" The more than 20 people standing looked at Nangong Aotian gratefully.
"Brother Tian, you...why would you do this?" Nangong Fenghuang asked in a low voice.
"You should be able to guess it." Nangong Aotian said softly.
Seeing that Nangong Aotian didn't say anything else, Dongfang Phoenix didn't ask any more questions.
"In these thirty years, you can accumulate a certain amount of wealth through continuous hard work or contribution to my family. In this way, when you regain your freedom, you will have a sum of money that is enough
You can retire or find a peaceful place to live a good life and spread your wings." Nangong Aotian said with a smile, "Of course, if you are still willing to stay in our Nangong family by then, we will not refuse you. The premise is that you
We must be loyal to our family, and of course at that time the relationship between us had completely become an employer-employee relationship, not a slave-master relationship."
Seeing that everyone's faces were a little excited, Nangong Aotian smiled slightly. Of course he knew very well that no one could want to be a slave without any strength. Nangong Aotian's doing this was quite attractive to them.
"None of you who were bought back by my wife, Miss Phoenix, have any marks on their faces. Do you know why?" Nangong Aotian said with a smile, "It's not me who will mark you after I come back, but I
I won't engrave it for you at all, so that except for me and a very limited number of people who know about it, you don't have to feel inferior at all outside. As long as you are loyal to our Nangong family and work hard, the fact that you are slaves will never be known to anyone.
.”
After Nangong Aotian finished speaking, he took out two dozen contracts and put them on the table and said, "I give you the freedom to choose. You can look at the contract I wrote. If you sign the contract I wrote, then you
I will return the original contract to you, and you will destroy it yourself."
After saying that, Nangong Aotian handed over a contract that he had already drawn up to these people and let them make a decision after reading it.
"You are free to choose. Whether you choose this contract I gave you or abide by your previous contract, I will respect your decision." Nangong Aotian said with a smile, "I will never break my promise.
At this time, Dongfang Phoenix also took out a contract written by Nangong Aotian and read it.
"Brother Tian, do you really want to do this?" Dongfang Phoenix looked at Nangong Aotian and said, "No one has ever done this before."
"The past was before, and now is now." Nangong Aotian said with a smile, "But don't tell others about this."
"I know." Dongfang Phoenix whispered.
Five minutes passed quietly, and the expressions of the people in front became a little excited. By the end, some people were already shedding tears of excitement.
Suddenly, the most skilled chef who had risen to prominence knelt down, followed by more than twenty people.
"I, Li Dequan, will always be grateful for your kindness." The most skilled chef said with excitement on his face.
This man was named Li Dequan. Nangong Aotian knew his name, and it was clearly written on the contract.
"We are forever grateful for your great kindness and will always be loyal to the Nangong family and to Young Master Nangong." These people followed and said loudly together.
"Haha, you don't have to do this." Nangong Aotian said with a smile, "I am also a general who leads troops to fight. I have tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of prisoners, but I will never have a prisoner in my hands become a
Slaves, I think this is unfair to you. Of course, I only have so much ability now, so I can only help a few of you."
"We are grateful to you, and we will definitely work for you wholeheartedly in the future." Li Dequan said firmly again.
"We promise to work for you wholeheartedly." The rest of the people also said loudly.
Soon everyone signed their names on the experience contract and also pressed the fingerprints of both hands.
"There is no need to mention the fact that you are slaves from now on. You can completely regard yourselves as ordinary people hired by me. You will also enjoy all the rights that the people I hired have." Nangong Aotian smiled.
He said, "Okay, the first thing I want to tell you today is this. You must destroy your slave contract first to avoid unexpected troubles in the future."
More than twenty people tore up the slave contract together. At the same time, they tore up their shame and their slave career. They knew very well that as long as they worked hard for the Nangong family and the young man in front of them, they would not
Becoming a slave again was something that was absolutely impossible before.
"The first thing is done, now I want to say the second thing." Nangong Aotian said, "You stand up first. Now you can say that you are no longer slaves, so you no longer need to perform such a grand ceremony."
"Yes." Everyone responded respectfully and stood up.
"Among the twenty of you, five of you have outstanding skills." Nangong Aotian said, "Although the skills of the other people are also very good, they are slightly different, right?"
Several people were silent. Before Nangong Aotian came back, Dongfang Phoenix tested their skills according to Nangong Aotian's words.
"I plan to open five hotels. The scale will be about the same size as Pingbu Qingyun Hotel." Nangong Aotian said with a smile, "The five of you will be the most important chefs in these five hotels in the future. And the remaining few people
, is your helper."
"You plan to open five hotels?" Li Dequan asked doubtfully, "Is it more?"
"No." Nangong Aotian said with certainty, "But I have to make you a request, and of course I must first obtain your consent."
"If you have any requests, just ask." Li Dequan said quickly. Several others also said in unison.
"The hotel is not small, so each of you has to bring an apprentice. At the same time, the five of you chefs with the best skills must communicate a lot during this period. You must improve your skills within two months, of course.
The remaining few people must also gradually improve your skills. At the same time, each person should try to bring out an apprentice, what do you think?" Nangong Aotian said.
"No problem." Li Dequan and the others nodded.
"The main job for the five of you in two months is to study cooking skills together and integrate the specialties of each restaurant." Nangong Aotian said, "When the time is right, I will open four more restaurants in a row, and then every month,
There will be a cooking competition among these five hotels. The chefs of the winning hotels will be given some special treatment, such as reducing the number of years of your contract? Or giving you the opportunity to start a family and have children.
.If you perform well, I will send your descendants to Holy Dragon City to train them so that they can become real talents. These expenses will be borne by my Nangong family."
"You,,,,what you said is true?" Li Dequan said excitedly.
If this were the case, their treatment would be better than that of ordinary employees outside.
"Of course it's true." Nangong Aotian said with certainty, "Holy Dragon City is a city granted to me by the emperor. The city is only a little smaller than the imperial capital. I will build a college there in the future, and I can guarantee this
The academy will definitely be ranked among the top ten academies in our empire in the future. And as long as your descendants meet the talent requirements, they may become students in such an academy, and it will be free of charge."
"Do we need to sign another contract?" Li Dequan said excitedly.
"This is not necessary, you just need to know my plan." Nangong Aotian said with a smile, "I just want you to know that the more you pay for our family, the rewards will definitely be doubled in the future.
How much will it increase?"
"Yes, we are loyal to the Nangong family and to Young Master Nangong." Everyone said in unison.
"Okay, from now on Min'en will start to improve your cooking skills in Pingbu Qingyun, and bring out as many disciples as possible. This will be of great help to you in the future." Nangong Aotian said with a smile.
"Where will our disciples be selected?" Li Dequan asked.
"In a month I will be looking for some slaves with some basic cooking skills to redeem them, and you can choose from there," Nangong Aotian said after thinking for a while.
"This is best." Li Dequan said quickly.
"In the future, you should not come to this mansion again. If anything happens, I will naturally come to you. I will hand over all your daily affairs to the shopkeeper, Pingbu Qingyun. You can just listen to his arrangements." Nangong Aotian said.
Then he said, "After all, I have just established myself in the imperial capital, and I don't want others to know that I am developing my own industry. You must remember this."
"We will definitely not tell anyone." Li Dequan, who is also a smart man, immediately said, "Just say that we were hired by the shopkeeper."
"This is best." Nangong Aotian finally felt relieved.