This ti, however, it was not her Daoxiang Garden that was hit by misfortune.
With each day cooler than the last, mornings and evenings were even chilly. Following several overcast days, the long-awaited sun finally showed its face, causing Hua Xiaomai to hastily instruct the workers to move items like chilis and wild mushrooms outside, placing them in front of the shop for a proper sunbathing session to prevent mold.
Various dried goods filled the entrance of Daoxiang Garden, yet they didn’t diminish its aesthetic appeal but rather added a warm, holy feel to the restaurant, complenting the bustling scenes of the fields and farms, creating a very comforting sight.
"Right, spread them all out." Hua Xiaomai stood at the entrance directing her workers, commanding without confusion, "Ji Xiang, I think that basket of bamboo shoots looks a bit damp, check it quickly. If it’s moldy, wash and sun them again imdiately!"
While everyone was busily engaged, Great Saint rushed from the village path, heading straight for Hua Xiaomai. Before he could speak, he stomped his foot hard: "Oh no!"
"...What’s wrong?" Hua Xiaomai’s heart skipped, looking at him she asked, "Is there a problem with the sauce?"
Great Saint furrowed his brow tightly: "Our sauce is watched over by Master Lei and his wife, how could there be a problem? But now, there indeed is a problem!"
He was usually a very optimistic person and rarely showed such a serious, confused expression—did this an sothing significant had happened today?
Hua Xiaomai bit her lip, stepped forward, and ca closer to him: "Brother Great Saint, just tell calmly what exactly happened. Don’t be anxious, take your ti."
As she spoke, she turned her head to call Zhou Yunyun to bring so tea.
"No tea, no tea, how can I drink now?" Great Saint waved his hands energetically, "A bunch of people have arrived at Zhenwei Garden, most of them ca from the County, claiming that the sauce they bought the day before yesterday slled so bad when cooked with food that they couldn’t possibly eat it, and they demand an explanation! I didn’t want to bother you, but there are too many of them, Uncle Ping’an is overwheld, and what Master Lei and the others say doesn’t count..."
The various sauces produced by Zhenwei Garden mainly supplied restaurants and eateries in the Provincial City and other counties, but they also dealt with retail sales to ordinary folks. Pan Ping’an devised an idea since he did not want to delegate the sales to miscellaneous stores in the city: every month as new sauce ca out of the vats, he set up a small stall in the city for a few days so locals could buy directly. Other tis, if anyone wanted Zhenwei Garden’s sauces, they had to co to Fire Knife Village.
The newly vatted sauce from the other day had added a few varieties and sold very well—it could truly be described as "explosive." Pan Ping’an had even run over to Daoxiang Garden to boast a bit. But who would have thought that trouble would arise exactly on this matter?
"How many people have co?" Hua Xiaomai tried her best to remain calm, looked at Great Saint, and asked in a severe tone, "Is the disturbance severe?"
"Quite severe." Great Saint nodded, looked around, and lowered his voice, "Actually, I think, with just these fifteen or twenty people, we can handle it. We don’t need to argue with them, just refund their money quickly to buy so peace. But I’m worried, if this spreads to the ears of those taverns, our future business might suffer a lot!"
Hua Xiaomai snorted coldly.
In just a few days, one incident followed another, first Daoxiang Garden, and now Zhenwei Garden was targeted, it would be really strange if it wasn’t the sa person causing trouble!
What was this? Knowing she had many helpers, and that Pan Ping’an was very capable, did they intentionally set aside Daoxiang Garden and turn their guns on Zhenwei Garden, planning to knock her down a peg first?
Now, if sothing else happened at Daoxiang Garden, Pan Ping’an would be too busy to co to her aid!
Whey you think about it, whoever was lurking in the shadows, their planning was ticulous. Clearly a competitor, yet they cleverly stirred up ordinary people to make a fuss, keeping themselves completely out of it—after all, the newly delivered sauce had just reached the major taverns and eateries, it wouldn’t be surprising if they hadn’t opened them yet and hadn’t discovered any problems, right?
Really... she felt like cursing. It wasn’t as if there was so deep hatred like a vendetta or a fight over a spouse, was there a need to be this vicious?
"I’ll co and see with you." She clenched her teeth and forced out the words to Great Saint, striving in her mind to remain calm, absolutely not to lose her composure, then turned back calling Chun Xi and La i, also reminding Qing You to keep an eye on the shop, and quickly headed towards the direction of Zhenwei Garden.
At that mont, the Sauce Garden was indeed bustling.
The yard was originally spacious, but was now packed tight with people, containing n and won, old and young, who surrounded Pan Ping’an and Master Lei in the center, clamoring and chattering with the sa old clichés like "your store engages in dishonest trades" and "we demand an explanation today, otherwise we are not leaving."
Pan Ping’an was an eloquent speaker, but no matter how well he could speak, how could he handle so many mouths? Soon, he was sweating profusely, amiably soothing one person, then carefully persuading another, spinning around ceaselessly like a top, it was truly worrying he might spin himself into fainting.
As for Master Lei, he was usually quiet and reserved, being pointed at and verbally abused, he found himself at a loss for words in his urgency, equally covered in sweat, appearing as though he had been fished out from water.
Hua Xiaomai had prepared to imdiately step in, but then thought better of it; one more person wouldn’t improve the situation much, and with such chaos inside, the risk of being jostled was genuine and not at all fun, so she decided to just stop and squint her eyes to study the highly agitated crowd, her gaze transferring from one face to another, suddenly fixing on a particular face.
She recognized that person. (To be continued. If you like this work, please cast your recomndation and monthly tickets at qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian to continue reading.)
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