Gu Qingli rose and got the three little ones ready, leaving them with enough milk before she and Xiao Yunjing boarded the carriage to Qiyang County. They had originally planned to bring the three little ones, but considering their busy schedule for the day, they decided to leave them at ho.
「An hour later」
They arrived at Qiyang County. First, they visited the Gu Clinic. The doctor there was the sa one who had learned a great deal of dical skills from Wuyou. He recognized Gu Qingli and her husband, knowing they were the owners.
The doctor’s surna was Chen. Doctor Chen greeted them and imdiately asked another physician, Doctor Feng, to attend to the patients while he led Gu Qingli and her husband to the back hall.
Just like last ti, Gu Qingli placed the dicine pills in the storeroom. After Doctor Chen signed to acknowledge receipt, she let him go.
dicine pills for other locations were dispatched by the Secret Sect, an arrangent handled by Xiao Yunjing. mbers of the Secret Sect would deliver the pills to the various Gu Clinics as quickly as possible.
After leaving the clinic, the couple went to the Auspicious House Restaurant to deliver wine and other supplies, and then proceeded to the market to buy goods.
They purchased many items, asking most shopkeepers to deliver them to the Gu Residence. After their shopping, they finally arrived at the Secret Sect’s hall to collect gold and silver. By then, the noon hour was almost over.
"Hungry? Let’s eat at the restaurant today."
Gu Qingli nodded; she was indeed hungry after a busy morning.
Xiao Yunjing instructed the coachman to drive to the restaurant. Upon arriving at the Auspicious House Restaurant, Xiao Yunjing directly told the manager to have the chefs prepare a al, which, of course, had to include their signature water-boiled fish.
It was already well past noon, yet the restaurant was still full of custors.
The couple waited for a short while before being shown to their private room.
In about the ti it took for half an incense stick to burn, the manager personally brought in the dishes.
"Master, Madam, please enjoy your al."
The manager, Yun No. 800, had been selected from the Secret Sect. He enjoyed doing business and was very shrewd with numbers, so Xiao Yunjing had arranged for him to manage the Auspicious House Restaurant.
"Alright, you may return to your duties. Keep a close watch on the restaurant," Xiao Yunjing said.
"Yes, Master." Yun No. 800 retreated.
"Co, let’s eat." Xiao Yunjing placed so fish into Gu Qingli’s bowl.
"You eat too. Don’t just fuss over ," Gu Qingli said, also giving him a large piece of fish.
Xiao Yunjing smiled and began to eat the fish.
"Yunjing, don’t you think this fish isn’t fresh?" Gu Qingli took a bite and found the at sowhat mushy. Fresh fish had a firm texture; this fish was like tofu, a clear indication it was a dead fish.
"Hmm, now that you ntion it, you’re right." Both of them loved fish and ate it often, so they could imdiately tell sothing was amiss.
Xiao Yunjing promptly summoned Yun No. 800.
"Master, Madam."
"Taste this fish," Xiao Yunjing said.
"What’s wrong with the fish?" Yun No. 800 asked, puzzled. Nevertheless, he took another pair of chopsticks and tasted a piece of the fish.
"There’s nothing wrong with it. What’s the matter, Master?" Yun No. 800 ate it but couldn’t detect any problem.
"Summon the head chef and the procurer," Gu Qingli said, realizing Yun No. 800 couldn’t distinguish between fresh and dead fish.
Yun No. 800 imdiately sent soone to fetch them.
Soon, two n entered. One wore a chef’s uniform, the other, the attire of an attendant.
Both looked nervously at Xiao Yunjing and Gu Qingli as they ca in.
Xiao Yunjing asked, "Explain this fish."
He had no ti to beat around the bush.
"The fish? Owner, this fish was prepared as usual. There’s no problem," the head chef said, looking bewildered.
"You didn’t notice anything wrong with this fish?"
The head chef scratched his head, seemingly in thought, and muttered to himself, "Wrong? What could be wrong?"
Xiao Yunjing turned to the other man. He stood with his head bowed, hands by his sides clenched into fists, and trembling slightly.
It was obvious who was at fault.
He said to the procurer, "Why don’t you tell us what’s wrong with this fish?"
The procurer dropped to his knees with a THUD, kowtowing heavily on the floor several tis. "Owner, it is my fault! I beg for your rcy, Owner!" he stamred.
Xiao Yunjing said coldly, "Just for saying you were wrong, you expect to show rcy? You think too highly of yourself. Yun No. 800, send him to the authorities, and find soone else to be in charge of purchasing fish."
"Ah! Owner, please spare ! Owner, spare ! I’ll talk, I’ll talk! Soone instructed to do this!" the procurer cried out as Yun No. 800 moved to grab him.
The head chef stared blankly at the scene, still not comprehending what had transpired.
Gu Qingli glanced at him. These chefs clearly don’t inspect the ingredients before cooking. It seems so training is in order.
If a custor were to fall ill, the trouble would be imnse. Restaurant owners dreaded incidents involving food poisoning or death above all else.
Xiao Yunjing raised his hand, signaling Yun No. 800 to stop. Yun No. 800 angrily threw the procurer to the ground.
This buyer had been purchased from a Pawnshop, yet he dared to commit such a misdeed. He must have been tired of living.
Xiao Yunjing rely looked at the procurer coldly. The man imdiately scrambled back to his knees and kowtowed. "Owner, it was the manager of the Prosperity Restaurant across the street! He found and told to buy dead fish. He said no one could tell if the fish had just died, that they were cheaper, and that I could make a lot of money from it."
Hmph! Calling himself a servant now? He probably didn’t consider himself one before this. Xiao Yunjing said, "He told you to buy it, so you bought it? Is he your master, or am I?"
The procurer’s face was tear-streaked. "Well, Owner, that manager... he’s my uncle. I was sold when I was young. It was only recently that my uncle found , and I learned he was the manager of Prosperity Restaurant."
Xiao Yunjing asked, "He promised you that if the Auspicious House Restaurant’s business failed and it closed down, he would buy you and grant you your freedom, didn’t he?"
The procurer nodded. "Yes, that’s what my uncle told this servant."
Xiao Yunjing glanced at him. "You truly are a fool. Why didn’t he redeem you directly? Now that we’ve found you out, what do you think will happen to you?"
"I... I, servant..." The procurer was now too terrified to speak.
"Take him away," Xiao Yunjing said to Yun No. 800.
Only then did Yun No. 800 and the head chef realize the problem was with the fish. They were truly ashad. Impressive! They were at the restaurant every day but hadn’t detected the issue, while their master had identified it imdiately upon tasting the fish.
The head chef was still in the room. Xiao Yunjing asked him, "Do you understand the situation now?"
The head chef nodded. "This servant understands."
"And you know what to do in the future?"
"Yes. Before cooking, all ingredients must be inspected for any spoilage," the head chef said, wiping sweat from his brow. Fortunately, no issues had arisen from this before; otherwise, the restaurant would have faced severe trouble.
Although they were all purchased servants, they had experienced much in life and understood a fair bit about such underhanded dealings. Incidents of people falling ill or even dying from consuming tainted ingredients were, unfortunately, not uncommon.
They had never imagined the buyer would actually bring back dead fish. It was no wonder they hadn’t noticed; they prepared hundreds of fish daily, and the fish were always processed and delivered to the kitchen ready for cooking.
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