Chapter 310: Wonderful Cook Chapter 332: Medicinal Pills

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Song Miao

The man he called Yuanwai was an old man in his sixties.

The old man's skin was white with a rosy tint, the flesh on his face very full; at first glance, not even a wrinkle could be seen, only that the wrinkles had been stretched open by the flesh.

His chin had three folds, his fingers were round and plump, and his expression was kindly—he was precisely Wu Yuanwai, who had sent gold and silver to curry favor with Liao Qingjiao of the Tingjiao Hang that day, and who later, even after taking all the blame upon himself, dared not speak up to implicate him.

Hearing the man's reply, Wu Yuanwai did not immediately turn hostile; he looked quite genial, but his voice was sinister.

"What does that mean? It means you've been running around for ages, collected many IOUs, and here I've spent both labor and money, only to end up with the person still not in my hands?"

The burly man kept his head down; though he dared not deny it, he dared even less to admit it, and hurriedly said, "Yuanwai! It really isn't the little one's fault—who would have thought that little girl would set up a stall selling breakfast food, and her family could actually produce eight hundred strings of cash all at once! We had already arranged with the familiar patrol officers that as long as she couldn't produce the money, they'd first put her in the cangue, try her overnight, scare her, make her sign a deed of sale, and then send her back to your residence at once..."

Who running a small business would keep several baskets, seven or eight hundred strings of copper coins, at home?

And not fear thieves breaking in, or an inside ghost, stealing everything clean!

Hearing this explanation, before Wu Yuanwai could speak, the steward standing behind already took the lead in cursing, "You think the master is easy to fool, daring to feed him any lies! That's eight hundred strings, not eight strings! Do you think her family is a proper big restaurant in the Capital? Even someone seriously doing purchasing business wouldn't keep that much money at home!"

"How much can she earn in a day? Doesn't purchasing cost money? Doesn't debt need repaying? Don't shop workers need wages? How could she save that much?!"

The burly man hurriedly cried injustice.

"He said it was pooled by old customers..." This person repeated what Song Miao had said, "The little one really was very careful; seeing that Liao Qingjiao had fallen flat, he was being watched day and night, especially at the Taixue end, because he knew she was close with those Taixue students and an old teacher, so he specially arranged two people who did nothing else every morning but follow her around in Food Alley, and made inquiries at noon and evening as well!"

"After watching for so many days, there was no other movement at all; only that those students were busy writing menu signs for Song Ji, selecting dishes, and never heard anything about pooling money to lend! Nor did he know..."

He wanted to say more, but Wu Yuanwai had already waved his hand and said, "You don't need to recount to me here what you've done; I have no time to listen. I don't keep idlers here—I heard Qiongzhou is short of a sergeant to fish for southern pearls..."

The burly man's face turned white, he could hardly catch his breath, and his upper and lower teeth clattered, chattering, as he hurriedly called out, "Yuanwai! Yuanwai! Give the little one another chance! One more time, and the little one guarantees to bring that woman back!"

Wu Yuanwai said nothing, only turned his head to look at the steward behind.

The steward understood and immediately asked, "How do you plan to do it? Last time you also said you had it all under control..."

"The little one will go find trouble with those who do business with her; whoever supplies her goods, I'll catch him and wring his neck, then spread the word, so that after a while, anyone with eyes will know her family can't be messed with!"

"And she isn't out at the stall every day? I won't bother those Taixue students, but when she goes out to the stall, I'll have men knock over her stall and run away after pushing it down!"

"The men below have already inquired that in a few days, the students at Taixue will have some exam, and those teachers seem to be setting some questions, so they definitely won't be able to go to Song Ji for several days—just right to take advantage of this gap, turn raw rice into cooked rice, and then no matter who it is, there'll be nothing more to say!"

"That food shop isn't it hired people? Long-term hire or short-term hire, the little one will have men catch them halfway and beat them; if one beating doesn't work, beat them twice, until they dare not go help her!"

"And when there are deliveries, overturn the cart several times; how will that food shop explain to the people buying breakfast? After several times, who will still dare to buy food from her house?"

"There's a male servant in her shop who's very troublesome; the little one has already found people to cause trouble for him this time, and he should already be locked up by now. When several places exert force at once, she's just a woman with two lumps of flesh on her chest and short-sighted; seeing chaos everywhere, she'll definitely panic, and won't she then submit!"

Seeing that several methods had been counted here, which could barely be counted as having some effect, Wu Yuanwai then nodded, but also advised, "The rest doesn't matter, just don't make too big a commotion, but that little girl's face and hands must not be injured in the slightest."

"If there's a bump, just a little bump, is that all right?" The man immediately panicked, "The face definitely won't be injured, not even the skin will be hurt; it's all for the face, and if even a little is hurt, I'm afraid it would ruin Yuanwai's mood—but as for hands and feet, after all there's shoving, and overturning stalls, and knocking over carts, and when fighting, it's inevitable to bump and collide..."

Wu Yuanwai, who had been motionless as a mountain, suddenly sat up, glared, and shouted, "Not a single hair can be hurt! Especially her hand! If even a little is ruined, then you and your whole family can go to Qiongzhou together!"

The burly man dared not say anything else; he hurriedly swore to the sky, saying he would certainly be careful and quickly finish the matter, before retreating out the door.

Just as he stepped out of the courtyard, this man wiped a handful of cold sweat from his head—only to discover that not only his headcloth and back were soaked, but even behind his buttocks was wet, with sweat flowing down from his back all the way, soaking his waist and buttocks.

He didn't have time to change clothes, nor even find a sweat towel; he used his hand to press against his clothes behind and rub left and right twice, counting it as wiping the sweat, and hurriedly walked toward the back courtyard.

Just as he entered, several people gathered around him from left and right.

If Wang Sanlang, Doctor Lin, and others were here, they would surely find these people who gathered around very familiar—they were precisely the group of "extras" who had given false testimony for the fraudulent old man today, shouting that they saw the mule cart knock the person flying.

Seeing the crowd, the man immediately perked up and asked, "How is it? Has that cart driver been locked up? Did the government office go into the food shop? Has the confession been signed and sealed? How much silver was compensated?!"

He asked so many questions at once; the others already had no face, and for a moment no one answered.

After a while, someone finally plucked up courage to say, "Boss... really bad luck; I don't know why, but this time several doctors sat on that cart..."

"What does that mean?"

"It's just... that Wang Sanlang is fine... only that surnamed Huang old fraud was sent to the Xunpu to be locked up..."

Hearing everyone chattering, explaining clearly what had happened today, the man only felt cold sweat break out on his head again; without paying attention, it slid into his eyes, stinging and painful.

"Hurry and have someone release that old man! What's he doing in there! Are you all idiots?!"

This time, the one feeling wronged became his subordinates.

"Boss! It's not that we didn't try—this time we were able to come out ourselves, already because the Xunpu let us off out of respect for you; you don't know, there were really too many idlers following behind..."

"That's right! Boss! That old fraud really isn't reliable; he was seen through in one go, and those passing by and those who came specially to look were all making a scene, saying he should be heavily punished, so others wouldn't follow suit!"

A group of people chattered noisily, making the man's head ache.

He shouted, "Stop all the noise! Speak one by one!"

After everyone had finished speaking, upon learning that a doctor from Tianyuantang sat on the cart, bringing four disciples, using that old fraud as a live teaching example, and that one old and two young people he had found himself had also entered the great prison, and that they probably could only be released after this period of wind died down and things were seen to be nothing, he always had a very unreal feeling.

How could that be?

Wasn't it all said well?!

It was said he had been swindling for thirty years and never caught—so how, once it came to his place, did it become thirty-one years?!

For a moment, this man actually felt an impulse to throw that old man to Qiongzhou to fish for shells and dig for southern pearls!

"Go! Hurry and get some good things; I'll go to the Xunpu tomorrow to see if I can get the person released!"

"Boss, I'm afraid not; today the official specially instructed us to bring back a message—if we want to release the person, the Prefecture must come forward, otherwise they wouldn't dare act recklessly; if something goes wrong, being reported to the Capital Prefecture Office would be troublesome!"

The burly man's expression became even uglier.

Although he knew keeping the person in the cell was not a good thing, and one mistake would drag himself into the water, but the so-called Prefecture coming forward, wasn't that just the steward coming forward?

The steward knew; how could Wu Yuanwai not know?

He had used two methods in one day, not only did neither work, but they both backfired; wasn't this asking for a scolding, asking for a beating?!

He had to hurry and resolve the matter!

Thinking of this, he no longer cared about anything else, hurriedly called over the few younger ones, and told them everything he had originally planned to say one by one, then added: "When the time comes, call more hands, divide them up, and start working separately tomorrow morning..."

Just as he was giving instructions, when he said the four words "tomorrow morning," almost everyone's eyes went wide.

"Boss! Can we rest tomorrow? We're really exhausted today!"

"Right! I heard those few say that Song Ji was already pushing his cart out to set up his stall before daybreak this morning, and the delivery people were even earlier. If it were a bit later, I could hold on, but this early, I'm afraid they haven't even climbed out of bed yet!"

"Wait! If I wait any longer, I'll go to Qiongzhou to fish for southern pearls!"

This person, in a bad mood, repeated what Wu Yuanwai had said, and finally said: "We can't wait. If we wait too long, she'll be prepared—if this doesn't work this time, am I the only one going to Qiongzhou? Do you think you can escape?"

For a moment, no one spoke.

And when he, following the steward's orders, directed many people to carry those copper coins to the account room to settle the debt, the account room lifted its eyelids and said: "Originally you borrowed eight hundred and ten strings, so how come you've only paid back seven hundred-plus strings?"

The big man hurriedly said: "I do business for the master, I used some of it, so naturally there's less!"

He was still about to speak when the account room said again: "I don't care about the rest—who isn't doing business for the master? You borrowed that much, so pay it back honestly! How you used it and how you collect it is your business—you're just a street loafer, do I need to teach you?"

While this person was arranging things here, in the room just now, Wu Yuanwai and the steward were not idle either.

After the people left, Wu Yuanwai asked: "How are those few restaurants from last time?"

The steward replied: "I only looked at the accounts this afternoon, and was just preparing to report to the master—really not good! Ever since the spring and summer floods, with houses being torn down and streets changed in the city, those few restaurants are either tucked away in street corners, or there's no more bustle on either side than before, losing money every month, and losing more and more!"

"I originally wanted to find a few decent cooks to help support things, but unfortunately, first the wages were set too high, and second, when they heard about the location, knew it was far and remote, none were willing to go..."

Wu Yuanwai furrowed his brow and said: "Are the losses severe?"

"Almost no business at all, but the workers' wages, plus daily purchasing and losses..."

Hearing this, Wu Yuanwai urged: "Those cooks of Song Ji—find some more people on the side, don't just rely on this one."

He added: "Quickly, hurry up and get it back. Once I take it over, let her restart those businesses in our own food shop and restaurants, and get them moving again as soon as possible."

"Also, now there are many refugees in Chan Prefecture. Take advantage of the time to send people to find suitable children, adopt several dozen as sworn sons and daughters, make them sign death contracts, then hand them over to that cook's wife to teach. Find a few of our own people to learn as well, and slowly we can get the restaurant business rolling!"

The steward quickly agreed, first praising "You are extremely wise," then said: "Master, what about Old Tie? He is burly, and also..."

Before he finished speaking, Wu Yuanwai shook his head and said: "Find a few smart ones and use some effective methods. Otherwise, with small-time tricks, who knows until the Year of the Monkey and Month of the Horse—the restaurant will collapse before we get our hands on anyone!"

"The food shop must start with the food! Once there's something wrong with the food, throwing her in jail is child's play! Once in prison, they can roll her round or flat as they please—have someone check carefully. Hasn't she offended anyone? Is there no one who dislikes her? Partners, guests, people she's hired—there's always someone she's on bad terms with!"

He paused, then asked: "Have my elixirs come back?"

"I was just about to tell the master—just received them..."

Wu Yuanwai was so excited he stood up immediately, wiped his graying beard, rubbed his hands, and said: "Hurry and bring them!"

He urged again: "The elixirs are here. I heard the first few times are the most effective. These next two days—we can't delay any longer! Hurry! If we can get a son in one go, Master will reward you handsomely!"

"The master is at his most unstoppable right now. With this elixir, it's like adding wings to a tiger—sure to soar like a dragon and leap like a tiger! Get a big fat son!"

Although they couldn't hear Wu Yuanwai and the others' scheming, in Suanzao Alley at night, Song Miao likewise couldn't rest.

She had encountered people coming to collect debts, and Zhang Siniang and Wang Sanlang also came to report news. Learning that the latter had encountered fraud on the way to deliver Doctor Lin and the others, it was clearly intentional.

Things happened suddenly—who knew if there would be more trouble waiting behind?

Though it was late, it wasn't yet the middle of the night.

After hearing Wang Sanlang explain the whole story in detail, Song Miao dared not be slow in the slightest.

Business couldn't stop, but she couldn't see a pit ahead and step into it without any precautions.

She said to Zhang Siniang: "Work hard today. Once we get through tomorrow, I'll give you and Sanlang a day off—but for now, trouble yourself to come with me to the Xu Biaoju."