Chapter 1495: For the Gu Family Recipe

Zichen slurred his words as he said his goodbyes: "Uncle Huo, I'm dizzy. Let's stop here for today."

"Wait a moment, Zichen. I have one last thing."

Huo Zhenteng brought up the recipe again; he wanted that recipe, even if it were just the notes and insights.

He was willing to pay a high price to purchase it.

Zichen brushed him off, saying the recipe couldn't be found, that he didn't know where he'd stuffed it, and that perhaps his mother had sold it off as scrap.

He also said he would look for it when he went back after the holiday, but he wasn't sure if he could find it.

Saying he would look for it when he went back was just an excuse to put him off!

The winter break had just ended, and the next holiday was months away; after a few months, if he didn't want to give it, he could come up with any reasonable excuse.

Even if he couldn't, he could just claim it had been sold as scrap.

Huo Zhenteng did not give up easily; he pressed on, questioning him about the dishes within it, not taking the "promise" for a few months later seriously.

Zichen rambled about a few simple ones, but didn't say a word about the truly valuable secret recipes.

He could tell that Huo Zhenteng didn't seem to believe him, but Huo Zhenteng was very calculating and didn't expose him immediately.

Huo Zhenteng seemed very anxious, though Zichen didn't know why.

When the two walked out of the restaurant, Zichen was swaying.

Huo Zhenteng asked if he needed a ride back.

He slurred that he didn't, and that he could walk himself.

So Huo Zhenteng didn't insist, made an excuse that he had business to attend to, and turned to leave.

After the two parted ways and turned a corner, Zichen made sure no one was following him, and immediately returned to school as if nothing had happened!

It was only a few bottles of beer; it wasn't enough to get him drunk.

In this regard, Zichen inherited it from Sheng Hanyu, unlike his mother, who would get drunk at the slightest touch of alcohol.

He returned to the dormitory and immediately opened his computer to investigate Huo Zhenteng, but the information available on the computer was limited, and after a long time of effort, he didn't find a single piece of useful information.

Usually, his sister helped with these things, but his sister was currently in her postpartum recovery period, so asking her was clearly inappropriate.

He thought for a moment and called his father: "Dad, can you do me a favor?"

Sheng Hanyu found it strange; had the sun risen from the west?

Zichen had never taken the initiative to call him; this was the first time.

"Sure, what favor? Tell me."

"Help me investigate someone named Huo Zhenteng, the chairman of the Gourmet Association."

Zichen didn't say how he knew him, and his father didn't ask, only telling him to wait.

He had only called his father in the afternoon, and the investigation results were already sent to his phone before dark.

His father was truly his father; his capability was indeed strong!

The results of his father's investigation were almost the opposite of what could be found on the computer.

The computer was all sunshine and rainbows, filled with praise for his achievements and a completely positive image.

But many things Huo Zhenteng had done were not fit for public view; he climbed to the top by stepping on others' heads, and those he had harmed generally ended up in miserable states.

Zichen had just finished reading when his father called, asking him: "How did you get to know such a person? Stay away from him; he is not a good person."

He did not hide anything from his father, recounting the entire process of how he met and interacted with him, as well as his visit today!

His father praised him: "Not bad, you've grown up. You did this very well."

Zichen wanted to warn his master and tell him to be careful of this person, but he was a step too late; something had happened at Chen Family Village.

Ever since the last Gourmet Festival, the Resort in Chen Family Village had been exceptionally popular, with an endless stream of diners, and many wedding banquets were booked there as well!

It was at a wedding banquet that the incident occurred.

At a wedding banquet of over a thousand people, many guests began to show symptoms during the meal: nausea, dizziness, and vomiting.

A check at the hospital revealed it was food poisoning. Food poisoning of so many people was no small matter; the Resort was sealed off, and Gu Zhihao was taken away for investigation.

Interrogation room.

The police sternly demanded that Gu Zhihao confess to the issues.

His attitude, however, was terrible; he even slammed the table and glared at the investigating officers: "Impossible, our food is all made with the freshest ingredients; there is absolutely no way there could be a problem..."

He refused to admit that the food poisoning was the Resort's fault, and because of his poor attitude, he was detained for fifteen days.

Detention was just a minor matter; it depended on how well the people in the hospital recovered.

And whether the patients and their families would pursue the matter, to what extent they would pursue it, and what the final outcome would be—no one could say for sure right now.

Shi Yuke went to see her husband, but couldn't even see him.

Sheng Jiang went home to find his son, asking his son to think of a way to rescue Gu Zhihao.

Over these past few years, they had been together day and night and got along very well; Gu Zhihao was just like his own son!

With one son in trouble, he naturally had to ask his other son for help.

Before Sheng Hanyu could even think of a way, rumors about Chen Family Village began to spread, and the whole street was talking about how Sheng Hanyu was planning to pull strings and use improper means to rescue the Village Chief!

The rumors spread too fast, as if they had grown wings, and soon reached Sheng Hanyu's ears.

Pulling strings and using connections—he had done plenty of that in the past, but this was the first time it had caused such a stir before he had even started.

This also blocked the path Sheng Hanyu wanted to take; he had intended to do exactly that!

Now that this road was impassable, he could only think of other ways.

Zichen was very anxious knowing that something had happened at Chen Family Village; he wanted to go to the detention center to see his master.

Shi Yuke had gone and failed to see him, but Zichen had a way.

A family member of one of Principal Gu's former students was the warden of the detention center; relying on Principal Gu's face, seeing someone was still no problem.

Gu Zhihao had only been locked up for a week, yet he had lost a significant amount of weight and looked incredibly haggard.

When he saw Zichen, it was as if he had seen a savior, and he hurriedly said, "Zichen, go tell them I was wronged. I guarantee that our ingredients were all fresh; there was absolutely no problem..."

With things having reached this point, he was still obsessing over whether the ingredients were fresh, and Zichen was speechless.

Time was limited, so he picked the important things to ask.

Zichen asked his master, "Who is the person in charge of the kitchen?"

"It's me. I am the Village Chief; I am responsible for everything."

Zichen:...

He patiently asked again, "I know you are the Village Chief, but during the wedding banquet, the person cooking couldn't have been you, right? I'm asking about the person specifically in charge of the kitchen."

"Oh, that's Chen Xiang. He is a very good person, hardworking, willing to work, and has a sweet tongue; it couldn't be him playing tricks."

Before the investigation had even begun, Gu Zhihao had already cleared everyone else of all suspicion.

"Have you checked the kitchen surveillance?"

"No, the surveillance was dismantled before the incident happened. The people in the kitchen are all from the village, and everyone knows each other so well that there's no need to install that thing," Gu Zhihao said.

Zichen did not know what to say and was completely speechless.

The kitchen originally had surveillance, not only to monitor kitchen hygiene but also to prevent any incidents so that the person responsible could be found.

As it turned out, the surveillance had been dismantled, and it was done openly and honestly with his consent.

How was this matter supposed to be handled?

"By the way, has anyone come to see you these past few days?"