Chapter 86: Booming Business Sparks Jealousy

Everyone says that fame brings trouble.

Their shop's business is booming, so it naturally incites jealousy.

Not far from Qiao Ji Restaurant there is a restaurant called Zhang Ji, and it seems that the diners who used to eat there have all gone to Qiao Sheng's restaurant.

They can't even mention how jealous they are.

Soon after Qiao Sheng launched a meal‑delivery service, they jumped on the trend, but because their dishes weren't as tasty as hers, their business still didn't improve.

Now that Qiao Sheng has introduced another set meal, they grind their teeth in frustration.

To win back their business.

They started cutting prices; it worked at first, but after a short while it stopped working.

The owner of Zhang Ji Restaurant, seeing his business decline day by day, called his two sons to discuss.

Little son Zhang Yun said first, "Father, I think we should do this: we send someone to eat at their shop, and before we go we pre‑eat some baduo powder; then when we go to Qiao Ji we secretly sprinkle baduo powder into their dishes, and when stomachaches arise we can accuse the restaurant of having bad food."

His words just finished.

Elder brother Zhang Feng then spoke up.

"So, there's no baduo powder in the other dishes? In my opinion, we should just put the baduo powder directly into the water tank of their shop. Then everyone who drinks it will feel ill, and they won't be able to defend themselves."

Zhang Ji's owner, Zhang Dezhu, thought about it and found his eldest son's proposal decent, so he let him hire people to do it.

Who would have thought?

Qiao Sheng had been guarding against this for a long time; she uses up all her water each day and discards any leftover. She also collected all the seasonings and stored them in the house she rents.

That's right.

She now rents a house in town, and when she can't rush back she stays there.

The person Zhang Feng sent managed to pick the lock and entered Qiao Sheng's shop, but couldn't get what he wanted.

When Zhang Dezhu learned of this, he had his younger son follow the plan he had earlier mentioned.

Little did they know.

Qiao Sheng works on the lock every day; before opening the door each morning she checks the lock, and today when she looked she found fingerprints on the powder sprinkled on the lock.

A close inspection revealed scratches.

Qiao Sheng squinted slightly, and calmly opened the lock.

She inspected around.

Qiao Sheng found nothing; after Qiao Xuehua and the others arrived, she sent Qiao Hushui to fetch water.

She said to Qiao Xuehua and the others, "Sanmei, Simmei, I plan to do a big cleaning today; once dad returns we'll tidy up properly, and after that we'll start preparing what we'll sell at noon."

"Alright!"

Qiao Xuehua and the others had no objections; they always do exactly what Qiao Sheng says.

Noon.

While Qiao Sheng and the others were busy.

A family of three walked up to the shop.

When Qiao Hushui is present, he greets the customers; when he's absent, Qiao Xuehua does. Seeing someone arrive, she stepped forward and said, "Honored guests, how many of you are there?"

"Three people."

The reply came from the middle‑aged man of the family.

Qiao Xuehua ushered them to a side seat and handed them the menu.

The middle‑aged man took it, scanned it, and ordered, "Red‑braised pork, twice‑cooked pork, fish‑flavored shredded pork, minced pork with long beans, and also bring those dishes for us."

What, that's a lot of dishes?

Qiao Xuehua was a bit surprised; she took the marked menu and walked inside, saying, "Big sister, a family of three just arrived, and they ordered many dishes."

If it were usual times.

Qiao Sheng might not have cared, but after this morning's incident she couldn't help glancing outward and saw that the three were dressed plainly yet ordered only meat dishes.

She said she understood and got to work.

(End of chapter)