Chapter 176: Seeing Through the Trap

For several consecutive days, Chi Nan Yi's condition was absent‑minded.

Besides Qing Shan and Ji Bai, even Hao the shopkeeper noticed something was off.

"Proprietor, what's wrong with you? Is something uncomfortable?"

Chi Nan Yi shook her head: "Nothing." She had simply not rested well for a few days, and thinking of the dream she had earlier made her feel deeply ashamed.

At that moment, a clamor rose from the private room on the second floor.

Soon, a young servant hurried up.

"Shopkeeper, you should go down quickly! A customer found hair in their dish and is waiting in the private room for an explanation!"

Hao the shopkeeper, hearing this, rushed downstairs; Chi Nan Yi listened to the voice coming from the private room, her brows tightly knit.

Why does that voice sound somewhat familiar?

"How does your shop serve dishes? These several plates all contain hair, and you still have the nerve to call yourselves World's Number One Manor?"

"Where's your shopkeeper? Send your shopkeeper over!"

As soon as the words fell, the private room's door was knocked, and Hao the shopkeeper hurried in, a smile on his face: "Sir, is there any problem with the dishes?"

"Look at all this filth! Miss has never eaten such disgusting food at any shop; every dish is unclean. If it makes me sick, can your wretched lives afford to pay?"

Before Hao the shopkeeper could explain, the maid beside the woman shouted loudly: "World's Number One Manor? I see it as Blackhearted Number One Manor; the food is so pricey yet so filthy."

"Miss, such a thing cannot happen in our shop because…"

"How can it be impossible? Our Miss ate it inside, and you still argue!" The maid flung the door open and shouted outward: "Everyone, come and see! There is hair in the food; check your own plates for any unclean stuff."

Hao the shopkeeper tried to stop it, but it was already too late.

The maid's voice was high, echoing throughout the shop.

Even the customers in the upstairs private room stepped out to investigate.

Seeing the crowd grow, the maid's expression grew more haughty as she shouted: "Their World's Number One Manor dishes are unclean!"

At that moment, Chi Nan Yi descended from the upper floor, calmly saying: "How can you be sure that this hair came from the back kitchen?"

"Hmph! If it's not those cooks, could it be ours?" The maid, seeing Chi Nan Yi come down, gave her a sideways glance, chin lifted, tone full of contempt: "Our Miss, golden‑honored and jade‑noble, is always meticulous about food; she has never been tainted by such filth. If your back‑kitchen staff are unhygienic and drop these dirty things into the dishes, daring to serve them to our Miss—how audacious, a black‑hearted shop."

The shop's diners, after hearing her, looked at the dishes on the table, their faces showing hesitation.

Are these dishes really unclean?

Hao the shopkeeper, sweating cold beads on his forehead, kept trying to explain to the crowd.

"Everyone, rest assured, the food in our shop is clean, guaranteed hygienic!"

"Everyone can eat with confidence, eat with confidence."

Despite his earnest rebuttal, before the maid's so‑called "iron evidence" he appeared pale and powerless.

Seeing the crowd's doubtful expressions, Hao the shopkeeper felt his heart drop to the bottom of a valley.

Chi Nan Yi entered the private room, glanced at the familiar, overbearing face at the table, and smiled lightly: "Miss Lin."

The one who caused this incident was Lin Ruoyi, who had been publicly embarrassed by Chi Nan Yi outside Jiang Yuan Pavilion a few days earlier.

Upon learning she was the proprietor of World's Number One Manor, Lin Ruoyi had someone plan today's scheme.

"Southern First Young Master," Lin Ruoyi said coolly: "You'd better give me an explanation for today's incident, or I won't settle peacefully. Though the Lin Family is not a great aristocratic clan, we are not to be bullied."

Chi Nan Yi nodded, walked to the table, plucked the hair from the dishes; Hao the shopkeeper fetched clean water to wash the grime off the hair, and Lin Ruoyi ordered four or five dishes, each containing one or two strands.

Such clumsy acting was, in Chi Nan Yi's eyes, utterly laughable.

She truly didn't know how the Lin Family raised a daughter like this.

"Miss Lin, since you say the hair was present from the start, I'm curious: the length clearly indicates it's a woman's hair, yet all the servants in World's Number One Manor are men. Where did this hair come from? Moreover, the color and toughness of these hairs are identical, showing they belong to the same person. If it were simply that the vegetables weren't washed clean, such hairs might appear, but how did hair end up in these meat dishes?"

Chi Nan Yi looked toward the maid who had been shouting at the door, and retreated a few steps, feeling very guilty.

"You… what are you looking at me for?"

"I see these few strands of hair are quite similar to this Miss's."

Hearing that, Lin Ruoyi slammed the table hard, her face flushing red: "You mean I deliberately had someone put the hair inside? Impossible! Clearly it's your back‑kitchen staff who are unclean, dropping the hair into …"

At that moment, several people staggered out of the back kitchen.

Upon seeing those people, Lin Ruoyi's words choked in her throat, and she could say nothing more.

Looking around, the cooks all wore identical special hats that covered even their sideburns, not a single hair strand visible; moreover, the entire back kitchen was male, so there could be no woman's long hair.

Now that it has come to this, what else is unclear to the crowd? Their gazes at Lin Ruoyi were bright with accusation.

"Never imagined the Lin Family's miss could do such a thing."

"Who says not? I recall the Lin Family already runs several eateries; why not eat at their own places? So they came here to swindle people."

"If you swindle, at least do it skillfully!"

"What do you know? Today, thanks to the fact that the servants in the eateries are all men, if a few women have ever taken over their meals, the whole matter becomes inexplicable."

Seeing the scheme exposed, Lin Ruoyi's haughty expression could no longer be concealed; she glared fiercely at the maid beside her and said coldly: "Useless."

The maid dared not say anything; knowing their Miss was angry, her face turned pale.

"Today it's the maid's ignorance that caused these troubles; when we return to the Lin Family, I will punish her severely," Lin Ruoyi turned to the maid and said: "What are you still standing there for? Hurry and apologize to Southern First Young Master."