Chapter 149 Unfounded Frame-Ups

The story has been passed down through generations, which is a bit of an exaggeration, but it doesn't affect the deliciousness of the soup base. The group ate until they were sweating profusely and even took off their cotton-padded coats.

"Yunxia, ​​you're actually... wearing clothes with cartoon patterns?"

The chubby, cartoonish little bee, flapping its wings and flashing its stinger, was more adorable than fierce. It rolled its eyes at Jiang Chao and replied, "We have two painters at home, so we have to make the most of them. Natural pigments, no harmful ingredients!"

An'an wanted to draw a dragonfly, and Feng Jingling wanted to draw a little butterfly. In the end, the two of them couldn't resist someone's authority and drew a fierce but cute little bee instead.

Gu Xun narrowed his eyes, considering the possibility of promoting printed shirts. In the end, he shook his head, thinking to himself that his current business was enough to keep him busy, so where would he find the time and money to build a garment factory?

"That's a good idea, Young Master Feng. I remember the Feng family owns a garment factory and a superstore. Why not promote the printed shirts? I think the sales should be quite good."

The young man casually flicked a stray hair from his forehead and said arrogantly, "Hmph, by the time you bring it up, it'll be too late. I've thought of this method a long time ago and have already put it into practice. It will be on the market in another half month. At that time... I hope Mr. Gu will patronize us often!"

Nonsense, it was clearly Yun Xia who suggested it, but in front of outsiders, the boy didn't want to lose face, so he winked and frantically tried to signal to Little Butterfly.

"Yes, the printed designs were all created by Big Brother and An An. They applied for copyright protection. If anyone dares to imitate the designs, well, they'll be sued without hesitation."

"When the new products are launched, I will definitely come to patronize them. Come on, Yunxia, ​​I specially made you some meat rolls."

In an instant, the small bowl was filled with slices of meat. The girl raised her eyebrows slightly, lowered her head and picked up a slice of meat. The meat was tender and juicy, and after eating one slice, she wanted to eat a second one.

Just as she finished eating and was about to add some meat slices, her small bowl was filled again. She turned her head and stared blankly at the boy.

"Eat as much as you want, but... you have to eat properly. People who don't know better might think the Jiang family doesn't care about your meat!"

Despite his sharp tongue, he had a kind heart. He pouted and continued eating meat without a care for his image. Xiao Jiang Anke, on the other hand, took her brother's words to heart, chewed slowly, and ate with great elegance.

The group was eating and chatting happily when, without them noticing, a family of three sat down at the next table and started arguing after only a few minutes of eating.

"Goodness, this is imperial rice husk! No wonder my little dragon throws a tantrum if he doesn't eat it for a day."

Imperial rice husks, those are forbidden items, the kind that can be addictive. Upon hearing this, the group quickly put down their chopsticks and waited for the owner's explanation. Yun Xia, who was sitting upright, glanced at them sideways.

The bottom is oval-shaped and cylindrical, with an umbrella-shaped top and a smooth, brownish-yellow outer shell. Hmm, it really is rice husk, not some kind of cardamom. I raised my eyebrows slightly and quickly rummaged through the bottom of the pot, but I still couldn't find any rice husk.

The owner, wearing an apron, came out of the kitchen. "Rice husks, those are contraband. Going back five generations, the family has always run restaurants. How could we possibly keep such filthy stuff here?"

The woman waved the object in her hand. "The evidence is right here. You still dare to argue? Look, what is this but imperial rice husks?"

The shop owner took a closer look and realized it was indeed rice husks. His eyes narrowed, and he said, "I swear on my life that there are absolutely no rice husks in the soup base. As for what you have in your hand, who knows where it came from!"

The woman pointed to the steaming soup base and said angrily, "It was fished out from here, and it's still covered in red sauce!"

"Hmph, anything you throw in will come out covered in red juice. So, tell me, what exactly do you want?"

"Pay up your money, pay your medical expenses, or else... I'll call the police and shut you down! You heartless bastard, you even poisoned the soup!"

"Go ahead and report it. We're doing business openly and honestly, why would we be afraid of the police coming to our door?"

Seeing that her threats were ineffective, the woman blinked slightly, ran to the door, and cried out, "Damn it! They put rice husks in the soup base! My child won't eat it for a day, and he just lies on the ground rolling around! Waaah! This big restaurant bullies its customers! They won't even pay for the medical expenses! Waaah!"

The mere mention of the words "Imperial Rice Husks" drew a crowd to stop and stare. Coupled with the fact that the woman's possessions were indeed contraband, people couldn't help but form preconceived notions and start pointing and commenting on the newly opened restaurant.

The shop owner chased after him out the door, raising his hand to swear a solemn oath: "If I, Li Dawei, really put rice husks in the soup base, may I be hit by a car and die, struck by lightning on a rainy day, choke to death while drinking water, and choke to death while eating..."

The oath was so fierce that it shook the onlookers. The woman refused to give in and kept shaking the object in her hand, saying, "Look, everyone, take a look! There's still red juice on it. It was just taken out of the pot. That heartless shop owner is obviously lying. Don't be fooled by him!"

Her words instantly won back the audience's hearts. The farce had seriously affected their dining mood. Yun Xia clicked her tongue a few times, ignored Jiang Chao's obstruction, walked to the shop entrance, snatched the rice husk, and sniffed it lightly.

Sure enough, besides the spicy aroma, there was also a faint smell of Chinese medicine. The only places that could sell rice husks were either the black market or... a pharmacy. But pharmacies don't sell them retail. The woman's son was pale and thin, and his clothes also smelled of Chinese medicine. I had a rough idea of ​​what was going on.

Snap!

The rice husks, broken in half, revealed not a red soup inside, but a layer of black ointment.

"This rice husk is used in medicine, and it has been boiled in medicine for a long time. If you don't believe me, you can smell it!"

Several curious onlookers gathered around, took a sniff, and exclaimed in surprise, "It really is! It's clearly for medicinal use. Shop owner, did you accidentally drop some rice husks into the soup pot?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible. No one in my family is sick, let alone drinks Chinese medicine. Wait, this child smells of medicine."

The child being mentioned hid behind his father, too afraid to look at anyone. The man gestured with his hands and made anxious whimpering sounds; it turned out he was mute!

"Waaah, you guys... you're ganging up on us! The shop owner is clearly at fault, why..."

“Auntie, in a society governed by the rule of law, it’s not about who’s weaker being right. I think it’s absolutely right that you mentioned calling the police. When the police come, they’ll take a sample of the soup base and test it to see if they added rice husks. They’ll know immediately. But then you and your husband and son will have to go to the police station to explain things!”

"Hey, Auntie, Little Butterfly wasn't lying. There's a machine, about this big, that drops a little liquid onto a glass slide, and it can analyze the ingredients in just a few minutes. But just a friendly reminder, defaming others can lead to legal consequences!"

Upon hearing this, the woman panicked. She had originally wanted to extort some money to treat her child's illness, but she didn't want to lose it all. She snatched the rice husk and stuffed it into her pocket. "Perhaps I dropped it by accident. I'll just accept this loss in silence. Honey, let's go. We'll never come to this store again."

The shop owner, not wanting to pursue the matter further, waved the three away, saying, "Everyone, go home now. Be careful in your business in the future, and don't get ripped off by people like this again."