Chapter 47 Chapter 47 is a huge hit! (Second update)...

"There's no birthmark on the buttocks. Doesn't that contradict what the eyewitness said? How can we identify the murderer?" Lin Zhi lifted the curtain and emerged from the kitchen carrying a few bowls of soup noodles. Her gaze fell on the two men's dark circles. After a pause, she asked, "You didn't sleep all night, did you?"

"It's okay. We finished the case yesterday, so it's not our team's turn to be on duty today. We'll go to the Dali Temple to register later, and then we can go back and rest." Chen Yan avoided the question and took the bowl of soup with a smile.

For the officials of the Dali Temple, staying up late is normal. Even when a case has just been solved, they are the most excited and most eager to share.

Chen Yan's eyes moved downwards to the bowl of noodles, where he saw thin white noodles neatly gathered in the clear soup, like the back of a crucian carp.

Green onions fell on it, interweaving with the blurred oil flowers, just like a summer lotus pond.

Chen Yan took a sip of the broth, his eyes brightening slightly. He then picked up his chopsticks and poured the toppings into the bowl. He warmed his stomach with a mouthful of noodles and a mouthful of topping before continuing, "This story has to start from the beginning. We discovered that this case was committed at a different time than the previous four, and the injuries suffered by the victims were also different. Therefore, we believed this case was likely a copycat crime, intentionally using the name of the exposed-butt robber to shift the blame."

"We carefully screened the suspects and even drew up a list. We even hesitated about whether to summon them one by one and have them take off their pants for inspection."

"Take off your pants..." Lin Sen, who was happily pouring the topping into the noodle bowl and putting a large chopstick into his mouth, smacked his lips. He was a beat late to confirm what he heard, and suddenly started coughing violently: "What? Puff! Cough cough cough cough!"

Lin Sen patted his chest several times before he came to his senses: "What the hell?"

"Brother Sen, your reaction is too exaggerated."

"...I didn't mean to do that. It's mainly because of this. This is too outrageous."

"It's okay, it's okay. We didn't think it was a good idea to do that at the time." Chen Yan shrugged and said in a low voice, "Otherwise, there might be rumors today saying there's a big thief with his butt exposed in front and a small official with his pants pulled down in the back."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Tao Yingce hurriedly stopped Chen Yan from talking nonsense and took over the conversation himself. "Luckily, just before we were about to give the order, the coroner sent a message. After further investigation, they found that the angle and scratches of the knife used in the fifth case were almost identical to those in the first case. This made us change our thinking and suspect that the first four cases were just a deception, and the murderer might be targeting the last woman."

"That's right, but another problem has arisen. After we merged the five cases for investigation, we still can't find the corresponding suspect."

"It's been a long journey." Tao Yingce nodded. "I never thought this man was naked in the perfume shop. When the officers searched him, they saw no birthmark on his buttocks, so they passed him off as a suspect."

"It wasn't until we merged the five cases and discovered the perfume shop was so close that we noticed this person."

"As for the birthmark, he painted it with ink to make it look like a copycat. After fleeing back to the perfume shop, he immediately washed off the marks. When the officers came to call him back, he deliberately left naked, immediately clearing him of suspicion."

Tao Lang also took the bowl of noodles. The clear soup had a mellow taste, just right for two people who stayed up all night.

As for the toppings, they are not the common shredded pork with mushrooms, diced eggplant and braised pork, or braised pork in brown sauce in Nyingchi shops, but rather vegetarian dishes with elegant colors and light tastes.

Tao Yingce couldn't wait to pick up the chopsticks and put the noodle cake and toppings into his mouth.

Shiitake mushrooms, black fungus, enoki mushrooms, flat mushrooms and a little bit of shredded pork are all very common ingredients. When paired together, they are refreshing and delicious. The fatigue in people's hearts is instantly gone, and the whole person becomes relaxed.

If the heavy oil and thick sauce show the ingenuity of Linzhi's cooking and the uniqueness of its folk craftsmanship, then this light and sweet dish is more in line with the light and elegant style that the nobles and wealthy prefer.

Tao Lang quickly ate the whole bowl of noodles and felt warm in his stomach and comfortable all over.

As he filled his stomach, he felt sleepy and couldn't help but yawn two or three times.

Tao Lang suppressed his sleepiness and said thankfully, "It's thanks to Brother Yan that he noticed the existence of the perfume shop, otherwise this person would have a high probability of escaping."

Because the case was solved quickly, the prisoner's psychological defenses were completely broken, and the entire interrogation process went very smoothly. We are now waiting for the prisoner to be transferred and the case to be closed.

"It was the roast duck that reminded me." Chen Yan slurped a mouthful of the bread and slowly looked up.

"Roast duck?"

"Well, Fang Deshui got some gravy on his clothes and just wiped it off twice and thought it was clean." Chen Yan said this with an unhappy look on his face: "He doesn't care, but it makes me feel uncomfortable just watching him."

Chen Yan wanted Fang Deshui to go wash clothes nearby, but he felt that taking off clothes would be unsightly. Then he thought of the perfume shop: "When I went out to talk to the people, I happened to catch a glimpse of the perfume shop sign."

The command post they were in was very close to the crime scene, which meant that the perfume store was also very close to the crime scene.

Things turned out just as he expected. The perfume shop was just across an alley. Although the witness noticed the direction the murderer fled, he did not chase him because he was holding a sharp weapon. Instead, he chose to rescue the victim. He never expected that the murderer would turn around and flee into the perfume shop.

"In the perfume industry, even if he's sweaty and naked, it's not noticeable, and any blood he gets on his body can be washed away with just a few swipes."

After Chen Yan finished explaining his thoughts at the time, Tao Yingce couldn't help but clapped his hands and smiled, "So, I have to give Sister Zhi a credit as well."

Lin Zhi's eyes curved with joy, and she rubbed her hands in a sly manner, "I wonder how the master will reward you?"

"Hmm, what do you say?"

"How about—buying a roast duck?"

Suddenly, the room was filled with laughter.

At this moment, someone pushed the door open and said, "Boss, are you open? Is the roast duck ready?"

The laughter in the room stopped abruptly, and Lin Sen stood up in confusion: "Ah... We haven't started business yet, this roast duck..." It has just been brushed with water and is still drying, so it's too early to sell it.

The man said regretfully, "How much is one? I'll pay first. Can I pick it up at noon?"

Lin Sen: “Huh?”

The man had already taken out his purse and pulled out the Jiaozi: "Hmm?"

Lin Sen: “…but” Our family sells roast duck rice?

The man urged impatiently, "What?"

Lin Zhi hurried forward and said with a smile, "Sir, our roast duck is sold by the kilogram. One kilogram with bones is eighty cents. This one is not roasted yet, so I can't weigh it."

"Just pick the biggest one for me."

"Then I'll take your money first, and we'll refund or compensate you later. Is that okay with you?"

"OK."

"Okay." Seeing that the man was straightforward, Linzhi quickly took out a pen and paper from behind the counter, asked the man's last name, wrote it down, and finally stamped it with the seal from the shop.

Only after sending the man away did Lin Sen come forward and ask, "Have you ordered one already?"

Before he could even get excited for a moment, someone else came in and asked, "Boss, is your roast duck ready? I want one."

Lin Sen: “???”

This time he reacted faster and quickly repeated what his daughter had just said.

Lin Sen was a little nervous at first, but when he saw this man pay without hesitation and leave in a hurry with the bill, he couldn't help but pinch himself, wondering if he was still dreaming. Otherwise, how could doing business be so simple?

But obviously, he was not dreaming.

Because of such scenes, they appeared one after another in the following period of time, and even after ordering eight roast ducks, Lin Sen began to sweat on his forehead.

He sent the guests away and hurriedly wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Jiao Niang, you come to the front and watch. I'm going to the market. I'm going to the market to buy ducks!!!"

They prepared a total of ten roast ducks. They originally thought that a raw duck would weigh about three pounds, and each roast duck would weigh two pounds. Ten ducks would weigh twenty pounds, and a serving of roast duck rice at three taels would be enough to make sixty or seventy servings, which was enough to maintain the daily sales.

Unexpectedly, eight of them were ordered before the store officially opened, and Lin Sen was worried that the remaining two would not be available.

Sure enough, as soon as he walked out of the shop, someone else came in and asked, "Boss, are you open yet? Do you have roast duck?"

Who wouldn’t say this is outrageous!

Lin Sen came back half a cup of tea, carrying things in his hands and on his back. But as soon as he walked in, Song Jiaoniang stopped him: "Go to the market and buy some more!"

Lin Sen: “???”

Song Jiaoniang smiled bitterly and said, "Since you left, six more have been ordered one after another. I saw that the situation was not good, so I only let the next person buy half a piece."

Those who came were servants of officials and wealthy families. Song Jiaoniang had no choice but to sell them half and half.

Lin Sen had no choice but to hand the duck to Song Jiaoniang, then rode his donkey back to the market.

Seeing that something was not right, Song Jiaonian posted a new notice on the wooden shelf at the door, which stated that there were many pre-orders for roast ducks and sales would be suspended after twenty were sold.

But even so, there is still a constant stream of people coming in to ask questions.

Song Jiaoniang registered for a while in the front, and finally got some free time to go to the kitchen. As soon as she entered, she was shocked by the scene inside: "Tao Lang Chen Lang, how can I trouble you!"

It turned out that the two of them had eaten some noodles and dozed off for a while. Seeing Lin Sen sending over a pile of ducks, they simply went into the kitchen to help slaughter the ducks, remove the feathers, clean the ducks, and then send them to Linzhi for the next preparation.

"It's okay, it's a small matter." Chen Yan raised his head and smiled. His sunny smile did not catch Song Jiaoniang's smile, but made her silent: "...Yeah."

Seeing this strange, Lin Zhi leaned over to take a look, and handed him a towel helplessly: "Chen Lang, wipe your face."

Tao Yingce, who was working, took a glance and burst out laughing. It was true that Chen Yan's face was smeared with duck blood. Even with his sunny smile and handsome appearance, he still looked like a perverted murderer.

Chen Yan took the warm towel and wiped his face, only to find blood on it. Recalling the scene just now, his face suddenly turned red.

Seeing that his face was red to his ears, Linzhi, Song Jiaoniang and Tao Yingce couldn't help laughing out loud one after another.

"But speaking of duck blood," Tao Yingce laughed, then couldn't help but look at the large vat beside him: "So duck blood is so easy to make?"

Linzhi gathered all the duck blood together and added appropriate amounts of salt and starch. After a period of time, the bright red duck blood inside was almost coagulated.

"That's right. When we cook the duck blood later, whether we stir-fry it with green onions or make soup with duck meat, it will taste very good!" Lin Zhi stuffed spices into the fat duck while describing the taste, which made the two of them excited.

"But you should go back and rest early." Lin Zhi looked at the two people's faces and advised: "There will be many opportunities to sell roast duck later. As long as you make roast duck, you can't do without duck blood and duck goods. I will make them for you to try later."

It would have been fine if they hadn't said it, but the mention of the word "rest" was like turning on a switch, and the two of them started yawning one after another.

They barely held on until Lin Sen returned for the second time. Chen Yan and Tao Yingce also said goodbye to the Linzhi family, went back to the Dali Temple to handle the formalities, and then went back to rest.

As for the Linzhi family, they were both sad and happy.

Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang were overwhelmed by the influx of diners and had to write a list and make reservations. Lin Zhi wished she had the ability to clone herself so that she could prepare the ingredients in front and check the progress of the roast duck in front of the kiln at the same time.

Fortunately, we had made sufficient preparations yesterday, so the roast duck process today was very stable. The aroma of the roast duck roasted with lychee wood was accompanied by a unique fruity wood aroma. As soon as Lin Sen brought it to the front, he was almost overwhelmed by customers waving Jiaozi.

When ordinary diners faced this situation, they thought about it and then rushed to join in: "Roast duck, roast duck! I want a roast duck too!"

Some even looked at the diners holding tickets and said, "I'll give you two hundred coins. How about you give me the tickets?"

"No, no."

"I'll give you three hundred coins!"

"I'll give you five hundred coins—my husband is the Dali Temple Secretary!"

"Tsk, he's just a Dali Temple Secretary!" Someone immediately curled his lips and said disdainfully: "My husband is a doctor of the Imperial College, a fifth-rank official!"

"Hey, hey, hey, everyone, stop arguing." Seeing this, Lin Sen hurried forward to persuade them, "Let me apologize to everyone first. We were underprepared today. We don't have enough roast duck, and the production process is complicated, so we really can't get it all. Why don't the guys behind you sign the order first? We guarantee it will be in stock tomorrow!"

The crowd gradually quieted down, some came forward to register for reservations, and some rushed back to report the news.