Before going to bed, Madam Lu carefully placed the red envelope that Madam Zeng had given her that day under her pillow, and patted it three times to make sure it was secure.

Li Qingshan pushed open the door and entered the room, where he saw Madam Lu quietly bending over and fiddling with the pillow. He chuckled and asked, "What are you doing in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"

Madam Lu was startled by Li Qingshan. Her body trembled, and she straightened up, turned around and glared at Li Qingshan, scolding him, "You came in without making a sound. Were you trying to scare me to death? Are you going to find another wife?!"

Li Qingshan didn't expect Madam Lu to react so strongly. He chuckled dryly and said, "It's already a struggle for me to marry one wife like you. How could I have time to marry another one?"

Li Qingshan glanced at the pillow that Lu Shi had knocked askew and asked, "What are you hiding?"

Madam Lu sat on the bed, annoyed, and said, "I heard from the elders that if you receive a red envelope from a pregnant woman and put it under your pillow, the Bodhisattva of Fertility will also give that family a baby."

“Hui Niang is pregnant, so I want to give it a try too.”

Li Qingshan never expected that Madam Lu would hold such a grudge about the child. If he hadn't fallen from that height, he wouldn't have suffered a lifelong leg disability.

It would be a disservice to her to marry Lu Shi.

Li Qingshan sat side by side with Madam Lu on the edge of the bed, put his arm around Madam Lu's shoulder, and said, "It will happen, it will happen someday. We're not in a hurry. Maybe the little one still wants to play outside a little longer."

Lu was not a stubborn person, so she leaned on Li Qingshan's shoulder.

The dim candlelight was extinguished by the wind at some point, and the large coin wrapped in red paper was unwrapped and lay quietly on the mat.

...

Hu Jinfei and Huiniang have finally settled down in the veterans' village.

Two days later, Hu Jinfei, led by Li Qingshan, went to the village chief to pay for the house.

Lu Qiqi, Zhou San, and Liu Tong and his apprentice continued to operate their noodle shop as usual.

Business was still bad; they hadn't sold thirty bowls of noodles all afternoon, so today's revenue looked even worse.

Seeing the disappointment in her eyes on Wednesday, Lu Qiqi closed the ledger, put it in the cash register, and locked it.

Just as Lu Qiqi locked the cash register, a man dressed in brown clothes rushed in from outside the noodle shop.

Lu Qiqi recognized the person as a waiter from Zhu's butcher shop.

The shop assistant looked around and finally found Lu Qiqi. He ran a few steps forward and said urgently, "Manager Lu, the person you asked me to find is being held at the butcher shop. The manager asked me to take you there."

Lu Qiqi nodded brightly and said to Zhou San, "I'm going to Zhu's Butcher Shop. If Uncle Liu asks, just tell him."

“Okay,” Wednesday nodded obediently.

Lu Qiqi followed the shop assistant briskly to Zhu Ji Meat Shop. Zhu Ji Meat Shop was not open for business today, and several shops next door were also closed.

Lu Qiqi followed the shop assistant into the backyard.

As Lu Qiqi walked into the hall, she saw Boss Zhu sitting in the main seat, with a middle-aged man in a dark green shirt who looked to be about the same age as Boss Zhu sitting next to him.

A man with his hair loose and bound tightly with hemp rope was lying on the ground.

Before Lu Qiqi could even cross the threshold of the hall, Boss Zhu put down his teacup, stood up, and said, "Miss Lu has arrived."

Boss Zhu pointed at the man on the ground and said, "I found the person you asked me to find. This is the man who sells diseased pork."

Lu Qiqi glanced indifferently at the man on the ground. The man struggled to break free, but the rope binding him was too tight, and he could not break free at all. He could only whimper through the cloth in his mouth.

Lu Qiqi withdrew her gaze and said to Boss Zhu, "Boss Zhu, thank you for your hard work. How did you find him?"

Boss Zhu glanced at the middle-aged man sitting down and drinking tea, while Lu Qiqi took in his every move.

Seeing that the middle-aged man remained silent, Boss Zhu laughed and said, "There are only a few butchers coming and going at this meat stall. Finding him using your method didn't take much effort."

Lu Qiqi added, "Remove the cloth from his mouth. I have a few questions for him."

Boss Zhu gave one of his employees a wink, and the employee quickly reacted, grabbing the man's chin and forcing him to raise his head before taking the strip of cloth away.

The gag in Wu Qian's mouth was removed, and he coughed violently as the pressure on his mouth eased.

After coughing a few times, Wu Qian cursed, "You, Zhu Dayong, how dare you tie me up! Untie me right now!"

Zhu Dayong felt that Wu Qian hadn't grasped reality yet, and reminded him, "Wu Qian, when you were selling diseased pork, didn't you ever think this day would come?"

"Pah!" Wu Qian spat angrily on the ground and cursed, "And what good are you, Zhu Dayong? Who on this street hasn't sold sow meat and dead pig meat? You dare to say you haven't done such a thing?!"

Zhu Dayong frowned and said, "Yes, I've sold sow meat and dead pig meat. But when I sold sow meat, I put up a sign to tell everyone that it was sow meat and that it was cheaper than boar meat!"

"The pork we sell is from pigs that died from injuries. We have never sold pork from diseased pigs without conscience!"

"The pork you're selling, which is from diseased pigs, could kill people!"

Upon hearing that pork from a diseased pig could kill people, Wu Qian turned pale and, with a desperate resolve, declared, "It won't benefit anyone if you expose this!"

Zhu Dayong sneered and said, "It's not like I'm selling diseased pork, or that I'm passing off diseased pork as pigs from Chen's pig farm. What am I afraid of!"

Wu Qian was speechless after being confronted by Zhu Dayong, and his back was covered in cold sweat.

Lu Qiqi didn't expect that this trip would lead her to hear so many industry secrets.

However, she did not expect that this matter would also involve Chen's pig farm.

Lu Qiqi looked up again, her expression unchanged. The middle-aged man sitting and drinking tea must be the manager of the Chen family.

Taking advantage of Wu Qian's knowledge of the situation, Lu Qiqi demanded sharply, "Who exactly did you sell this diseased pork to?"

Startled by Lu Qiqi's sudden question, Wu Qian stammered out the names of several spicy noodle stalls and a wonton shop.

When Lu Qiqi heard Wu Qian mention Zhang's noodle stall, she understood most of the situation. These people all wanted to make money, but they didn't use it in the right way; they only thought about taking crooked and illegal paths.

Lu Qiqi then asked, "Who sold you this diseased pork?"

Wu Qian refused to talk anymore and simply lay on the ground pretending to be dead.

Lu Qiqi ignored Wu Qian's refusal to answer and said indifferently, "Boss Zhu, send him to the authorities."

Upon hearing that Lu Qiqi was going to hand him over to the authorities, Wu Qian immediately became agitated. He twisted his body, trying his best to reach Lu Qiqi's trouser leg, and said urgently, "We can't report to the authorities, we can't report to the authorities."

"I'll talk! I'll talk, okay!" Wu Qian shouted, then resignedly closed his eyes.