Chapter 86 Leveraging Publicity to Break the Mold

Lin Yao stepped forward and said, "I am the manager."

The guests who had been sitting quietly watching the commotion all put down their bowls and chopsticks when they saw the officials arrive, and dared not make any more comments.

The head constable, a man with triangular eyes, glanced at Lin Yao and sized her up: "Someone reported that your restaurant not only sells spoiled food, causing people to suffer from stomach aches, but also dares to beat up a victim who came to seek justice!"

No sooner had Liu Ke finished speaking than Zhang Ou immediately chimed in, clutching his stomach, hunching over, and grimacing as he groaned, "Sir, look! I'm the victim here! I just ate some pickled bamboo shoots from her shop, and now my stomach hurts like it's being cut with a knife. I wanted her to compensate me for some medicine, but instead, I was pushed and verbally abused by her shop's employees. It's utterly lawless!"

His henchmen also joined in the commotion, clutching their stomachs and groaning in mock pain. For a moment, the shop was in complete chaos, making it hard to tell if the groans were genuine or not.

Lin Yao's gaze swept over Zhang Ou's distorted face, a cold smile creeping across her face, but she feigned a troubled expression: "Officer, this man came to the shop to cause trouble yesterday, and he's here again today, both times saying that the food in my shop isn't fresh. But just yesterday, my shop assistant went to the government office to report the case, and the very next day, this customer's stomachache and discomfort disappeared, and he ran away faster than anyone else."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ke's expression became slightly unnatural for a moment, but he quickly concealed it.

Lin Yao walked to Zhang Ou's side, raised her voice, her eyes full of disdain, but her face showed doubt: "I really can't understand why someone would knowingly come to eat here for two days in a row, even though they know the food is 'problematic'?" She pointed to her head, looking at Zhang Ou, who was still pretending to have a stomachache, with a provocative expression, "Could it be that this customer's head got caught in a door?"

The diners in the restaurant burst into laughter, and Zhang Ou's face grew increasingly grim.

Outside the door, Xu Zhiheng had just reached the restaurant and was about to step inside when he heard these words. He paused and stopped outside. Jin Yu also stopped and chuckled, "My lord, Miss Lin's mouth is really sharp."

Today was supposed to be the day he set up his stall to write letters for people. He had only gone halfway when he saw the notorious yamen runner from the county government heading menacingly towards Lin's restaurant. He had been worried that Lin Yao wouldn't be able to handle it, but he hadn't expected her to be so adept at it.

He didn't go any further in, but instead set up his stall a short distance away and observed the situation quietly. Jin Yu couldn't help but ask, "Young master, aren't you going to help Miss Lin?"

Xu Zhiheng shook his head, washing his brush and grinding ink as he said, "She's not as weak as you think. Let's wait and see."

Seeing that Zhang Ou and the constable were about to confront her, Lin Yao immediately said in a serious tone, "Since this gentleman is willing to harm himself to say that there is something wrong with my food, he must be a righteous person who cannot tolerate any wrongdoing. Then we cannot let him suffer in vain. Fortunately, the government officials are here today, so please be witnesses."

"I have already sent people to invite doctors from Guangyuantang, Jishetang, and Renxintang to treat these guests and inspect all the ingredients in the restaurant! However, the officers arrived so suddenly that the ingredients were scattered around. To avoid suspicion of concealment, we dare not move them without permission. We would like to trouble you to come with me to the backyard so that you can take stock of any suspected ingredients. My staff will then move them to the front hall," Lin Yao said.

Liu Ke frowned upon hearing this. He had originally accepted money from his brother-in-law to tip him off at the yamen. He had come today because someone had reported to the authorities that his brother Zhang Ou had been beaten at the Lin family's restaurant, so he had come in person. Now it seemed that the person who reported to the authorities was clearly someone hired by Manager Lin to impersonate him, but now he was in a difficult position.

"Hmph, all show and no substance!" Liu Ke retorted, "Do you think I'm afraid of your tricks? Go, go with her to the backyard and take a look!"

Lin Yao remained calm and turned to walk towards the backyard, with A-Zhu and the others following closely behind. Rows of earthenware jars were stacked in the backyard, fresh vegetables were piled up in the corner, and freshly cleaned snails were placed by the well, everything was kept clean and tidy.

The constables searched high and low but couldn't find anything amiss, and Liu Ke's face grew increasingly grim. He lifted one of the jars of pickled bamboo shoots, and a pungent, sour smell wafted out. His eyes lit up immediately. "Move all this stinking stuff out! And all the other ingredients, move them all out! I refuse to believe this shop has absolutely no problems!"

Seeing that he wouldn't let go of the pickled bamboo shoots, Lin Yao laughed instead: "Sir, you don't know, this is how pickled bamboo shoots are supposed to taste. They smell pungent, but they taste delicious. Otherwise, so many customers wouldn't come all the way here just to try them."

Liu Ke refused to believe it, thinking it was just a last-ditch effort, and yelled at his men, "Don't listen to her nonsense! Move everything! If even one thing smells bad, take her back to the yamen for trial!"

The constables dared not delay and hurriedly carried the earthenware jars and ingredients. As soon as they brought the pickled bamboo shoot jar to the front hall, the overpowering aroma of sourness filled the air. "Gentlemen, come and see!" Lin Yao raised her voice, pointing to the pickled bamboo shoots in the jar. "These are the ingredients we'll be using today. They're bright in color and have a pure sour taste. If they were spoiled, how could they look like this?"

A regular customer came over to take a look and nodded, saying, "That's right, I had this pickled bamboo shoot yesterday too, and it tasted just right!"

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door. Doctor Chen from Guangyuantang entered with his medicine box, followed by doctors from Jishetang and Renxintang.

Lin Yao quickly stepped forward to greet them: "Thank you for your help, three doctors. These guests say they have been suffering from severe stomach pains after eating the food at our shop. Please take a good look at them." She had specially invited doctors from the town's largest clinic to avoid being accused of bribing doctors.

Li Langzhong was an old doctor in the town who had practiced medicine for decades. He could tell at a glance that these people were faking it, but he still took their pulses according to the rules, examined their eyelids, picked up the pickled bamboo shoots that hadn't been eaten yet and smelled them. Finally, he shook his head at the triangular-eyed man: "These gentlemen have steady pulses and even breathing. There is no sign of abdominal pain at all. The pickled bamboo shoots are also good and not spoiled at all."

Two other doctors also conducted the examination, and the results were exactly the same.

Zhang Ou panicked, but still stubbornly insisted, "What about the other ingredients? There are so many ingredients here, we have to check them all!"

“This young master said he wants to test the ingredients, so let’s start with this jar of pickled bamboo shoots.” Lin Yao pointed to the largest jar. “This was just opened this morning, and there’s still more than half a jar left. Doctor, why don’t you take some to taste?”

Doctor Li picked up a pickled bamboo shoot, sniffed it lightly, and then pinched it with his fingernail. The texture was crisp and tender, and the shoot was full of juice. He immediately nodded and said, "It is a bamboo shoot pickled in the proper way. Although the taste is strange, it is definitely not rotten."

The other two doctors also examined the other ingredients, but after a long time, they found nothing that was spoiled or even not fresh.

Zhang Ou's face flushed red and then turned pale. Seeing that continuing the commotion would only expose the truth, she was still unwilling to give up. Pointing at the iron pot by the stove, she shouted, "Where's the pot? Maybe the pot wasn't cleaned properly, which is why people got sick!"

Upon hearing this, even the guests nearby couldn't help but laugh. Afu immediately rushed into the kitchen and brought out the pot: "Our kitchen pots are washed three times with alkaline water before and after meals, they're cleaner than the rice bowls at home! See for yourself if you don't believe me!"

Zhang Ou felt a cold sweat break out on his back as he looked at the scene. He had originally hoped that he could get away with it, but he never expected that Lin Yao's shop would be so clean that there was not a single flaw. Now he was afraid that he had shot himself in the foot.

Seeing this, Liu Ke knew that continuing the commotion would only make things worse. "Alright, let's just say you were framed." With that, she glared at Zhang Ou and turned to leave.

"Officer, please wait!" Lin Yao stepped forward, her voice clear and bright. "The three doctors have already reached a conclusion on today's matter. The ingredients have been inspected, and the doctors have been summoned. Right and wrong will be judged by public opinion. These people have repeatedly come to the shop to cause trouble and slander my shop's reputation. If we don't give them an explanation today, who will dare to come to our shop in the future?"

The surrounding guests also joined in the shouting:

"Yes! We can't just let this go!"

"Arrest them!"

Liu Ke was cornered by the crowd, unable to move forward or backward, when suddenly he heard someone outside the door say loudly, "What's all this commotion about?"

Everyone turned to see Qu Zhong enter with two constables. His gaze swept over the chaos in the room before finally settling on Liu Ke. Ignoring Zhang Ou's pleading look, Liu Ke hurriedly said, "Constable Qu, you've come at the perfect time! This group of people..."

"I heard everything." Qu Zhong interrupted him and looked at Lin Yao. "Manager Lin, thanks to your portrait, I have just found out that Zhang Ou and his group lost money at the gambling den yesterday. They were instructed by the young master of Xiangmanlou in the neighboring town to cause trouble here."

Qu Zhong said to the constable, "Take Zhang Ou and the others back to the yamen, and then ask Manager Li to question them!" He then turned to Liu Ke, his tone becoming more serious, "Captain Liu, you should go to the registrar's office to explain what you did today."

Liu Ke nodded repeatedly and slunk away with the yamen runners.

The troublemakers were taken away, but a large crowd of onlookers still gathered outside the restaurant. Lin Yao naturally wouldn't miss this great opportunity for publicity.

Lin Yao walked to the door, cupped her hands in greeting to the crowd, and said with a smile, "Thank you all for stopping by today. You must have all seen what happened just now. The three doctors from Guangyuantang, Jishetang, and Renxintang have all checked it. The pickled bamboo shoots, snails, and all kinds of ingredients in my restaurant are all fresh and clean, and there is absolutely nothing spoiled."

She pointed in the direction where the constables had just taken them away, her voice clear and bright: "Those people were sent by someone to cause trouble, and they have now been taken away by the officials for questioning. The magistrate's men have also checked the backyard. Everything in my Lin family's restaurant can withstand scrutiny."

Someone in the crowd muttered, "I knew Lin's Restaurant had the best food, how could there be a problem?"

Someone chimed in, "That's right! I had snail rice noodles here the other day, and I'm still craving them!"

Lin Yao pressed her advantage, saying, "If you don't believe me, feel free to come in and take a look. The kitchen door is wide open, and all the ingredients are on display. You can see them anytime. To thank you all for your patronage today, everyone who orders pickled bamboo shoots will receive a free dish of freshly pickled green beans!"

These words immediately piqued the interest of the onlookers. Many had already come drawn by the aroma, and now that they had witnessed the officials and doctors testifying, what reservations did they have? Several young men were the first to step forward: "Let's go, let's try it! I want to see just how fragrant this pickled bamboo shoot really is!"

With one person taking the lead, others followed suit and rushed into the store. In the blink of an eye, the once empty eatery was now full of people.

Jin Yu watched from afar, grinding ink as she praised, "Young Lady Lin is truly amazing; she turned the crisis into safety so quickly."

"It's truly rare to find a way to survive in chaos." He placed his pen on the pen mountain, his gaze sweeping over the nimble figure at the entrance of the eatery.

Jin Yu peeked over and saw the shop assistants working non-stop. She couldn't help but exclaim, "Lady Lin Yao is really lucky! This is truly a blessing in disguise! Those onlookers from earlier are probably all customers now. Look at that table of people in blue cotton shirts. When I went to Liu's Pickles Shop to buy dried vegetables the other day, I heard them complaining about the smell of pickled bamboo shoots at the door!"

Xu Zhiheng followed his gaze and saw several men engrossed in slurping noodles. He looked away, carefully folded the letter he had written, handed it to the waiting old woman, and said calmly, "It's not luck, it's that she knows what she's doing."

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