A dog that bites doesn't bark.

Wang Caihua really wanted to ask, "Where are the meat skewers on the plate?"

Why is there only one toasted bread slice left?

Looking around, everyone's mouth was glistening with oil.

Hey, no, are these people all gluttons? Thirty meat skewers, gone in the blink of an eye?

Liu Hai looked at his stunned wife and chuckled, "That's all? It's okay, we'll just order more."

"Brother Hai, order more. This isn't even enough to fill a tooth gap. My sister-in-law couldn't even get one skewer." Someone took the opportunity to make a request.

"You still have the nerve to say your sister-in-law didn't get any? Why didn't she get any? It's all because you bunch of animals act like you haven't eaten in eight hundred years." Liu Hai felt that bringing these kids out today was a real mistake.

As he spoke, he called out, "Boss Liu, Boss Liu..."

"Hey, here it comes!"

"Give me the menu, I'd like to order something else."

Liu Xiangmei walked over with their menu and reminded them, "Your orders haven't all arrived yet, they'll be here in a little while."

Liu Hai said, "The one I just ordered wasn't enough, I'll add some more."

As he spoke, he took the menu and multiplied each item he had just ordered by two.

Liu Xiangmei tried to dissuade her, but Wang Caihua urged her to place the order quickly.

Fine, if people are willing to spend money, she can't stop them!

By this time, the guests in the hall had all started eating. They were not as refined as Liu Hai's table, but only slightly.

The people who were just complaining that the food baked by a child must not taste good are now eating it the most.

A bite of beef skewer, a sip of beer, "Burp~ That's great! This beef skewer is grilled to perfection, not overcooked at all, just to my liking."

"That's right. The beef skewers I ate on Hejie Street the other day tasted like rubber shoe soles. I almost pulled my teeth out while eating them. These past two days, I've felt like my back teeth are wobbly."

"I prefer this lamb skewer. There's a lump of lamb fat in the middle of the lamb meat. And you know what? There's absolutely no gamey smell. I don't know where they buy their sauce, it's so fragrant."

"Where did you buy it? It's homemade. I just asked, and the owner said all the sauces are made with a secret recipe."

"Boss Liu's cooking is really good. No wonder people are jealous. Look, it's been less than half an hour since the aroma started coming from the grill, and the main hall is almost full, and there are still people in the private rooms. If I had a competitor like this in business, I would be furious."

At this moment, Yu Daqiang was still immersed in the joy of making money and didn't have time to be angry.

Although he already knew that Hao Zai Lai Restaurant was starting to sell barbecue in the evenings, it didn't concern him. Let them sell, as long as they didn't compete with his buffet business.

But his joy didn't last more than a few days.

As the number of guests increased day by day, he prepared a larger quantity of dishes than in the previous days, just waiting for the guests to arrive.

But after waiting and waiting, it was already midnight, and there were only a few people in the store. Normally, he would have sold out the first batch of vegetables by 11:30 to 12:00, so something was obviously wrong, but he still didn't know what the problem was.

Fortunately, after midnight, the students were dismissed from school, and the number of customers in the store suddenly increased.

After the midday session ended, the two checked the accounts and found that it was indeed a little less than usual, but not by much, so they assumed it was an accident.

Even during the evening session, the number of attendees was still less than in the previous days, but they didn't take it to heart. After all, it was evening, and many people go home to eat at night, so it was normal for the number of people to be relatively less.

However, for two or three consecutive days, the number of people attending both the noon and evening sessions, as well as the number of adults and students, continued to decrease.

This is definitely problematic, but what is it? Yu Daqiang stared at the ledger, completely baffled.

"You're talking nonsense! Believe me or not, I'll tear your mouth apart! You're just trying to slander us because you think our business is doing well. I'll beat you to death..."

Ma Zhen's voice came from outside. Yu Daqiang didn't want to pay attention to it. It was common for old women to fight, and they would be separated soon. He just wanted to know what was wrong with the business.

But the noise outside was getting louder and louder, which annoyed him. He thought he had really married the wrong woman; she was useless and only knew how to cause trouble for him every day. He stormed toward the door.

Just as I reached the door, I heard a woman shouting, "Everyone knows you use rotten vegetable leaves to cook! And you're still arguing? What, we can't even criticize your unethical practices? Today I'm going to tell everyone that the vegetables in your restaurant are all picked up from the countryside, that people don't want them..."

"What's all the noise about?" Yu Daqiang stood at the door and interrupted the woman's words sharply. Then he immediately saw Liu Xiangmei standing on the outermost edge of the crowd.

Why is she joining in the fun?

At this moment, Yu Daqiang didn't have time to care about others. He forced a smile and said, "I don't know who started this nonsense, but please believe me, our Yu Family Sichuan Restaurant has been open for so many years, and no one has ever gotten sick from eating here. There hasn't been, and there won't be. Alright, let's all go home."

After saying that, he ignored Ma Zhen, who was still lying on the ground, and turned to go into the store.

Ma Zhen had no choice but to get up on her own, snorted at everyone, and then quickly caught up with Yu Daqiang.

Some people in the crowd began to doubt Yu Daqiang's words, saying, "Maybe someone is just jealous of Yu Daqiang's good business and made up this lie!"

"That's right. Over the years, no one has reported any health problems after eating Yu Daqiang's cooking."

Of course, there are still some people who are clear-headed. Looking at those fickle people, they say, "People can tell you exactly when his family went to the countryside to buy rotten vegetable leaves and which village they went to. How can they make up such a convincing lie?"

"That's right. Besides, Yu Daqiang just said that no one got sick from eating it. Rotten vegetable leaves are just not fresh, not spoiled. Of course, most people will be fine after eating them."

...

Yu Daqiang sat behind the counter, panting heavily. Looking at Ma Zhen, whose hair had been pulled into a mess, he felt even more frustrated.

“Tell me exactly how the argument started, what they said.”

Seeing Yu Daqiang's gloomy face, as if he was about to draw his knife and kill someone, Ma Zhen didn't dare to disobey him and told him everything.

The more Yu Daqiang listened, the more his brows furrowed. After Ma Zhen finished speaking, he snorted and said, "How could it be the market vendors who said that? We have no grudges against them, so why would they spread lies to harm us? What about Liu Xiangmei? What is she doing here?"

“Liu Xiangmei? I didn’t see her.” As she spoke, Ma Zhen rubbed her arm, which she didn’t know had been pinched earlier, and retorted, “Who else could it be but them? They know best about buying and selling vegetables.”

"Whoever hates us the most is who we are."

"Who hates us the most... Liu Xiangmei, isn't it Liu Xiangmei? Did you see her just now? That's it, it must have been her. Damn it, how could she be so insidious? No, I have to go find her..."

"Come back!" Seeing Ma Zhen roll up her sleeves and about to rush out, he quickly called out to her, "Stop making such a fuss all the time. You need to use your brain when you do things, you know? You're not as good as Liu Xiangmei in this respect."

Seeing Ma Zhen muttering and looking unconvinced, Yu Daqiang sneered inwardly. He thought to himself that he was no match for Liu Xiangmei, let alone Ma Zhen.

He originally planned to reduce costs and maintain low prices. If Liu Xiangmei dared to lower the price, he would lower it again until he dragged Liu Xiangmei down.

But to my surprise, Liu Xiangmei was bullied so badly that she didn't dare to utter a single word, and to make matters worse, she insisted on paying the original price.

He had just laughed at Liu Xiangmei a few days ago for not knowing how to do business, stubbornly refusing to lower prices. He said that in a few days, hardly anyone would go to her shop. After all, who would buy the expensive thing when there's a cheaper option? She would die even faster without customers.

As a result, he was slapped in the face today. It wasn't that they didn't react; they were playing dirty tricks on him, trying to ruin his reputation and make it impossible for him to stay in Zhou County, right?

There's a saying that goes something like this: "A barking dog doesn't bite." That's absolutely true. I never imagined that Liu Xiangmei would be such a wicked woman!

Since Liu Xiangmei has gone to such extremes, he has to retaliate in kind!

So the next day, around lunchtime, a group of people in uniforms came to the Haozailai Restaurant.

These past few days, Liu Xiangmei has noticed a sudden surge in business at the buffet restaurant. She didn't know why at first, but later she heard from others that people are now hesitant to eat at Yu's Sichuan Restaurant. It may be cheap, but they don't dare to take advantage of it.

Liu Xiangmei was overjoyed. "Great! I never thought someone would actually do something so stupid!"

But at her happiest moment, this group of people suddenly appeared in the store.

What happened?

Everyone in the store, including the diners, was stunned.

Then the person standing at the front took out his badge, said with a stern face, "We are law enforcement officers from Dingyuan Road Police Station. Someone reported that your restaurant added addictive powder to the food. Please cooperate with the inspection."

Buzz~

Liu Xiangmei was stunned by those words. Who? Who reported her? Why would they do this to her?

The guests in the restaurant also began to stir.

"Quiet down, everyone, don't worry. It's just a report. We'll have to wait for the test results to be confirmed." Zhang Wei, who was also wearing a uniform, reassured the anxious guests.

This was the first time Liu Xiangmei had faced so many law enforcement officers. Her legs went weak and her hands trembled. It was Wang Yao who came to her side and gently supported her. She managed to calm herself down and said in a trembling voice, "We would never do such a thing. You can check as you please."

The restaurant was quiet, except for the sounds of law enforcement officers rummaging through the kitchen and food counters.

About half an hour later, the law enforcement officers packed up the collected samples, put away the logbook, and then told Liu Xiangmei, "After the search, we did not find any suspicious items in the store. We also added test reagents to all the soup and found no abnormalities. However, to prevent any missed tests, we still need to send the samples to the health and epidemic prevention station for further testing. You will have to close for the next few days."

Liu Xiangmei nodded repeatedly: "We will cooperate with all inspections and close the door immediately."

After seeing the law enforcement officers off, Liu Xiangmei faced the remaining customers and the crowd of onlookers outside the shop. She took a deep breath and forced a smile.

"I'm so sorry to have startled everyone! You all heard what the law enforcement officers said. They haven't found any problems yet, but for everyone's safety, they still need to check again. There's no point in saying anything now, but the innocent will clear themselves. Let's wait together for the inspection results. Today's meal is on the house as an apology. Thank you all for witnessing this."