The truth comes out

The day after receiving the notice, Liu Xiangmei took a banner and a drum troupe to the police station and the health and epidemic prevention station, making a lot of noise.

Coincidentally, they ran into Zhang Wei, who was leading a group of people out of the police station, just as they arrived at the station.

Zhang Wei was stunned when he saw this scene. Fortunately, the person next to him was quick-witted and ran back to call the leader.

Because the drum and music troupe was so lively, it attracted a large crowd of onlookers.

Actually, Liu Xiangmei felt quite embarrassed being watched by so many people.

However, she felt that Wang Yao was right. The incident that happened in their store a few days ago had a really bad impact, and many people knew about it. Now that the truth has come out, everyone must know.

What could attract more attention than presenting banners to law enforcement officers while banging drums and gongs?

So even though Liu Xiangmei was so embarrassed that she wanted to disappear into the ground, she still tried her best to remain calm.

Fortunately, the leaders of the police station were very enthusiastic about receiving the banner, and Liu Xiangmei was released before she was embarrassed for long.

Liu Xiangmei coughed lightly. As the sound of gongs and drums faded, all eyes turned to her. She first solemnly expressed her gratitude to the leaders and officers of the police station, thanking them for clearing her name, and then handed the banner in her hand to the leaders.

The leader accepted the banner and launched into a torrent of plaques praising "serving the people" and "willing to be a public servant," winning applause from the audience.

At this moment, Liu Xiangmei was only thinking about quickly going to the health and epidemic prevention station to deliver the banner, to finish the job as soon as possible.

Just as Liu Xiangmei expressed her gratitude again and was about to take her leave, Zhang Wei stepped forward and stopped her, his clear and powerful voice carrying throughout the room:

"I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that we have made crucial progress in the case of the paint being splashed on Haozailai Restaurant a few days ago. According to the confessions of the perpetrators we have apprehended, the mastermind behind it is Yu Daqiang, the owner of Yujia Sichuan Restaurant."

After interrogation, Yu Daqiang confessed to his crimes. He also admitted to reporting the Haozailai Restaurant for illegally adding drugs to its food via a public phone. However, due to other disputes involving Yu Daqiang, he is currently only being detained, and the case is under further investigation.

As soon as he finished speaking, the scene fell silent for a moment, then erupted in uproar.

Good heavens, what is all this?!

People who don't know Yu Daqiang are all asking, "Who is this guy? What deep-seated grudge does he have against this Boss Liu?"

Those who know Yu Daqiang are either explaining the basic situation of the two families to everyone, or they are lamenting: "The most venomous heart is Daqiang's, like a wasp's stinger."

Liu Xiangmei was also stunned. It really was him.

At this moment, Liu Xiangmei couldn't quite explain what she was feeling.

She originally thought that when the truth came out, she would be angry and hate Yu Daqiang, but she wasn't at all. She even felt that Yu Daqiang was a bit pitiful.

What's that saying again? All your scheming and plotting will only lead to your own demise.

Although Yu Daqiang and Wang Xifeng are completely incomparable and he won't lose his life because of it, his scheming and manipulative nature, which ultimately leads him astray, is exactly the same.

Liu Xiangmei said to Zhang Wei very calmly, "Thank you, Officer Zhang. You've worked hard."

No one expected Liu Xiangmei to react this way. She didn't cry or make a scene; she quietly thanked them and then left.

? ? ?

Why does it feel like this has nothing to do with her?

One of the more knowledgeable people in the crowd said, "Look, this is why Yu Daqiang can't beat Boss Liu. Look how magnanimous Boss Liu is. Yu Daqiang was jumping around and doing nothing, but what happened? Boss Liu didn't take him seriously at all, and didn't care whether Yu Daqiang lived or died."

After this incident, Liu Xiangmei and her Haozailai Restaurant became famous in half of the county, and as a result, the number of customers in the restaurant increased explosively every day.

Liu Xiangmei and the other two people in the store were initially very happy because after the restaurant reopened, Liu Xiangmei announced that in addition to a base salary, the store's employees would also receive 3% of the store's net profit each month.

Upon hearing the news, Chen Xiu was so happy she almost jumped for joy. She quickly started calculating how much she would receive each month. Although she couldn't figure it out after all the calculations, it didn't stop her from being happy. No matter how much it was, it was definitely an increase.

Old Li was naturally happy to get a raise. He didn't jump for joy, but that noon, he bought himself a bottle of good wine at the small shop next door. With a bite of meat and a sip of wine, all his worries vanished.

But this good mood didn't last long, because the restaurant was just too busy!

Whether it's noon or night, there's always a queue outside the Hao Zailai Restaurant.

At lunchtime, some people couldn't get a seat, so they got their food and started eating by squatting or sitting at the restaurant entrance. Some people couldn't even get a plate to serve their food, let alone a seat, so Liu Xiangmei had to urgently go to Hejie Street to buy a batch of plates.

This small restaurant of about 100 square meters kept the three of them extremely busy, and every night when they closed the shop, they felt a sense of relief that it was finally over.

In her busy life, Liu Xiangmei welcomed an unexpected guest.

"Sister-in-law Zhao! What brings you here?"

The visitor was Zhao's wife from Jinhua Village. She and Liu Xiangmei were from the same clan, also surnamed Liu, and her name was Liu Huahua. Before Liu Xiangmei moved to the county, she had sold all the poultry she raised to her family.

Liu Huahua left the county today to visit her sister-in-law, who is sick and hospitalized in the county hospital, and also stopped by to talk to Liu Xiangmei about things back home.

However, Liu Xiangmei only told her that she was renting a house near the back gate of the county's No. 1 Middle School, without telling her the specific address. She was worried that she wouldn't be able to find it before she came.

Unexpectedly, when we arrived at the back gate of the county's No. 1 Middle School, we randomly asked a shop owner, who actually knew the place, and that's how we quickly found it.

After hearing what Liu Huahua had to say, Liu Xiangmei laughed and said, "I had some bad luck a few days ago, and all the neighbors laughed at me, so now they all know my name."

Liu Huahua took the tea poured by Liu Xiangmei, but thinking she had touched on Liu Xiangmei's painful memories, she didn't dare to continue and quickly changed the subject to talking about her hometown.

Liu Xiangmei really didn't expect that Wang Yao, that damned girl, would set a trap for the Wang family before she left. Not only did she tell everyone about the disgusting things the Wang family had done, but she also encouraged the person with the injured leg to go to the Wang family to ask for money.

"I heard that the family got the money and went to a big hospital in the city to get their leg checked. They don't dare to see Wang Tianhua again, and many people in their hometown don't trust him anymore," Liu Huahua said.

"He almost caused a patient to lose a leg. Who would trust him? Don't trust him either. He was a slacker back in nursing school. The little medical skills he has now were taught by the old doctor at the village clinic. If you need medical treatment, go see that old doctor."

Liu Huahua nodded in agreement.

The two chatted about their recent situations. When Liu Xiangmei told Liu Huahua that she was the owner of the restaurant, Liu Huahua was quite surprised and praised Liu Xiangmei for being capable. She also repeatedly assured Liu Huahua that she would never reveal her information to the Wang family.

Liu Xiangmei believed her, but even if she told the Wang family, Liu Xiangmei wasn't afraid now. Those few in the Wang family only dared to cause trouble in Jinhua Village; once they left the county, they wouldn't dare utter a single word.

After seeing Liu Huahua off, Liu Xiangmei recalled what she had just said—that Liu Ailing had indeed read her apology letter over the village loudspeaker for a whole month—and couldn't help but laugh. She also worked even harder at night.

The booming business of Haozailai Restaurant brought Liu Xiangmei both pain and joy, and also changed Wang Yao's situation in the class.

Those who avoided her and secretly slandered her when the incident happened are now greeting her with smiles as if nothing had happened, and some even spoke ill of Yu Family Sichuan Restaurant to her.

Seeing that Wang Yao was still talking to those people, Niu Ling quietly reminded her, "Those people have spoken ill of you behind your back before. Don't be naive and think that everyone who smiles at you is a good person."

Wang Yao was certainly not that foolish. She knew perfectly well that those people were just opportunists, changing sides with the wind, and had no stance of their own.

In her previous life, when she worked in the south, she heard even harsher words and met even worse people, but so what? She thought the same way as in her previous life: it's just a matter of smiling and greeting each other when you meet. It won't cost her anything; on the contrary, it might just mean one less enemy on the road.

Wang Yao didn't tell Niu Ling about the dark side of adults. Instead, she put her arm around Niu Ling's shoulder and said with a coquettish smile, "I know, you're so smart!"

"Huh? Wang Yao, are you deliberately being sarcastic? Don't think I can't tell. Don't run away, wait for me to catch you, ah..."

Wang Yao, running in front, nimbly avoided Cheng Hao, who suddenly appeared from around the corner, while Niu Ling, running behind, was in trouble...

Well, it's not exactly tragic, because this silly kid is sitting on the ground grinning like an idiot!

"Are you hurt?" Wang Yao helped Niu Ling up, then looked her over to see if she had any injuries. Seeing that her hair was messy, she reached out to tidy it up for her.

"Don't move!" Niu Ling blocked Wang Yao's hand, then took two steps back to keep a safe distance from Wang Yao. "Don't touch anything above my neck."

Wang Yao: ? ? ?

Immediately, Wang Yao became worried, "Did you break your neck? Does it hurt?" As she spoke, she reached out to touch her again, but Niu Ling blocked her way once more.

Niu Ling rolled her eyes at her, "What nonsense are you talking about? Cheng Hao is so gentle, how could he possibly break my bones?"

Gentle? Wang Yao was puzzled. If you bump into someone, casually toss out an "I'm sorry" and walk away without any remorse, is that what you call gentle?

"Just now, Cheng Hao only gently, very gently, touched my face with his warm chest, understand? How could that be considered a bump?"

Yes, yes, very gently, you, a man weighing over 100 pounds, were knocked to the ground.

"I've decided that for the next week, no, for a month, I won't wash my hair or face. I want to keep Cheng Hao's scent for as long as possible."

A month? Please, it's summer!

"Then you should ask to change seats. I can't stand sitting next to someone whose hair smells greasy." Wang Yao couldn't stand Niu Ling's infatuation any longer and turned back to the classroom.

Niu Ling scoffed, "What does a little brat like you know!"

"Hello, is Wang Yao in this class?"

Niu Ling turned around, hiss~

So handsome! He's probably 1.2 times as handsome as Cheng Hao. So tall! He's probably 1.1 times as tall as Cheng Hao.

Indeed, in Niu Ling's mind, Cheng Hao had become a unit of measurement for men. She believed that all the boys in the class combined were only 0.5 times the number of Cheng Hao.