In the afternoon, all the hired workers went to work, and they had an extra task: making pickled fish.

One advantage of making pickled fish is that it can be made with any kind of fish. The result is tender, sweet, and the bones are soft and melt in your mouth. Even toothless elderly people can eat it.

Shen Danru used points in the system to redeem the recipe, and also bought the secret seasoning needed for the pickled fish. She explained the process to the employees, and they got busy.

Shen Dashan, Xu Shu, and Zhao Yong are currently only in charge of delivering goods and setting up the stall; Aunt Zhang is in charge of the kitchen.

Aunt Zhang always arrived a little earlier than others. Shen Danru called her into the house and told her about the day's events.

Aunt Zhang was so angry she jumped up and down: "What? Someone stole meat? Who is it?"

Shen Danru couldn't speak ill of others behind their backs; she currently only had suspicions and no concrete evidence.

"Auntie, I don't know who that person is either, so please take good care of them. Also, we can do this today..."

Aunt Zhang nodded and patted her chest, saying, "Child, don't worry about it. Leave this to me. I'll definitely find the meat thief."

Aunt Zhang led everyone in a lively and enthusiastic effort, but she no longer worked blindly like before.

Since that girl trusts her, and Zhou Meizi is a soft-hearted person who can't say it out loud, and she and Zhou Shi are like sisters, she definitely has to help investigate this matter thoroughly.

Although everyone saw her working as usual, her attention was not on the work; she was observing her surroundings out of the corner of her eye.

Several people worked very hard; these were the people she had called over, and they were all trustworthy people in the village.

She was relieved that these people hadn't embarrassed her. Otherwise, how could she explain herself if any of the employees she had introduced to the Shen family were dishonest or cunning?

After observing for an hour, she began to suspect her two sisters-in-law, Da Gang's wife and Er Fu's wife.

Although they appeared to be working, they were doing ineffective work.

For example, when scaling fish, others can finish two scales, but they haven't even finished one. They seem to be busy, but they're not producing any results.

After observing for a long time, Aunt Zhang finally realized where the problem lay: they weren't putting in enough effort to work.

The two wives are strangely strong, so why are they so weak? It's obvious they're cheating.

All morning, Aunt Zhang kept an eye on the two of them. By evening, the work was almost done, and everyone said their goodbyes and left.

Only Da Gang's wife and Er Fu's wife, the two sisters-in-law, remained.

Aren't you leaving yet?

"Sister-in-law Zhang, you go first. We'll pack up and leave soon."

Aunt Zhang smiled and said, "Okay, I'll go now. I need to go back and cook for the children."

After Aunt Zhang left, the two quickly wrapped the meat and fish in oil paper, untied their waistbands, and tied them around their waists.

Each person received three jin of meat and one fish.

The two exchanged a glance, and saw a glimmer of hope in each other's eyes.

This family is incredibly stupid; they've taken it three or four times and haven't been caught even once.

This wage is really well earned; not only can the children eat meat every meal, but they also don't have to spend money to buy it.

The thought of the children eating with their mouths full of grease, mumbling "Mom, the meat is delicious, you're so good" made them chuckle to themselves.

"Isn't it funny? You'd better tie the meat up tightly, or it will fall off."

The two were startled and panicked, but when they looked up and saw that it was Zhang's sister-in-law, they immediately calmed down.

Da Gang's wife said, "I advise you to pretend you didn't see it, otherwise we'll be enemies in the future."

Aunt Zhang raised an eyebrow: "Are you threatening me?"

Erfu's wife said smugly, "What can you do if I threaten you? Don't forget that you only have one husband, while we have five brothers. If you don't like it, let's have a fight."

"Besides, even if you saw it, so what? You have one mouth and we have two mouths. If you dare to falsely accuse us of taking meat, we'll both say you took meat too. Can you win the argument between us with just one mouth?"

At this point, Qingtan couldn't hold back any longer and went into the kitchen to ask, "Do you think it would be okay to add my mouth to the mix?"

"Miss, what should we do with them?"

The two then looked at the kitchen doorway, where Shen Danru was also standing.

The two women blushed instantly with embarrassment, their hearts sinking. But in a moment, they composed themselves, removed the meat from their waists, and said with a smile:

"Here's your meat back."

Aunt Zhang couldn't help but curse, "Pah! Aren't you two disgusting? You stuffed the meat into your own pants and then gave it back to them? Do you think this meat can still be sold?"

The two glared at Aunt Zhang, threatening her with their eyes, and advised her not to meddle in other people's business.

"Why can't we eat it? The meat didn't fall on the ground, it can still be sold."

Aunt Zhang pinched her nose and looked disgusted:

"You still have the nerve to say that? You're covered in that stuff, it makes me want to vomit. I bet only men like the smell on you. You're eating that stuff every night. You should just buy the meat yourselves and let your men eat it."

Upon hearing this, the two immediately jumped up in alarm: "What? We have to pay for this ourselves?"

Shen Danru: "Qingtan, settle their wages and let them go. Remember to deduct the meat payment from their wages."

“I’ve already calculated it. You’ve worked for five days in total, at 50 coins per day, for a total of 250 coins. There are 3 catties of meat, so I’ll deduct 105 coins. The pickled fish is 30 coins per catty, so I’ll give you 50 coins per fish, for a total of 155 coins. I’ll settle the remaining 95 coins.”

Upon hearing that such a large deduction would be made, the two immediately refused.

"Just based on your claims that we took the meat, who can prove it? Everyone knows that Zhang's daughter-in-law has a good relationship with your mother. She's probably giving false testimony on purpose, isn't she?"

Aunt Zhang rolled her eyes in anger and pointed outside, saying, "Open your dog eyes and look! Who are all these people outside? Are they all giving false testimony and have a grudge against you two?"

Da Gang's wife and her sister-in-law looked outside and saw everyone standing in the yard staring at them.

Only then did the two realize that the Shen family had probably already discovered their theft of the braised meat.

They found out but didn't say anything, just waiting to be caught red-handed and make them lose face. It's despicable.

They knew they had definitely lost the job, and the Shen family would never hire them again.

He hardened his heart and said, "We don't have to do the work, but we can't cut our wages by a single penny. Otherwise, we've already learned how to make this stuff, so we'll just send it to town and ruin your business."