The cabbage leaves come quickly and go quickly.

The diners crawled out from under the table. Seeing this, Gu Nanjiao quickly apologized: "I'm so sorry to have startled you all. All your meals at Meiweizhai today are on the house. From now on, all meals at Meiweizhai will be half price."

The crowd said, "The manager is very generous, and the food at Meiwuzhai is clean and hygienic. What happened today was a treacherous scheme by a villain. We don't need to know the details of the matter."

A man said indignantly, "I have never seen such a treacherous woman, who would use a dead rat to frame someone."

"Pah! Shameless."

"Huh? Where are those two?"

"They're there, trying to slip away!"

Upon hearing the commotion, Sister Wang was the first to run over and block their path. The deliveryman and other staff from Meiweizhai took the opportunity to stand behind Sister Wang, brandishing spatulas and glaring menacingly at the two.

Wang Fu stumbled back to the door frame, nearly falling. Remembering the time Gu Nanjiao had pinned him to the bucket, he couldn't help but shudder. His hand trembled as he pointed at Yang Meiqin: "It was her. She gave me the idea. She's the one who hired the thugs. She's the one who brought the rats to frame you. If you want to find someone, find her."

Yang Meiqin was about to retort when she realized that she still needed Wang Fu to maintain her position in the Wang family. If she were to break ties with Wang Fu now and return to the Wang family, she might be torn to shreds.

Therefore, he tacitly agreed to Wang Fu's words, lowered his head, and remained silent.

Gu Nanjiao glanced at Yang Meiqin with a half-smile. She never expected the usually flirtatious and outspoken Yang Meiqin to be so quiet and obedient. It seemed the First Madam of the Wang family was quite skilled at training people!

However, since she's caused trouble for her today, she won't let the two of them leave so easily.

Seeing Wang Fu's panicked appearance, Gu Nanjiao's eyes couldn't help but show a hint of mockery: "Wang Fu, it was clearly you who wanted to smash up my Delicious Restaurant, how can you blame it on Sister Meiqin? Don't you know we're from the same village? How could she possibly harm me!"

Wang Fu looked at Yang Meiqin suspiciously, and Yang Meiqin immediately spat at Gu Nanjiao, "Who is your sister Meiqin? You're disgusting!"

Gu Nanjiao said innocently, "Sister Meiqin, no matter what you say, I don't believe you would come up with a plan to harm me. You must have been coerced by Wang Fu. I believe you."

Yang Meiqin could hardly believe that Gu Nanjiao would say she believed her; she always felt that Gu Nanjiao had ulterior motives.

Gu Nanjiao blew on her fingers and looked at Wang Fu with a cold gaze: "Wang Fu, you came to cause trouble today and ruined a lot of my business. For the sake of my sister Meiqin, you should apologize and compensate me with one hundred taels of silver."

"Gu Nanjiao, why should I apologize and compensate you? So what if I want to smash your shop? Let me tell you, if I'm not home by noon, my mother will bring people over and smash your shop again. What do you mean by 'cabbage stalks'? I'm not afraid of that."

"If you lay a single finger on me, I will never let you go, even if it means my death."

Wang Fu had said so much hysterically, but Gu Nanjiao wasn't annoyed. She chuckled and said, "But your brother Bai Luochen also took a cut of this Meishizhai restaurant. If you don't compensate and apologize, then I'll have to have Bai Luochen go to the Wang family to ask for it back."

"You know I mean what I say."

"You—" Wang Fu glared at Gu Nanjiao with jealousy and resentment. Bai Luochen was her weakness, and she was afraid that Bai Luochen would find out about her actions. Now that she had the perfume, she planned to spend more time with Bai Luochen and develop feelings for him. If Bai Luochen broke off business with her family in a fit of anger, wouldn't she never see Bai Luochen again?

"Hmm, still hesitating? Well then, how about this: you drink some of the dirty water from the mopping first, and then I'll have Bai Luochen go to the Wang family to ask for money, okay?"

Thinking of the dirty water in the bucket, Wang Fu couldn't help but shudder. He obediently took out fifty taels and handed them to Gu Nanjiao: "That's all I brought today, I don't have any more."

Gu Nanjiao weighed the silver in her hand, then snatched the gold hairpin from Wang Fu's hair: "Use this to make up for the rest. Hurry up and apologize, I have things to do after you apologize!"

Finally, Wang Fu obediently apologized.

Having learned her lesson last time, Wang Fu has become wiser. A small act of impatience can ruin a great plan. One day, she will sell Gu Nanjiao to the lowest brothel to serve the most disgusting men.

Before leaving, Gu Nanjiao didn't forget to express her gratitude to Yang Meiqin: "Sister Meiqin, thank you for letting me earn a hundred taels and for making Wang Fu apologize. I'll treat you to a meal next time."

Yang Meiqin almost fell over upon hearing this. When she met Wang Fu's vicious gaze, she finally understood why Gu Nanjiao had stopped attacking her.

After things calmed down, Gu Nanjiao finally remembered the man who had taken the punch for her.

Although he was dressed like an ordinary person, no different from when they last met, her intuition told her that this man was no ordinary person.

The man was resting in a chair when he felt the gaze and looked up to meet Gu Nanjiao's eyes.

He carefully examined Gu Nanjiao's features, then suddenly smiled meaningfully: "Madam looks just like my family."

Gu Nanjiao...?

Gu Nanjiao smiled a little shyly: "There are plenty of people in the world who look alike. Maybe I just have a generic face. By the way, I've been dealing with some things just now. Thank you so much for standing up for me and for taking that punch for me. May I ask how I should address you?"

Chu Luoxun smiled slightly: "I am Lin Liu, you can just call me Lin Liu. It was just a small favor. The young lady looked like family, so I just stood in front of her without thinking. No need to thank me."

Upon hearing this, Gu Nanjiao touched her face. Regardless, she was still very grateful to Lin Liu.

"Brother Lin, I see you haven't had lunch yet, how about I make you something to eat?"

"Then I shall respectfully comply."

Gu Nanjiao originally wanted to treat Lin Liu to a meal to express her gratitude, but Lin Liu asked her if Meiweizhai was still hiring, as he wanted to apply for the job of a deliveryman.

He also said that he runs very fast and won't delay the delivery time.

Gu Nanjiao was in a dilemma. Her dilemma stemmed from her previous encounter with Lin Liu, who had been chased and attacked. He was unlikely to be an ordinary person; those vicious men would attack anyone they saw. Fearing trouble, she refused.

Lin Liu knew Gu Nanjiao's concerns, after all, the incident of the attack had caused quite a stir, even alarming the county magistrate. But Gu Nanjiao's appearance really intrigued him. There are countless people in the world who look alike, but to look nine-tenths alike, he couldn't believe there was no connection.

He wanted to stay and find out the truth, but the woman was too cautious.

Some things can't be rushed. In this remote little county, he had more important things to do.

...

As soon as Yang Meiqin stepped into the Wang family's gate, Wang Fu summoned a group of old women to hold her down. He then slapped her across the face, his fierceness no longer concealed: "What kind of terrible idea did you come up with that made me get extorted for a hundred taels of silver? Did you collude with Gu Nanjiao to harm me?"

Yang Meiqin cried out that she was innocent: "Miss, I didn't do it! Gu Nanjiao was clearly doing it on purpose. We've had a grudge for a long time, how could we possibly conspire to frame you!"

"Even if it wasn't you, your terrible ideas have ruined me." Wang Fu gritted his teeth with hatred, thinking about how he always fell into Gu Nanjiao's trap.

She was furious and had nowhere to vent her anger, so she kicked Yang Meiqin.

Yang Meiqin was still in her postpartum confinement period when she was beaten again today, lying on the ground clutching her stomach. At this moment, she hated Gu Nanjiao to the core. Why was it that Gu Nanjiao could get beaten up by Wang Fu just by casually provoking her?

She crawled on her stomach to Wang Fu, her voice as cold and menacing as a venomous snake flicking its tongue:

“Miss, it’s easy to dodge an open arrow but hard to guard against a hidden one. We’ve suffered losses mainly because we’ve used our methods openly. If we deal with Gu Nanjiao secretly, I don’t believe she can escape.”