Selling fake alcohol

Sure enough, on the fourth day after opening, the number of customers in the liquor store began to decline.

Defu reported to Fu Zhiqiao about the situation at the shop over the past two days in the courtyard.

Song Dali, a capable assistant under Defu, was sitting behind the counter watching the shop when a shop assistant rushed in and whispered in his ear, "A lot of people have come to the shop entrance, saying there's something wrong with our wine. Go and fetch the manager!"

Song Dali and the messenger exchanged a glance, then got up and quickly walked outside. As he walked, he said, "The manager and the owner are in the back yard. Go and invite them quickly. I'll go and see what's going on."

Outside the liquor store, a large group of people walked over, carrying a sick-looking person behind them, and brazenly blocked the entrance of the liquor store.

His head twitched. Could this be a troublemaker?

Sensing ill intent from the newcomer, Song Dali stepped forward cautiously and asked, "May I ask what brings you here, sir?"

"Call your boss out here, I need to see your boss!" the man shouted sternly, and the customers who were buying alcohol all turned to look at him.

The man in the lead complained, "Your alcohol made my brother's stomach upset."

Song Dali bowed and smiled apologetically: "Uh, sir, have you misunderstood?"

The man shoved Song Dali aside, and several of his men quickly helped him up. The man showed no fear, and the seven or eight men he brought blocked the doorway, looking ready to fight. Passersby were also curious and gathered around.

"Chen Zheng, what's wrong with you?"

By now, some people had already recognized them.

The man in the lead was named Chen Zheng. He lived in Baiwu Town. His family was poor when he was a child, so he was sent to work as an apprentice under a tailor. Over the years, he worked his way up from apprentice to master tailor and opened a tailor shop in the city with the money he had saved up.

Chen Zheng himself couldn't take the imperial examination route, but his younger brother Chen Ze could. If he could pass the examination and become a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the lowest level of the imperial examinations), the family wouldn't have to pay taxes or perform corvée labor.

Chen Zheng's father died from overwork while participating in corvée labor. Building bridges, repairing roads, and managing canals were all arduous tasks. His father's death made the already impoverished family even worse off, and he had to become an apprentice at a young age. Therefore, being exempt from corvée labor became a knot in his heart.

The tailor shop was doing quite well, and Chen Zheng was determined to expose his younger brother.

Chen Ze was of average talent, and it wasn't until he was nearly thirty that he finally passed the county-level examination and became a student, but this was already a major event in Chen Zheng's family. According to the imperial examination system of the Great Wei Dynasty, only those who passed the county-level examination and became students were qualified to participate in the subsequent prefectural examination and become scholars.

Upon receiving the news, Chen Zheng was overjoyed. He spent ten taels of silver to buy Taibai wine and prepared a feast at home, inviting his relatives to celebrate together.

Not long after the banquet began, Chen Ze came out to offer a toast. The family was happily exchanging auspicious words. But as soon as he finished offering the toast, Chen Ze bent over, clutched his stomach, and said it hurt. The next second, he rushed straight to the outhouse.

"You were fine just now, why does your stomach suddenly hurt?"

"Did you eat something that upset your stomach?"

"I only had two glasses of wine,"

"Is there something wrong with the alcohol?"

With the person involved in this state, the relatives lost their appetite for the banquet and gathered together to speculate about the reasons.

A short while later, Chen Ze emerged from the outhouse, his face deathly pale. He dragged his weak legs back to the chair, and his relatives rushed forward to inquire about his condition. However, after sitting for less than half a cup of tea's time, he clutched his stomach and rushed back into the outhouse.

After repeating this several times, he no longer had the strength to even stand up and walk.

Given the state of the parties involved, it's natural that they couldn't stomach the celebratory meal.

The family banquet was ruined. Looking at his younger brother's haggard face, Chen Zheng became angrier and angrier. It was all the wine's fault. He immediately led his men to the door to demand an explanation.

Seeing Chen Zheng complaining to the onlookers, "I bought wine for ten taels of silver, and it made me sick. What a heartless merchant!"

"At worst, I'll report this to the authorities. Today, I'm determined to get an explanation!"

His words stirred up a huge wave of controversy, with many people, unaware of the situation, standing up for him.

"Is this shop trying to rob us?"

"Ten taels of silver is too expensive; wine sold outside only costs a few dozen coins."

"They dare to sell a jar of wine for ten taels of silver! They're truly heartless!"

"That's right, Qingzhai wine only costs one tael of silver."

"Hey, something's up here again, let me check it out!"

Song Dali immediately shouted, "Quiet down, quiet down, everyone, please listen to me."

He said to Chen Zheng, "Sir, our Taibai Wine Shop has clearly marked prices and we treat everyone fairly, young and old."

However, no one paid any attention to him; everyone's eyes were on Chen Zheng.

"Everyone, please be the judge! My brother didn't eat anything, but after drinking two cups of wine, he has severe diarrhea and is in unbearable pain. He still has to take the prefectural examination to become a scholar. What will happen if he gets sick from this wine?!"

The man on the ground clutched his stomach, curling up in pain: "It hurts! My stomach hurts so much!"

The pitiful cries drew frequent glances from the guests.

Oh dear, these are students participating in a scientific expedition. If they get sick from eating this, it could ruin their future!

"Ruining someone's future deserves a divine punishment!"

"Oh no? I just drank a cup of Taibai wine, could I have been poisoned too?" a customer said worriedly, clutching his stomach.

"Is there really something wrong with this wine? I'm afraid to buy it." Someone had already put down the wine jar and walked towards the door.

Faced with a barrage of accusations from those around him, Song Dali was speechless and could not defend himself: "You, you're talking nonsense!"

With the reputation of being a shady shop owner attached to him, how could he do business in the future? He vehemently denied it: "We've sold so much liquor without any problems, so why do you say that Taibai liquor made your brother sick? What evidence do you have?"

Song Dali was clever and knew that the reputation of the wine shop could not be allowed to be slandered by outsiders, so he tried to stall for time until Fu Zhiqiao arrived.

"You can't just say our wine made people sick without any reason. You need to provide evidence. Even in court, you need personal and physical evidence. Don't you all agree?"

Upon hearing this, everyone felt that what Song Dali said made sense.

Yes, isn't it slander without any evidence? Many of the onlookers were residents of Shizijie, and they naturally sided with their neighbors.

Seeing that someone was wavering, Chen Zheng's face darkened instantly. He sneered, picked up the wine jar, and slammed it heavily on the table. "You want evidence, right? Here is the evidence!"

"Let's see how you try to deny it now! If you delay my brother's exam, I'll make sure you all regret it!" Chen Zheng roared angrily. "Brothers, help me smash this unscrupulous merchant's shop!"

A group of people rushed forward, and Song Dali and his men worked together to stop them, resulting in a chaotic scene.

"What happened?"

Song Dali, who was being squeezed and deformed by the crowd, was overjoyed to hear this, for it was his boss.

Following the sound, everyone looked and saw a young woman dressed in a white brocade robe walking over, surrounded by people. Her hair was not styled in a bun, but simply tied up with a ribbon. Her delicate and three-dimensional features gave her an androgynous beauty, and the aura she exuded made the onlookers unconsciously make way for her.

Seeing Fu Zhiqiao approaching, Song Dali and the other workers breathed a sigh of relief and shouted in unison, "Boss!"

Song Dali cried out in his heart: You've finally arrived! We were about to be overwhelmed!

"These guys are blocking the door, insisting that our wine made their brother sick and they're here to demand an explanation. They even said we'd be in deep trouble," Song Dali complained first.

At this moment, the entrance of the wine shop was crowded with onlookers. Fu Zhiqiao's expression was solemn. If the matter was not clarified at this point, the reputation of Taibai Wine would be ruined.

Fu Zhi Qiao crouched down, reaching out to check the man's condition, but Chen Zheng grabbed her wrist. "Who are you? What do you want to do to my brother?"

"Weren't you just looking for me? Now you're asking who I am?" Fu Zhi Qiao looked up and sized up Chen Zheng. He was very strong, with dark skin and not very tall. His facial features were distorted with anger.

Chen Zheng was also sizing up Fu Zhi Qiao: "You're the owner of Taibai Wine Shop? You look all respectable. Your wine made my brother sick. Tell me, how are you going to compensate me?"

Chen Zheng owns a tailor shop and is a businessman. Since the incident has already happened, he might as well take this opportunity to ask for more compensation.

"Has the doctor seen you? What did they say?"

Chen Zheng stared at her coldly without saying a word. His relative behind him added, "My neighbor is a doctor. He said it's indigestion and diarrhea."

"So they didn't call a doctor." Fu Zhiqiao glanced at the man lying on the ground and instructed Song Dali, "His life is at stake, don't be careless. Go and find a doctor to take a look at him!"

Unexpectedly, the master immediately told him to fetch a doctor. He was stunned for a moment before replying, "Yes!"

Song Dali received the order and went to find a doctor.

Fu Zhiqiao turned her gaze back to Chen Zheng and asked, "May I ask when you came to buy the wine?"

Chen Zheng was stunned. "What do you mean?"

Fu Zhiqiao glanced at the crowd of onlookers, smiled meaningfully, and said, "Taibai Wine Shop keeps a record of every jar of wine sold."

"Since this customer says that he had a problem after drinking our Taibai wine, could you please tell us when he bought the wine and when he drank it? Did he eat anything else? If the problem is indeed found to be with the wine, we will certainly compensate him properly."

“What do you mean? The facts are right in front of us and you still want to deny it. My brother didn’t touch anything except the wine you drank.”

"How come out of all of you drinking, only your brother got into trouble?"

Yeah! Why didn't the others ask any questions? Are they afraid to answer because they have something to hide?

The onlookers' gazes immediately changed.

Unable to argue with her or avoid the question, Chen Zheng thought for a moment and replied, "Around 11 PM yesterday."

Fu Zhiqiao then asked, "May I ask your name?"

Chen Zheng was already very impatient, and glared at her: "Chen Zheng".

Fu Zhiqiao nodded and said to Defu, "Go and check at 1-3 PM on November 5th."

With the aim of providing thoughtful service, every customer who has bought wine at Taibai Wine Shop will be registered. As the number of purchases increases, a group of loyal customers can be identified, and then she will launch thoughtful services for these loyal customers.

Defu hurried to the counter to look through the booklet; he was the one who kept track of the daily sales.

What are they doing? Everyone was a bit confused.

A moment later, Defu returned with the booklet: "Master, there is no record of this customer making a purchase on November 4th at 1-3 PM."

"How could that be? I bought this wine from your shop. Are you trying to renege on your debt?"

Chen Zheng got anxious and pointed to the half-full jar of wine: "Everyone come and see, this is the evidence. Now they're denying it!"

Defu stepped forward, picked up the wine jar, and carefully examined the stamp and label on it. He nodded slightly to Fu Zhiqiao, indicating that there was no problem and that the wine had indeed been sold from the wine shop.

Next, open the wine jar to check the wine.

The wine jar, label, and stamp are all correct, and the color of the wine is as clear as ever. This is strange. Could it be that there is something wrong with our own wine?

He immediately rejected the idea as soon as it came to mind. He had been to the workshops and cellars, and he knew that Taibai liquor was made without any impurities, so it was impossible for it to cause any problems.

Even the color of the wine is correct?

Fu Zhiqiao frowned. Taibai wine is made using distillation, a technology that is not currently available in the Great Wei. She did not expect that a counterfeit wine would appear in such a short time. Could it be that she underestimated the wisdom of the ancients and that someone had cracked the secret of distillation so quickly?

Defu took out a silver needle and probed the wine. After a moment, the needle did not change color, indicating that the wine was not poisoned. Defu was delighted. He then poured a cup of wine, picked it up, and smelled it, frowning slightly.

He sensed something was wrong as soon as the wine was poured. He took another sip, his brow furrowing even deeper. He muttered to himself, "Something's not right. This wine doesn't taste right."

Genuine Taibai wine has a strong aroma, a spicy taste followed by a sweet aftertaste, but this wine...

Defu's eyes widened; he roughly knew where the problem lay!

He turned around without making a sound and shook his head at Fu Zhiqiao.

Fu Zhi Qiao took the wine glass, brought it to her nose and smelled it, realizing in her heart, "This wine is definitely fake!"