Chapter 92: Catching the Thief
The boy explained, "Madam, we were just browsing and wanted to help serve the food."
Yu Wan laughed and said, "But your job is to collect dishes and wipe tables; serving food is not within your job scope."
These people are clumsy and inefficient. She had already told the shopkeeper that they could only be assigned to menial tasks.
The boy looked at the girl, stammering for a long time, "I...I am..."
Yu Wan then looked at the girl, "Why does he keep looking at you? Could you be the mastermind?"
The girl raised her chin and snorted, "Now that you've caught us, do with us as you please! We have nothing to say!"
"You're all talk. If you don't give me a satisfactory answer today, I won't let you off easily."
The girl, with her nose in the air, said defiantly, "Punish us however you want, just make sure we eat."
Yu Wan grasped the key point: "What if we don't feed you? I don't believe you can withstand going without food for a few meals."
The girl's face flushed red with anger as she glared at her, "You! You're despicable!"
"How am I despicable? You come to my shop to cause trouble, and I'm not even allowed to fight back? What kind of logic is that?" Yu Wan laughed.
"What did I do wrong? I just stole a little something, and I didn't even get to eat it yet! You're so stingy!" the girl shouted.
"Stealing food? Are you sure it was just stealing food? You weren't trying to poison me?" Yu Wan asked.
The girl's face changed drastically. "What? You suspect us of poisoning? How could that be! What good would poisoning do us?"
Yu Wan shrugged. "That's a question for you guys to answer. I'd love to know too."
"It's a misunderstanding, a huge misunderstanding!" the girl pleaded humbly. "Boss lady, you've really misunderstood us. We overheard the other diners saying how delicious the steamed pork was today, so we wanted to sneak a few bites. You can ask the people outside; they were praising it while they ate it—who could stand that!"
The boy also begged for mercy, "Boss lady, I know you set the rules a long time ago that the staff can't steal food. I swear we've never made a mistake before, but we just couldn't resist today."
Yu Wan didn't believe it. "Is that all?"
From the moment she realized something was off about these people until now, she had imagined all sorts of scenarios in her mind, but it turned out to be just a false alarm.
The boy and girl swore, "I, Jiang Zong, swear that we have never done anything to wrong you. We were just greedy."
"I, Xiao Lan, swear this!"
Yu Wan found no evidence and also verified that they did not have any drug powder on them, so it was clear that the investigation could not proceed.
"In that case, stealing food should be punished."
The two said, "As long as you don't kick us out, we'll accept any punishment you give us."
Yu Wan frowned, "Don't you want to leave?"
The two shook their heads. "No! Boss lady, please be kind and take us in. We don't need wages anymore, just let us have enough to eat, we'll do anything."
Yu Wan found it even stranger. These two were willing to forgo their wages just for the sake of food?
Or is there another plan?
Now her status is different from before; she has thousands of people under her command, and the team is much larger, making it harder to manage than before.
"Alright, then for the next month you can only wash dishes and can't do anything else."
They left after expressing their gratitude, but Yu Wan was still worried and asked He Jing to keep an eye on things for them.
Two nights later, He Jing came to knock on the door.
"A-Wan, are you asleep?"
Yu Wan was doing the accounts. "Come in."
He Jing pushed open the door and entered the room, only to find that Yu Wan, as always, had all her thoughts focused on making money.
"It's so late, why aren't you resting yet?"
Yu Wan said, "This is a handwritten copy of the account books sent from the capital. I'm checking for any errors. Their business is large-scale, and I'm worried they might not be able to handle it properly."
He Jing sat opposite her.
The girl's eyes were lowered, one hand flipping through the account book, the other deftly manipulating the abacus beads, showing no signs of fatigue.
"Your business has grown so big, haven't you ever thought about taking a break?" He Jing asked.
Yu Wan laughed, "Resting? I'm barely here! The bigger the business, the harder it is to manage. One wrong move and everything's gone. What do you need me for? Is there a result regarding the matter I asked you to help with?"
He Jing said, "I've been observing them for the past two days, and these people are indeed very strange."
Yu Wan stopped her work, looked up at him, and realized that the young man was wearing a new set of clothes—the ones she had made for him before, which she hadn't seen him wear since. He seemed to have grown taller and stronger. Before, she had asked for a larger size because she was worried he would grow too fast, but now it fit perfectly, showing off his strong and muscular physique.
He Jing pursed his lips, feeling her stare at him. "What's wrong? Do I look bad like this?"
Yu Wan rubbed her temples. "No, it looks great. What's wrong? What's strange about it?"
He Jingdao said, "There are more than a dozen of them, each from a different country."
"Could they be refugees from various countries? After all, due to the wars of the past few years, people all over the world have not been living well," Yu Wan said.
He Jing said, "I don't think they are ordinary people."
“But my mother said that when she saw them, they were dressed in tattered and dirty clothes, like beggars. Maybe they came from a wealthy family but fell on hard times? Anyway, let’s keep an eye on them first. It would be troublesome to just drive them away,” Yu Wan said.
He Jing nodded. "The Lantern Festival is in a few days. May I invite you to go see the lanterns together?"
Yu Wan thought it was nothing serious, so she agreed.
"Okay, it's time to relax."
He Jing, who had been worried about being rejected, was overjoyed and broke into a smile, revealing two rows of white teeth.
That's great.
That smile was captivating; even after the person left, Yu Wan was still gazing at the doorway, savoring the moment.
On the Lantern Festival, Yu Wan gave everyone a day off.
After dinner, Yu Wan asked her mother and A-Cheng to change their clothes.
He Jing changed into a new outfit and went downstairs with cheerful steps, only to see three people sitting in the living room waiting for him.
His smile gradually froze, and he looked somewhat disappointed.
Yu Wan was surprised that he was so slow; he's usually very fast and would never make anyone wait.
"Everything's packed, let's go."
He Jing didn't dare to say anything, and pursed his lips, "Okay."
Yu's mother and A-Cheng exchanged a smile, having already seen through his thoughts.
"Awan, your mother has made an appointment with the magistrate's wife today, and she has already reserved a table."
Yu Cheng winked at He Jing and said with a smile to his older sister, "Sister, I have an exam coming up soon, so I won't be with you and Brother Asu. I'll come back and make you happy when I pass the exam and become a scholar."
Yu Wan advised, "The exam is very important, but it's okay to take a day off today, right?"
Yu Cheng shook his head. "The teacher said that I started learning later than others. Although I'm already doing very well, I still need to improve. I don't want to fail the exam and become a laughing stock! I have a few questions. Today, I want to go to the county magistrate's house with my mother and ask him for advice."
Yu Wan smiled and said, "Alright then, you and your mother be careful."
He Jing knew perfectly well that the mother and son were helping him, and his heart warmed. He secretly clasped his hands in thanks and expressed his gratitude with his eyes.
"Awan, don't worry, I'll have people protect them."
Yu Wan said, "Then let's go."
He Jing handed over a hot water bottle, "To warm your hands."
Yu Wan smiled and accepted it. "Thank you. By the way, you've finished fighting, don't you need to return to the capital to report? And aren't you going home?"
He Jing lifted the carriage curtain with one hand and offered his arm for her to hold.
"The war has not yet truly ended, and His Majesty has ordered me to stay here and be ready to respond to the enemy at any time."
Yu Wan helped him onto the carriage, where various fruits, snacks, and hot tea had already been prepared.
"You didn't do all of this, did you? You're a great general, it's a waste of your talents to do this."
He Jing then got into the carriage and sat opposite him, saying, "I am willing to serve you."
Yu Wan ate sunflower seeds as He Jing recounted their history since they met, though she couldn't remember many of the details.
"You actually remember all of that? Your memory is really sharp."
Upon arriving at their destination, the two alighted from the carriage and saw a bustling street where many vendors were selling lanterns and there were lantern riddle guessing activities.
Yu Wan smiled and said, "I heard that there were no people during the Lantern Festival in previous years because no one had money and was worried about war, so no one was in the mood to go out and have fun. Now it's so lively, and the small county town is so prosperous, which shows that everyone's life is getting better and better. I really like this atmosphere."
He Jing said, "Then I'll accompany you to see the lanterns every year from now on, okay?"
“Okay,” Yu Wan replied casually, but upon closer examination of the other person’s words, something seemed off.
"The future is uncertain, so don't make promises lightly. Luckily, I don't care about these things. But if some young girl just starting to fall in love heard that, things might get complicated."
He Jing said anxiously, "A-Wan, I..."
Just as he was about to continue speaking, he heard someone shout from the crowd.
"Miss Awan! It's Miss Awan!"
"Wow! It really is Miss Awan! You are our great benefactor! The magistrate told us all about how you helped the whole county. Miss Awan, you are such a kind person."
"My great benefactor, Miss Awan, thank you. Without you, we would probably have starved to death long ago."
Yu Wan felt a warm glow inside as these people thanked her profusely. She didn't ask for their endless gratitude; she just wanted everyone to live well so that her life could be better too.
"Please don't be like this, everyone. I haven't done anything special; I just want us all to have enough to eat and wear. The county magistrate is our benefactor; without his wise decisions and his trust, there would be no Yu Wan today. We should all thank the county magistrate. We should also thank General He Jing; if it weren't for him, we would already be dead in the war. We should be even more grateful to the current emperor, who understands the suffering of the people and will soon issue many policies to benefit them. We should also thank the soldiers on the frontier and many others who have made contributions; without these people protecting our country and their dedication, none of us could have achieved what we have today. We should also thank ourselves; it is our spirit of perseverance that has changed our lives. Everyone, go and have some fun; I won't keep you any longer."
Thunderous applause erupted as people chanted slogans, expressing their gratitude to this and that, their enthusiasm soaring and the scene boiling with excitement.
People rushed over and stuffed gifts into Yu Wan's hands; in no time, she had received more than a dozen lanterns.
Yu Wan declined several times, but the people stuffed the things into her hands and ran away.
She smiled helplessly at He Jing, "I think we should go."
He Jing sighed, "Okay, let's go home."
They managed to squeeze out of the crowd with great difficulty, and thankfully no one noticed.
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