As Xiao Yunying ate her food, she asked Ling Qi, "Did that apprentice say who told him to do this?"
Ling Qi swallowed the food in his mouth: "That man was very timid. I told him everything without doing anything. He was a merchant surnamed Liang. I gave him two hundred taels of silver and asked him to put poisonous mushrooms in the banquet he ordered for Master Wang today. The purpose was to ruin the business of exchanging flour for rice and to damage the Chen family's business."
Chen Yuancheng said to her, "It's exactly as you guessed."
Xiao Yunying found it strange: "Master chefs always taste the dishes. Is this apprentice stupid? How could he put poisonous mushrooms in the dish before Master Li tasted it?"
Unlike stir-fries, stews are not served immediately. If it were her, she would wait until the chef had tasted the dish before adding the poisonous mushrooms.
Ling Qi said, "He's not stupid. Because Chef Li keeps looking back at the stewed dishes, he can't find an opportunity to put in the poisonous mushrooms. He only managed to put them in quickly when Chef Li was away."
Moreover, Chef Li has his own habits. If he has been drinking the night before and his sense of taste is not accurate, he will not taste the dishes himself. If he is asked to taste them, he will pretend to have tasted them and say that there is no problem.
He coaxed Chef Li to drink quite a bit of wine last night, but unexpectedly, Chef Li took this feast very seriously and insisted on tasting it himself to be sure. He had no choice but to give him a small spoonful to drink, as constantly trying to dissuade him would arouse suspicion.
He was taking a chance, thinking that as long as he didn't eat the poisonous mushrooms, drinking only a little bit of the broth would be fine. He never expected the insect-eating mushroom to be so poisonous; Chef Li was taken away shortly after drinking the broth.
Xiao Yunying sighed, "He's willing to take someone's life for just two hundred taels of silver. And Chef Li is his master. Even if he didn't taste the food and wouldn't be poisoned, as the head chef, he would still be implicated if a customer was poisoned. This person is really too selfish."
Ling Qi said, "I asked him if he had ever thought that it would implicate his master. He said that his master deserved it. He was the one who became the master first, but because Li Yuan is his nephew, he always favored Li Yuan. When things were busy, he would let Li Yuan help cook, while he could only do kitchen helper work such as chopping vegetables and watching the fire."
Chen Yuancheng pushed the steamed dumplings towards Xiao Yunying: "I asked the shopkeeper, and Li Yuan is indeed very talented in cooking. He has been learning cooking from Chef Li since he was a child, and he is ready to graduate."
The shopkeeper had mentioned to Chef Li two or three times that Li Yuan could start cooking on his own, but Chef Li said there was no rush; he would wait until his eldest apprentice's skills had improved before letting Li Yuan graduate.
Xiao Yunying frowned and said angrily, "I really feel sorry for Chef Li and Li Yuan."
Chef Li was concerned about his eldest apprentice's pride and didn't want to put too much pressure on him, which is why he repeatedly delayed the graduation time for his own nephew.
His sincerity was met with his eldest apprentice's words, "You deserve it!"
Chen Yuancheng switched to serving chopsticks, picked up a steamed dumpling, and put it in her bowl: "Why are you angry again? Anyone who didn't know better would think you were Chef Li."
Xiao Yunying pointed at the steamed dumplings in her bowl with her chopsticks: "It's probably because I have a strong sense of empathy. Even though I don't have much ability myself, I can't bear to see others suffer."
Having strong empathy is neither a good thing nor a bad thing.
She was like this in her past life; she was extremely sensitive to tears. When watching a novel or TV series, she could cry her eyes out if the plot was even slightly sad, sometimes even more than the male and female leads. Her mother often teased her about it.
Because of her strong empathy, she can sense the sadness and helplessness of those in need, so she is willing to help others as much as possible, and therefore donated a lot of money in her previous life.
Especially when you see a child who is sick but has no money for treatment.
There are also those who were abandoned by their biological parents because of serious illness.
While feeling sorry for the other person, I am also grateful to God for giving me parents who love me, have not given up on me, and whose financial situation (this may be a bit of a hindrance, but it is reality) is not bad.
“A strong sense of empathy indicates that you are a kind-hearted person.”
Oh dear, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Xiao Yunying perked up and joked, "You're right, I also think I'm quite kind."
If Chen Yuanxuan were here, he would definitely say she was shameless. Chen Yuancheng just smiled faintly and said, "Let's eat quickly, the food is getting cold."
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