Whether it's clean or not, how could Aunt Feng'e, a worker, not know? If you ask her what the hardest thing about working for Meng Zhao is, it's that Meng Zhao has set so many requirements. Things like not being able to grow long fingernails, having to wrap your hair with a headscarf when cooking, and having to wash your clothes frequently are the most basic requirements.
Different cutting boards are used for cutting meat and vegetables, and raw and cooked foods are also cut on separate cutting boards. Different vegetables are washed a different number of times and in different ways. Leftovers are never sold the next day; either Meng Zhao's family eats them themselves, or they benefit the workers.
The thought of being falsely accused of making her stall unclean made her furious. "I've never cooked this cleanly and meticulously for myself and my son at home. To say our stall is unclean is utterly heartless. Such black-hearted people will get their comeuppance sooner or later. I hope they'll be reborn as rats in their next life and get trampled to death."
Meng Zhao wasn't very good at cursing, but seeing Aunt Feng'e unleashing a string of curses without repeating herself made her feel a little more at ease.
"Auntie, you rest for a while. I just asked Xiaoyun and Aunt Shuhua to help out at the shop. When they come back, you can take the donkey cart back, and then have Xiaoyun and the others take the donkey cart over again tomorrow morning."
After hearing Meng Zhao's words, Aunt Feng'e nodded. Although she had only been kicked once, that heartless bastard must have used a lot of force. She was panting and her stomach was still a little sore. So she cursed those people in her mind again.
After arranging things for Aunt Feng'e, Meng Zhao was troubled by the food they had brought back. The dock was all dirt road, and the constables had shaken the food before pouring it out, making it very even. Even if Meng Zhao wanted to pick up the clean top layer and continue eating, she couldn't.
The stew, because of its high broth content, almost turned into a muddy mess when it was covered in mud. The pigs in the pig farm were fed with feed made from fermented clean potato scraps, wheat bran, rice bran, and the like, and she would occasionally improve their diet. This mud contained many harmful substances, and if they got sick from eating it, it would be a huge loss, so she had no choice but to throw it away.
There were a few dishes, such as the stir-fried potatoes with meat and the fried eggplant fritters. Because they were all in pieces and had little broth, they were preserved relatively well. Meng Zhao rinsed them with water, firstly to wash off the dirt, and secondly to wash away the salt. The pigs' daily salt intake is regulated, and eating too much salt is not good.
She picked out the edible parts of the pig and put them together, then packed some pork separately.
"Mother, the family on the far west side, and the two houses on the south side that are connected, they all keep dogs. Take this pork to their owners and let them feed it to their dogs. But remember to make sure the dogs finish eating before you come back, don't let anyone eat it. If they get sick, we can't take responsibility."
The cleaned meat looked no different from normal meat. Meng Zhao was afraid that if she gave the meat away, the owner might take a chance and eat it themselves. Although the possibility of something going wrong was small, they couldn't afford to take the responsibility if there was any problem.
Meng Zhao washed the meat several times, but there was still some salt seeping into it. However, the dogs at this time were all raised on leftovers, so some salt wasn't a big problem.
Madam Gu nodded, took the bowl of pork, and went out.
Meng Zhao focused on washing the other vegetables in her hands, while Shen Qingze and Shen Qingyu carefully brought her the prepared warm water.
Normally, when they came back from outside at this time, the two children would have been noisily pestering them to talk, but now, probably sensing that the atmosphere was not right, the two children just stood there quietly without saying a word.
Meng Zhao glanced up casually and immediately noticed the somber expressions on the two children's faces.
"Qingze and Qingyu, why aren't you saying anything? Didn't you have fun at home today?"
Hearing their sister-in-law's gentle voice, the two children relaxed a little. They had been terrified when they saw their sister-in-law and her family return early with gloomy expressions and dirty food in the bowls they brought back.
The two shook their heads. "No, we've been studying at home all day, and we're not unhappy."
Although they were still young, Meng Zhao knew that the two children were intelligent and sensible from a young age and understood many things. So, after thinking for a moment, she felt that there was no need to keep it from them completely.
Meng Zhao nodded slightly and said slowly, "Okay, the reason why my sister-in-law and mother were unhappy today is because someone caused trouble at the lunchbox stall and accused our food of being unclean, so we probably won't be able to go out and sell lunchboxes for a while."
Upon hearing this, the two children's eyes widened immediately, looking at Meng Zhao with worry. Meng Zhao dried her hands on a clean cloth, then reached out and gently patted their heads, smiling as she comforted them:
"But don't worry, we just can't go out to sell boxed lunches for the time being. The business in the shop can still be done as usual. You two just need to focus on your studies. Your sister-in-law will take care of these things."
Seeing the smile return to Meng Zhao's face, the two children felt relieved and no longer as nervous as before, so they started chatting again.
When Shen Qinghe returned, the atmosphere in the courtyard had returned to normal. However, Madam Gu was not one to keep things to herself, and Shen Qinghe noticed the worry in her eyes. So she took the opportunity to ask her mother what had happened.
Gu told him the story bit by bit. When he heard that the group of constables had actually made a move, Shen Qinghe's heart felt like it was being gripped tightly by an invisible hand. The image of his mother and sister-in-law being bullied involuntarily flashed through his mind, and his fists clenched involuntarily.
Fortunately, when he heard that his mother and sister-in-law were not injured, but only Aunt Feng'e was slightly injured and not seriously, his tense body relaxed a little.
"Mother said those people specifically asked about the family's situation?" Shen Qinghe asked thoughtfully, frowning.
Gu nodded. "Yes, they asked me where I'm from, when I started my stall, and other similar questions. I'm not quite sure why they asked these questions."
Upon hearing this, Shen Qinghe frowned even more deeply. He shared the same thought as Meng Zhao: this matter was probably not aimed at Meng Zhao, otherwise they would have targeted the stalls at the dock instead of the more profitable braised pork shop.
Could it be that other vendors at the docks couldn't stand seeing how well their business was doing and went to report them? But how could ordinary vendors at the docks possibly instruct the police?
Seeing Meng Zhao struggling to pour water from the bucket into the pot, Shen Qinghe quickly ran over and took it from him.
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