After having lunch with the Gu family, Meng Zhao returned to Xishui Street with Xiao Chuan before dinner. They entered through the back door, Xiao Chuan went to park the donkey cart, and Meng Zhao prepared to go back to her room. Just as she unlocked the door, she heard someone calling her from outside the courtyard. The voice sounded somewhat familiar.
Meng Zhao didn't go inside immediately, but turned and went out into the yard. She saw a chubby figure around the corner and tentatively called out, "Master Zhou, is that you?"
The chubby figure first looked around warily before slowly approaching. He pushed his hat up and pulled his scarf down, revealing a round face. It was indeed Chef Zhou from Zhao's Braised Offal across the street, but he seemed to have lost a little weight since the last time they met.
She already knew that the Zhao Ji Braised Offal shop across the street belonged to Zhao Shida, and she also knew that Chef Zhou had been studying her skills a lot. Meng Zhao hadn't directly kicked him out, which was already quite polite, so when she spoke, her tone wasn't too gentle, "Chef Zhou, is there something you need?"
Chef Zhou lowered his head, his face full of guilt. "What happened before was my fault, Madam Meng. But I was just following Zhao Shida's orders to imitate your braised meat. I didn't mean to make things difficult for you."
Meng Zhao gave a cold laugh and retorted, "So, Master Zhou means that if you knew that Meng's Braised Pork was owned by me, you wouldn't have done it even if your young master asked you to imitate him, is that right?"
Chef Zhou was speechless at the question and lowered his head in shame. In fact, he knew in his heart that even if he knew that Meng Ji Braised Pork was opened by Meng Zhao, he would still imitate it as long as his master gave him instructions. He would just feel a little more guilty.
Looking at Meng Zhao's mocking gaze, Chef Zhou felt utterly ashamed. However, he hadn't come today just to apologize; he had something else to say. Fearing being seen by others, he could only speak quickly:
“Madam Meng, I came here to remind you to be careful lately. A few days ago, Zhao Shida changed to a new manager and handed over all the business to him. He trusts him a lot, but I heard from my second uncle that the man is wicked and not a good person. You must be careful.”
Meng Zhao became curious and couldn't help but ask, "Your second uncle?"
Chef Zhou immediately looked sad. "My second uncle was the manager of Zhao's Braised Pork before. Because he refused to listen to Zhao Shida's methods to deal with you, he was falsely accused of falsifying accounts, beaten half to death, and almost sent to the yamen. He's lying at home right now."
Meng Zhao had no prior knowledge of this matter; he only knew that the middle-aged manager of the building across the street had disappeared a few days after it opened. He was quite surprised to hear about this incident.
Then the cook continued, "The new manager's surname is Tian. He's obviously no good. I've seen him taking money from customers several times. He's always sneaking around and insists I use his seasoning packets. I took a bite, and ugh! It's not even as good as what you make, let alone what I make, but I don't know why, the customers love it. Business is good, and Zhao Shida is taking a liking to him even more. Now he only believes what he says. I'm afraid I won't stay in the Zhao family for long."
When Zhao Shida and the new manager were mentioned, Chef Zhou gritted her teeth, clearly harboring a deep hatred. However, Meng Zhao couldn't interfere with this matter; in truth, both uncle and nephew were her enemies.
"How is your second uncle's health now?" Meng Zhao asked.
Cook Zhou replied, "He's still lying in bed. That damned Zhao guy really went all out. My second uncle worked for him for over ten years, and he showed no mercy at all. He's utterly immoral. My second uncle is the most upright person; he would never falsify accounts. Someone must have framed him."
Seeing that he had said enough, Chef Zhou did not dare to linger any longer. "Madam Meng, I sneaked out and have to go back to work now. You must be careful and don't let anyone harm you."
Watching Chef Zhou sneak away, Meng Zhao felt a mix of emotions. It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. She just wanted to run a business peacefully, but why was it so difficult?
After Meng Zhao finished speaking with Chef Zhou and returned to the courtyard, just as she was about to go inside, a strange feeling suddenly welled up in her heart, and she keenly sensed that something was wrong.
When she came back, she first unlocked the entire door and pushed open both doors.
When she heard someone calling her, she pulled the door back open. However, the situation was urgent, and she didn't have time to lock it. She simply hung the lock on the brass rings of both doors. In her haste, she accidentally knocked one of the brass rings upright.
Now, the brass rings on both doors hang down naturally, indicating that someone has entered her house.
Meng Zhao's heart sank, and she immediately became alert. The first thing she checked was the spice packets in the room. The two kinds of spice packets for Chunfenglou were locked in a box, and the lock had not been touched. The loose spice packets used in their shop were placed outside, a total of thirty-four, and not one was missing.
Next, he glanced at where she kept her money. He couldn't tell if the loose copper coins were missing or not, but on top of them were two fifty-tael deposit slips that she had just exchanged in the last two days. Meng Zhao couldn't tell if they had been tampered with, but the amount was definitely not less.
She had no idea what the visitor's purpose was. She had just sensed something was wrong and thought that Chef Zhou was coming to lure her away to steal her spice packets or recipes. But she had never written down any recipes, and all the spice packets were there. Moreover, judging from Chef Zhou's indignant appearance just now, he didn't seem to be faking it.
If the person came to steal money, that doesn't make sense. Why would they leave behind two fifty-tael deposit slips and take some copper coins instead? Besides, it's not even certain whether the copper coins are missing or not.
The best course of action now is to find the person who entered her room as soon as possible. Meng Zhao went around the room and decided to try to find out who it was by approaching them indirectly.
Aunt Feng'e, Shen Yun, Cui Ying, and Lady Liu were all in the front shop just now and can testify to each other that they did not come to the backyard.
Xiao Chuan said that after he tied up the donkey cart, he went to get hay to feed the donkey. When the donkey shed was built, it was placed in a narrow alley to keep it away from the feeding area, so Xiao Chuan could not see the yard when he fed the donkey.
Lin Qiuniang was tending the fire at the stove. To block the wind in winter, Meng Zhao had built a partition in the shed in the yard. Lin Qiuniang could see the yard, but not Meng Zhao's doorway.
Meng Jianqiu and He Jianxia said they had been grinding flour inside the house and hadn't gone out. What they could confirm was that the person who entered their house was not an outsider. They had been talking to Chef Zhou at the back gate the whole time, and no one had come in through the gate.
Although it was possible for them to climb over the wall, Xiao Chuan and Lin Qiu Niang, despite having their view obstructed, could still hear the sounds coming from the courtyard. Climbing over the wall would have been quite a commotion, so it was unlikely that neither of them would have heard it.
So who is lying?
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