Today, a woman came to Meng's shop to buy a portion of braised pork. When she got home, before she could even put the braised pork on the table, her husband came out from the inner room and said unhappily, "Haven't you heard that this braised pork has some kind of opium in it? It's addictive."
Upon hearing this, the woman immediately retorted, "You're really confused! The one that added something is that Zhao Ji's. I've never bought from them. The one I bought is from Meng Ji's. You've eaten it so many times. If it were addictive, you would have been addicted long ago."
"You're not allowed to eat that! Who knows if there's anything dirty in the food from outside!"
"Fine, then you don't eat, I'll eat by myself." The woman also got angry and sat down at the table by herself, eating noisily, leaving her husband stubbornly sitting aside watching and swallowing his saliva, but for the sake of face, he still refused to eat.
Seeing that the shop's business had not improved for several days, even the usually composed Meng Zhao became a little anxious, but how could the lost trust be made up for so quickly?
The turning point in this matter actually came from the government office. After all, the government office had never officially released any definitive information about this matter before. All the news circulating in the county was just hearsay. But rumors can become accepted as truth, and they can easily be distorted over time.
There are even rumors that Zhao's braised pork has poisoned several people.
Finally, the government officially announced the outcome of the case, which quelled many rumors.
No one died in the opium incident in Qingshi County. After treatment by doctors, many patients with mild symptoms have recovered. Although patients with moderate symptoms still experience insomnia, vivid dreams, difficulty concentrating, and emotional instability, they are at least not in mortal danger. As long as they do not use opium again in the future, they will not have any problems.
Tian Hongwu and the opium vendors were taken to the prefectural government office for further investigation. Although Zhao Shida was guilty of negligence, he was indeed unaware of the situation throughout the entire process and had also become addicted to opium. The Zhao family spent a large sum of money to protect him so that he was not sent to the prefectural government office but was instead imprisoned in the county.
Many businesses rely on personal connections. Zhao Shida usually hangs out with many wealthy people in the county. He has now offended them all, and it's likely that the Zhao family's business will suffer in the future.
As the case came to light, the yamen commended the two initial complainants, Meng Zhao of Mengji Braised Pork and Doctor Wang of Huichuntang. The yamen issued plaques to them, praising their courage, fearlessness, and compassionate hearts as doctors.
In fact, Meng Zhao's achievements were not limited to this. Although the discovery in Qingshi County was timely and did not cause too serious consequences, there were several severely affected counties where a lot of people died. Even many people who had died under mysterious circumstances were found to have died from this addictive substance.
The matter of opium was reported all the way to the emperor's desk, attracting the attention of the court. However, after all this back and forth, Meng Zhao's name was no longer mentioned.
However, Meng Zhao had no time to worry about those empty titles; she was busy greeting Song Wanyin and Wang Xian.
Wang Xian's gaze fell on the plaque in the shop that read "Brave and Fearless," and the corners of his mouth turned up. "In just three months, Madam Meng has won two plaques in a row. Such an achievement is truly a model for all the merchants in our county."
"You flatter me, sir. I was just being a little more careful in my daily life. This proved that the opium was poisonous. Also, the treatment of the people in the county was done by the government and Huichuntang. I really don't dare to take credit." Meng Zhao bowed slightly and respectfully placed the teacup in front of Wang Xian and Song Wanyin.
Song Wanyin glanced at Wang Xian, who was drinking tea beside her, and nudged him with her arm. Wang Xian understood immediately and quickly said, "Madam Meng, please sit down. My wife and I are just having a casual meal at your esteemed establishment today. Please don't be so polite."
Meng Zhao felt a little relieved and sat down. Meng Zhao was already quite calm. The other employees in the braised pork noodle shop wished they could turn their backs. This was the county magistrate, an official that many people would never see in their entire lives. And now he was sitting in their shop eating the potato noodles they made themselves. It was truly an eye-opener.
As the two finished eating and were about to leave, Song Wanyin pulled Meng Zhao aside and whispered, "Sister Zhao Zhao, my book has received approval and will be printed soon. When it's published, I'll show it to you first."
At this time, books were mainly divided into three types: official printing, commercial printing, and private printing.
Books printed by official institutions are collectively called official editions. Since most of them were overseen by the Imperial Academy, they were also called Imperial Academy editions.
Private printing, on the other hand, was funded by individuals, mostly scholars and intellectuals, who either wanted to spread their knowledge or hoped to leave their mark on history. Because they did not aim to make a profit, the number of prints was relatively small.
If Song Wanyin wanted to sell her storybooks on a large scale, she had to apply to the imperial court first and obtain approval before she could have them printed by a bookstore.
Bookstores dare not openly sell books without proper authorization. Many books with yellowed pages are kept at the bottom of the shelves and can only be bought by regular customers who know the details.
Wang Xian was unaware that Song Wanyin was writing a storybook. Meng Zhao had arranged for the application to be approved, and she was very happy to see that the application had been approved.
"Once the storybook goes on sale, I will definitely go to the bookstore and buy a few more copies to give as gifts, to support Sister Wanyin."
Song Wanyin smiled and thanked Zhao. Although she didn't write stories to make money, if the books sold well, it meant that more people had seen her stories, which made her even happier.
***
Because of the plaque that read "Brave and Fearless," Meng Zhao's deeds spread throughout the county. Everyone heard that the county magistrate had personally visited and eaten potato noodles. Doctor Wang from Huichuntang also said that Meng's braised meat tasted good and often brought his apprentice to visit.
Due to various factors, the matter of opium was gradually forgotten, and Meng Zhao's shop slowly recovered, with queues forming again at the door.
That day, Steward Zhou and Chef Zhou came to the door together. Meng Zhao guessed their purpose and asked, "Steward Zhou, have you made up your mind?"
Manager Zhou nodded, but before he could speak, Chef Zhou eagerly chimed in, "Madam Meng, not only my second uncle, but I also want to join Meng's Restaurant! Is that alright?"
Meng Zhao was somewhat surprised, after all, opening a shop is quite expensive. The uncle and nephew could have opened one together first, but with more franchisees, there would be more franchise fees to collect, which Meng Zhao naturally welcomed.
So she readily nodded, "Of course."
“Madam Meng has a long-term vision and will certainly not stop here in the future. We are thinking that if possible, we uncle and nephew can take charge of all the shops in Qinyang County in the future, how about that?” Manager Zhou said, looking at Meng Zhao’s face.
Meng Zhao understood Manager Zhou's concerns. He was worried that if he recruited more franchisees in the future, given the size of Qinyang County, he could only open two or three stores at most. If there were more, there would inevitably be malicious competition, and no one would make money. Therefore, he wanted to secure a guarantee in advance.
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