Xu Qinyu whispered a few words into Cheng Ge'er's ear.

When Cheng Geer heard this, he became so angry that his face turned red. Finally, he said, "Master, don't worry. I will do it right away."

After dinner, Xu Qinyu went back to Osmanthus Lane as usual.

Xu's also closed its door. Wen was counting the bills. She also knew today that Ping'an Restaurant had started selling custard buns. She was definitely angry, but Yu Niang said that when doing business, it's inevitable to follow suit, so just keep a normal mind.

Today she asked Gong Ge'er to take a look. Ping'an Restaurant still had a wooden sign at the door, which said that it sold custard buns, glutinous rice and pork intestines, and raw fish slice porridge.

Isn't this intentionally misleading?

Some people come to West Street for breakfast just because they have heard of Xu's restaurant's reputation. Ping'an Restaurant is located in the middle of the market. By putting up the sign like this, she will attract customers who want to go to Xu's restaurant to go to Ping'an Restaurant.

Wen is still thinking about this matter at this moment.

After the accounts were settled, Chen and her friends returned, and Cheng was about to send Wen back. Wen didn't see Gong, so she couldn't help but ask, "Where's Gong?"

Cheng Ge'er touched his nose and said, "Maybe he ran away again."

Gong Ge'er usually did some errands, but after work on weekdays he would accompany Cheng Ge'er to send Wen back to Guihua Lane.

But at this moment, Gong Ge'er did not go out to run errands, but went to help him with something.

The master told her that there might be a thief in the store, someone who was bribed by the people from Ping An Restaurant, and when he saw her making custard buns, he told Ping An Restaurant the method.

This thing looks easy, but the difficult part is the recipe, the proportion of ingredients and the cooking time. You may know how to make it after seeing it, but the taste will be completely wrong.

That’s why Ping An Restaurant only sells custard buns for two cents each.

The master also said that the rumor last time might have been heard by a thief in the store who told Ping An Restaurant.

In the end, we must find the thief this time.

When Cheng Ge'er knew that his master had told him directly and asked him and Gong Ge'er to help keep an eye on the situation, he realized that his master had never suspected him and Gong Ge'er. He was touched and became more determined to help his master catch the man. There were only a few people in the store, including the second aunt and three waitresses.

The master also asked him to help keep an eye on the three waitresses to see if they had any private contact with anyone from Ping An Restaurant.

He had lived with the three aunts for some time. It must be said that the three aunts worked very hard and efficiently. They didn't look like the kind of people who would take advantage of their own situation, so he couldn't figure out who it was. The master also said that maybe she made a mistake. In any case, he asked him to keep an eye on them. It would be better if it wasn't the three aunts. The master didn't want any thieves to appear in the store.

Wen really thought that Gong Ge'er had gone out to play, so she nodded and said nothing more.

Cheng Ge'er said, "Second aunt, let me take you back first."

The kitchen and living room had been swept clean, and the three ladies had gone home.

Wen nodded, and the two of them returned carrying the box.

All the daily profits from the restaurant had to be taken home. Yu Niang had saved a thousand taels of silver in the past two months and had to go to the money shop almost every few days.

The money house is Luo'an Money House, which is also the largest and most famous money house in the Great Sheng Dynasty. It is almost spread over every corner of the Great Sheng Dynasty, and even in smaller towns there are Luo'an Money Houses. Luo'an Money House is a century-old brand, which has been around for almost two hundred years. Even in times of chaos, Luo'an Money House can exchange silver, so the people of the Great Sheng Dynasty are extremely confident in Luo'an Money House.

When they were first exiled, Wen really thought that there was no way out for the whole family.

Now, Yu Niang has opened a restaurant, with a monthly income of five to six hundred taels of silver, and she leads a prosperous life.

After Cheng Ge'er sent Wen back, he ran away immediately.

He also planned to go and see if the three aunts had returned home.

Xu Qinyu had just finished washing up, and when she came back, her clothes were soaked with sweat.

The weather was getting hotter, and after she finished cooking breakfast in the kitchen, her underwear would be soaked. This place was not like later times, where kitchens did not have air conditioning. Even if kitchens in later times had air conditioning, the cooks would sweat after cooking. It was even more so here, where she was soaked from head to toe.

She would bring a change of clothes with her to the restaurant every day, and after breakfast she would go to the utility room to wash up and change into clean and fresh clothes.

Even if you change your clothes, they will still be soaked with sweat after dinner.

Therefore, after finishing her evening meal every day, she would not worry about the affairs of the restaurant and would go back to Guihua Lane to wash up first.

Now that I have washed up, I can wash my underwear. My outer clothes will be washed and swept by the laundry lady tomorrow.

The family made money, and Xu Qinyu didn't want Wen to work too hard. Wen worked as a shopkeeper, doing accounting and collecting money all day long, and when she was busy she also had to serve plates and dishes, which was very hard work. So she spent twenty cents a day and hired a maid to do the housework.

This lady is also from a nearby alley. She is very clean and hardworking.

Gui originally said that she would wash it, but Gui was old, and Xu Qinyu certainly wouldn't let the old lady work too hard.

After the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law counted the money, Xu Qinyu took the wooden box and poured all the money in it into her safe and locked it. Bai Yu was not there at the moment, he must have gone hunting in the mountains.

Bai Yu probably remembered Xu Qinyu's nagging, so he would sneak out of the house late at night, go hunting in the mountains, eat and drink his fill, and then run back in the dark the next day.

It was getting bigger and bigger, and Xu Qinyu was naturally afraid of being seen, afraid of scaring other people, and also afraid that if the time came, the soldiers would be called to kill Bai Yu, which would be bad.

It was already mid-June and the weather was getting hotter. Fortunately, the heat in the southwest was not as hot as in the south. It was the hottest at noon. When the sun went down, the weather was not so hot anymore. Sitting in the yard with the gentle breeze, Xu Qinyu felt a rare sense of comfort.

She even specially ordered a few rattan rocking chairs from Carpenter Gao, which were so comfortable to lie on.

The only thing is that the yard looks a bit bare except for the date tree. It would be nice if we could plant some flowers and plants, and a few grape vines, build a grape trellis, and brew some wine. Then we could sit under the trellis and drink some wine while taking a break. That would be very relaxing.

Thinking of grapes, Xu Qinyu licked her lips.

This dynasty did not exist in history, so she was not clear about the specific situation of crops. Some crops were grown along with fruits and vegetables, but some were not. It seemed that grapes were only brought back to the Great Sheng Dynasty by caravans a few years ago and began to be planted. Now, it seemed that grapes were not grown in the southwest, so grapes were still very expensive in summer. However, there were some wild grapes in the mountains.

Wild grapes have existed since the Great Sheng Dynasty.

However, it will not mature until August. Then you can go to the mountains to pick it and make some wine. You can sell it or keep it for your family to drink. It seems that no one here makes wine yet.

…

After leaving Pei's house, Cheng Ge'er went to look for his younger brother Gong Ge'er, but he didn't find him. He went to the door of the three aunts' house and saw that the three aunts had all gone home. Gong Ge'er was not nearby, but he saw a few little beggars wandering around.

Cheng Ge'er didn't take it seriously. He squatted in front of Chen's door until the end of the evening. When every household turned off the lights and went to sleep, he went back to the Wen family.

When they got back, Gong Ge'er had already returned. Cheng Ge'er asked him, "Brother, have you ever been to the homes of the three aunts?"

Gong Ge'er was drinking the cool water from the big jar with a ladle. After drinking, he wiped his mouth and said, "Don't worry, brother. I won't mess up the job. I happen to have a few friends. I asked them to help me keep an eye on it. Otherwise, it would be just the two of us. We can't keep an eye on three people. I also asked my friends to help me keep an eye on Ping An Restaurant. We already know where the couple who own Ping An Restaurant live."

Cheng Ge'er nodded, still feeling relieved about his brother.

Although Gong Ge'er is more playful, he will definitely complete the tasks assigned to him.

The next day, Xu's Restaurant was open as usual.

Because Ping'an Restaurant is located in front of Xu's Restaurant and has such a big sign, some new customers were deceived.

Therefore, the breakfast at Xuji Restaurant was still affected.

But Xu's Restaurant has many regular customers, and the breakfast prepared in the morning was sold out, except for some milk steamed buns that were left.

The unsold food is eaten by the people in the restaurant or taken home by others.

Even some meats will not go bad if left overnight, but the taste will be affected. Xu Qinyu will not use them anymore, but will share them equally with the three waitresses and Cheng Ge'er and let them take them home to cook.

The three waitresses knew that a monthly wage of eight hundred coins was considered high. The boss also provided them with food, and they could occasionally take some meat home to improve their diet. Such treatment was hard to find in Yuanbao Town, let alone Raozhou City. They treasured it very much. They heard from their boss that at the end of the year there would be a red envelope worth no less than two taels of silver. So they thought about doing more work for their boss every day and working harder.

There were quite a few steamed buns left after everyone had eaten them. Gong Ge'er ran over to Xu Qinyu and said, "Fourth sister-in-law, can I take eight steamed buns out?"

"As long as it's not wasted, it's fine." Xu Qinyu smiled, "What does Gonggeer want with the steamed buns?"

Gong Ge'er was a little embarrassed, but told Xu Qinyu very seriously, "I made some friends and asked them to help me with some things, so I wanted to bring some milk steamed buns for them to eat, because I told them that the food made by my fourth sister-in-law is especially delicious."

This kid sounds quite serious. He is only ten years old and he even asks his friends to help him with some things.

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Okay, go get it."

"Thank you, Fourth Sister-in-law!" Gong Ge'er grinned, ran back to the kitchen, and ran out with eight steamed buns in his arms.

Holding the steamed bun in his arms, Gongger quickly ran away and disappeared.

He left the West Street market and walked towards an alley. At the end of the alley was a small hutong with a few broken wooden boards piled randomly inside. Under the broken boards were four ragged children. The children were dirty, their hair was messy, their faces were pitch black, and each of them was so thin that only bones were left.

Not only that, the four children were obviously disabled. Looking at the eldest child, there was only a hole left in his right eye, and only his left eye was still intact.

There was also a child with a red birthmark on his face from his eyes to his eyebrows. The other two children had no visible signs of birthmarks, but when two of them stood up, they shouted in surprise, "Second Brother Wen, you're here."

As they walked towards Gong Ge'er, one of the children had a limp in one leg.

The other child seemed fine and he looked the youngest, probably only six or seven years old.

The child with only one eye left looked the oldest, probably about ten years old.

Gong Geer saw them and said with a smile, "Look what I brought you."

He distributed the steamed buns from Xu's Restaurant to his four children, giving each of them two. When the youngest child took the steamed bun, he discovered that he had six fingers on his right palm.

Several children took the steamed buns made with milk, and looking at the snow-white, soft buns full of milk aroma, they were reluctant to eat them.

Gong Ge'er said, "Eat it quickly while it's still hot. Milk steamed buns are most delicious when they're hot, but they're also delicious when they're cold. The food my fourth sister-in-law cooks is always delicious."

Finally, the children couldn't resist the aroma of the milk steamed buns. They picked up the milk steamed buns and took a bite. As soon as they took a bite, they were conquered by the softness and milky aroma of the milk steamed buns.

They were just a few beggars. On weekdays, they could not even have enough to eat, let alone leftovers. Sometimes they even had to compete with stray dogs for food.

"Oh my god, it's delicious and smells so good."

"Brother Wen, do you eat this kind of delicious food every day?"

Gong Ge'er actually felt a little sad, but he nodded, "Yes, my fourth sister-in-law did it. My fourth sister-in-law is a very nice person."

Several children looked at Gong Ge'er with envy.

They also want such a good sister-in-law, but they are all disabled, and even their own families don't want them, so how could others want them? They can only be beggars all their lives, and maybe one day they will starve to death or freeze to death on the street.

After the children finished eating a steamed bun, they carefully wrapped up the remaining one and hid it on their bodies.

Gong Ge'er then asked, "Did you see anything last night?"

The oldest child shook his head and said, "No, we waited until morning, and they went straight to Xu's Restaurant after they woke up."

"Then you guys help me keep an eye on this matter." Gong Ge'er said, "One or two days probably won't reveal anything. It may take a long time. If there are leftovers in the restaurant, I'll tell Fourth Sister-in-law to send some to you guys."

The four children looked at him eagerly.

After delivering the milk steamed buns to the four children, Gongger returned to Xu's.

Gong Ge'er had known these little beggars for more than a month. It started that night when Xu's shop just closed. He left two meat-filled steamed buns in the morning for dinner. At that time, meat-filled steamed buns were just available for breakfast, and he liked them very much. He ate them not only for breakfast but also for dinner. He left two of them on purpose to eat when he went back home in the evening.

Unexpectedly, just as he walked out of the street, a dark shadow flashed past him and snatched the meat bun he was holding.

How could he tolerate this? Gong Ge'er let out a roar and chased after him.

When he chased after him, he found that it was a child younger than him. He was trying to snatch the meat bun, but the child was protecting the meat bun. During the struggle, the meat bun slipped out of his hands and was snatched away by a passing wild dog.

Gong Ge'er was dumbfounded and extremely angry. He raised his fist and prepared to fight with the kid.

Only then did he realize that the child was missing one eye, his clothes were tattered, and he was staring at him with his other eye.

After noticing the appearance of the child, Gongger knew that he was probably a beggar who was missing an eye, so there was no way he could fight with him. He stood up, stepped aside, snorted, and prepared to leave.

After walking a few steps, I felt bad when I thought of the skinny appearance of the little beggar.

Looking back, I found that the child was actually crying. Tears kept flowing down his left eye without wiping them away. He looked extremely desperate.

Gonggeer couldn't move anymore, so he turned around and said, "Don't cry, I'll buy you something you want to eat."

The child said, "Whatever." His voice was so hoarse that I could hardly hear what he said.

Gong Ge'er bought some meat buns from nearby and brought them back for the child.

The child ran away with the meat bun. Gong Ge'er was a little worried, so he followed him. They followed him into a tiny alley and found three other children inside. The youngest one was already dying of hunger. The child snatched his meat bun to give it to the child.

This is how Gong Ge'er got to know these kids.

He knew that several of the children were beggars. Some were abandoned by their families because they didn't want them, while others were abducted and injured, becoming disabled and unable to be sold, and were then abandoned again.

The youngest child with six fingers was considered a disaster by his family, so he was abandoned as soon as he was born. He was then picked up by an old beggar.

The old beggar passed away two years ago. Since then, the child has been begging by himself every day. He got to know three other little beggars and stayed with them. Every day, the three children went out to beg together.

They often had nothing to eat, so Gongger used up the few hundred coins he had every month to buy them food.

These little beggars hear "Second Brother, Second Brother" calling them every day.

Gong Ge'er knew that his fourth sister-in-law wanted to keep an eye on someone, and he and his brother were unable to take care of it with just two eyes, so he asked these little beggars to help.

The little beggars were also very responsible, every day when Xu's Restaurant was about to get off work, they would hang around nearby, waiting for the three aunties to leave Xu's. They would also follow behind them separately and were never discovered by the three aunties.

After watching like this for half a month, it was already the beginning of July and the weather was getting hotter and drier.

The sour plum soup at Xu's Restaurant was becoming increasingly popular. Due to the hot weather, Xu Qinyu also bought some ice cubes. However, ice cubes were too expensive. Breaking them up and adding them to the sour plum soup would add two cents to the price. The two cents increase in price was all the cost, so there was no profit at all.

However, after being cooked every day, the sour plum soup is hung in the well to cool for an hour or two. It is also icy and cool when you drink it.

So now when ordering sour plum soup, it is up to the diners to add ice cubes or not.

If you add it, it will cost two cents more. If you don’t add it, the sour plum soup that has been chilled in the well is still quite cool.

The same goes for milk tea. Women order milk tea more often, and they are willing to pay an extra two cents to add some ice cubes. It tastes ice cold to relieve the heat, and the milk is mellow and rich.

The weather is hot and dry, and the business of small restaurants and restaurants on West Street has been affected. It is too hot and people don't want to eat, and there is no air conditioning like in later times. Nowadays, the food in restaurants and restaurants is mostly greasy, and people don't want to eat even more when the weather gets hot.

However, Xu Ji's business was not affected at all, because the juicy snails and juicy prawns, together with sour plum drink, were appetizing and refreshing, attracting more diners.

Moreover, Xu Qinyu added two new cold dishes in the past few days: cold lettuce, pork with mashed garlic, and roasted eggplant with mashed garlic.

These new dishes are the ones that customers have ordered most recently.

In order to make the diners eat comfortably, Xu Qinyu specially bought some ice cubes and placed them in the four corners of the living room.

This kind of ice is specially used for cooling down the body and is much cheaper than edible ice. However, this kind of ice costs two taels of silver every day!

She was willing to use ice cubes, so the diners enjoyed their meals and liked Xu's Restaurant even more, and were only willing to eat here.

Xu Qinyu saw that Cheng Ge'er had been following them for half a month but still hadn't found out who had a connection with Ping'an Restaurant. She couldn't help but wonder if she was misjudged. In fact, there was no thief in the restaurant. Ping'an Restaurant just figured out the method of making custard buns on their own.

It would be great if fourth brother was here. He is smart and would definitely know what is going on at a glance.

She does not have the ability to see through people's minds like her fourth brother. Apart from her talent for cooking, she is just an ordinary person.

Just two days later.

On this day, the little beggars were just like usual. They watched Xu's Restaurant close and then followed the three ladies.

The oldest beggar is almost ten years old this year. He has no name and everyone calls him One-Eye.

The one that One-Eye followed today was Sun, the strongest of the three waitresses.

At first, Sun was fine. After leaving the market, she did not go back to the alley where she lived. Instead, she looked back with a sneaky look.

Sun turned around and didn't see anyone from Xu's Restaurant. She breathed a sigh of relief and headed towards another alley.

When I arrived at a door, I knocked. The door opened and a woman stuck her head out. She was the shopkeeper of Ping'an Restaurant.

…

The one-eyed man did not delay. When he saw Sun go to look for the female manager of Ping'an Restaurant, he immediately went to Guihua Lane to look for Gong Ge'er.

When Gongger heard this, he frowned and went to find his brother.

Cheng Ge'er naturally couldn't sit still, so he went to look for his fourth sister-in-law immediately.

When Xu Qinyu saw Cheng Ge'er, she knew that the thief must have been caught.

When Cheng Ge'er heard that it was Sun, he saw her going to find the female manager of Ping'an Restaurant.

Xu Qinyu couldn't help but sigh. She had just picked the strongest person from the remaining list to do the work, but she had chosen an unreliable person.

She didn't delay any longer and planned to go over and block the man. If she went over now, she could just block the man.

Wen also heard it nearby. Seeing that Yu Niang was about to go out, she hurriedly called Cheng Ge'er and Wen Ge'er to follow Yu Niang.

Cheng Ge'er said, "Don't worry, aunt. I will keep an eye on it and will not let outsiders hurt Fourth Sister-in-law."

When the three of them came over, they happened to see Sun coming out of the gate.

Sun's face was panicked at first, and she didn't notice anyone at all. When she realized there was someone in front of her, she raised her head and was so scared that her face turned pale. "Dong, Dong, why haven't you gone back to rest yet? I, I came to my relative's house for something, and I didn't expect to run into you, Dong."

Before Xu Qinyu could say anything, Cheng Ge'er said angrily, "Auntie Sun, why are you still pretending! This is where the owner of Ping'an Restaurant lives. Why are you here to look for the owner of Ping'an Restaurant? Did you see your fourth sister-in-law making the custard buns, glutinous rice intestines, and fish porridge sold to Ping'an Restaurant? And the rumor that our owner's family had tuberculosis more than a month ago was also spread by Ping'an Restaurant?"

"No, no..." Sun panicked, "Boss, I, I, I didn't."

She thought of the thing that the waitress of Ping An Restaurant had just given her, which was still in her hand. She was so scared that her face turned pale and she couldn't help hiding her hand behind her back.

The movement of Sun's hand hiding was too obvious, and it was obvious that she must be holding something in her hand. Xu Qinyu frowned and asked, "Auntie Sun, what are you holding in your hand?"

"No, nothing."

Sun was so frightened at this moment that beads of sweat the size of beans on her forehead dripped down her face and she was shaking.

Sun looked guilty, and Gong Ge'er behind her took advantage of her inattention, stepped forward and grabbed Sun's wrist, pinching the meridians on her wrist.

Gong Ge'er had learned some Kung Fu from his father, so his hands were quite strong. The pinch caused Sun to scream in pain and loosen his clenched fists.