On Sun's palm was a package of something, wrapped in medical paper, which was already wrinkled in Sun's hand.

As soon as Gongger saw the thing, he snatched it from Sun's hand and touched the thin packet, which should be a powdery substance.

He asked, "What is this?"

"Give it back to me." When Sun saw that her things were snatched away, she struggled like a madman, her face full of fear.

Gongger handed the things to Xu Qinyu.

Xu Qinyu took it and opened the paper package. Inside was ground brown powder. She leaned in and smelled it. It smelled like croton.

Croton is a medicinal herb that can warm the intestines, relieve diarrhea, and expel water and reduce swelling. However, if it is not used to treat patients, this thing is slightly poisonous and can cause diarrhea. The purpose of this thing that Sun was holding is self-evident.

"Croton." Xu Qinyu asked, "What do you want to do with the croton from the owner of Ping An Restaurant? Do you want to put croton in the dishes of Xu's Restaurant tomorrow? Do you want to ruin the reputation of Xu's Restaurant?"

Sun was so anxious that tears were streaming down her face. "Boss, listen to me. I, I am not such a bad person. I really didn't intend to poison the diners. Yes, it was the owner of Ping'an Restaurant who gave it to me. She said that if I didn't help her this time, she would tell you what I did the last two times. I, I, she stuffed this thing in my hand again and told me to put it in the sour plum soup and milk tea tomorrow, but I didn't agree. Boss, I really wouldn't poison. I'm not that bad. She was just trying to scare me..."

Sun has become a little incoherent.

She was filled with panic and fear. She had no bad intentions and did not want to close Xu's shop. She knew the owner was a good person. She was just afraid.

But I didn't expect that one wrong step would lead to another.

That day she was buying needlework at a small stall when a woman came over to chat with her and asked her if she worked at Xu's Restaurant.

It is more or less an honor to be a waiter in Xu Ji.

She proudly said that she was a waitress at Xu's and started talking to the woman who asked her a question.

She also said that the boss of Xu's restaurant was very good, and specially hired women like them to work as waitresses, paying them 800 yuan a month and providing them with breakfast and evening meals. Although breakfast and evening meals were prepared by the boss's apprentices, they ate fine grains, with eggs in the morning and meaty meals in the evening. She also said that the boss would give them a bonus at the end of the year.

When people around her heard this condition, they were envious and said she was lucky and asked her to work hard. They also said that the owner of Xu Ji Restaurant was kind-hearted and did not forget his neighbors after opening a restaurant, and sold such delicious and cheap fish to everyone.

Most of them have also queued up to buy Xu Kee’s braised fish, fish balls and fish heads.

People who have eaten it say that it is as delicious as the food in Xuji's store. The owner of Xuji does not favor one over the other. He just makes it casually because it is cheaper.

Sun said cheerfully, "I will definitely work hard. Our boss said he will increase our salary every year."

"Oh, you are lucky. If they hadn't only recruited people from Guihua Lane, I would have wanted to give it a try too."

"That's right. Xu's business is good. Is the boss still short of people?"

Sun had no idea about this and could only shake her head.

After selling her needlework, Sun planned to go back home.

On the way back, the woman who had spoken to her at the beginning also walked with her and said it was on her way.

On the way, she kept talking to her about Xu's Restaurant, saying that she envied her and that she was lucky. She kept asking questions about Xu's Restaurant. Sun didn't take it seriously and just chatted with the woman. They chatted all day long and ended up talking about something, and she brought up what Wen had said to Wen Lingling that day.

Wen Lingling was asking how Aunt Gui of the Wen family was doing after she contracted tuberculosis.

Sun thought that such idle talk should not be made, but she said that she was relieved when she thought about the fact that the shopkeeper said that it was not tuberculosis and that he had recovered long ago.

Who knows that when the woman heard this, she sighed and couldn't help saying, "There is a patient with tuberculosis in her family? How can she cook food? What if the disease spreads to the diners?"

Sun immediately retorted, "Our shopkeeper has already said that it is not tuberculosis and that he has recovered long ago."

The woman smacked her lips, said something to her and left.

Unexpectedly, a few days later, rumors spread in the market that there was a tuberculosis patient in Xu's Restaurant.

When Sun heard this, her heart skipped a beat, knowing that the woman must have heard what he had just said, and then told other people about it, and it spread.

Sun felt guilty and for a moment she didn't know whether she should be honest with her boss and the shopkeeper.

But if she tells it out loud, the boss and the manager might think she is a big mouth and likes to gossip, and they might not want her to continue working in the restaurant.

So she didn't dare to say it out loud and could only pretend she didn't know.

Fortunately, the boss later invited his entire family to Xu's for dinner, and the rumors were dispelled, so she felt relieved.

Unexpectedly, not long after, the woman who had been chatting with her stopped her on the road and said that she was the owner of Ping'an Restaurant. Thanks to what she said last time, she knew that Xu's Restaurant was so excessive that it opened a restaurant with a tuberculosis patient. She also said that she was just chatting with someone casually, but she didn't expect that the matter would spread.

Sun didn't believe her this time. She was very angry. Knowing that the woman had deliberately asked her questions last time, she scolded her.

The woman didn't take it seriously and just thanked her. She also said she would give her some money so that she could help her learn how Xu's food was made.

Sun was so angry that she cursed and refused directly.

The manager of Ping An Restaurant threatened her, "If you don't want to, I will go and tell your manager about the nonsense you told me a few days ago. Besides, I didn't ask you to steal the recipe, I just saw how your boss made it, so you can tell me."

Sun was at a loss, shocked and scared. Seeing the face of the owner of Ping'an Restaurant changed, he walked towards Xu's Restaurant.

She was increasingly afraid that her boss would find out, so she hurriedly stopped him and said, "What do you want to do? You, you can't go."

The woman smiled and said, "I'm not making things difficult for you, nor am I asking you to steal the recipe. Why are you so scared? Just tell me the general recipes of the food."

Sun was really scared, and finally she stammered as she told him about the breakfasts she had seen Xu Qinyu make.

She thought that since she didn't tell the woman the specific methods, she probably wouldn't learn anything.

After hearing what she said, the woman smiled and thanked her. Finally, she gave her five taels of silver and told her that she would come to see her in a month. She also told Sun where she lived.

Finally, she threatened Sun that if he didn't come back to see her after a month, she would tell Xu Ji's boss about the gossip and the recipe.

The woman said this and left in a hurry.

Sun didn't want the five taels of silver at all. She was at a loss and finally took the five taels of silver back with her.

She felt even more remorseful when she waited for Ping An Restaurant to start making custard buns, glutinous rice and pork intestines, and porridge with raw rolled fish slices.

When Sun said this, tears were already streaming down her face. She looked at Xu Qinyu and said with trembling lips, "Boss, I really didn't intend to poison her. I came here today to return the five taels of silver to her. I didn't intend to harm you or Xu's Restaurant."

As Sun spoke, she took out a purse from her pocket and opened it with shaking hands. There was indeed five taels of silver inside.

She came today because she really wanted to return the five taels of silver to the woman.

But after she went in, the woman threatened her again, saying that since things had come to this point, she might as well help her. After the task was completed, she would give her fifty taels of silver. She refused again.

Finally, the woman showed a stern face and said that she had to do it whether she was willing or not. Since she was already on the pirate ship, there was no reason for her to get off. After stuffing the laxative into her, she pushed her out without saying anything.

"Boss, I know I was wrong. I won't poison you."

Sun's face was covered with tears.

After hearing this, Cheng Ge'er was speechless and couldn't help but say, "Auntie Sun, are you stupid? You should have told the master the truth the first time instead of hiding it from him. Now the situation is getting bigger and bigger and you can't cover it up anymore."

Xu Qinyu didn't know what to say. Sun was a tall and strong man, but why was his personality like this?

Also, isn't this obviously a trap for Sun and a way to force her into taking the bait step by step?

Originally, the first rumor and the second recipe were nothing. Sun didn't tell her the specific recipe. It was Ping An Restaurant that deliberately tricked Sun step by step and forced him to do all this.

It was indeed Sun's own fault.

Gong Ge'er couldn't help but frown, and finally asked Xu Qinyu, "Fourth sister-in-law, what should we do now?"

Should we just knock on the door and confront Ping An Restaurant?

Xu Qinyu thought for a moment and told Sun, "The only way now is to report to the police. You can serve as a witness to expose the evil deeds of Ping An Restaurant. But if you report to the police, you, Aunt Sun, will definitely be punished. Are you willing? And after this incident, I will not employ you anymore and will pay you some severance pay."

She would not completely believe what Sun said.

In Sun's words, she was innocent and was forced by that woman.

Xu Qinyu did not have Sun's perspective, so she naturally had no idea whether what she said was true or false, or a mixture of both.

Moreover, whether it was the rumor-mongering in the beginning or the providing of the recipe in the end, Sun committed a big taboo.

She would definitely not use such a person again.

Sun hesitated, "It's my duty to help my employer report the case to the police, but, after reporting it, I, I will be gossiped by outsiders, and my employer will not let me continue to work. How can I find a job in the future?"

Xu Qinyu said calmly, "Auntie Sun, even if you don't want to report it to the police, I will report it to the police. This is a big deal. Ping An Restaurant's competitive tactics are vicious and violate the law. If we don't report it to the police, wouldn't it be letting Ping An Restaurant go unpunished? When they meet their rivals in the future, they will use such malicious tactics to compete and harm others. And even if I don't report it to the police, I won't let this matter go, and I won't continue to use you. The news will still spread. Auntie Sun might as well take the initiative to admit your mistakes. Maybe you can get a good reputation outside."

Sun hesitated for a long time, and finally agreed.

It was already dark, but we could report to the authorities at any time.

Xu Qinyu came to the yamen and beat the drum.

Soon the gate of the yamen was opened, and the county magistrate led the yamen runners into the court.

Xu Qinyu did not know the county grandfather, she only knew that his surname was Yang. She already knew that her good friend Yang Zhizhi was the daughter of the county grandfather's family, but she had always treated her normally.

Although Magistrate Yang could eat the food his wife and daughter brought home from Xu's Restaurant every day, he also did not know Xu Qinyu.

The group knelt down and said they wanted to report the incident to the authorities, and recounted the whole story.

When County Magistrate Yang heard the name Xu's Restaurant and then heard the young lady in front of him claiming to be the owner of Xu's Restaurant, he couldn't help but look at her again.

He often heard his daughter mention Miss Xu, who was indeed very young. It was hard to imagine that such a young lady could have such superb cooking skills.

After hearing the whole story, County Magistrate Yang immediately ordered the bailiffs to arrest the shopkeeper and owner of Ping An Restaurant.

When the bailiffs passed by, Mrs. Li, the owner of Ping'an Restaurant, said proudly to her husband that Xu's Restaurant would be in big trouble in a few days.

Ping An Restaurant is a husband-and-wife business. The chef is Li's husband. He is a quiet man who only cares about cooking.

Hearing this, her husband couldn't help asking, "You, what did you do? Mother, let's just do business and food honestly, don't have bad intentions, let's not make those custard buns, glutinous rice sausages, etc. After all, we learned from Xu's, and I'm not very good at making plain food."

Li snorted and said, "What can I do? I am only concerned about our restaurant. Xu's restaurant has taken away so much of our business. She deserves it. Even these breakfast dishes were designed by us. How can Xu's restaurant do it but we can't?"

She did not tell her man what she had done outside because she knew he was a fool and would not let her do such a thing.

Li was illiterate and had no idea about the law. She thought it was just a laxative and nothing serious. Everyone has had a stomach upset.

The two were just about to rest when there were knocks on the door.

Li was startled but didn't think much about it. She thought someone was looking for them. She cursed in her heart, who the hell knocked on the door so loudly and broke it.

When she went out and opened the gate, as soon as she opened it, someone grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back.

Li screamed in shock, "What are you doing, boss, boss, there are robbers coming to rob our house."

The yamen runner shouted, "Keep your voice down! Who is the robber? Look carefully at what we are wearing. You have committed a crime and we are forcing you to go to the yamen."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Li was still confused. "What crime could I have committed? I am just an ordinary woman in the market. I have never committed murder or arson."

Li's husband Zhang Quan heard the sound and went out immediately. He was also stunned when he saw the yamen runner.

The yamen officers came forward and escorted both of them to the yamen.

After meeting Sun, Li finally understood what was going on. She never thought that Sun would dare to report to the police. It was obvious that Sun was so timid before that he didn't even dare to tell Mr. Xu.

Li cursed at Sun.

"Be quiet!" the county magistrate slammed the table.

Sun pointed at Li and took out five taels of silver and a laxative.

At first, Li refused to admit it. She did not admit that she knew Sun, nor did she admit that she bribed Sun to give laxatives to Xu Ji's diners.

The county magistrate said, "Didn't you just curse at Sun, and now you deny that you know Sun? You dare to lie in front of the court and say that you have never bought laxatives? As for the matter of laxatives, I will send people to several pharmacies in the town to inquire and find out whether you have bought them. If you don't tell the truth, you will be punished more severely after the investigation!"

After all, it was Li's first time in court, and he was a little scared. In the end, he admitted his crime.

It was indeed similar to what Sun said. She said that she had not thought of asking Sun to give laxatives to Xu Ji's customers at first. The first two times she just spread rumors and asked about the recipe of custard buns. Later, she asked Sun to come to her house a month later, also thinking of continuing to ask her about the recipes of some dishes of Xu Ji Restaurant, and did not think of giving laxatives.

But as summer began this month, Ping'an Restaurant's business became increasingly worse, with few customers.

But Xu's restaurant still had many diners and even introduced several new dishes. She hated Xu's restaurant so much that she wanted to make life difficult for Xu's restaurant, so she bought some laxatives and forced Sun to give the laxatives to Xu's diners when she came.

Li also admitted that Sun came to her house today to return the five taels of silver she had given her last time.

But she said that after the matter was accomplished, she would give Sun fifty taels of silver, and she pushed Sun out of the house reluctantly. Sun did go out with the laxative.

Sun also began to protest her injustice, saying that she was forced to do it. If she did not leave with the laxative, Li would go to Xu's owner to file a complaint against her.

The two began to bite each other.

Either way, both are guilty.

Sun voluntarily confessed his guilt, served as a witness, and presented physical evidence. In the end, Sun was beaten with ten strokes of the cane and Li was beaten with twenty strokes of the cane.

This is because the laxative has not yet been administered. If the laxative has already been administered to the diners' food, they would be punished with more than just this amount of beatings.

So even if someone is jealous of a competitor, they would not think of putting drugs in the rival store.

The stick hits the buttocks, not the back of the head.

Caning is usually carried out for more serious crimes. If the person is caned twenty times, he will be half dead.

Spanking the buttocks doesn't usually kill people.

But no matter whether it was ten or twenty blows, it was hard to bear.

Ten strokes of the board usually don't cause bleeding, but after twenty strokes, the buttocks will bleed.

The two were beaten and screamed.

Zhang Quan was not at fault in this matter and he was not beaten with a stick.

He kept his head down, and only after Li was beaten did he come over and hurriedly say sorry to Xu Qinyu, then turned around and hugged Li and left.

Only Sun and Xu Qinyu and their group were left in the yamen.

In the end, Xu Qinyu called a car to send Sun home, helped to invite a doctor, paid the medical fees and medicine, and finally left two taels of silver before leaving.

When Sun's family learned what Sun had done, they were furious. Finally, they learned that Sun would not be able to work for Xu's anymore. They also wanted to ask Xu Qinyu to forgive Sun this time. However, seeing that Sun had made such a mistake, the owner of Xu's was still willing to pay for the medicine and medical expenses, so they really had the nerve to ask Xu Qinyu to continue to employ Sun.

…

By the time we reported the matter to the authorities, it was already midnight.

Seeing that it was getting dark, Cheng Ge'er and Gong Ge'er sent Xu Qinyu back to Pei's house.

On the way, Xu Qinyu thanked Cheng Ge'er.

Cheng Ge'er said hurriedly, "Fourth sister-in-law, it wasn't me, it was Gong Ge'er who found him. I asked Gong Ge'er to help me keep an eye on him."

Gong Ge'er also grinned, "Fourth sister-in-law, it's not me who discovered it. These days, I always take some leftover food from the restaurant, saying that I give it to my friends, but in fact, they are helping me to spy on them. My friends are little beggars, not even as old as me, so pitiful, all disabled, no one wants them, and no one wants them even if they are sold to other people as slaves. Fourth sister-in-law, can I continue to share the leftover food from the restaurant with them in the future?"

"Of course." Xu Qinyu nodded. "I also want to thank your friends. After dinner tomorrow, you can invite them to the restaurant. I will cook some food to thank them."

They were all a group of poor children. Xu Qinyu was also an abandoned orphan, but she was sent to an orphanage when she was young. Sometimes she would not have enough to eat because the older children would snatch her food from her. But she basically had no worries about food and clothing, unlike the abandoned children here. The children who were abandoned and became little beggars here usually had physical defects.

Otherwise, as long as they are not physically disabled, there will be people who will take them in and help sell them to wealthy or official families as slaves.

"Does Sister-in-law want to thank them?"

Gong Ge'er was overjoyed.

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Although they are all children, they have helped, so of course we should thank them."

Gong Ge'er laughed even more happily, "Okay, then I will go find them tomorrow."

The two of them sent Xu Qinyu back to the Pei family and then returned home.

Xu Qinyu entered the yard and found that Wen was still awake and was waiting for her in the kitchen with an oil lamp lit.

Seeing Yu Niang return, Wen finally felt relieved and asked about how things went.

Xu Qinyu briefly told Wen what had just happened.

After hearing this, Wen did not expect it to be Sun. In fact, the three waitresses were all quite nice, at least nothing could be seen from the surface.

Wen sighed and said nothing more. She just thought that there would only be two waitresses left tomorrow, so she asked Yu Niang if she wanted to hire more people.

Xu Qinyu also plans to recruit another one.

It would be too tiring for two people, but even if there were three people, it would be more work but not too tiring.

Wen said, "Okay, I'll take over for the next few days, and Yu Niang won't be in a hurry. We can take our time choosing this time."

Apart from calculating and settling accounts, she doesn't have much to do on a daily basis.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law talked for a while, and then went back to their rooms to rest.

…

The next morning, Xu Ji opened for business as usual.

When Xu Qinyu was making breakfast, Li and Yuan found that Sun was not there. They were a little confused and thought that she had asked for leave from her employer.

Xu Qinyu told the two about Sun's affairs. They were both shocked. Li couldn't help but mutter, "How could she do such a thing? When she accidentally said the wrong thing and the rumor spread, shouldn't she have directly admitted her mistake to the boss?"

Li felt that her boss had been good enough and that if she admitted her mistake directly, he would definitely forgive her.

But she doesn't tell me, and I don't know what she is afraid of.

"Okay, let's get to work. You two ladies have worked hard these past two days. I will give you an extra twenty cents per day for these days."

Li waved her hands and said, "No, no, the boss treats us well enough on weekdays."

Xu Qinyu still paid them twenty cents more per day.

An hour later, the aroma of food wafted from Xu's Restaurant.

Diners who got up early in search of food also discovered that Ping'an Restaurant, one of the restaurants and restaurants in the West Street Market, was closed.

But there weren't many diners at Ping An Restaurant, so I didn't pay much attention and thought it was closed for some reason.

In summer, after breakfast and dinner, the sky is not completely dark yet, and a little bit of glow is still lingering in the sky.

After Xu Qinyu received the guests for dinner, she prepared a few more dishes.

She made a dish of steamed meat with soda, a dish of squirrel fish, a dish of braised spareribs, a dish of three-fresh soup and a dish of braised eggplant, and she also reserved some glutinous rice for dinner.

After a while, Gong Ge'er came in with a few dirty children.

After entering the restaurant, the children looked very restrained and stood behind Gong Ge'er, not daring to speak.

Xu Qinyu thanked them with a smile. Several children were afraid to say a word. Finally, the one-eyed child stammered and said, "You're welcome."

In fact, her current body is only a few years older than those children.

But when talking to them, I unconsciously treat myself as an adult and them as children.

Gong Ge'er accompanied the children to have dinner. The children ate voraciously and soon finished the food on the table.

After dinner, several children took the empty bowls and plates to the kitchen to be cleaned.

The one-eyed child hesitated for a while, then suddenly came in front of Xu Qinyu and knelt down with a plop.