"Is this lady looking for me?" Qi Fei was quite surprised; no one had ever called her a vixen before.
I wonder if her real vixen sister would curse this woman for being blind if she knew.
The fox sisters often said that Qifei was a waste of her face; if she were in their fox clan, she would definitely be a scourge to the country.
As a result, she hid her away in the deep mountains, where she only knew how to cultivate.
The woman's eyes reddened when she saw Qifei's appearance. Her lips trembled as she never expected the proprietress to be so beautiful.
"It's you." She glared at Qifei with intense hatred. "He said he spent all his money on you, you shameless slut, give the money back!"
The store erupted in commotion as everyone subtly eyed Qifei, while a crowd gradually gathered outside.
These days, let alone gossip with risqué content, even ordinary gossip will make people stop and take notice.
A person standing at the door brazenly sized up Qi Fei. Hmm, this proprietress is quite pretty.
Qi Fei simply stood there, and the four words "national beauty" automatically came to everyone's mind.
"Madam, what do you mean?" Qi Fei felt like she was being attacked out of nowhere. "The customers who come to our restaurant are all here to eat properly."
"Does your partner come over to eat a lot? But there's no such thing as eating without paying."
The onlookers nodded in agreement. "That's right. They're opening their doors to do business; they can't just come in for a meal and not charge us."
"Pah! What are you pretending for? That's money for my child's medicine! He said it was all spent on you. My poor child's illness has gotten worse because he can't get the medicine." The woman cried, tears streaming down her face.
"Manager Ruan, if that's the case, you should return the money to her. The child's medical treatment is the most important thing; she looks so pitiful."
When the onlookers heard what the woman said, they felt sorry for her and offered their advice.
Qi Fei almost burst out laughing. What business was it of hers? She didn't even know who this woman was talking about, so what was she talking about? It was as if she had done something wrong.
"Madam, I really don't know which guest you're referring to. Why don't you call your husband over here to confront him and see how much silver he spent?"
Qifei explained innocently, "I welcome and see off so many guests here, how would I know which one you are talking about?"
Moreover, it's only right to pay for food. Our prices have always been quite reasonable, as all the neighbors know. We are absolutely honest and fair to everyone, young and old.
But I wonder how much money your husband spent?
"Madam, what Manager Ruan said is true, the dishes in their restaurant are indeed not expensive. I wonder how much your husband spent?"
"Fifty taels, a whole fifty taels of silver is gone!" The woman broke down in tears. "My child's life-saving money is gone just like that."
Fifty taels may not seem like much to the wealthy, but for ordinary families, a year's normal expenses would be less than ten taels of silver, and for slightly well-off families, normal expenses would be around twenty taels a year.
Fifty taels—judging from the woman's attire, that's quite a sum.
The onlookers started gossiping, especially since the woman claimed it was money for her child's medical treatment.
"Madam, may I ask who your husband is?" Qi Fei asked calmly. "The only thing that's expensive at my house is the banquet."
Not only is her wine expensive, but all wines are expensive because wine is made from grains, and these days, grains are the most expensive thing.
But even with a pot of wine, a meal would only cost half a string of cash.
The woman wiped away her tears, raised the stick in her hand, and said, "Don't pretend with me. Don't you know who's spending your money? Stop putting on airs."
Qi Fei laughed, "Although I don't know what your husband said to you, all my money was earned cleanly."
You can rest assured, I've never been interested in other men, and naturally I wouldn't accept a single penny from another man for no reason.
The woman was being secretive and wouldn't reveal the man's name, so naturally she wouldn't play along.
If anyone comes along and throws dirty water at her, it depends on whether she accepts it or not.
"Yes, ma'am, who is your husband? Mrs. Ruan has been running her shop here for a while, and I haven't seen any other men coming and going with her."
Someone kindly asked a question, only to be met with a rebuke from the woman: "Bullshit! If a woman is looking for a man, why wouldn't she hide it from you? Do you expect her to tell you?"
"Could it be that you're also this woman's lover?"
One sentence was enough to make the person's face turn pale; their good intentions were taken for granted.
Qi Fei sneered, "If you continue to make trouble, don't blame me for reporting you to the authorities. At that time, defamation won't be something you can just dismiss with a few words."
"Report to the authorities? Great! I was just thinking of reporting to the authorities and letting the officials see how heartless the woman who stole the child's money to save his life is."
More and more people gathered at the entrance. Shura encountered this situation as soon as he arrived. He frowned and asked, "What's going on?"
The onlookers, seeing his Imperial Guard uniform, couldn't help but make way for him, allowing him to walk smoothly to the innermost part. "What happened?"
No one dared to speak, not even the woman who had come to ask for money.
The aura emanating from Shura was so chilling that no one dared to utter a sound.
Qifei explained the whole story to Xiuluo, "My lord, I asked several times who this woman's husband is, so that I can verify whether she really spent that much money at the store."
But she absolutely refused to say anything. I figured she was just being unreasonable, and maybe some restaurant was just trying to pull a malicious trick on us because they saw how good our business was.
After hearing what Qifei said, the onlookers suddenly realized, "Yes, maybe it really is as Qifei said."
After all, some people do use rather disgusting methods, and Qifei is a widow, so using this kind of mudslinging is the fastest way to get things done.
The woman hurriedly waved her hands, "No, no, I wasn't sent by the restaurant. I just want to get some money back for my child."
Shura's gaze was very imposing; his presence, dressed in the uniform of the Imperial Guard, was a perfect catalyst.
Everyone knows that there's nothing the Embroidered Uniform Guard can't find in this world, and the woman stammered out her husband's name.
Someone in the crowd exclaimed, "Huh? I know this person. He runs a general store in the west of the city. But I've seen his wife before. I don't think it's you."
The woman turned her head sharply. "What did you say? What madam?"
"His wife occasionally goes to the grocery store. It is said that they live not far from the store, and the two are quite affectionate."
The woman was trembling with anger. She said that since they lived in the east of the city, he insisted on opening a shop in the west, leaving early and returning late every day.
The woman gripped the stick tightly in her hand and turned to leave.
She hadn't mentioned the man's name because she was afraid it would affect her business, but now she wanted to slap herself.
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