Sure enough, a few days later, a cook named Ruyi gave herself away.
That evening, after work, He Yi and Qing Ju were doing the accounting. He Yi was standing behind the counter, while Qing Ju was cleaning. Ru Yi timidly approached He Yi.
He Yi paused in tapping the abacus beads, and looked at Ru Yi with a smile. Ru Yi's face was flushed, her head was hanging low, her eyes were unfocused, and she seemed very uncomfortable.
Especially when she met Zheng Heyi's gaze, Ruyi seemed even more nervous. She subconsciously clutched the hem of her dress and stammered in a voice barely audible, "Little...Little Princess...I...I'm sorry. Right now, my...my mother is very ill..."
"I urgently need money to buy medicine, I...I want to quit my job..."
He Yi stopped looking at the ledger and curiously raised her head upon hearing this. Her calm eyes looked at the girl opposite her. Ru Yi did not dare to meet her gaze, and her shoulders trembled.
Seeing Ruyi's expression, Heyi already knew exactly what was going on. Heyi didn't ask any more questions about Ruyi's "mother's" illness.
At this moment, she simply nodded, "Since there are things going on at home, and your mother is sick, filial piety is the most important virtue. You should go back. Everyone has their own ambitions, I won't force you to stay. Go to the accounting office to settle your wages."
Upon hearing this, Ruyi beamed with joy, as if she had been granted a pardon. She nodded rapidly and then stole a glance at Heyi behind the counter.
Seeing that He Yi was expressionless, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Princess, thank you for your kindness!"
After saying that, Ruyi rushed out almost as if she were fleeing. When she got to her little room, she hurriedly packed her high school diploma without saying goodbye to anyone else.
Soon, Ruyi arrived at the accounting office, settled the silver for the month and the previous deposit, and left Tianxiangfang under the cover of night. Before long, her figure disappeared into the darkness in the distance.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Qingju stormed into Heyi's room, furious. "Princess! Guess what? This morning I saw that heartless ingrate Ruyi sneaking into the back door of Zhengtianxiangfang across the street!"
"That traitor must be her! That woman Ruyi sent our prescription to the Lin family," Qingju was furious. At this moment, she really wished Heyi would grant her permission to rush to the other side, drag Ruyi out, and give her a good beating.
[It really was her! She's such a traitor! Speaking of which, the villainous female supporting character is actually quite good to them.]
[What does the person upstairs know? The nicer you are to someone, the more they want to be nice to you even more.]
What an ungrateful wretch! Has he lost all his conscience?
[The villainous female supporting character is too merciful; she should be reported to the authorities and made sure Ruyi suffers the consequences.]
The barrage of angry comments was noticeable to He Yi, but she didn't seem to show any surprise or fear on her face.
In fact, she had noticed a few days ago that this girl named Ruyi was acting suspiciously. In the meantime, several cooks had also reported on Ruyi's movements.
Everyone kept asking her where she went and what she did, but Ruyi kept stammering. No one exposed Ruyi, who was just waiting for this day.
At this moment, Zheng Heyi's eyes turned cold, and a smile appeared on her lips.
"It was expected that Ruyi would leave. Now that she's gone, it's actually a good thing. Since ancient times, 'a forced melon is never sweet.' Those with ulterior motives will only bring trouble if they stay here."
He Yi looked to the side.
They noticed that Qingju looked indignant, and the group of loyal old cooks who had rushed over upon hearing the news were also furious and indignant.
He Yi glanced at everyone and said with a slight smile, "Don't worry, even if she secretly took away our recipe, so what? Don't forget, I improved this pastry. I, Zheng He Yi, can improve it once, and I can improve it twice, three times, or even countless times."
"Don't be discouraged, everyone! What's been stolen is just the old recipe, the glory of our Tianxiangfang back then. Let's look forward. Since they use horseshoe pastry and butterfly pastry as their signature products, we'll just choose not to."
Having said that, He Yi smiled slightly and looked outside. Across the street, Zheng Tian Xiang Fang was still packed with people. The breeze from Chen Feng made her feel comfortable.
He Yi took a deep breath and continued in a resolute tone, "Our Tianxiangfang has never relied on those few formulas that are stuck in the past."
"Yes, let's research entirely new pastries!" Qingju shouted indignantly. Heyi gestured for her not to rush.
“I was planning to pull those old prescriptions out a while ago. What’s the point of living off past glories every day?”
"For a business to thrive, it needs constant innovation and always keeping up with the times. Ruyi and her ilk think that just because they stole the recipes for horseshoe pastries and butterfly pastries, they can be guaranteed to sell well forever and rest easy? They're dreaming! They think they can trample us underfoot? Now I, Zheng Heyi, will show them what a dimensional reduction attack really means!"
"What kind of chicken?"
When He Yi saw Qingju ask this question, she explained, "A dimensional reduction attack, in other words, is to let them know how powerful we are, and to make them understand that they will pay the price for their reckless behavior."
At that moment, a familiar, tall figure appeared at the doorway.
A waiter hurriedly went out to greet them. After seeing who it was, the waiter turned around happily and said, "Princess, it's the eldest young master."
After he finished speaking, Zheng Yu strode into the somewhat deserted shop. Zheng Yu felt strange; why had business here suddenly taken a turn for the worse?
"He Yi!?"
Zheng Yu's voice rang out. After walking in, Zheng Yu looked around the shop and found that there were obviously few customers. Zheng Heyi naturally saw Zheng Yu as well, put down the account book, and prepared to walk out from behind the counter.
When Zheng Yu noticed that business was slow, his handsome eyebrows immediately arched.
"What's going on today? There's hardly anyone in the shop..." Zheng Yu asked. Before he could finish, Qingju sighed and pointed to the opposite side of the street.
Zheng Yu turned around, and his gaze immediately fell on the gilded signboard of "Zheng Tian Xiang Fang" across the street. The moment he saw those four characters, Zheng Yu's face fell.
Most importantly, Zheng Yu saw Lin Shoucai and Aunt Lin entertaining VIPs. When they turned around to look at them, their eyes were very strange.
Zheng Yu was naturally furious, clenching his fists. "Why is it them again? He Yi, why didn't you send someone to tell me sooner after something like this happened?"
Zheng Yu's tone was urgent.
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