Chapter 25 Sour Oranges "The villagers there rarely see officials, in..."
"The villagers there rarely see officials. In their eyes, the head constable is a very important person. They are also afraid of being harassed by his brothers, so they dare not go against his family."
"It is said that Uncle Li originally sold tofu in the countryside, but was forced to go to the capital to sell tofu because he had no other choice."
"Who knew... those people had cheated and swindled so many times at the market that everyone in the village knew their methods, and no one fell for it."
"Look, they've come to the capital too."
"Uncle Li hadn't even had two months of peace before he ran into them again."
"Besides, my grandma and I inquired around in the city and found out that quite a few people in the city have been cheated. But because they have so little money, no one has reported it to the authorities yet." Xiao Hong pouted as she said this: "You know, I should have reported it to the authorities that day... but I'm a coward, and I was scared by those people."
Seeing Su Zhihan's questioning expression, Grandma Chen, who had returned with a basin of tangerines, first placed the items on the table before explaining, "Miss Su, you may not know this, but when we inquired, we found that most of those who were deceived were young women around Xiao Hong's age."
Those people are bullies who prey on the weak and fear the strong. They even carefully select their victims for staged accidents, specifically targeting young and kind-hearted girls like Xiao Hong and Cao Daya, who are likely to fall for their tricks after being frightened.
"Try this, these are tangerines we brought back from the countryside, they're very sweet!" Grandma Chen handed the tangerines to Su Zhihan, and then continued, "Besides, they've probably been eyeing Xiao Hong for a while now."
Upon hearing this, Su Zhihan reached out to take the tangerine and realized that those people could notice Uncle Li's business was getting better, and naturally they could also notice Xiao Hong, who came to pick up tofu every day and had a close relationship with Uncle Li.
Or rather, Xiao Hong was just an afterthought; they should have noticed her or her mother instead.
"This matter is still my responsibility..."
"Oh, Mrs. Su, I don't mean that." Upon hearing this, Grandma Chen, fearing that Su Zhihan would think she was complaining about her, quickly interjected with another piece of information: "Actually, when we were gathering information, we discovered something else."
"Something else?"
"Actually—"
After Grandma Chen finished speaking, Su Zhihan stopped peeling the tangerines completely. Her expression changed slightly, and her almond-shaped eyes widened: "Wait, you guys said that the old man and his gang tried to sell you spoiled tofu?"
“That’s right!” Xiao Hong nodded repeatedly. The thought that she hadn’t reported it to the authorities but had been extorted for dozens of copper coins made her so angry that her teeth itched.
She puffed out her cheeks and muttered, "My grandma and I originally wanted to watch from the sidelines to see if we could find any other victims, but who knew we would see a 'familiar face' inside."
Because Jiang's braised tofu business was doing very well, other tofu shops came to them seeking cooperation after only three or four days of operation.
Because Su Zhihan had arranged to stay at Uncle Li's house, Xiao Hong refused all offers. However, unexpectedly, someone secretly came to her house and offered to sell cheap tofu that had been sitting for two or three days at a low price.
"After sitting for two or three days, it's hardly cheap tofu." Grandma Chen peeled the tangerine and handed the flesh to her granddaughter: "I understand what they mean."
Some vendors selling cooked meat in the city do just that. Because venison and deer meat are expensive, some unscrupulous merchants buy dead mules and horses, marinate them with strong-smelling fermented black beans and various spices and sauces, and then make them into smoked meat, braised meat, or stewed meat, and sell them for profit.
Normally, a shop selling cooked meat can only make a 50% profit after deducting costs, which is considered quite good. But those unscrupulous merchants can make 80% or even more.
"I secretly followed them and discovered that they were also asking several shops in the city to buy up the discarded tofu."
"The shop assistants told me that they were farmers from outside the city, and that they collected the produce to feed their pigs or to use as fertilizer."
Grandma Chen curled her lip, completely disbelieving the shop assistants' words, and sneered, "Miss Su, let me tell you, their words can only fool some ignorant people."
"I've met people from the countryside before. They would never use this as fertilizer for pigs. This stuff is cheaper than soybean dregs. It's better to dig up some mud fertilizer from the river, or get some wild grass, rice husks, and manure to compost..."
"Those shop assistants are all obsessed with money. As long as they can sell the stale tofu and make money, they're happy. They don't care what the tofu is used for, and they don't want to care."
"Why would they buy so much stale tofu?" Hearing this, Su Zhihan couldn't help but wonder. She looked up at Grandma Chen and tentatively asked, "Could it be—"
"Starting a few days ago, several tofu stalls have gradually lowered their prices."
Grandma Chen's words confirmed Su Zhihan's guess. Fresh tofu can generally be kept for one to three days, after which it will develop an off-odor and its color and appearance will gradually change.
Deep-fried and then braised tofu in a broth perfectly masks its appearance, while the braising sauce also masks most of the off-flavors, making it difficult for people to detect any problems.
Most importantly, using this kind of cheap tofu can greatly reduce costs.
I suspect some stalls couldn't resist the temptation and chose to use that kind of tofu.
"It's a good thing you didn't listen to those people." Su Zhihan frowned after hearing the words of the grandmother and granddaughter.
She popped a piece of mandarin orange into her mouth. The mandarin oranges that Grandma Chen brought back were the kind picked from the countryside, and they were more sour than sweet.
Su Zhihan's face nearly scrunched up from the sourness, and she barely managed to control her expression.
In Grandma Chen and Xiao Hong's eyes, Su Zhihan's eyebrows were raised high, her dark eyes were devoid of any emotion, and the strong aura emanating from her body was so intense that people dared not look directly at her: "These untrustworthy people are now using bad tofu to encourage people to use it, and who knows, they might use the fact that people use bad tofu to make food to threaten and manipulate them later."
Grandma Chen was taken aback at first, then gasped. Just as Su Zhihan had said, the old man and his family, who were used to beating Uncle Li and cheating people in the village, would not be satisfied with just selling bad tofu.
Thinking about this, Grandma Chen felt a lingering fear and a pity. Those vendors who dared to use rotten tofu probably didn't know they had provoked a bunch of venomous snakes.
At the same time, Su Zhihan was also quite pleased. She had intended to see what Grandma Chen and Xiao Hong were capable of, but she never expected them to give her such a big surprise.
The combination of an old person and a child is the type that most easily lowers one's guard, making it easier for both to gather information.
In just two days, they had figured out the whole story, and even some inside information that Su Zhihan had not expected.
That old man and his family not only beat up Uncle Li, who supplied them, but also sold cheap, rotten tofu to the other vendors, which was tantamount to undermining the foundation of the entire market.
Poor quality leads to a drop in price, and extremely low prices drive out good businesses, leaving only inferior ones. In the end, diners will also be affected. If the ingredients of this food are exposed now, then this food's path will come to an end.
Su Zhihan did have other ways to make money, but she was unwilling to let these shameless people take over the market.
Moreover, if those people get a taste of success this time, what if they do the same thing when she switches to other businesses?
Su Zhihan had an idea in mind and said a few words to Grandma Chen and Xiao Hong. The more they listened, the wider their eyes became, until finally they couldn't control their expressions and were completely dumbfounded.
After a long pause, Grandma Chen stammered, "Ah? This...this...is this really okay?"
"Can."
"Let's start tomorrow... no, the day after tomorrow." Su Zhihan smiled, stood up, and instructed the two to do as she told them before walking towards the door: "You don't need to give me the rest of the money. When you spread rumors later, don't be stingy with money. Just like this time, buy what you need and spend what you need. If anyone asks, just say that the rumors came from the various noble families."
"...Huh?" Grandma Chen was even more bewildered, standing there for a long time without coming back to her senses.
As Su Zhihan walked to the door, Grandma Chen hurriedly stepped forward, picked up a few bags from the corner, and handed them to her: "Miss Su, these are mountain products we bought while we were gathering information. They're not worth much. We bought a lot, but we don't know how to cook them. Please take them and try them out."
Su Zhihan glanced at them and saw that they were just some tangerines, hawthorns, and walnuts, so she smiled and accepted them.
She walked along the market towards the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence, and along the way she saw many vendors selling dried bean curd. In the past, their stalls sold it for three coins a bag or five coins for two bags, but now it was two coins a bag, and some even advertised three coins for two bags.
Su Zhihan paused for a moment, shook her head, and walked towards the Marquis's residence. As soon as she reached the gate, Granny Xu warmly opened it for her: "Han'er is back."
"Hello, Granny Xu, would you like some tangerines? I bought a big bag of them." Su Zhihan took out a few tangerines from the bag and stuffed them into Granny Xu's hand.
Granny Xu glanced at the bag and happily took it. She casually mentioned what had happened a couple of days ago and made an appointment with Su Zhihan at the end of the month: "I'll deliver the vegetables to your house then."
"Okay!" Su Zhihan readily agreed.
"Oh, right." Granny Xu felt relieved, but then remembered something else: "Speaking of which, are Granny Wang and her daughter-in-law bullying you?"
"No?" Su Zhihan shook her head upon hearing this. Let alone bullying them, ever since Jiang Zhenniang started working in Third Sister's courtyard, that Granny Wang had become like a dead chicken, never daring to swagger around in front of her house again.
Recently, even on her way to and from work each day, Granny Wang deliberately avoided the mother and daughter, making Wang's daughter-in-law think she was sick.
That day, she also overheard Wang's wife and husband talking about finding a doctor to examine Wang's mother.
"Then why does your yard smell so awful? Don't lie to me, is it Granny Wang causing trouble in your yard, deliberately trying to make things difficult?"
Old Mrs. Xu didn't believe it and stomped her foot: "Don't blame me for meddling, but someone like Old Mrs. Wang, who bullies the weak and fears the strong, will dare to climb all over you if you give her any face."
"I know the dung collector behind me."
"I'll leave you a bucket or two there later. We'll pour it on her doorstep in the middle of the night and see if she can still act tough then!"
That's a really ruthless tactic.
Su Zhihan almost burst out laughing, but before Granny Xu could take full responsibility, she refused: "Granny Wang really hasn't been causing any trouble lately. As for that smell, it's because I'm making the food."
After hearing Su Zhihan's words, Granny Xu looked completely disbelieving.
When she passed by the Jiang family's house on her way to her shift in the morning, she was so overwhelmed by the smell that she had to pinch her nose and run away. She didn't know how many people were talking about the smell, saying it was like fish and shrimp that had rotted for seven or eight days, or like clothes that hadn't been washed for half a month or even a month, emitting an indescribable sour and rotten odor.
After discussing with the servants and the people in the courtyard, Granny Xu finally decided on the suspect—Granny Wang.
After the Jiang family moved into the Marquis's mansion, she was the one who was most active in causing trouble. In the end, she was the one who lost her position to Jiang Zhenniang. Most importantly, Granny Wang had a criminal record. In the past, when she was making a scene, she would throw dirty things on people. It is not surprising that she did such a thing.
Although Su Zhihan said no, Granny Xu still muttered to herself. She watched Su Zhihan leave, peeled the tangerine in her hand, and her eyes darted around. Soon, she had an idea.
She'd heard that Wang's wife was unaware that Granny Wang had been kicked out of Third Sister's courtyard. Everyone was gossiping and waiting to see what would happen, but now...
"Ouch...so sour!" Granny Xu's thoughts came to an abrupt halt. Holding the tangerine, she grimaced, her teeth aching from the sourness: "Where did Han'er get such a sour tangerine?"
"I'll have to talk to Han-jie about how to pick good oranges later."
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