When the person in charge finally came out, the crowd parted to reveal a man in blue robes squatting on the ground with a pained expression.
Some people were patting his back to comfort him, while others surrounded Zhou Xiang, asking, "What's going on with you? What kind of things are you using to harm people?"
"Yes! We came here out of kindness to support you, and you actually tried to harm us. Give us an explanation!"
"Yes, we demand an explanation!"
With the host family intervening, the man in the short shirt knew he was out of trouble. He returned to his wife and children, hugging his frightened daughter and saying, "Little sister, don't be afraid. Daddy didn't cause any trouble."
As the woman helped him straighten his clothes, she scolded him with tears in her eyes, "You really are... You need to change this temper. The master of the house hadn't even come out yet, and you rushed forward. If someone had hit you, you would have been in trouble!"
The man said indignantly, "If someone had been willing to speak up and say a fair word when our shop was being extorted, we wouldn't have had to go out of business."
This shop looks impressive now, it must have something special about it, yet people are still coming to cause trouble. I really can't stand by and watch.
The woman knew he was straightforward and honest, which was why he was extorted and forced to close his shop. She was still angry when she rushed up to him, but she grabbed his arm and said, "Brother Zhu, the master has already come out. Let's go."
Xue'er and Xuan'er are both hungry. Let's hurry and find something to eat, and see if we can find a place to work.
Before she could finish speaking, a young woman appeared beside her with a smile and said, "Sister-in-law, since both children are hungry, why don't you come into our shop and have something to eat?"
The woman looked at her husband.
The man in the short shirt cupped his hands and said, "We are short of money and cannot afford the food at Tianxiang Restaurant."
Song Liyun smiled and said, "Just based on your righteous words just now, you can sit in the building. I hope you won't refuse."
In the crowd, Zhou Xiang walked up to the man in blue who was squatting on the ground vomiting, and asked him with a forced smile, "Where do you feel unwell?"
The man looked like he was about to die, spitting blood and mumbling, "Poisoned! Poisoned! I need a doctor!"
Zhou Xiang pursed his lips, stood up and said to the three soldiers who were carrying chamber pots, "Take him further away and force-feed him! Take him to the clinic when he's vomited it all up."
He was delayed because of these three buckets of manure, which caused this disturbance, so he should clean it up as soon as possible.
"Okay!"
The soldier carrying the bucket excitedly stepped forward and looked at the man in blue who had become terrified, saying, "Brother, I'm sorry, but if you've been poisoned, you should induce vomiting immediately. There's no time to lose."
"What are you doing? What are you doing?" The man in blue, who was squatting on the ground, shouted and tried to run away, but someone grabbed his arm, twisted and held him back, and he was unable to move. He was immediately dragged to the middle of the street.
"No, I'm sick... Let go... I'll sue the authorities... I'm going to sue the authorities!"
The man in blue was held by several large hands, like a fish thrown onto the shore, struggling desperately but unable to break free.
The chamber pot was opened, and a spoonful of golden-yellow excrement was held under his nose.
"Wow!"
Before the object even entered his mouth, the man in blue began to vomit violently, spewing out various stomach contents. He vomited until snot and tears streamed down his face.
The other four men panicked as well. They hadn't expected Tianxianglou to make a move so directly. They tried to rush forward to snatch the man, but Zhou Xiang pushed them away, saying, "Time is of the essence in this poisoning situation. We have experience with this. As long as he vomits it all out, he'll be fine. Don't get in the way."
Some of the onlookers were quick-witted: "Yes, no matter what kind of poison it is, as long as you spit it out immediately, you'll be fine."
Using feces to induce vomiting is the most common method, and although it is disgusting, it is also the most effective.
Seeing the "poisoned" person vomiting violently, the others knew they had met their match.
The fact that Tianxianglou was owned by the garrison was not made public, and few people knew about it due to its secrecy.
When this group of thugs, who usually made a living by extorting money from various towns, heard the news of the new building's opening, they thought they could make money.
To the utter surprise of these thugs, these bastards would actually force-feed excrement to people in the street.
Remembering the instructions from the person behind him, the leader of the thugs hurriedly shouted to the surrounding crowd, "Everyone, help me bear witness: Tianxiang Tower poisoned people, and no doctor is allowed to be called."
“Who says you can’t call a doctor? Everyone should recognize this Dr. Lin from Jimintang!” A woman’s clear voice came from the entrance of Tianxianglou.
Song Liyun slowly walked out, and beside her was a doctor who was well-known to everyone in Qili County.
The old doctor had a flowing white beard, and next to him was a young apprentice carrying a medicine box.
The man in blue turned green with rage.
The doctor has arrived; it will be difficult to hide it from him. I only bit open the blood pack in my mouth; how could I possibly draw out more poison?
Seeing that things were going badly, the men who had been jumping up and down in advocating for justice turned around and tried to disappear into the crowd.
Zhou Xiang and his companions had been keeping a close eye on the group, and when they saw the group trying to run away, they rushed forward, grabbed their clothes, and threw them to the ground.
"Trying to extort money and then run? No way!"
The onlookers were in an uproar!
These people deliberately provoked trouble, so they should naturally be sent to the county government office for Lord Jiang to handle.
Song Liyun breathed a sigh of relief; she and Zhou Xiang and Lin Tao had already made several preparations.
The county government is ostracizing them; the ban on opening is just a prelude, and there are definitely more measures to come.
In the catering industry, staged food poisoning incidents are the most common tactic.
Eating a couple of bites causes stomach pain, and after finishing, one throws away leaves, stones, hair, and cockroaches to dine and dash. Although vulgar and old-fashioned, this method has worked for thousands of years.
Moreover, the barbecue skewers are spicy and stimulating, containing Sichuan peppercorns that are rarely seen by ordinary people, and you also have to drink ice water. The stimulation is so intense that Song Liyun is worried that some people will not be able to handle it.
So he simply spent five taels of silver to hire the most renowned doctor in Qili County to sit in Tianxianglou and ensure his safety.
If someone really wants to cause trouble, you don't need to worry about getting sick from eating it and having to go to the hospital.
Unexpectedly, her worries came in handy.
Sending it to the county government is Lord Jiang's business; Song Liyun only needs to manage Tianxiang Tower.
Despite this incident, and even though it was a case of extortion, the number of people queuing outside didn't seem to decrease.
The news, however, aroused the curiosity of some people, who all wanted to try the poisonous barbecue.
Since ancient times, there have been people who risked their lives to eat pufferfish, wanting to experience the thrill of flirting with death. These people today have the same idea, always wanting to "challenge the impossible".
In any case, Song Liyun's publicity efforts achieved their goal.
On the second day of Tianxianglou's opening, even though it was still in the promotional period, the turnover reached twenty taels when the bill was settled, and it actually made a small profit.
To everyone's surprise, the real money-maker was actually the rather bland and unappealing liquor, Yuzhilan.
A pot of sake costs less than three coins to make, but with just one piece of ice, it can be sold for thirty coins.
The most important thing is to not get drunk, but to keep people wanting to drink more – that's how you make money.
The distillery was immediately placed under a ten-year contract by Song Liyun.
This wasn't the biggest gain. For Song Liyun, the best reward was the couple who spoke up for her when the local thugs tried to extort money from her.
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