The medicinal cuisine restaurant and the milk tea shop opened peacefully for a month.
Then came a bombshell—the general's wife was pregnant.
General Zhao Yong came in person and invited Jiang Bai over. He is now the prefect and lives in the prefectural government office with Wang Linlin, so more than one person saw Jiang Bai enter the prefectural government office.
Her business has been booming lately, attracting many admirers and envious people.
These jealous people couldn't afford to offend her, much less Zhao Yi, so they could only gossip behind her back. With their little schemes, the news that Jiang Bai had been taken away by the government spread throughout the county in less than half a day.
At first, some people explained, "It was the prefect who came to ask her to leave, not because she was arrested."
However, the news quickly became more and more distorted and absurd, eventually turning into the story that Jiang Bai had committed a crime and was arrested by the government soldiers. It was said that the crime she committed was quite serious, possibly a capital offense, and therefore even Zhao Yi was powerless to help her.
So, everyone gathered at the entrance of the milk tea shop, wanting to find out the truth.
Some busybodies couldn't help but comment after the fact: "I knew there was something wrong with the milk tea Jiang Bai sold, so I only drank one cup and didn't dare to drink any more."
"I think so too. When people say that drinking too much of it can be addictive, I think to myself, what good could it be? It's probably opium."
Opium, also known as marijuana products, is something that everyone despises. The emperors of the previous dynasty were well aware of its harm and issued a decree banning its sale, killing countless opium dealers and closing hundreds of opium dens, which led to the peaceful and prosperous era we have today.
Nowadays, opium is rarely seen on the market. Some clinics may use it as a form of anesthetic to relieve patients' pain, but even then, a clinic can only store a very small amount.
The mere mention of opium fills everyone with terror.
"It can't be true, can it?" a seasoned customer of the bubble tea shop asked, his voice trembling.
By drinking one to two cups a day, he successfully reached the VIP level and gained 40 pounds.
Now, the moment he hears the word "opium," this guest, who is easily swayed by rumors, immediately breaks down.
He took out his gold membership card, which he always carried with him, gritted his teeth, broke it in half, and threw it on the ground: "I'm never drinking it again."
"That's very possible. Isn't her other shop a medicinal cuisine restaurant? It must have all kinds of medicine!" someone next to him tried to scare him.
"If it weren't for opium addiction, why would her milk tea be so addictive?"
"I've heard that the process of making milk tea is kept secret. Those who go to help her can't see all the staff. Each person does a different part. It's said that she does the most crucial step herself."
"It must be opium. If she didn't add anything else, there wouldn't be any problem. Why wouldn't she dare to reveal the method of making it?"
"The government has already arrested her, isn't that enough proof?"
Upon hearing these words, the golden couple immediately objected.
With the stone lions guarding the place, they felt they had no place in the medicinal cuisine restaurant and offered to help out at the milk tea shop.
They rushed out and said to the crowd, "You say there's opium in the milk tea, where's the evidence? Are you just making baseless accusations?"
"Aren't you just jealous? Jealous that my business is doing well. You want to make milk tea, but you can't make it taste like this or achieve this effect."
As he spoke, Jin Tong pointed to one of the people inside and said, "Aren't you the one who kept pestering Boss Jiang, wanting the secret recipe for milk tea, and wanting to do business with my milk tea shop?"
"So, the reason you want the milk tea recipe to be made public isn't because you're afraid of unknown ingredients or that opium has been added, but because you also want to open this shop and make that money!"
"This move to take advantage of the situation to fight the tiger was well done. Their real intention wasn't the tiger itself, but to make money!" As they said this, the young couple applauded in unison.
Those people were rendered speechless by the insults and quietly retreated.
The gold member couldn't help but ask, "You say there's no opium in milk tea, so why is it so addictive?"
"Nonsense, it's because my milk tea is delicious." The young girl behind the counter walked out, her head held high with pride.
Yes, it's so delicious that it's addictive!
The young girl glanced at the gold member and scoffed, "You think my milk tea isn't good?"
The gold member nodded: "It tastes good..."
"You think there's opium in there? If there really was opium in there, would you still be this fat?" The little girl looked at him with disdain. "This face, you already have four chins, and this belly, even if you were pregnant for ten months, it would still be smaller than you. If you put it in a pot of oil, you could get two pounds of oil without even frying it, right?"
That's a really harsh statement.
The gold member was panting heavily with anger, but everyone else felt that the little girl's words made sense.
The previous dynasty suffered greatly from opium addiction, and their ancestors had generally had experience with opium smoking. During their childhood, these people had seen people addicted to opium.
Those people were all emaciated, irrational, and disheveled, yet they had no intention of taking care of themselves, unlike the person in front of them who was fat, energetic, and full of vitality.
All doubts were cleared up, and the group was no longer led astray by those with ulterior motives.
Taking this opportunity, the young girl explained, "Master Jiang was invited there by the prefect, not arrested for committing a crime."
Jiang Bai left from the medicinal cuisine restaurant, so the staff at the milk tea shop didn't know the specifics of the situation, only that Jiang Bai felt he hadn't done anything wrong.
The couple added from the side, "If they really get arrested, the prefect won't bend the law for personal gain. Why are you in such a hurry? Think it over carefully, don't fall into someone else's trap."
"The innocent will remain innocent, and the guilty will remain guilty. If you don't trust our milk tea shop or herbal restaurant, please leave. We don't welcome customers who are maliciously suspicious."
Just then, a renowned senior gynecologist from Ren Yunzhou's clinic passed by. Seeing them gathered there, he casually asked, "What happened here?"
Everyone offered their explanations.
The old doctor stroked his beard and said, "I know about this. The prefect's wife ate the medicinal food prepared by Master Jiang and is pregnant. I just came out of the prefectural office. The prefect said that such good news should be announced to the world immediately. Starting tomorrow, porridge will be distributed at the entrance of the yamen for three days to pray for the prefect's wife and unborn child."
Upon hearing this, the noise suddenly stopped.
Everyone was stunned for a moment, and someone asked tremblingly, "Did the prefect send the Goddess of Fertility over to thank her?"
The old doctor did not correct the man's incorrect way of referring to Jiang Bai, and nodded in agreement.
Everyone started offering hindsight advice again: "We knew Boss Jiang was a good person."
"She's so beautiful, how could she possibly be in the opium business?"
"Don't try to take it from me, I need to go to the medicinal cuisine restaurant to get a membership card!"
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