Chapter 113 Li Fugui sent people to follow
Erdan carefully noted it down, then asked with concern, "Someone came to your house and caused trouble. Do you need our help? Sun Wen and Sun Wu know kung fu. Let them accompany you home tonight."
Liu Ye smiled and shook her head: "No need, I can handle it myself. By the way, I have something to tell you, so please be careful. Li Fugui, the owner of Shunfeng Grain Store, has his eye on our noodle shop. He's probably after the grain I have. I'm worried he might send people over to steal the grain tonight. Be careful. If anyone comes to steal the grain, don't fight them. Let them do what they want. Protecting yourselves is the most important thing. I'll deal with them later."
Upon hearing this, Sun Erdan suddenly realized: "No wonder. Gou Dan just told me that Manager Li from Shunfeng Grain Store is at our door. He doesn't queue up for noodles; he just watches over the store with an old man. Tonight, I'll have Sun Wen and Sun Wu stay and watch the store with me, and I'll let Tie Dan and Gou Dan go home."
Liu Ye nodded. Sun Wen and Sun Wu knew martial arts, so it was fine for them to stay and watch the shop. She would pay them more wages. "Okay, then be careful."
After finishing her morning meal and seeing off the last customer, Liu Ye closed the shop door, then carried half a bag of copper coins to the back room, put it into her spatial storage, and placed it on the kang (heated brick bed). Of the 20 bags of flour she had put out last night, only 17 remained. After deducting the ones from lunch and dinner, she still had enough for tomorrow.
Let's talk about it tomorrow night, so she doesn't leave too much food. In case a thief comes at night, Sun Erdan and the others will be in danger while protecting the food.
Before we knew it, it was lunchtime, and there were even more customers eating lunch. Some customers brought their own bowls, filled two or three bowls of noodles, and took them home to eat. Others bought just one bowl of noodles and took it with them.
At first, Liu Ye didn't understand what was going on. But after finishing the work at noon, Erdan said while kneading the dough, "Master Liu, the people who come to our house to eat noodles have all learned how to make money. They know that our noodles are cheap, the portions are generous, and they taste good. They all buy them to take home. One bowl of noodles can be cooked into a big pot with some water, enough for a whole family. Although it may not be enough to fill them up, they won't starve either."
Upon hearing this, Liu Ye exclaimed, "So that's what happened! No wonder so many customers were taking bowls of noodles home today. They were taking them home to reheat. That's a good idea indeed!" She continued, "Er Dan, make another bag of flour. Make another bag tonight too. If there are even more customers tomorrow, add more so that everyone who comes to our noodle shop can get noodles. If you and Tie Dan are too busy, let Gou Dan help you too."
Sun Erdan said with a bit of heartache, "A bag of flour sells for two hundred taels of silver outside. We use more than a dozen bags of flour a day, which is more than 2,000 taels of silver. But we only make a few dozen taels of silver selling flour. Boss, are you really not losing money? I'm really worried about you..."
Liu Ye smiled nonchalantly and said, "Don't worry, the people behind me have a lot of fertile land. They sell it to others at the same price as outside, and the grain they give me is free. You can use it without worry."
Sun Erdan was relieved to hear this. It turned out to be a business with no capital investment. At the same time, he was also moved by Liu Ye's kindness. She could have sold the grain at a high price and made a fortune, but instead, she went to the trouble of opening a noodle shop to sell the food cheaply to the common people, fearing that the poor would starve to death. She was clearly doing good deeds, but she didn't let anyone know. She was truly a great philanthropist. He and his brothers had not followed the wrong person.
Sun Erdan nodded excitedly: "Understood, boss."
At this moment, Sun Wu came in from outside the shop. He approached Liu Ye with a serious expression and said, "Boss, there's someone acting suspiciously at our shop entrance. He quickly hid as soon as he saw me, as if he's watching our shop."
Liu Ye didn't take it seriously after hearing it; it must have been someone sent by Li Fugui. But Sun Erdan and the others were very nervous, all looking worried.
Looking at the group calmly, Liu Ye said, "Don't worry, it must be someone sent by Li Fugui. I'll go see who it is."
Liu Ye arrived at the noodle shop and pretended to casually look around the street. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone hiding at the alley entrance. He looked somewhat familiar and seemed to be Zhang San, one of Li Fugui's men. To find out whether Zhang San was there to watch her or the shop, she deliberately strolled around the street, looking at this person and that person.
She glanced at the tail behind her out of the corner of her eye, and sure enough, it was someone watching her. It seemed that the shop was not in danger for the time being. She guessed that Li Fugui sent people to watch her because he wanted to find where she got her grain. He must also have people watching the shop, so that if someone came to deliver grain to her, he could send someone to follow them.
"Hmph, that old fox is quite cunning!"
She saw an alleyway to the side, pretended to look behind her cautiously, and then quickly walked into the alleyway. This alleyway was not a dead end, but a network of interconnected alleyways. Fortunately, there was no one in the alleyway, so she slipped into her spatial dimension.
Immediately afterward, footsteps were heard outside. Zhang San quickly ran into the alley, looking around for Liu Ye: "Hey, where did she go? Oh no, we've lost her."
Anxious, Zhang San hurriedly gave chase. He wasn't sure which alley Liu Ye had run to, so he randomly chose a secluded alley to pursue her.
Liu Ye could clearly hear Zhang San's footsteps running away in the space. She quickly slipped out of the space and returned to the noodle shop.
Zhang San chased after her through several alleys but couldn't find Liu Ye. He was so angry that he stomped his feet. That bitch must have hidden the grain here. She must have gone into some courtyard. He had to go back and report to the master.
Zhang San went back and reported his pursuit of Liu Ye to Master Li. After listening to Zhang San's account, Master Li also felt that the place where Liu Ye got the grain was in the alley: "Old Li, you immediately take some men to keep an eye on those alleys. If any of them have an oxcart or horse-drawn carriage coming or going, you send someone in to search for them tonight. Zhang San, you continue to keep an eye on Liu Ye."
Zhang San nodded: "Yes, sir, I'll go right away."
Manager Li immediately led five or six people to keep an eye on the alley where Liu Ye had disappeared.
Before long, it was noon. As soon as Sun Wu opened the shop door, people rushed in like madmen. Liu Ye was astonished to see that there were more than twice as many customers as in the morning, and many more were carrying basins.
"Give me three bowls of noodles," an old woman called out, holding up a basin.
"Give me four bowls of noodles."
"Give me five bowls of noodles! Hey, what are you doing? I was here first!" the woman shouted.
"You son of a bitch, you stepped on my foot! You want to die, don't you?!" The middle-aged man was holding a basin and was about to punch someone.
Holding a cleaver, Sun Wu shouted at the noodle-eating customers with a fierce face, "One by one, everyone line up. No fighting allowed! Anyone who causes trouble in our shop will not be sold a single bowl of noodles!"
Upon hearing this, all the customers who wanted to buy noodles lined up obediently, and no one dared to make a fuss. Now, their entire families depended on this bowl of noodles to survive, and they didn't have a single grain of rice left in their homes.
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