A Glimpse of Eight
After Mu Chuan's wounds had completely scabbed over, Wang Pan'er breathed a sigh of relief.
If there is no infection, recovery will be quick.
After the ladies tidied up the west wing yesterday, Mu Chuan had no excuse to stay in the east wing any longer. He watched with reluctance as Wang Pan'er picked up his belongings and pushed him into the west wing.
His pitiful expression was hilarious. Wang Pan'er knew he was only faking it, but how could she not appreciate the handsome guy's effort?
After washing up and eating the breakfast brought by the ladies, Wang Pan'er immediately took the wound medicine and gauze strips and headed to the west wing.
Mu Chuan was slightly obsessive about cleanliness, and in the first few days after being found, her clothes were tattered and she lived a very slovenly life. Once she arrived in town, she became like a young woman, washing herself and her undergarments every day. Fortunately, it was a good year, and charcoal was readily available. As a result, Wang Xiaoyao also developed the good habit of bathing every day, and very proactively filled a large bucket with water and lit a fire as soon as she got home.
A person who changes his clothes every day cannot bear not changing the rubbed and dusty gauze. Wang Pan'er was happy to indulge him and would apply medicine to him every morning and then re-bandage him with new gauze strips.
The minor wounds that had scabbed over no longer needed treatment, but Wang Pan'er dared not be careless about the remaining three wounds that Tao Shuo had stitched up.
Wang Pan'er carefully cleaned away the unabsorbed medicine powder from the stitched wounds, then applied fresh medicine with a small cotton swab. She habitually breathed out two breaths to "blow away the pain," then picked up the gauze and began to cut it.
Mu Chuan's dejected voice came from beside her: "It's so ugly, like a centipede. These wounds will leave scars even after they heal."
Wang Pan'er chuckled: "A real man is like tofu, why should he care about a few scars? They're his medals."
Mu Chuan sighed regretfully: "Didn't you like fair-skinned, slender, and young people? With this scar, how can you still be considered fair-skinned?"
Damn it, which girl has Su Lingzhao been gossiping about? He's talking about all this, and he's even bringing it up to Mu Chuan!
Can Su Lingzhao, this true playboy who knows nothing of human suffering, compare to Mu Chuan?
She gently stroked the stray hairs by Mu Chuan's ear, touched his face, and softly comforted him, "It's different. I know the stakes behind smuggling ironware. Most of the ironware smuggled out is forged into weapons. These scars are marks left by you protecting the people of this region. For people like us, having your protection is a great blessing."
Mu Chuan rubbed her hand against his cheek, then raised his wet eyes and looked at her intently.
"You don't believe me?" Wang Pan'er asked.
Before Mu Chuan could shake his head, Wang Pan'er took his right wrist in her hands and reverently placed a kiss on the wound stitched with black lines.
Mu Chuan trembled, unable to describe his feelings at that moment. He raised his left hand and wiped the powder off Wang Pan'er's lips, saying with a hint of coquettishness, "Alright, if you accidentally lick it, don't make a face because it tastes bitter."
"Hehe, when it comes to thoughtfulness, it has to be our young master Mu."
Mu Chuan chuckled: "I can be considerate, but I can't control my anxiety. I know you like my appearance, but now I have many scars, which is a regret in my heart."
“There’s a saying in my hometown: imperfection is also a kind of perfection.” Wang Pan’er re-bandaged Mu Chuan and tied a pretty bow. “Compared to you, my appearance is only average. Would I have to go and bang my head against a wall?”
"Don't underestimate yourself." Mu Chuan said solemnly, "In my heart, no one is better or more beautiful than you."
"Did you drink honey this morning?" Wang Pan'er was so happy to receive such compliments from her beloved that she almost spun around three times. "I'll push you outside to bask in the sun for a while, and then we'll have lunch together."
At Wang Pan'er's insistence, everyone ate bland, watery food with Mu Chuan for several days, and Wang Xiaoyao was already protesting that her mouth was so bland she could hardly stand it. Today, Mu Chuan's wound had completely scabbed over, and finally, half a table of dishes to go with rice was served.
Wang Pan'er placed all the colorful, fragrant, and delicious dishes on one side of Wang Xiaoyao's seat: "They're all yours, they're all yours."
Wang Xiaoyao chuckled, greedily stacking the dishes high, then focused on eating his rice.
These past two days, Wang Pan'er has been racking her brains over the issues of recipes and ingredient packets.
In modern society, many chain stores have central kitchens that provide meals free of charge; in short, they are semi-pre-prepared.
While ready-made meals have been heavily criticized, what most people dislike is the practice of selling readily available online pre-packaged meals at the price of freshly cooked food after only simple processing. Furthermore, the low price of these pre-packaged meals, regardless of the quality of the raw materials or the technological and rudimentary methods used in seasoning, poses a significant threat to public health. What people are actually boycotting is unscrupulous businesses making money at the expense of their conscience.
If a store has strict hygiene standards and precise processes under the control of a central kitchen, and maintains the quality of its products at an absolute level, consumers will definitely be happy to buy from it.
Unfortunately, in an agrarian society, without factories, production lines, or cold chain and storage methods, the idea of creating a central kitchen was a pipe dream.
As a last resort, it would be feasible to pre-prepare the spices and herbs needed for each dish into pre-packaged seasoning packets and deliver them to the branches for cooking.
However, this would significantly increase the risk of formula leakage.
The core value of Shanhe Medicinal Cuisine Restaurant lies in the recipes passed down from Wang Pan'er's maternal grandfather, and Wang Pan'er dares not be presumptuous about them.
After much thought, she decided to complicate the production process and refine the personnel.
For example, one group grinds the powder, and another group mixes and packages it. The grinder is instructed to mark the powder according to the symbols provided, and then the mixing and packaging team takes the corresponding powder according to different proportions, mixes it, and packages it. Ideally, the two groups should work in separate areas, and they shouldn't even need to be told that they are using ingredients for a medicinal cuisine restaurant. In this way, the leakage of the recipe can be controlled.
Although the costs will be higher, the advantage is that it's more secure. As more shops are opened later and the quantity of medicinal herbs and spices purchased increases, prices can be renegotiated. When these costs are spread out, they become negligible.
The preparation of the ingredients was once again handled by the Qianji Wanying Pavilion, and Wang Xiaoyao readily agreed.
Speaking of medicinal herbs, she then talked to Wang Pan'er about Wang Chengxi's situation: "Chengxi has been with Sister Tao Shuo for ten days to half a month."
Wang Pan'er was also curious: "How was it?"
Wang Xiaoyao continued, "Chengxi is quiet and not stupid, but she's too naive and a bit silly. However, Sister Tao said she has a meticulous personality and knows how to read people's expressions, so she's quite promising. It's just that she can't speak, so she can't practice medicine. If you just want to make a living, following Sister Tao as a pharmacist is definitely not a problem."
"Does she like it herself?" Wang Pan'er was very much in favor of Wang Chengxi's own wishes.
"She's really enjoying it. In a short time, she's already been able to identify quite a few medicinal herbs. Perhaps it's because Sister Tao Shuo can affirm her abilities that her spirits have improved so much."
Wang Pan'er was initially worried that Wang Chengxi's timid personality would put pressure on her while learning pharmacology from Tao Shuo, but after hearing from Wang Xiaoyao that her appetite had increased, she nodded with relief: "It's a lucky accident that solved our little sister's problem."
Wang Pan'er and Wang Xiaoyao were having a lively discussion, which prompted Xianying to chime in as well, frequently glancing at Mu Chuan as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.
Mu Chuan was speechless and choked with emotion: "Just say what you want to say. Xiao Yao is also my disciple, one of us. It's no problem."
Xianying let out a long sigh and began to speak: "Ever since the last time Young Master was targeted in Da'an Town..."
Before she could finish speaking, Wang Pan'er clicked her tongue, suddenly feeling that Mu Chuan's decision to go to Da'an Town alone was somewhat impulsive. She looked apologetically at Xianying and said, "Sorry for interrupting. I just thought that Young Master Mu was so eye-catching, and yet he dared to go and investigate clues so brazenly, only to end up in such a disheveled state. He seemed to have lost his composure."
Mu Chuan glared at Wang Pan'er: "I'm not a god, I can't be perfect in every detail. Even the most meticulous plans can have oversights. I'll just be more careful in the future. Xianying and I will try our best to avoid missions that require us to hide our whereabouts."
He then gestured for Xianying to continue.
"Our men sent to Da'an Town have reported back that the copper mine strengthened its defenses the day after the young master's accident, and even the government sent soldiers to guard the mine entrance."
Mu Chuan's expression turned serious: "Because the smuggled goods were ironware, we hadn't suspected that the copper mine would be the hideout. After I was exposed, they immediately sent more people to guard it, which must be suspicious."
Wang Pan'er asked, "I have another question. If copper mines can't produce iron ore, then copper mines will become smuggling dens. Besides mining, the most likely way to do this is to smelt iron. Do copper mines have smelting pools?"
Xianying replied, "Among the supplies transported into the mine, there was a large amount of charcoal. Less than one or two tenths of it was used for the miners to start fires and cook. Based on the amount of charcoal used, we can infer that there is a metallurgical pool."
Having said that, everyone understood the situation. Even Wang Xiaoyao, who had interrupted the conversation, sensed a hint of unease: "They could very well be smelting iron in the copper mine. Copper and iron are both metals, and it would be extremely easy to pass them off as something else."
Mu Chuan's brows furrowed deeper and deeper: "Right now, we should arrange for people to enter the mine to work as soon as possible."
Mo Feng nodded.
Even after planning their next move, the group still felt a sense of impending doom.
No one spoke again. They exchanged glances, both understanding what the other was thinking.
If there were really something fishy going on at the mine, and the local soldiers could be mobilized to guard it, then the collusion between officials and merchants would be irrefutable proof.
The collusion between officials and businessmen to smuggle ironware out of the country has made things far worse than initially anticipated; it's now a completely different matter.
After a long silence, Mu Chuan finally broke it: "There's an even worse possibility. If Prefect Zhao and Master Su have even greater backing, closing the case after finding the metallurgical pool would be like stirring up trouble. Smuggling ironware could, at best, harm the foundation of the nation, and at worst, shake the peaceful lives of the people. If they have powerful backers, how can we just stand by and watch them devour the people's hard-earned money? I think we should hold back and continue gathering evidence to find out where the profits are going."
Xianying took a deep breath: "The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light. It would be very dangerous for us to cut off their interests."
Wang Pan'er glanced at Xianying, then at Muchuan. Xianying spoke of danger, but showed no fear. Muchuan, on the other hand, gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing with a fierce light, instantly dispelling any thoughts of dissuading her.
They wanted to protect the people, and she, being just one of the ordinary citizens, had no right to dissuade them.
Wang Pan'er pursed her lips and said, "If there is any danger to your life, you must evacuate in time. If you fail to deliver the evidence to the capital, all your previous efforts will be in vain."
Mu Chuan nodded.
Seeing his serious expression, Wang Pan'er added, "If there's anything I can do to help, please feel free to arrange it."
Wang Xiaoyao echoed her sister, saying, "Me too, I'm willing to do my part."
Mu Chuan knew that his decision was impulsive and immature, but after he spoke out, no one objected, and even the Wang sisters were willing to stand with him.
He breathed a sigh of relief, chuckled, and looked at everyone gratefully: "Finding the metallurgical pool is already a good result. Any progress in the subsequent investigation will be a bonus. I've been targeted by them and can only stay on the estate, hiding my shadow and keeping watch. From this day forward, you must prioritize your safety in all your actions and avoid recklessness."
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