Chapter 503: Sweet Inside

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Chu Xujin exclaimed, “What??”

At that moment, Old Master Meng returned, looking troubled, and presented five fifty-taels silver notes. “I’ve found some counterfeit notes too.”

Chu Xuhua compared them with his own, finding them identical. “Old Master Meng, where did these come from?”

Old Master Meng thought hard and shook his head. “I’m not too sure. We’ve had so many business dealings, and this never happened before.”

Chu Xuhua returned the banknote to Old Master Meng. “Keep it first. If we can catch the culprit, we might be able to get the real money back.”

Old Master Meng quickly agreed. “Alright, let’s do this.”

After saying their farewells, they visited the second merchant, who, upon hearing Chu Xuhua’s story, promptly examined their notes and found a counterfeit among them.

Chu Xujin acutely felt that something was wrong. Why did fake money appear so densely all of a sudden? There must be something wrong. “Could someone be deliberately forging these?”

Ge Lihua pressed her lips together. “We’ll probably know once Brother Xuhua finishes questioning the merchants.”

Chu Xujin nodded. “Hmm.”

Out of ten merchants, five were in Shuiyun County, the rest in other counties. After questioning five, four had counterfeit notes; only the last one didn’t.

They concluded that someone was definitely doing this behind the scenes.

Chu Xujin sighed deeply. “We haven’t solved Zhou Da’s case, and now there’s another one.”

Chu Qingzhi asked concernedly, “How is Zhou Da’s case going?”

Chu Xujin replied, “Fifth Sister, I was about to ask you. There’s no problem with Zhou Da’s case, except we can’t find the murder weapon. What should we do?”

Chu Qingzhi suggested, “The best way to find the weapon is to examine the body. Check the body more thoroughly; you might find something.”

Chu Xujin calmed down. “1’11 personally inspect it tomorrow.”

Chu Qingzhi said, “Third Brother, actually, you can learn how to do autopsies. Sometimes, after examining the corpse, you can directly find the murderer.”

Chu Xujin’s eyes lit up. “I’ll start learning tomorrow.”

Seeing that Chu Xujin was willing to learn, Chu Qingzhi added, “There should be many autopsy results in the county office. You can start from there. After you have more theories, it will be much easier to practice.”

Chu Xujin nodded in agreement. “Fifth Sister, 1 understand.”

After returning home, Chu Xuhua returned to his room in a bad mood.

After dealing with the accounts, Shen Ruyue hurried back to check on him. “Xuhua, where are you?”

Chu Xuhua’s deep voice came from the bathroom. “Ruyue, I’m taking a shower.”

Shen Ruyue walked over and stood at the door of the bathroom. A cool breeze blew through the gap. “Are you taking a cold shower?”

Chu Xuhua’s voice was accompanied by the sound of water. It was filled with self-blame. “Yes, 1 want to calm down.”

Shen Ruyue said worriedly, “Don’t take a cold shower. You’ll get sick.”

Chu Xuhua didn’t reply. The only sound that responded to Shen Ruyue was the sound of water. In the quiet environment, the sound of water seemed to be filled with regret.

Shen Ruyue comforted him. “You can’t be blamed for this. The one to blame should be the liar. Take this as a lesson. You won’t be tricked a second time.”

The sound of water suddenly stopped. Soon, the bathroom door opened and Chu Xuhua walked out in a white undergarment.

He was covered in water vapor, and his undershirt was slightly open, revealing his firm chest muscles. Water droplets hung on his handsome face, sliding down his chin, along his neck, and into his undershirt…

Shen Ruyue blushed and looked away shyly.

Chu Xuhua calmed down a lot when he saw Shen Ruyue. He went forward to hug his wife and said gently, “Don’t worry, I’m fine. Go get your clothes. I’ll run you a hot bath.”

Shen Ruyue nodded gently, her heart filled with happiness. “Okay.”

In the room, Chu Qingzhi sat at the table with a list in her hand.

This was the list of all the helpers in the family. Behind the list was Shen Ruyue’s daily evaluation of them. She scored them based on ten points.

The scoring was secretly carried out without anyone knowing.

Chu Qingzhi planned to select the managers based on these scores. If scores were tied, she would consider their personalities to determine the most suitable candidate.

Currently, the family’s business wasn’t extensive, comprising only nine products: rice dumplings, ice cream bar, bread, biscuits, grilled sausages, sandwiches, apple pies, beer, and rice wine. Actually, the beer and rice wine were still fermenting, so effectively there were only seven products. Although few, each was a hit and not to be underestimated.

Fifty workers were involved in making rice dumplings, among whom one manager and five assistant managers would be selected, along with six new hires.

There were twenty workers for ice cream bars, requiring one manager and two assistant managers, plus three new hires.

For bread, biscuits, grilled sausages, sandwiches, and apple pies, there were ten people each, totaling fifty. They needed one manager and five assistant managers, plus six new hires.

There were five people for beer, requiring one assistant manager and a new hire.

For rice wine, there were six people, with Hong Yujun as the manager.

A delivery team also needed to be formed with ten people, two per team, operating five routes, with the manager yet to be determined.

A purchaser was needed, someone utterly trustworthy; otherwise, they might embezzle funds or substitute inferior goods. No candidate had been found yet.

Chu Xuhua was focused on expanding his business. Li Zhangjie was still his assistant. In the future, if he promoted Li Zhangjie, Chu Xuhua could slack off a bit.

Shen Ruyue was the overall manager, handling accounts and personnel, and would eventually need an assistant.

Chu Qingzhi was involved in product development.

She listed the items on paper, feeling that the business was now stable enough to develop new products.

Resting her chin on one hand, Chu Qingzhi thought for a while and decided to make egg tarts.

Egg tarts were simple, popular, delicious, nutritious, and suited most people’s taste.

The next morning, egg tarts were served. “Everyone, try these.”

Chu Xuyao looked curiously. “Fifth Sister, you’ve made a new dish?”

“Yes, egg tarts.”

Being all family, they didn’t stand on ceremony and started eating.

The egg tarts were golden, with a crispy outer layer and a sweet custard inside. Each bite was a progression of crunchy, soft, and eggy flavors, both fragrant and delicious.

“Fifth Sister, these egg tarts are so good,” Chu Xuyuan said, looking at Chu Qingzhi admiringly.

Chu Qingzhi smiled. “If they’re good, Mother can try selling them later. I baked a hundred, fifty here and fifty more.”

Li Qingyu nodded with a smile. “Okay, how much for each?”

“Twenty copper coins each,” Chu Qingzhi replied.

“Okay.”

Tang Jinghong, a sweet tooth, was captivated at the first bite and ended up eating three in a row.

Seeing Tang Jinghong’s enjoyment, Chu Qingzhi gave him her portion and whispered, “I’ll bake some more for you tonight.”

Tang Jinghong felt sweet inside. “Okay..”

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