Chapter 542: Life in the Corners

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Chu Qingzhi smiled, “Go ahead and eat, it’s on Shopkeeper Qian, you don’t have to pay.”

Xiao Zongchao felt Chu Qingzhi was really capable. Not only were the chefs learning to cook from her, but the shopkeeper also treated her so well. “Aren’t you going to eat?”

“I’m not hungry.”

Xiao Zongchao’s mouth watered. “Then, shall I eat?”

“Go ahead.”

Xiao Zongchao took the bowl of noodles to a corner and began eating heartily. Accustomed to hiding in secluded corners, he felt uneasy in the open environment.

The chefs gathered around the fish-flavored tofu, each tasting it…

One chef joked, “Shopkeeper, why don’t you hire this girl with such great cooking skills?”

Shopkeeper Qian glanced at the chef, “Hah! As if 1 could just hire her if I wanted to.”

Everyone laughed, “That’s true.”

Shopkeeper Qian urged, “While Miss Chu is still here, you should quickly learn a few tricks from her. Why are you surrounding me?!”

“Right…” The chefs immediately crowded around Chu Qingzhi, and Shopkeeper Qian sneakily picked up the plate and left.

For the sake of her business partner, Chu Qingzhi answered the chefs’ questions one by one.

Making spiritual food was much more difficult than making ordinary food. The chefs’ questions were all simple and could be answered easily.

Afterward, everyone was both fond of and grateful to Chu Qingzhi.

“Miss Chu, thank you for resolving a problem that has troubled me for many years.”

“I feel the same. I’ve consulted many people about this issue, but no one explained it as well as Miss Chu. 1 understood immediately.”

“Miss Chu’s culinary skills are truly impressive.”

Chu Qingzhi humbly smiled, “You flatter me.”

Meanwhile, Xiao Zongchao finished his noodles, washed the bowl, and approached Chu Qingzhi timidly, “Miss, I’ve finished the noodles.”

“Then let’s go.” Chu Qingzhi bid farewell to everyone and left with Xiao Zongchao.

On the street, Chu Qingzhi asked, “Are you full?”

Xiao Zongchao lowered his head, a bit embarrassed, “Yes, full. Thank you, Miss.”

“If you really want to thank me, then focus on making good paper.”

Xiao Zongchao stood up straight, promising, “I will.”

Walking down two streets, Chu Qingzhi ran into Chu Xujin.

Chu Xujin was leading a group of constables in a hurry in one direction, but stopped upon seeing Chu Qingzhi, “Sister, what are you doing here?”

Chu Qingzhi replied, “I went to Fuyuan Restaurant to teach cooking. How about you?”

Chu Xujin whispered, “A shop assistant revealed that the workshop where he works has issues with ink. I’m planning to check it out.”

Chu Qingzhi subtly reminded him, “Brother, the shop assistant relies on the workshop for his livelihood. Why would he destroy his career?”

When Chu Xujin heard this, his mind calmed down. He had been busy investigating the case of the counterfeit banknotes for the past few days and felt somewhat muddle-headed. As soon as the assistant said that there was a problem with the ink in the workshop, he didn’t think too much about it and went out with his men. Now that he thought about it, there were indeed many questions that he hadn’t figured out.

“Sister, go on with your work. I’ll think it over before acting.”

“Ok.”

Chu Qingzhi took Xiao Zongchao with her and left.

Chu Xujin watched the two leave. Earlier, when they went to the Zhao Paper Mill to find Zhang Qing’s second uncle, they found no such person. Now, with the assistant coming forward to report, the situation was full of mysteries.

He turned around and stared at the shop assistant for a while, then brought him to a remote corner for questioning.

Chu Xujin asked with a cold expression, “Tell me, why did you say that there’s a problem with the workshop you work in?”

“They deducted my salary. If it was once or twice, it would have been fine. Later on, I found out that people who did the same job as me earned one hundred more copper coins a month than me. I couldn’t take it…” The shop assistant looked angry.

Chu Xujin pursed his lips and said angrily, “So you’re simply doing this to retaliate? In fact, there’s nothing wrong with the workshop?”

“I don’t dare,” the shop assistant said quickly. “Two nights ago, 1 left something in the workshop and specially went back to get it. I didn’t expect to see a convoy waiting behind the workshop.”

“I took a closer look and noticed they were loading the type of ink used for banknotes. It’s unusual for the banks to collect ink at night; they don’t usually do that. Moreover, the workshop typically delivers the ink to them.”

“Finding it strange, 1 kept this information in mind. Now, when the workshop cut my wages and told me to get lost when I argued, I couldn’t hold back and came to the government office.”

Chu Xujin pondered silently. According to the assistant, the workshop’s actions were indeed strange. But having problems didn’t necessarily mean they were involved in the counterfeit banknote case.

“Do you know where the convoy took the ink?” he asked.

The shop assistant thought for a moment and said, “In the direction of the city’s east.”

The east side of the city?

After thinking for a while, Chu Xujin came up with a plan. He signaled two constables and whispered instructions to them, “Change into plain clothes and secretly monitor the ink workshop for any unusual activity.”

The constables nodded and left quickly.

Chu Xujin led the remaining constables to the east of the city.

There were poor people living in the east of the city, so it was suitable to do some illegal things.

At Fuyuan Restaurant.

Chu Qingzhi, as usual, prepared a dish using soybean paste, which received unanimous praise. When she was about to leave, an argument broke out in the main hall of the restaurant…

Tao Zhenfeng deliberately knocked over the plate in Li Changjiang’s hand and then mocked him, “Has the once-glorious master Li now fallen to the point of serving dishes here?”

Li Changjiang didn’t want trouble and kept his head down, remaining silent, enduring Tao Zhenfeng’s mocks.

As long as he did not retort, Tao Zhenfeng would still have to pay for the food.

Enduring a few insults was nothing – it didn’t affect his pay.

Seeing Li Changjiang behaving like a quail, Tao Zhenfeng became even more sarcastic. “You used to stand so upright before, now have you bent over? Now you’re almost crawling on the ground licking, where’s your pride?”

Li Changjiang clenched his fists so tightly that his joints turned white. However, he still looked very calm.

Tao Zhenfeng deliberately mocked loudly, “Weren’t you quite eloquent in the past? Why aren’t you saying anything now? Have you been bending down for too long that you can’t straighten up?”

Li Changjiang was still standing there motionlessly, giving off a feeling that he would not budge no matter what storm it was.

Tao Zhenfeng, irritated, stood up, kicking over a chair. The chair fell, hitting Li Changjiang’s leg.

“Hiss…” Li Changjiang grimaced in pain.

Shopkeeper Zhou hurriedly intervened, “Esteemed guest, our worker made a mistake. I apologize on his behalf. He’s hurt his foot, can we let him go and bandage it?”

Tao Zhenfeng wasn’t willing to let Li Changjiang off so easily and retorted harshly, “It’s just a chair hitting him, what’s the big deal!”

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