Free Web NovelChapter 231: Chapter 232: So It Was Him
"This is a lychee fruit drink," Ming Lingyi explained. "The lychees were shipped to Shangjing City from the Lingnan region. This kind of fruit really can’t be found in the north. I don’t have many lychees at my restaurant, so I couldn’t make a lot. Just think of it as a chance to try something new."
Feng Shuyu remarked, "Getting a taste of something new like this isn’t easy!"
She had heard of lychees before, but the fruit was mostly reserved as tribute for the imperial court. As she was only from the family of a minor official, what chance would she have to receive such a gift?
But Feng Shuyu didn’t ask where Ming’s Restaurant had gotten its lychees.
"Looking at the fruit drinks listed on the wall, it seems like there are many more now?" Feng Shuyu said.
Ming Lingyi nodded. "Grilled meat can be a bit greasy, so these nice, cool fruit drinks are perfect for cutting through the richness. Right now, the bestsellers are the lime drink, the bayberry drink, and the watermelon drink. After you finish this lychee drink, you can try the new bayberry one. It’s also quite delicious."
Feng Shuyu couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. "When I came by a few days ago, you didn’t have any of these. How long has it been, and you’ve already come up with so many ideas? Now I’m really looking forward to the opening of the Ming Family Restaurant. With all the things you have packed in that head of yours, I bet it’ll be a huge hit when it opens, and there will be lots of delicious food waiting for me."
Hearing this, Ming Lingyi couldn’t help but break into a wide smile.
"Then I’ll take that as a good omen."
"Right, you said you wanted to see me. What’s it about?" Feng Shuyu hadn’t had an appetite before she arrived, but now, looking at the sizzling, oily pork belly in front of her, she couldn’t resist. She felt her stomach could not only handle a few more cups of fruit drinks, but also a few more plates of grilled meat.
Ming Lingyi handed her the counterfeit official gazette that Little Stone had given her. "Take a look."
Feng Shuyu took it, and after a quick glance, her expression turned much more serious.
At that moment, Little Stone and Xiao Chun returned from outside.
Earlier, after Little Stone delivered Ming Lingyi’s message to Feng Shuyu, he didn’t come straight back to the restaurant. Instead, he went to check on the markets.
"Miss, Sister Xiao Chun and I went through several markets and found people in a few of them selling counterfeit copies of our official gazette. They’re all selling them very cheaply," Little Stone said as he walked over, quite indignant.
He had originally thought it was just some private printing to make a little extra money, but now it was clear that someone was behind this, trying to cause trouble and steal his miss’s business.
Xiao Chun nodded as well. "And they aren’t staying in one fixed market; they’re mobile. I personally saw the same person in two different markets."
Ming Lingyi nodded, indicating she understood. "You two haven’t eaten, have you? Sit down, we can eat and talk. When you saw these people, did any of them look familiar?"
Little Stone shook his head, and Xiao Chun also said no.
"What about after that? After you found these people, where did they all go?" Feng Shuyu asked, rubbing the paper between her fingers. The paper used for this printing was extremely cheap; her Guanwen Hall would never stock paper like this.
But because it was so cheap, the cost was very low. So even if one of these official gazettes sold for only ten copper coins, there was still a large profit margin.
And families who couldn’t afford a real official gazette, or even a single book, might very well choose to buy a pirated copy like this. For just ten copper coins, they could "decorate" their home and keep up appearances.
"We did!" Xiao Chun replied. "Miss also told us to follow the people selling the gazettes to see where they would go, who they would meet, and who was behind them. But... Little Stone and I each followed one person. Those two were just ordinary people from the market near the West Market that specializes in coffin shops. We asked around, and both of them don’t have a steady livelihood. Sometimes they run errands for people, or they haul goods at the docks. Anyway, they take whatever odd jobs they can get. This business of selling gazettes is probably just another side job they picked up."
Feng Shuyu said, "These people are just middlemen. Even though they’re the ones selling, they probably paid a deposit when they ’picked up the goods.’ Each of these gazettes has a cost in silver. Whatever price they manage to sell them for, that’s their own profit. Any that are left unsold can usually be returned to the original seller for a refund. The two you followed had probably sold out, right?"
Xiao Chun and Little Stone exchanged a glance and nodded in unison.
"That’s exactly it. Little Stone and I figured that if someone was behind them, they would definitely have to sell out before reporting back, so we deliberately chose to follow two people who had already sold all their copies..." As Xiao Chun spoke, she couldn’t help but look toward Ming Lingyi. "Miss, did we do the wrong thing?"
Ming Lingyi said, "It’s my fault. I didn’t know it worked like that either. If Boss Feng hadn’t explained it, I wouldn’t have known. It has nothing to do with you two."
"No matter. We’ll go check the markets again tomorrow morning," Feng Shuyu said.
"Will they talk?"
"Then we’ll just bring more people," Feng Shuyu replied to Little Stone’s question with a smile.
Little Stone’s eyes widened.
The next day, as soon as Ming Lingyi stepped out the door, she saw Feng Shuyu’s carriage.
’The two of them hadn’t arranged to meet at the restaurant’s entrance yesterday.’
Once she was in the carriage, Ming Lingyi couldn’t help but say with a smile, "Didn’t you say yesterday that you were going to bring more people?"
’These odd-jobbers might let something slip to people they know, but it would probably be very difficult for unfamiliar faces like us to get any information. It’s not that they’re trying to protect the person paying them, but rather that there isn’t much of this kind of work to go around. It’s one thing to share information among their own familiar circle, but why would they let outsiders in to take a piece of the pie?’
"We’re going straight to the West Market," Feng Shuyu said. "I think I know who’s behind this. We’re going to go catch them in the act." As she spoke, she pointed to Shi Mingyue, who was sitting outside the carriage. "I know your Miss Ming Yue is skilled. The other party doesn’t have anyone particularly tough, so Miss Ming Yue alone will be more than enough."
Ming Lingyi was surprised that Feng Shuyu had figured out who it was after just one night.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"It should be those scumbags from Hongyun Bookstore," Feng Shuyu said, grinding her teeth.
The name "Hongyun Bookstore" sounded somewhat familiar to Ming Lingyi.
After a moment of thought, Ming Lingyi’s expression turned a little strange.
"How did you know it was Hongyun Bookstore causing trouble?" Ming Lingyi asked.
Feng Shuyu said, "I didn’t know at first. But last night after I left your place, my personal maidservant told me something when she got home from the bookstore. She said the people at Hongyun Bookstore were up to no good. She didn’t know what they were doing, but she saw a lot of strangers gathering over there."
Ming Lingyi looked at her, confused.
Feng Shuyu continued, "My maidservant always glances over there when she starts and finishes work. After all, our two bookstores aren’t actually that far apart."
At this, she gave a dry cough. "Years ago, I was fond of seal carving, and as it happened, my ex-husband was too. Hongyun Bookstore is actually where we first met. I didn’t know he was the sole son of the Hu family; we just got to know each other because we had a common hobby and saw each other often. But later, he had to take over his family’s business, and the bookstore was handed over to someone else to manage. And then... well, you know what happened. I divorced his family. My maidservant has been with me since she was a child, and she’s always felt that Hongyun Bookstore was what ruined my marriage. So every time she goes to or from work, she has to glare at it and spit."
This was certainly a turn of events Ming Lingyi hadn’t expected.
"The current Shopkeeper of Hongyun Bookstore was also at the bookstore in the early years. But he’s not an honest man, and he liked to hit his wife. I caught him once. Back then, I was managing many of the Hu family’s shops, including this bookstore, so I was about to kick a man like that out. But that day, I ran into the Second Mistress. That woman..." Feng Shuyu shook her head.
Even without her saying more, judging from the current situation, the man she had wanted to kick out had managed to become the Shopkeeper. It was obvious that Hu Yuwan had blocked Feng Shuyu’s decision that day.
"No wonder," Ming Lingyi said suddenly.
