Chapter 16

Due to a poor night's sleep, Xu Yun felt quite drowsy when he got up early in the morning. He yawned as soon as he arrived at the herbal restaurant.

Seeing Xu Yun's state, Ruan Qingshuang couldn't help but ask with concern, "Were you too tired yesterday?"

Xu Yun stretched lazily, "No, I just didn't sleep well last night."

"Father, did you secretly go for a 'big health check-up' last night?" Guo Guo asked suspiciously, biting her tender finger.

Xu Yun was speechless; kids these days really knew everything: "Health check-up my foot!"

Ruan Qingshuang glanced at the time and quickly changed the subject, "The early bus to the vegetable wholesale market is about to leave. Let's hurry. If Guo Guo wants the plush rabbit toy, she needs to be a good girl!"

"Okay, I promise not to mention the 'big health check-up' again," Guo Guo quickly covered her mouth with both hands.

Ruan Qingshuang shook her head helplessly.

Xu Yun's face turned black, damn it, I really didn't!

The Hedong Vegetable Wholesale Market was a large-scale food wholesale market, offering everything from fruits and vegetables to dried goods and seafood. Xu Yun, holding Guo Guo, and Ruan Qingshuang spent over two hours there.

They finally negotiated with two wholesalers who offered fair prices and guaranteed fresh produce: one for fresh vegetables and one for fresh meat, with the lowest prices for long-term cooperation.

Moreover, under Guo Guo's smooth talk, both stores agreed to free delivery. After all, few could resist Guo Guo's tearful, pleading gaze. Due to the lack of staff, Guo Guo's strategy was a perfect addition.

After buying the necessary items, the three of them took the bus back to the store. It was already around 9:30 in the morning, and the busy day had just begun.

Although many people usually strolled around Yihé Square in the evening, it was unusual to see several groups of idle ruffians during the bright daylight. Xu Yun observed the situation outside through the kitchen's serving window, sensing something amiss.

Two ruffians who passed by the herbal restaurant glanced inside suspiciously but quickly left without doing anything.

As the saying goes, it's easy to deal with the king of hell, but hard to deal with the little devils.

Xu Yun had to be on high alert. The herbal restaurant's business was just starting to improve, and it would be a waste if a few ruffians messed it up.

"Frost Sister, Guo Guo, be more careful these days. Lock the drawer where you keep the money, and be cautious of fire, theft, and bad people," Xu Yun reminded Ruan Qingshuang and her daughter. He wasn't worried about someone retaliating against him, but he feared that Ruan Qingshuang's small shop would be affected.

"Okay, I will be careful," Ruan Qingshuang nodded, also feeling that something was off today.

Guo Guo patted her new waist bag proudly, "Don't worry, I have all the important things with me! And Mom has one too!"

Xu Yun looked at Guo Guo's waist bag, then at Ruan Qingshuang's, and his gaze involuntarily moved up a few inches, not sure what he was praising: "Not bad."

"Father is so unambitious, drooling at the sight of Mom's chest," Guo Guo huffed, leaving Xu Yun and Ruan Qingshuang speechless once again.

Before they knew it, it was lunchtime. Many customers started coming to the herbal restaurant, some who had missed out yesterday and came early, and others who had enjoyed the food and came back for more. With the store bustling with people, Xu Yun had no time to think about the suspicious individuals he saw in the morning.

Silver ear and pear soup, wolfberry and chrysanthemum sparerib soup, quail egg braised pork, and braised pig's trotters... one dish after another was served by Ruan Qingshuang to the customers.

The chef's skills were excellent, the boss lady was beautiful, and there was an adorable and invincible little cashier!

Most importantly, the prices were fair and the ingredients were abundant, with free lily and mung bean soup. The herbal restaurant's business was bound to thrive. The customers who had ordered their dishes were enjoying their meals, while those who hadn't were eagerly waiting.

Ruan Qingshuang was delighted to see this, knowing very well how much Xu Yun had contributed.

"Damn!" A sudden angry shout startled the customers.

A few ruffians sat at a table in the south, looking nothing like students despite their age.

One of them, with long hair covering his eyes, slammed the table and shouted, "What the hell is this! No wonder it tasted so disgusting! There's a dead fly in it! Everyone, come and see, is it disgusting or not?"

The short-haired one beside him also stood up and shouted, "Disgusting, so damn disgusting! How can we eat this? It could poison us to death!"

Ruan Qingshuang frowned and quickly approached. Seeing a dead fly in the lily and mung bean soup in front of the man, she looked incredulous, "This... this is impossible. Our kitchen is very clean! We would never make such a mistake."

"Clean?!" The long-haired man glared at Ruan Qingshuang, "Boss lady, what do you mean by that? Are you saying we put a dead fly in there to extort money?"

The short-haired one chimed in, "Black-hearted shop! Black-hearted shop! Finding a fly and then accusing us! This fly clearly looks like it was fried in the pot! You can't say we fried it ourselves and put it in, can you?"

With these few people causing a commotion, many customers who were about to eat left, and those who were eating also frowned.

Restaurants feared such incidents the most. In a society where gutter oil was rampant, having no flies or cockroaches in the food was the bare minimum many customers expected!

"Everyone, look, the fly is fried and burnt! It couldn't have been put in just now!" The long-haired man stood on the chair, which was very convincing, and most customers lost their appetite.

In just a moment, no one in the restaurant was eating, all staring at the herbal restaurant's boss lady, waiting for her explanation.

The long-haired man slammed the table, "How are you going to resolve this? We won't let it go just because you're pretty!"

"I'm sorry, we will be more careful in the future," Ruan Qingshuang believed this was not Xu Yun's fault, but she had no evidence to prove the fly was planted by these ruffians, so she had to admit the mistake, "I'll have the chef make a new one for you."

The short-haired one was not satisfied with this apology, "Make a new one? What, braised fly?"

"Ouch, my stomach hurts, it hurts so much!" The long-haired man clutched his stomach and leaned on the table, "I'm done for, I'm poisoned! I'm poisoned by the dirty stuff in this shop! To court! I'm going to sue you!"

"Bro, we need to go to the hospital quickly!" The short-haired one pretended to be surprised, and the other three chimed in, "But we don't have money! Going to the hospital costs money!"

"Saving lives is important, we can't just leave our brother here without money!"

"Boss, the incident happened in your place, you have to pay the money!"

At this point, anyone with eyes could see that these people were here to cause trouble, but what could Ruan Qingshuang do? She gritted her teeth and decided to pay to avoid further trouble, "How much do you want?"

The short-haired one didn't hesitate, holding out five fingers, "Five thousand!"

"Five thousand?!" Ruan Qingshuang was shocked, "Why don't you rob a bank?"

"Do you know how expensive it is to go to the hospital these days?" The short-haired one was also getting angry, "A cold costs two to three thousand! This is food poisoning! Poisoning, okay! Five thousand might not even cure it!"

At this moment, Guo Guo ran over, emboldened by her godfather's support, and she wasn't afraid of these ruffians, "I saw it, he put the fly in himself! And he has more in his pocket!"

Guo Guo's words caused a stir! The ruffians were taken aback; this little kid had sharp eyes!

"Please use your brains before you try to extort money. The lily and mung bean soup is boiled in water, so any fly would be scalded to death!" Guo Guo shook her head helplessly, "Sigh, are you here to show your IQ's lower limit?"

The customers in the restaurant were stunned and started murmuring, "That's right, mung bean soup is boiled in water, so any fly would be scalded to death! These ruffians are really despicable!"

"These people have no conscience! Always trying to cheat for money!"

Guo Guo looked at the ruffians with a smug expression. The short-haired one, seeing that a little girl had ruined his plan, was furious and raised his hand to slap Guo Guo!

"Father!!" At the critical moment, Guo Guo shouted at the top of her lungs!

Just as the short-haired one's hand was about to hit Guo Guo's face, it stopped! A pair of iron-clad hands grabbed his wrist, making him shudder.

Guo Guo patted her chest and sighed in relief, "That was close!"

Xu Yun appeared ghost-like in front of them, tightly gripping the short-haired one's wrist, and smiled slightly, "Is five thousand too little? How about ten thousand?"

Ruan Qingshuang knew Xu Yun was about to take action.

Guo Guo, however, looked surprised, "Dad, are you crazy?"

The long-haired man, hearing this, stopped pretending to be in pain and stood up, staring at Xu Yun in disbelief. He hadn't expected this guy to be so soft and willing to double the amount! They should have asked for more!

"Yes! Ten thousand it is!" The short-haired one's excitement was hard to hide, even forgetting the pain in his wrist!

Xu Yun suddenly picked up the mung bean soup and, without a word, splashed it all over the short-haired one's face. Then he swiftly kicked him, sending him flying.

"Ah!" The short-haired one clutched his stomach in agony, and the entire herbal restaurant fell into a terrifying silence.

"Is a bowl (ten thousand) enough?" Xu Yun's smile vanished, and he coldly asked the remaining four, "Who else wants it?"

The ruffians who came to extort money were stunned; none of them had expected the chef to be so ruthless!

Except for the long-haired man, the others were just high school students, used to bullying in school but inexperienced in real trouble. They were now completely shocked.

But the long-haired man wasn't so easy to deal with. In a fit of anger, he tried to overturn the table!