My sister became the empress, but I'm still growing vegetables and raising chickens

Chapter 218 Setting up a trap

Chapter 218 Setting Up a Trap

By February, Jixiang Restaurant was booming thanks to its unique flavors. Even the previously indifferent Yang, the owner of the restaurant, became interested. He approached Si Muyan and proposed opening another branch in the east part of the city. Yang would handle everything himself, leaving the Si family alone. All they had to do was keep supplying them with green peppers.

Si Muyan readily agreed and didn't care much.

Shopkeeper Yang worked quickly and found a suitable shop the next day. The previous owner had previously run a restaurant business and was in a hurry to sell it because his family was moving, so Shopkeeper Yang took it over. After a few days of tidying it up, he changed the sign and officially opened the shop.

On the opening day, Si Muyan was not available, so my younger sister brought Zhu Laosan to deliver the gift. When she came back, my younger sister looked very happy, but also a little worried.

"Manager Yang just discussed opening a branch with you ten days ago, and you opened it today. I always feel that it is a bit inappropriate."

Si Muyan asked, "It's indeed a bit too fast. Have you been to see it?"

The younger sister nodded. "It's only now that I've taken a closer look that I feel something's a little strange. Why is it that just so happens that Shopkeeper Yang needs a new shop, and this shop with the right location and price just happened to be right in front of us? When we wanted a shop before, we had no one to help us and we searched everywhere for days before we found a suitable one, and we even had to redecorate it. Shopkeeper Yang, this is too easy for us."

Si Muyan didn't care: "Maybe he is just lucky."

"That's right." The younger sister said happily without getting too hung up on it. "Manager Yang is a very good person. We treat him well, and he knows how to return the favor. He said that the old restaurant was left by our father and it would be difficult to change the name, so we changed the name of this branch to Sijia Jixiang Restaurant."

"What?" Si Muyan frowned, "Why didn't you stop it?"

My younger sister didn't quite understand. "Why stop it? This is Manager Yang's sincere wish. Besides, our Si family has given him a lot of advantages, which has made the Jixiang Restaurant more and more famous. The Jixiang Restaurant today is completely different from what it was more than a year ago. We deserve this reputation."

Although Si Muyan disagreed, since things had come to this point, she didn't say anything else.

Unexpectedly, it was her acquiescence that brought disaster upon the Jixiang Restaurant. At the end of February, just two weeks after the branch opened, a regular customer who came every day ordered the signature dish of stir-fried pork with chili peppers. Halfway through his meal, he suddenly collapsed and died instantly.

Then people from the clinic and the government office arrived very quickly and soon found out that there was a highly poisonous substance in the dish, and the poisonous substance was actually chili seeds.

Shopkeeper Yang denied it and argued, "We handle everything very cleanly. How could there be chili seeds in the dishes? Besides, those chili seeds are not poisonous and are edible."

Someone sneered and asked, "You say chili seeds are non-toxic, but you also say you handle them very cleanly and there are no chili seeds in your dishes. If they are non-toxic, why don't you dare put chili seeds in your dishes?"

Shopkeeper Yang was now unable to defend himself. Remembering his agreement with Si Muyan, he didn't want the chili seeds to be passed around, nor did he want anyone else to know about this matter. He thought that once the government officials conducted a thorough investigation, they would surely uncover the truth, so he didn't argue too much.

Unexpectedly, the yamen runners closed the restaurant without saying a word and took Manager Yang away.

Shopkeeper Yang got anxious and had someone take a whole green pepper and eat it raw, proving that the pepper seeds were non-toxic. But he was still taken away.

Because the most popular dish in Fenghuang County right now is the fried pork with chili peppers from Jixiang Restaurant, the news that chili pepper seeds are poisonous quickly spread throughout the county. For a time, people were in a panic, recalling whether they had eaten those terrible chili pepper seeds when they went to eat there. They also suspected that since the chili pepper seeds were poisonous, its skin could not be non-toxic. Would it affect them as well?

"It must be poisonous, otherwise why would it be so choking?"

"Yeah, I felt a stinging pain in my throat when I first ate it. Now that I think about it, it must have been something to do with the poison."

"I heard that the hot pot at Sijia Food Store also uses this stuff, which is why it feels choking. We who eat there often won't have any problems with it, right?"

……

When the news reached the Si family food store, the store manager was panicked and quickly went to find Zhu Laosan from the porridge store to tell him about it. Without saying a word, Zhu Laosan hired a carriage and quickly rushed back to Songji Village.

When the second sister heard this, she immediately stood up and said angrily, "What nonsense are these people talking about? Don't worry, eldest sister. I will take a basket of green peppers to the county government office right now and let them check whether the pepper seeds are poisonous or not."

My younger sister nodded. "Yes, not only will I take him to the county government office, I'll have people go to all our shops and perform a green pepper-eating demonstration right in front of them! If it doesn't work in one day, I'll go every day. I'm going to debunk this rumor!"

The two were about to make arrangements, but were stopped by Si Muyan.

She hesitated for a long time before saying, "Let Zhu Erge and He Laiqian come over."

The second sister lost her temper: "Big sister..."

Although Zhu Laosan was a little stupid, he knew that his second brother and the kid Lai Qian were Si Muyan's most capable assistants. He went out to look for them without saying a word.

The second sister tried to persuade her again, but the youngest sister held her back. Seeing their eldest sister leaning back in her chair, eyes closed, brow furrowed, pondering a response, they had no better option but to wait.

He Laiqian had taken his men on a tour of Lingnan City yesterday and returned, so he was resting today. Meanwhile, Zhu Laoer had been in Fenghuang County recently due to the Zhu family's affairs. He was either in the city looking after the shops or helping out in the workshops, so he hadn't been idle at all.

They arrived in less than a quarter of an hour.

Si Muyan also opened her eyes and said calmly, "The crux of this matter is not the chili seeds, nor has it anything to do with Shopkeeper Yang. It's clearly targeting our Si family."

The younger sister's eyelids twitched, but she quickly realized, "Sister, when the Jixiang Restaurant branch opened, I should have persuaded Shopkeeper Yang not to add our Si family's name to it."

Si Muyan shook her head. "This was a setup to lure Shopkeeper Yang in. It has nothing to do with the name of the sign. I think the people behind this have been planning to do something for a long time, but our Si family doesn't have any way to break through, and I'm content with the status quo and don't want to make any more trouble. So Shopkeeper Yang became the target of their attack."

The younger sister asked: "Sister, what should we do now?"

Si Muyan said, "Since they're targeting the Si family, I have to intervene. Second brother, come with me to the county government office. I want to see Manager Yang. Bring me some money, prepare some gifts, and go find President Chen of the Phoenix County Chamber of Commerce and ask him to meet you tonight."

The younger sister followed nervously: "Sister, I'll go with you..."

Si Muyan said, "Second sister, little sister, I still don't know who set up this situation, nor do I know how to break it. I'm only going there to inquire about the situation. Everything at home depends on you, so please be patient."