The first step in the book is to start selling tofu

"Whoever eats last today will wash the dishes!"

Lin Zhi said this in a neutral tone while rocking his chair.

The three people who were originally slow to eat immediately sped up their eating speed. In the end, Dalang won the exclusive right to wash the dishes because he was a beat slower.

Another day.

It was still closed, but Lin Zhi didn't feel idle. Instead, he felt quite busy.

In the morning, as usual, she first prepared the tofu and braised food needed for Fan Manlou, and then she and Daya started picking beans to prepare for making soy products tomorrow.

"Boom boom boom!"

It was a rare knock on the door, and Daya jumped over to open it.

"Master Feng."

Lin Zhi was picking beans towards the gate. When he saw Feng Rui, he immediately stood up and greeted him.

"Mrs. Lin is preparing the ingredients. Are you preparing to reopen the business?"

Lin Zhi nodded: "Yes, we will open tomorrow. If we don't open soon, we won't be able to cook at home."

Feng Rui apologized: "It was our work error that caused such a huge loss."

Although I know that what Lin Zhi said was a bit exaggerated, it was the management problems of their yamen that caused the loss to others, so they still have to apologize.

"Pfft, Lord Feng, you are too serious. I was just joking. Don't take it seriously." Lin Zhi changed the subject: "Lord Feng, did you come here this time because there is new progress in the case?"

"Yes." Feng Rui did not sit down: "The person who bribed, you would never guess it, Madam Lin."

Lin Zhi: "Oh? Who is it?"

Feng Rui didn't keep the secret and pointed directly to the next door: "It's your neighbor."

Neighbor? Lin Zhi frowned.

"To be precise, the hostess of your neighbor's house."

"I can't understand. I have no grudge against her. Why would she do this?"

Lin Zhi had been unable to figure this out for a long time.

When the family first moved in, the woman treated them with indifference.

She thought it was just a simple aura conflict and didn't take it seriously.

After all, I was in the food business, which was different from their craft business, and I wouldn't steal their customers. How come their hostess went from disliking her at first to paying her to do something for her?

"You really have no grudge against her, but you have offended her brother and sister-in-law."

Lin Zhi: “….”

???

"Their brother and sister-in-law make a living from tofu. Before you came, the tofu supply in this county was exclusively supplied by his family..."

The family that makes tofu is named Zhang, and they run a monopoly business.

If it were in other places, people without power and influence who engaged in monopolistic business would have been eaten up by the powerful forces long ago, but this is not the case here.

This is the benefit of having a good official.

With the protection of the government, this monopoly business has been able to continue for so long without any problems.

If it weren’t for the tofu maker named Zhang who set the price of tofu so high, there’s no telling how high his tofu sales would be.

It's a shame they went the high-end route. But this way they only have to spend less time to make the same amount of money, which is better for them.

But such days were broken after Lin Zhi arrived.

The first thing is to cancel the order from Fumanlou.

Later, because Fumanlou found a better source of goods, the second largest restaurant in the county, Jufulou, also cancelled its order.

At first, Jufulou cancelled the order because they said the tofu supplied by Zhang's family was not as good as Fumanlou's, and their customers complained. Later, they found out that Fumanlou had directly changed the supplier and did not get the goods from Zhang's family.

The Zhang family was furious after losing two major clients at once.

Back then, all the restaurants in their county were begging him to cooperate with them, but now one or two of them are directly canceling their orders.

The Zhang family didn't dare to cause trouble for Fumanlou and Jufulou, but they also didn't want to suffer in vain.

So, they just want to find the "culprit" to vent their anger.

Although Fu Man Lou claimed that the tofu was made by their restaurant after some improvements, the Zhang family secretly observed the situation, bribed a waiter at Fu Man Lou, and after some guesses from their own sister, they found out the culprit who ruined their business.

So, at the instruction of the eldest brother of the Zhang family, Zhang came forward to find fault with Lin Zhi.

Lin Zhi listened: "......"

What is all this about?

Then the low-end business war ended with Zhang being arrested.

"We originally wanted to keep her in custody for a few more days, but she was released on bail not long after she went in." Feng Rui said with some regret.

It wasn't a particularly serious matter in the first place, and the worst that could happen was a day or two of detention.

However, the greatest punishment for him was that a woman was thrown into prison and her reputation was ruined.

After Feng Rui and Lin Zhi finished talking about this, they said goodbye. Before leaving, he specifically asked Lin Zhi about the reopening time before leaving.

While the two were talking about Zhang, Zhang next door was arguing loudly with her husband.

"Since you only care about your brother and sister-in-law and your parents' family. Your husband and children are not important at all, then you can leave. This family doesn't welcome you."

Zhang's pupils shrank suddenly, her whole body trembled, and her voice became unusually sharp. She hissed, "What do you mean?"

Her tone was full of anger and confusion, as if she had been offended for no reason.

"..." The other party remained silent, but his eyes revealed a determination.

Zhang became more and more agitated. She pointed at the door and shouted, "Let me go? This is my home! You want me to leave? It's you who should leave!"

Her voice echoed in the room, carrying a hint of despair and determination.

"..." The other party still didn't speak, just looked at her silently.

Zhang's tears welled up in her eyes. She angrily scolded, "You coward, what do you mean you only care about your mother's family? Without my mother's family, the grass on your grave would be several feet high!"

Her words were as sharp as a knife, piercing the other person's heart.

However, Zhang's husband could no longer tolerate such quarrels, and he responded angrily:

"Your maternal family? Do I owe your maternal family? I only owe your father. When your father passed away, I took care of his affairs after his death, and your maternal family didn't pay a cent. I have already repaid all the kindness."

There was a hint of fatigue and helplessness in his voice.

Then he continued:

"For that little favor, what have I become? By marrying a fool like you, the favor is long gone. Your Zhang family still owes us eighteen generations of favors!"

His tone gradually became more intense, and sparks of anger flashed in his eyes.

Finally, he could no longer bear it and yelled, "Zhang Xiaohua, stop it!"

After saying that, he turned and left, leaving Zhang alone crying in the room.

There was a tense and depressing atmosphere in the air. The quarrel did not seem to solve any problems, but made the relationship between the two people more tense.

-----------Two-in-one dividing line-----------

"Ah!!!!" With a scream, the whole house was shrouded in fear and despair.

Zhang was alone in the room, her eyes full of ferocity and anger. She held her head tightly with both hands and screamed with all her might.

The sound seemed to penetrate the walls and was creepy.

"Liu Decai! Liu Decai! You are such a heartless person! You will not have a good death!"

Her voice was trembling and full of resentment. Every word seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth, carrying deep hatred.

"When my family was in trouble, you stood by and watched! You refused to help at all! Now I'm in jail, and you don't even ask a question..."

Her tears welled up in her eyes and slid down her cheeks, intertwining with the anger on her face. Her heart was filled with pain and helplessness, and she could not let go of her disappointment and betrayal towards her husband.

How could she be wrong? The one who was wrong was obviously that hateful Liu Decai!

Even at this critical juncture, Zhang Xiaohua still firmly believed that she had done nothing wrong.

At this moment, Liu Decai was standing quietly in a hidden place outside the door, taking in everything that happened in the house and every word and action of Zhang Xiaohua.

Seeing that Zhang Xiaohua was still stubborn and refused to repent, Liu Decai felt more and more disappointed, as if a heavy stone was pressing on him and making it hard for him to breathe.

At this moment, two young children slowly approached Liu Decai. They looked up and stared at Liu Decai with clear and innocent eyes, which were full of pleading and sorrow.

"Daddy..."

Liu Decai lowered his head slightly, his eyes fell on the two children, his eyes were slightly red, and his voice was trembling:

"My children, I'm sorry. Daddy feels that this cannot go on any longer. Daddy plans to separate from your mother. I'm really sorry..."

Before he could finish his words, Liu Decai could no longer control his turbulent emotions. He hugged his two children tightly and burst into tears.

He felt extremely tired, as if all the strength in his body had been drained.

Every time when he thought his life was about to brighten, his wife would ruthlessly extinguish that ray of hope.

He was exhausted by the blows again and again, and he couldn't bear it anymore...

Tired, really too tired.

"Daddy, don't cry! Mommy is so mean!"

The young child blinked his big, clear eyes and gently wiped the tears from his father's cheeks with his chubby little hands.

Young children don’t understand what happened to their parents.

But children are just small, not stupid. They actually know who loves them, the father or the mother.

Listening to his child's comfort, Liu Decai cried even harder.

"Dad, don't cry. We don't want Mom, we only want Dad."

Liu Decai's daughter is older and more sensible.

She vaguely knew what happened to her parents. Obviously, the child should protect her mother Zhang Xiaohua more, but in the little kid's heart, her mother was actually no different from a stranger.

Zhang Xiaohua in the room was still going crazy, completely unaware that she had been abandoned by her family.

In fact, it was because Liu Decai had a good temper that he tolerated her again and again.

Before the accident, she thought of her parents' home as her home every day. All the good things belonged to her parents' home, and all the bad things belonged to her husband's home.

She usually insulted him as the head of the family and abused her two children. She treated her nephew from her mother's side like a treasure and her own children like weeds.

In this situation, if it was another family, Zhang Xiaohua would have dealt with it long ago. But it was only after Zhang Xiaohua was put in jail that Liu Decai could no longer tolerate it.

It is impossible for a woman who has been in prison to get divorced in other families. Either she dies or she gets divorced.

After crying for a while, Liu Decai cheered up.

He opened the door and gave Zhang Xiaohua an ultimatum:

"Pack your things. I will personally take you back to the Zhang family later."

Zhang Xiaohua's eyes widened, her face full of disbelief.

She had always thought that her husband was just saying it casually in anger, but she didn't expect that he was serious.

"I have had someone write the divorce agreement and will send it to you in a while. Although you did not bring any dowry when you married me, you gave birth to a child for our Liu family and continued the family line, so when you leave, I will give you five taels of silver as compensation..."

"Liu Decai! Are you using these five taels of silver to treat beggars? I have worked so hard for so many years to give birth to your children, is it only worth this little money? You..."

Zhang Xiaohua said this through gritted teeth, her heart filled with anger and unwillingness.

She originally planned to have a big quarrel with Liu Decai to express her intention not to divorce.

However, when she heard Liu Decai talking about the only five taels of divorce silver, her focus instantly changed.

Perhaps because he had just cried, Liu Decai seemed unusually calm at this moment.

Despite his wife's questioning and rebuke, he remained very calm.

"All the money in the family was used to bail you out."

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaohua raised his head abruptly, with an expression of disbelief on his face: "How is it possible? That's obviously my brother..."

Her voice was trembling and doubtful.

However, Liu Decai did not give her a chance to finish her words. He interrupted her and continued:

"My family was already struggling to make ends meet, and I even sold this shop to get you out on bail. After bailing you out, I only had ten taels of silver left. I'll leave you five taels of silver, and the remaining five taels of silver is for the three of us to live on."

Zhang Xiaohua opened her mouth wide but couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.

Her heart was full of contradictions and confusion.

How she wished that everything Liu Decai said was a lie, but they had been husband and wife for so many years, how could she not hear the truth in his words?

But...how is this possible? She clearly remembered that it was her brother who bailed her out! How come it was Liu Decai who became the one now?

Countless questions flooded into Zhang Xiaohua's mind, making her feel dizzy.

At this moment, Zhang Xiaohua's heart was filled with confusion and anxiety.

If it was really her husband who bailed her out, what would she do with her life in the future?