Stepmother in charge: Making a fortune through farming and raising her children to fight back

The lobby was now bustling with people, with more and more people criticizing the Good Guest House and demanding an explanation.

Manager Wei wanted to hide in his own home at this moment, but he couldn't even squeeze out of the crowd.

A man with considerable influence in Liuye Town grabbed Shopkeeper Wei by the neck and said, "Shopkeeper, I'm also a regular customer of the Haokelou. Now that this problem has arisen, you can't just hide away. Come up with a solution quickly or we won't let everyone down, don't you think?"

Shopkeeper Wei looked at his ferocious face and was so frightened that his tongue almost got tied. "Everyone...please be patient. There is no problem with our ingredients. We buy and cook them fresh every day. We have always made the same dishes. Everyone has eaten them without any problems. How could there be a problem suddenly..."

and many more!

Different.

There is a new addition today - marinade!

Shopkeeper Wei stood up straight abruptly, his voice trembling as he spoke, "Quick...quickly, get out the marinade we just developed and have Doctor Chen check it out."

Another waiter quickly went to the kitchen and brought out a bowl of marinade.

Doctor Chen hadn't left yet. He dipped his chopsticks in a little to taste it, then shook his head. "No, it's already been ground into a paste. It's hard for me to tell what's inside just by tasting it."

"Go, get out the recipe we wrote yesterday, and bring all the ingredients." Shopkeeper Wei was so excited that his voice was a little sharp.

The young man immediately went to the backyard and took out all the ingredients for making the marinade, spread them out on the table for Dr. Chen to see.

It contains cornel, Sichuan pepper, cinnamon...

Most of them are from everyday cooking. You can see the seasonings used to enhance the flavor and taste. They are all edible and nothing can cause food poisoning.

Doctor Chen frowned and continued to pick and choose. When he saw an uncommon ingredient, snails, his brows tightened.

"Your ingredients are quite unusual. They are snails, which most people don't like to eat."

"That's right." Shopkeeper Wei said with a hint of pride, "You don't know, this recipe was put together by several chefs. If it didn't have some special ingredients, how could it be so delicious?"

Doctor Chen stroked his beard and asked, "What kind of meat do you use in this marinade?"

"There are common pig offal, such as pig intestines, pig viscera, etc."

"That's right." Doctor Chen stroked his beard and said confidently, "These two things are fine when eaten separately, but if taken together, they can cause food poisoning, especially in large quantities. They are quite toxic, causing vomiting and diarrhea in the short term, and even organ failure over a long period."

"The guests who dined at the Haoke Building at noon probably consumed a small amount, so most people were fine, but those who already had stomach problems suffered."

As he spoke, Doctor Chen took a look at the dishes made at the Haokelou restaurant in the lobby and sighed.

In winter, there are more meat dishes than vegetarian dishes. There is a dish of scallion-fried black fungus in Haokelou that is especially popular in winter and can be regarded as a small signature dish.

Of course, wood ear mushrooms and snails are also incompatible. If you add pig intestines and mix the three together, vomiting and diarrhea are basically certain.

But as long as it is not used too much, it is not a big deal. Some people with good physical fitness may be able to get over it after having diarrhea.

But it is the twelfth lunar month recently, and there are many customers coming and going. Many people also bring their elderly and children to the street to buy things. They are all weak people. It would be strange if they don’t get sick if they eat these incompatible foods at the same time.

Doctor Chen summarized the situation for a while, and the general meaning was: This is bad luck for you and your hospitality building as well.

Shopkeeper Wei slammed his hand on the table, filled with remorse. "This is wrong. I've been fooled. This must be a conspiracy by the Yaoyue Restaurant. No wonder they did this..."

The diners around were a little curious.

At this point, in order to clear the suspicion of Haokelou and to shift the blame elsewhere, Manager Wei had no choice but to tell the truth.

"I did buy the marinade recipe from the master chef. I was puzzled at the time. How could such a good thing happen? Someone gave me a pillow just as I dozed off. Only now do I realize that it was all their evil plot to ruin the reputation of Haokelou. They did it on purpose, so your food poisoning this time is inextricably linked to them."

Shopkeeper Wei cut out the beginning and the end and told the truth, but he did not say how he bought it specifically, nor did he mention that he had abandoned the donkey after it had served its purpose.

"So that's it..."

Suddenly, some people in the crowd began to murmur.

"That's right, it's the problem with the Yaoyue Restaurant. They deliberately told me a wrong recipe in order to cause food poisoning to everyone and ruin the reputation of my Haoke Restaurant. Everyone must see their true colors clearly." Manager Wei shouted.

It seemed that this tactic of diverting trouble was about to succeed.

Just then, Xu Xing and Zhang Hong walked in swaggeringly.

"Old Wei, I don't like what you're saying. Would our restaurant just sit there and sell our own recipe? We can't just keep it for ourselves and make money."

Shopkeeper Xu had a warm expression, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Some people, after doing something bad, try to throw the dirty water on others. At least, so far, our restaurant hasn't had this problem, right?"

Some people nodded in agreement.

Shopkeeper Wei's face turned pale, but he still managed to be tough: "No, this is all your fault. My Haokelou has never had this kind of problem before. It wasn't until you told me the braised pork recipe that problems arose. This is your conspiracy."

"Oh, someone obtained the recipe through illicit means. How do we know if there's anything wrong with it?" Shopkeeper Xu sneered. "Originally, the master chefs didn't know the marinade formula. At most, they could roughly figure out what was in it after a while. Do you think you can find out the real recipe by bribing them all?"

"Besides, this recipe was obtained by someone who forced it upon them. Now that something has gone wrong, they want to throw mud at us. Are you really too anxious to think of anything?"

By now, everyone has realized that the source of the recipe of Haokelou is not legitimate.

The recipe obtained through improper means had problems, and caused their guests to vomit and have diarrhea after eating it. Ultimately, it was not the fault of the people who invited Yue Restaurant to do so.

They come to the restaurant to eat and spend their own money, don't they just want the convenience and service?

But now, not only have the people who dined there had problems, but even those who came to denounce the responsibility have not been resolved. The person in charge of the restaurant keeps shirking the responsibility. Who wouldn't be angry?

The victim's family was unhappy and immediately started making a fuss in the lobby.