Quick Transmigration: The Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character's Revenge

"What are you thinking about?" Xu Yanqing suddenly asked.

Qi Ning snapped out of her reverie and shook her head slightly: "It's nothing. These three dishes are indeed quite delicious. What do you think, my husband?"

Xu Yanqing also hummed in agreement.

Qi Ning exclaimed, "No wonder our Zuixianlou restaurant is so popular; it must be the number one restaurant in Yangzhou!"

"First place? That's not necessarily true."

"Why do you say that, my husband?"

Xu Yanqing gestured for Qi Ning to look out the window. From this window, one could see Piaoxiangfang and Jiuzhongke diagonally opposite.

"See? Although Piaoxiangfang and Jiuzhongke have fewer customers than Zuixianlou, they still have quite a few customers. They can't compare to Zuixianlou now, but Zuixianlou isn't the number one restaurant in Yangzhou either. It might be overtaken by them at any time."

Qi Ning's eyes lit up with interest, and she pressed on, "Why is that? Back then, Zuixianlou was on the verge of closing down, and Piaoxiangfang and Jiuzhongke were affected, but they look much better than Zuixianlou back then."

Xu Yanqing replied, "Of these three restaurants, Piaoxiangfang was the first to open and has a group of regular customers. As for Jiuzhongke, it is famous for its wine. Therefore, even if these two are greatly affected by Piaoxiangfang's three signature dishes, it will not be fatal."

After Xu Yanqing finished speaking, he saw Qi Ning looking at him with admiration in her eyes: "I didn't expect my husband to have such insight into business."

"I've only read some things in books and often heard Aji talk about things outside, but it's all just theoretical. Just listen and don't take it seriously," Xu Yanqing said casually.

Qi Ning agreed on the surface, but she didn't think so in her heart.

It seems that Xu Yanqing has a good business sense; he can talk about things fluently even without personally handling them.

The original storyline mentioned that the deceased Second Master was a man with exceptional business acumen and ability.

The second master is Xu Yanqing's biological father. Xu Yanqing must have the same abilities as his father, but he has never had the opportunity due to his health.

After finishing their meal, Qi Ning and Xu Yanqing got up and left Zuixianlou.

As they were going downstairs, the two ran into Afu at the bottom of the stairs.

Xu Yanzong didn't often watch over things at Zuixianlou; most of the time, it was Afu who kept watch for him.

"Second Young Master, Second Young Madam."

When Afu saw them, he stepped forward and bowed.

When they arrived, the waiter didn't recognize them. But when they heard Afu address them that way, the restaurant managers and waiters following behind Afu realized their identities and bowed to greet them.

Afu glanced at Qi Ning and asked Xu Yanqing, "Second Young Master, what brings you here? Should I inform the Eldest Young Master?"

"No need to disturb our elder brother, we're leaving now."

"Yes, then take care, Second Young Master."

Xu Yanqing nodded slightly and left with Qi Ning.

The two boarded the carriage, and Xu Yanqing recalled the fleeting glance Afu had given Qi Ning earlier.

He looked at Qi Ning.

Xu Yanqing still remembers that when Qi Ning was paired with Afu by Li Yunshu, Qi Ning once said that she was in love with Afu.

Later, Qi Ning explained that this was a lie she told to prevent Li Yunshu from suspecting her.

Xu Yanqing had never paid attention to it or doubted it before, but at this moment, he couldn't help but wonder if it really was a lie.

"Why are you looking at me like that, my husband?" Qi Ning waved her hand in front of Xu Yanqing's eyes.

Xu Yanqing reached out and instinctively grasped Qi Ning's hand, but after realizing what was happening, he slowly released her hand.

"Are you and Afu very familiar with each other?" he asked.

Qi Ning winked meaningfully after hearing this.

She deliberately replied, "We're fairly familiar with each other. After all, I used to work for the eldest young mistress, and he worked for the eldest young master, so it's inevitable that we had some contact."

She paused for a moment, then asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Xu Yanqing said. "I just remembered that my sister-in-law said she was going to arrange another marriage for Afu, but I haven't heard any news about him getting married since."

"Perhaps my sister-in-law forgot. Why is my husband worrying about these things today?"

Xu Yanqing looked at Qi Ning, but did not answer for a moment.

"Could it be that my husband suspects that I have something going on with Afu? How could that be? Doesn't my husband know that I look down on his status as a servant?"

Xu Yanqing chuckled: "You're quite honest. So, if a man richer and more powerful than me had appeared, you might not have bothered to approach me back then?"

"That's hard to say," Qi Ning said, drawing out her words.

“If a richer and more powerful man had appeared in the past, I might have actually chosen him.” Qi Ning observed Xu Yanqing and, seeing his face growing increasingly grim, said the second half of her sentence, “But now that I’m married, of course it’s impossible.”

Xu Yanqing listened and gave a blank "hmm".

He leaned back against the carriage wall and closed his eyes.

Sure enough, money and power were the most important things to her; she herself meant nothing to them.

Qi Ning looked at Xu Yanqing's appearance and smiled silently.

Her gaze followed the curtains blown open by the wind and fell upon the now-defunct Drunken Immortal Pavilion outside the window, her smile deepening.

-

More than half a month later, Xiu'er from Luoxia Courtyard hurriedly ran into the main room.

Xiu'er served Li Yunshu after Qi Ning and Jing'er left.

A while ago, Jing'er had a miscarriage and could no longer take care of her, so Xiu'er took her place.

"Young Madam, something has happened!"

"What's going on? Why are you in such a panic?" Li Yunshu glanced at Xiu'er with displeasure and told the wet nurse to take the sleeping child out.

"Young Madam, news has come from outside that Piaoxiangfang and Jiuzhongke have both launched three new dishes that are almost identical to our signature dishes. The key is that they are also cheaper than our Zuixianlou. Right now, Zuixianlou has almost no customers; they've all been lured away by those two restaurants!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yunshu's expression changed drastically: "You mean, our recipe has been leaked?"

"Most likely! Otherwise, how could they make dishes that are almost identical?" Xiu'er replied.

Li Yunshu stood up: "Does the young master know?"

"The young master knows, and he's investigating right now!"

Li Yunshu paced back and forth in the room. How could the recipe have been leaked out of nowhere? Could there be a traitor inside Zuixianlou?

This recipe is the treasure that brought Zuixianlou back to life. It was because of that recipe that Li Yunshu was able to truly stand tall in the Xu family.

Zuixianlou became famous because of these three dishes, and its business flourished, surpassing the other two restaurants to become the most popular restaurant in Yangzhou.

The fact that the recipe has been leaked is undoubtedly a heavy blow to both Zuixianlou and the Xu family.

Li Yunshu waited for a long time, and Xu Yanzong didn't return until it was dark. She hurriedly went to greet him: "Husband, how did it go? Did you catch that traitor?"

Xu Yanzong sat down in the armchair with a gloomy face: "So many people come and go in the restaurant every day, who knows when the recipe was leaked? Catching the person who leaked it is easier said than done."

Li Yunshu said, "Ordinary guests shouldn't have any problems. Have any unusual people been to Zuixianlou recently?"

"An extraordinary person?"

Xu Yanzong pondered for a moment and then said, "I heard that my second brother and his wife went there about half a month ago."

"They went there?"

A guess instantly popped into Li Yunshu's mind.

Seeing Li Yunshu's expression, Xu Yanzong understood what she meant: "Do you suspect your second brother and sister-in-law? How could that be?"

-

The next morning, everyone gathered at Shou'an Hall.

Zuixianlou Restaurant practically supported half of the Xu family's livelihood, so of course the old lady would have heard about such a big event.

Nowadays, the eldest master is not in Yangzhou, and the third master is always indulging in pleasure and rarely home, so the old lady has no choice but to hold on to the Xu family's legacy despite her old age.

"Yanzong, have you found out the truth?"

Xu Yanzong replied, "Grandmother, there must be a traitor among us, but we haven't found out who it is yet."

The old lady leaned on her cane, her aged face filled with worry.

At this moment, Li Yunshu suddenly said, "Grandmother, your granddaughter-in-law has something she wants to ask her second brother and sister-in-law."

The old lady didn't understand what could be more important than the matter of Zuixianlou, but she knew that Li Yunshu was not someone who couldn't distinguish between what was important and what wasn't, so she nodded in agreement.

Li Yunshu looked at Qi Ning sitting opposite her: "I heard that my second brother and his wife went to Zuixianlou half a month ago. I wonder if you noticed any unusual people at the time?"

Xu Yanqing immediately sensed that something was off about Li Yunshu's words.

The next moment, he heard Qi Ning chuckle: "What do you mean by that, sister-in-law? Are you doubting us?"

Li Yunshu said, "It's not that I'm making unfounded speculations, it's just because..."

"Just because my husband and I went to Zuixianlou?" Qi Ning replied.

She retorted, "Just because the eldest son's family manages Zuixianlou, does that mean my sister-in-law considers it their private property?"

"you……"

Li Yunshu's face stiffened. She had originally planned to ask in a more tactful way, but she didn't expect Qi Ning to be so blunt and directly say what she was thinking. It was clear that she had completely forgotten their past relationship as master and servant.

In Li Yunshu's view, Zuixianlou was originally managed by Xu Yanzong, and it was she who saved it with the three recipes she provided, so it's not wrong to say that Zuixianlou belonged to the main branch.

She didn't pay much attention to Xu Yanyi from the third wife's family, who was idle and irresponsible, and Xu Yanqing from the second wife's family, who was born with health problems.

Who would have thought that Xu Yanqing's health would improve after Qi Ning married him? If Li Yunshu doesn't suspect them, who else would she suspect?

Seeing Li Yunshu stammering, Qi Ning continued, "Did I guess right? Putting aside the fact that Zuixianlou is a property of the Xu family, it's normal for Yanqing, as a descendant of the Xu family, to go there. Even ordinary people could go, right? Why does my sister-in-law not suspect anything else but us?"

"Besides, we only went out for a meal that day."

The old lady also felt that Li Yunshu's suspicions were baseless.

"Yun Shu, how can you make such wild guesses? How could Yan Qing and Ning'er possibly be involved in this matter?"

Li Yunshu explained, "Grandmother, I'm not just guessing randomly. It's just that not many people know that recipe. Besides the chef of Zuixianlou, my husband, Grandmother, and Ning'er, only one other person knows it."

"After all, Ning'er was my daughter-in-law's personal maid before, serving by her side, and she knows everything about the affairs of the eldest son's family."

"So that's why my sister-in-law suspected me. No wonder. In the end, she still looks down on my status."

Qi Ning looked at the old lady with a wronged expression: "Grandmother, even though I used to serve my sister-in-law, she always used to entrust important things to Jing'er for safekeeping. She complained that I was clumsy and forgetful. I never even looked at that recipe, let alone knew where it was hidden or how it could have been leaked?"

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