A farmer has a shrewish wife; he's busy making money every day.

"Hey, here it is!"

Ye Qingxue hurriedly threw Debao out of the storage room and then turned and walked into the noodle stall.

Debao was still having a sweet dream when he was suddenly brought back to reality.

It was so angry that it kept making "hmm hmm hmm" noises for a long time.

"What's wrong with this donkey?" Aunt Lu said, walking towards Ye Qingxue and glancing at the donkey.

Ye Qingxue simply smiled and then asked Aunt Lu, "Did something happen?"

Aunt Lu seemed to remember something, lowered her voice, and pointed in a direction: "Qingxue, I think there's something wrong with that guest over there."

Ye Qingxue's heart skipped a beat, and she looked in the direction Aunt Lu was pointing.

Ye Qingxue was slightly surprised to see a man eating noodles in a corner.

The reason was simple: she had seen this customer for several days in a row, five days prior.

He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a tall and straight posture; at first glance, he appeared to be an upright person.

But Ye Qingxue was a master at reading people, and no matter how she looked at him, she felt that beneath his upright appearance lay a malicious heart.

Moreover, even Aunt Lu noticed that something was wrong with him.

Ye Qingxue couldn't help but take it to heart and reassured Aunt Lu, "It's alright, I'll take care of it."

Then he went on to greet other guests, while secretly observing that guest from the side.

His food was served, but he didn't rush to eat it.

Instead, he stirred it with chopsticks, observing it from left to right.

They started eating right after that.

Pick up a few strands of noodles, chew them three or four times in one bite, and then drink a sip of soup after each bite.

In the short time he was eating noodles, Ye Qingxue had already seen off two or three groups of guests.

After finishing his noodles, he carefully smelled the bottom of the bowl before paying and leaving.

He did these things very discreetly, often shifting his gaze to observe the people around him, and Ye Qingxue was discovered by him several times.

Given his strange behavior, Ye Qingxue couldn't help but think that he had no ill intentions.

He stepped forward, collected the money the customer had paid, called over Shan Xuan, and placed the money in his hand.

"I'm going out for a bit. Please take good care of the guests."

"Okay."

Ye Qingxue quickly left the noodle shop and caught up with the man.

He arrived at the destination soon after following him for a short time.

Ye Qingxue hid in the alley at the street corner and watched him enter that noodle shop, which was a few shops away.

Li's Noodle Shop...

Ye Qingxue's heart sank; it turned out to be a competitor.

She knew that in business, the most important thing to be wary of is your competitors, because you never know what underhanded tactics they might use.

In her past life, during her time as a secret agent, she took on countless missions from wealthy individuals, all of which involved rescuing their children from their competitors.

Therefore, she was acutely aware of how formidable her competitors were.

On the way back, Ye Qingxue frowned, crossed her arms, and pondered the meaning behind his strange behavior.

I come to try new dishes every day...

They ate in such bizarre ways...

Could it be...

Ye Qingxue suddenly thought of something.

It's plagiarism!

That man eats her new products so carefully every day; he must be trying to copy them.

Although her recipes for all her noodles are not her own creations, it doesn't mean that others can't make them either.

However, the man's behavior still made her somewhat unhappy.

Taking this matter to heart, Ye Qingxue turned back, pondering a solution as she walked.

Back at the noodle stall, Ye Qingxue still had a furrowed brow.

Aunt Lu noticed her unusual behavior, wiped her hands, and pulled Ye Qingxue aside.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with that person?"

Ye Qingxue nodded and told Aunt Lu what she had discovered.

Aunt Lu slapped her thigh, her face showing some displeasure: "It's like a toad jumping on your foot—it doesn't bite, but it's still annoying. This tactic is really disgusting!"

“His Li’s noodle shop was already quite large, and customers preferred to go there. We only made a little money, so why would he target us?”

Ye Qingxue nodded in agreement. Originally, she was afraid that some of the old shops in Qingshui County would be unhappy with their good business, so she had only been running a noodle stall to earn a little money. But who knew that those people would still be unhappy with her and would only be satisfied if they made her unable to continue.

"But Qingxue, don't worry. Our noodles are delicious, and the ingredients are good. They might not be able to beat us," Aunt Lu comforted Ye Qingxue.

Ye Qingxue still frowned: "But their shop is bigger than ours, and they can make more than us. If they also sell it cheaper than us, our little stall really won't be as attractive as theirs."

Aunt Lu sighed, "That's true, that's true. Our shop is small, so it's really hard to compare with others."

At this point, Ye Qingxue's eyes suddenly lit up.

"If the store is small, then we'll make it big!"

Her tone was somewhat agitated.

Aunt Lu was taken aback: "Rent a big shop? But didn't you say before that we should first establish a foothold?"

Ye Qingxue looked at Aunt Lu and said with a smile, "I used to think that as long as we take it slow and steady, we can move forward smoothly. But now some people want to take advantage of our weakness and directly try to stifle our growth. We must strike first before they do anything."

Offense is the best strategy Ye Qingxue could think of.

Ye Qingxue hurriedly set up her noodle stall again and headed down the street to find a place with the highest foot traffic to rent a shop.

After searching around, I found a shop right across from Shidinglou.

The place was bustling with people, so lively that Ye Qingxue was very interested. She asked the owner and found out that the rent for the shops here was a full twenty taels a month!

The smaller shops next door charge twelve taels a month, but here it costs twenty taels!

Upon hearing the price, Ye Qingxue felt a pang of pain in her heart. "Boss, why is the rent for your shop so expensive?"

The shopkeeper, a cheerful old man, chuckled and said, "Young master, you don't come here often, do you? Look to your right, diagonally across the street, what's that over there?"

Ye Qingxue glanced over and her eyes lit up instantly, "A private school?"

She remembered that it seemed that the Chen family found a tutor in this area to teach Xiaoshan.

The old man grinned: "That's right, there will be even more people here when school starts! I guarantee you'll make money!"

Ye Qingxue thought about it and felt that the old man was right. She gritted her teeth and stomped her foot, and rented it!

The old man was a nice guy; he didn't make her pay a deposit, just monthly payments.

She asked him if he could reserve the shop for her so she could rent it again next month, and the owner readily agreed.

Ye Qingxue couldn't help but glance at the boss again.

The old man was all smiles, not like he had any bad intentions, and went to take another look around the shop.

The store was clean and bright, and had everything it needed, so the matter was settled.

I paid a deposit first, and then went to the noodle stall owner to tell him that I wouldn't be renting it next month, so I got my two months' rent back.

Walking back to the noodle stall, Ye Qingxue kept thinking about this matter.

With sixteen days left until next month, she needed to think of a way to warm things up.

It needs to have a catchy name, and we must make sure this noodle shop opens with great fanfare!