A peasant girl travels through time with a hospital, rising to become an empress.

Chapter 170 Cleanup

Nie Qianqian methodically recited the prepared interrogation points one by one. Liu Xiong asked her again, and after silently repeating them in her mind a few times, she nodded to indicate that she had remembered them.

Old Qiao scratched his ear, indicating that Nie Qianqian was really long-winded.

The three of them went to three private rooms to interrogate the shop assistants. Before leaving, Nie Qianqian left one of the waiters behind and told him to go down and inform everyone that the shop would close early today and that they were not allowed to say anything else.

The waiter was already terrified by Nie Qianqian. He nodded repeatedly and hurriedly went downstairs to relay the instructions as if he had been granted a pardon. After giving the instructions, he rushed back and respectfully led Liu Yan, Huang Zhenzhu and the others to the guest rooms on the third floor to rest.

There are some guest rooms on the third floor of Guangjuxuan, which are available for guests to stay in. The rooms are not cheap and are not open to everyone. Only VIPs of Guangjuxuan can stay overnight.

Liu Yan and Huang Zhenzhu pushed open the door to the guest room, and a faint fragrance of sandalwood immediately wafted towards them. Looking at the layout and furnishings of the room, they were both speechless with surprise.

Behind the carved wooden door was a large round rosewood table with natural grain resembling mountains and flowing clouds, gleaming with a soft luster. On the table was a set of white porcelain teacups, accompanied by several plates of delicate tea snacks. Inside, there was an exquisite mahogany bed, covered with brocade quilts...

Huang Zhenzhu recalled her joy at moving into the Liu family's new house yesterday, and now she felt ashamed of her shallowness.

That's really short-sighted.

Liu Yan murmured, "Even the guest rooms at Guangjuxuan are so luxurious and grand..."

Huang Zhenzhu smacked her lips, patted Liu Yan's shoulder, and said earnestly, "Yan, you and Fuqi are behind us."

I thought that Liu Yan and Liu Xiong were already very lucky and blessed to have run Liu Family Restaurant so well. I never imagined that they would have such a huge fortune later on. It turns out that what she thought was a good business and a money-making venture was just a small-scale operation.

Liu Yan recalled what Qianqian had told her a few months ago, saying that she was a good cook and that she would open a restaurant for her.

She was so scared at the time that she almost bit her tongue, thinking that Qianqian was joking. Unexpectedly, it really came true a few months later.

Liu Yan ran her fingers over the glossy pear wood veneer of the table, secretly resolving that she must become stronger as quickly as possible and absolutely not hold Qianqian back.

Inside the private room, Nie Qianqian asked in a low voice, her expression blank, yet the waiter dared not look up.

"What's your name? How old are you? How many people are in your family? What do they do?"

"Which of your relatives work at Guangjuxuan?"

The waiter stammered, "This...we don't have it..."

"No? I'll give you another chance. This question will also be asked of two other people. If their answer is different from yours, your punishment will not be lessened, but will be more severe."

Upon hearing this, the waiter sighed inwardly and hurriedly replied, "Sir, I remember now, we do have it..."

"What illegal things does Chen Feng usually ask you to do?"

"Who else in the shop has ever worked for Chen Feng?"

Are there any accountants working for Chen Feng?

"···"

Nie Qianqian designed the questions very meticulously. Some questions asked about the waiter's family situation, some asked about Chen Feng's shady dealings, and some were verification questions to see if the waiter was lying.

The person Liu Xiong was interrogating was a tall, burly waiter, even stronger than Liu Xiong himself. He had given Liu Xiong a bit of a hard time when he first entered the shop, but the situation was completely different now.

Liu Xiong had always been the one being lectured by the foremen, never the one being lectured or interrogated. He recalled how the foremen used to lecture him, shouting, "Stand up straight! Listen up!"

The waiter, lying on the ground immobilized after having his pressure points pressed, was on the verge of tears...

I can't stand up straight...

The interrogation in Old Qiao's room was much simpler. Old Qiao only asked questions and didn't say a word of nonsense. If someone didn't answer or didn't answer satisfactorily, Old Qiao would punish them with a date pit. It was the smoothest interrogation of the three.

After the three interrogations were completed, they gathered together to compare the results, which made Qianqian frown slightly.

Chen Feng had people in this shop, from the accountant and kitchen staff to the cooks, waiters, and cleaning maids. No wonder Chen Feng was able to deceive his superiors and do so many immoral things.

Nie Qianqian became even more determined to uproot it completely...

While Nie Qianqian was interrogating the group, Zhang Tuo and his companions watched the entire incident involving Nie Qianqian, Tan'er, and the others downstairs in a private room on the second floor. Tang Jincheng frowned deeply; he could clearly see that Chen Feng and the waiter were abusing their power to bully others.

He has been to Guangjuxuan so many times and has never encountered such a problem.

These problems had been hidden in the shadows, but now that they had come in disguise, everything was revealed.

Zhang Tuo said in a deep voice, "Jincheng, Guangjuxuan is the largest restaurant in Qinghe County, but its management is a mess. You have to be careful... The transfer order will be issued soon, so don't let anything go wrong at this time..."

Tang Jincheng said in a low voice, "I am ashamed and will definitely investigate thoroughly."

Tang Jincheng had served as the magistrate of Qinghe County for many years, working diligently and achieving remarkable results. If he hadn't made a mistake a few years ago, he would have been promoted long ago. This transfer order was for him to go to the provincial capital...

He watched as Nie Qianqian and the others went upstairs with Chen Feng. Although he knew that in broad daylight, Chen Feng wouldn't do anything excessive, and Nie Qianqian wasn't one to be easily taken advantage of, he was still worried. So he sent someone to investigate and to help Nie Qianqian, Liu Yan, and the others if they were in danger.

The men sent were Tang Jincheng's guards, skilled in martial arts, and they quickly returned with news…

Tang Jincheng was stunned when he heard this. He was worried that Nie Qianqian would be bullied by Chen Feng, but he did not expect that she had already tied up the group.

"This girl..."

Upon hearing the news, Jiang Zheng'an, usually a man of few words, remarked, "She's quite a courageous girl..."

He gently blew on the teacup, took a sip of tea, and thought that the woman was about the same age as his sister. Thinking of his sister, he shook his head slightly in comparison.

"However, such behavior lacks the decorum of a refined young lady..."

Tang Jincheng disagreed. The Jiang family came from a wealthy family and naturally valued whether a woman's words and actions were in accordance with etiquette and her status. But Nie Qianqian was a peasant girl who had to rely on herself to make a name for herself and her mother. She needed to be resilient and decisive. He thought these qualities were far more valuable than the so-called ladylike demeanor.

As darkness fell, Guangjuxuan hung up a sign announcing its early closure, saw off the last customer, and then closed the door.

Everyone in the shop was kept behind. Nearly forty people, including the kitchen purchasing manager, cooks, and cleaning ladies, stood in the lobby on the first floor, discussing in hushed tones.

"What could it be? That group of people has been following the shopkeeper upstairs for quite a while now, and none of them have come down..."

"What else could it be? He must have been detained by the second store and locked up in a room."

"Those two young ladies are both exceptionally beautiful, especially tall ones, they're even prettier than the young lady, how could the shopkeeper let them go?"

"It's all that clueless girl's fault. She only asked for a few extra coins, but she had to cause a scene in the shop..."

“Poor people love to cause trouble. Without her, the second shop wouldn’t have been disturbed to the point of having to deal with it.”

"Then why are we all being kept here? Do you think it might have something to do with the new employer...?"

"They'll definitely have to emphasize the new owner's arrival again..."

"Things have really changed..."

Suddenly, footsteps came from upstairs. Everyone looked up, and the chattering discussion stopped abruptly. The lobby was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Upstairs, Nie Qianqian, Liu Xiong, and Liu Yan appeared on the steps, looking down at the group. Nie Qianqian was beautiful, with a tall and straight figure and a powerful aura. Behind her was Chen Feng, who looked dejected and was tied up.