After transmigrating, I became a stepmother.

The mother and son strolled leisurely to Rongshou Hall. The old lady was overjoyed to see them! She quickly took her grandson into her arms and asked, "Yu-ge'er, did you miss your grandmother?"

"Yes, I want to, I want to!" The little dumpling had a sweet tongue and clung to the old lady's neck, refusing to let go.

"Oh, my little grandson! How about having lunch with Grandma today?" The old lady rubbed her face against her grandson's.

"Okay, let's go together!" Little Baozi readily agreed, clearly having forgotten about his promise to go out again yesterday.

Turning back to Lin Hao, he said, "Mother, let's go together!"

"Okay, let's go together." Lin Hao thought to herself, since she had nothing else to do, she might as well go together!

"Well, with the two of you here, I'm not lonely today!" The old lady said, holding her grandson and looking at Lin Hao.

"Then we have to eat something good here!" Lin Hao chimed in.

"Alright, alright, eat more, so that your grandson can grow up!"

"Grow up, just like my father!" The little boy excitedly raised his hand and gestured vigorously.

"Yes, yes, just like your father!" The old lady's tone was full of affection.

Lin Hao smiled as she watched the interaction between the grandmother and granddaughter. When she was little, she was also held in her grandmother's arms like this and constantly acted spoiled!

Sunlight streamed in through the latticed windows, illuminating the people inside, as if a faded old photograph had frozen time!

In the evening, Gu Liunian returned. Although he didn't say much, Lin Hao still felt that something had happened.

"Is something wrong today?"

Gu Liunian was surprised by her question and stopped what he was doing. Seeing his reaction, Lin Hao became even more certain of her guess.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Sensing the urgency in her tone, Gu Liunian simply sat down and slowly told her, "It's nothing serious."

"I suppose you can guess why those yamen runners came yesterday." This was said with a certainty.

Lin Hao nodded slightly. She was not stupid. It was obvious that what happened yesterday was done by the magistrate's brother-in-law. She just didn't know if the magistrate knew about it!

"Today, a group of customers caused trouble, saying they got sick from eating our hot pot and had persistent diarrhea, claiming our broth was unclean!"

Hearing Gu Liunian speak in such a calm tone, Lin Hao sensed a sense of danger. After all, this is what people in the food business fear most. Even in later generations, if one could prove their innocence, they would still lose some customers.

"And then?" she couldn't help but ask.

“After what happened yesterday, I was worried that if his plan failed, he would resort to some underhanded tactics. Therefore, I arranged for people to keep an eye on them. As soon as those people came in, someone was watching them.”

At this point, he looked at Lin Hao, his eyes filled with amusement: "Speaking of which, we have to thank you for today's events!"

"Huh?" Lin Hao looked blank; what did this have to do with her?

“Those people were supposed to have their symptoms halfway through the meal, but because the hot pot was so delicious, they finished it all without realizing it.”

Lin Hao was at a loss for words when she heard this. Where did she find this glutton?! He's utterly useless and only makes things worse!

"Then, when they had their attack, all that was left was the soup base. When the doctor came in, he said they had overeaten. As for the diarrhea, it was because they hadn't eaten meat for a long time and had eaten too much oily food at once, which their stomachs couldn't handle!"

At this point, even someone as knowledgeable as Gu Liunian couldn't help but marvel: Where did Zhu Gui find such a talent?

He later learned during questioning that, according to the plan, they were supposed to take croton seeds beforehand, but they were afraid of suffering and didn't, thinking that pretending would have the same effect. The doctor conveniently exposed their deception!

What he didn't know was that Zhu Gui originally wanted his men to find some reliable people to handle the matter, since it would be too conspicuous for his own people to be involved. However, he was stingy and unwilling to spend any money. His men, on the other hand, were hoping to make a quick buck, which resulted in the group of lazy men who had been starving for a long time being brought in, leading to this farce!

Lin Hao's inner thoughts at this moment were: Sure enough, a god-like opponent is terrifying, a pig-like opponent is even more terrifying, and the combination of the two is even more terrifying!

"What's the result?"

"As a result, I ordered them to be sent to the government office together, along with some guests who had finished their meal and were willing to be witnesses."

"And then what? You just let it go?" Lin Hao found it hard to believe that the old fox would let the mastermind off so easily.

Seeing that she had guessed, Gu Liunian did not hide anything: "Of course not. I heard that the magistrate and his wife have been married for several years and have only one son who is just five years old. For the past two days, I have had someone send a hot pot and dessert to the magistrate's house every day. I think the magistrate's family should have finished eating by now!"

Lin Hao sighed inwardly: He really is an old fox!

However, this way, the restaurant's business should be firmly established! Her little bit of money is also beckoning to her!

Lin Haomei thought about it for a while, then realized it was a little too quiet around her. Turning her head, she saw Gu Liunian seemingly lost in thought, which was quite unusual!

Lin Hao waved her hand in front of him, "What are you thinking about?"

"I think we're still at the mercy of others in this matter!" Gu Liunian said, rubbing his fingertips against the teacup.

Lin Hao was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Wasn't the matter already resolved?"

"It's been resolved, but there are too many variables."

Lin Hao asked, puzzled, "What variable?"

"The magistrate's attitude, the magistrate's wife's attitude, Zhu Gui's methods, etc., are all variables."

"So... what do you plan to do?" Lin Hao felt like she understood something. Gu Liunian was unwilling to be controlled by others and wanted to become stronger, or rather, he wanted to be the one who set the rules!

"The imperial examination." Gu Liunian uttered the two words softly.

This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. If his father hadn't suddenly passed away and there hadn't been no one to support him, he would have embarked on this path much earlier.

Doing business ultimately comes with too many restrictions!

"Then, what about business?" Lin Hao pointed out the key issue. As far as she knew, it seemed that one could not engage in business if one wanted to participate in the imperial examinations.

"I think we should register some shops, restaurants, and the like under Mother's and your names. I'll only keep some farmland and estates under my name!" Gu Liunian looked into her eyes and spoke earnestly.

Lin Hao could see her own reflection in his eyes, her face filled with astonishment!

"Registered under my name?" She pointed to herself, looking puzzled.

“Yes, you are the wife of the Gu family, isn’t it normal for you to have some businesses?” Gu Liunian asked in return.

"It's normal!" She just hadn't expected Gu Liunian to trust her so much.

"What do you think?" Gu Liunian still wanted to hear other people's opinions; he had been thinking about this matter for some time.

Lin Hao thought about it seriously for a while and found that it seemed to be feasible.

"I think so."