After a male student transmigrated into the body of a widow,

The next day.

In the morning, Zheng Hao, Zhao's wife, and others went out after breakfast. Gu Lin got up a little late and only stepped out of the house leisurely after washing up and eating breakfast.

Before even reaching the Good Fortune Building, Gu Lin saw a group of people gathered on the street ahead, making a lot of noise, and a bad feeling arose in Gu Lin's heart.

He walked over and asked one of the women who was watching the commotion, "Auntie, what's going on here? Why are so many people gathered here?"

Turning around and seeing the young man in front of her, the woman was stunned for a moment; she had never seen such a handsome young man before.

Then, the woman gestured with her chin towards the front and said, "I don't know what happened either. I just heard that someone got sick from the food at a restaurant up ahead, and now that customer is pushing his sick mother to the restaurant to complain!"

There was only one restaurant on this street, Good Luck Restaurant. Gu Lin's face showed a solemn expression. After thanking the woman, he ran ahead.

Pushing through the crowd, Gu Lin arrived in front of Haoyunlou Restaurant and saw a cart parked in front of the once bustling restaurant, with an old woman lying on it.

Lin Xiaoyao and Yu Ercheng stood at the entrance of Haoyunlou, blocking the man in front of them who was spewing profanities.

The man raised his hand, pointed at Lin Xiaoyao and Yu Acheng, and cursed, "You heartless bastards! My mother ate here yesterday and went home, and last night she started vomiting and having diarrhea. She almost died. If your restaurant doesn't give me an explanation, I will never let you off the hook!"

Faced with this situation for the first time, Lin Xiaoyao was panicked, but Zhao's wife was old, and he couldn't let her face the situation.

Maintaining her composure, Lin Xiaoyao soothed the angry man in front of her, saying, "Please calm down. Did your mother accidentally eat something that made her feel unwell? Our Good Luck Restaurant's ingredients are all purchased fresh daily, so there's no way there could be a problem."

Upon hearing this, the man immediately cursed at Lin Xiaoyao: "What? You don't want to admit it? Fine, fine. Your restaurant usually rips off us customers without hesitation, but now that something has happened, you're trying to shirk all responsibility. You really are a bunch of worthless bastards."

Watch your mouth!

Yu Ercheng stepped forward and shouted angrily.

Yu Ercheng was a head taller and stronger than the man, and the man couldn't help but feel intimidated and took a step back.

Then, realizing what had happened, he became somewhat embarrassed and angry, and turned to shout at the crowd around him: "Look at this! Look at the face of this restaurant! They can't argue with me, so they try to threaten me. What a shady place!"

"you!"

Lin Xiaoyao tugged at Yu Ercheng's sleeve and said, "Don't get angry with him. Didn't you realize he came here to cause trouble? If you argue with him, it will only confirm what he said."

When the man first came looking for trouble, Lin Xiaoyao was worried that something might have gone wrong at Haoyunlou. But when he said there was a problem with the ingredients at Haoyunlou, Lin Xiaoyao knew that he had come to cause trouble.

A month ago, Gu Lin assigned the task of purchasing ingredients for Haoyunlou to Lin Xiaoyao.

This was the first time Lin Xiaoyao had taken on such a big job, and he was afraid that the sellers would cheat him and sell him bad vegetables and meat. So every morning, Lin Xiaoyao would personally go and select the freshest vegetables and meat.

Therefore, even if a diner has an accident, it is unlikely to be due to the food being stale.

Reminded by Lin Xiaoyao, Yu Ercheng turned around and looked around.

Sure enough, they saw many people looking at them with suspicion, and they kept talking about it.

"Do you think there might be something wrong with Haoyunlou? I had hot pot and barbecue here a few days ago, no wonder my stomach has been feeling a bit uncomfortable lately."

"I've wanted to say this for a long time: the dishes at Haoyunlou are too cheap. How can a big restaurant like this, in a place like Fucheng where every inch of land is precious, really make money by selling food so cheaply? But if their ingredients are cheap and of poor quality, then Haoyunlou can definitely make money."

"Tsk tsk! I never would have guessed. The staff and manager of Lucky Restaurant are always all smiles. No matter how much or how little money you have, they never look down on you. It turns out we were the ones who misjudged them!"

"Alright! The matter hasn't been settled yet, and you're already saying there's something wrong with Lucky Restaurant? I don't believe it. I just ate here with my family yesterday, and my youngest son didn't have any problems. It's definitely not Lucky Restaurant's fault."

Watching and listening in the crowd, Gu Lin figured out the farce unfolding before him.

Seeing that some people believed in Good Luck Tower while others doubted it, Gu Lin knew he couldn't let things continue like this.

If the current turmoil is not resolved in time, even if Good Fortune Building's innocence is proven in the future, bad news travels fast, and people will inevitably assume that Good Fortune Building has a problem.

"You said your mother felt unwell after having dinner at Good Fortune Restaurant yesterday. Do you remember what dishes she ordered yesterday?"

Gu Lin stepped out of the crowd and asked.

"Master!"

Seeing Gu Lin finally arrive, Lin Xiaoyao and Yu Acheng shouted excitedly.

The crowd immediately erupted in noise.

"Is that the owner of Lucky Restaurant?"

"What?! Isn't the owner of Lucky Pavilion a man? How come he's a young man?"

"You're from out of town, so you don't know. This restaurant is owned by that guy, and it has absolutely nothing to do with men."

One man, envious, said sourly, "So it's run by a young man. No wonder this perfectly good restaurant has run into problems. If it were run by a man, there wouldn't be so many issues."

Gu Lin glanced at Lin Xiaoyao and Yu Acheng, his eyes filled with reassurance.

Seeing this, Lin Xiaoyao and the other person gradually calmed down from their initial panic.

After a long silence, Gu Lin turned to the man and asked again, "What dishes did your mother eat at Haoyunlou yesterday?"

Suddenly interrupted, the man was stunned for a long time. When he saw that the person who interrupted him was a weak and feeble-looking young man, he immediately straightened his back and said fiercely, "You are the owner of Good Fortune Restaurant. How dare you ask me this? Yesterday, we ordered garlic-pickled pork and ginger-pickled chicken and duck at Good Fortune Restaurant. After we finished eating, my mother started vomiting and having diarrhea when we got home."

"If you can't handle this matter properly, I won't let it go."

Gu Lin remained calm. The garlic-pickled pork and ginger-pickled chicken and duck mentioned by the other party were indeed dishes from Haoyunlou Restaurant, but he still asked without changing his expression, "Besides what your mother ate at Haoyunlou Restaurant, what else did she eat that day?"

The man said impatiently, "Why are you asking? My mother definitely got sick from eating at your restaurant. My family has always only eaten wheat porridge and has never touched any other food."

Upon hearing this, Gu Lin's previously cold expression softened into a smile.

Upon seeing this, the man's eyes flashed with schadenfreude, which quickly turned into an angry expression. He said to the surrounding crowd, "Everyone, come and see! After Haoyunlou made a customer suffer from food poisoning, the owner is not only not quick to compensate and apologize, but is actually laughing!"

At the man's shout, everyone noticed the inappropriate smile on the young man's face.

The onlookers, who had initially been watching the spectacle, gradually grew dissatisfied, as Gu Lin's frivolous behavior made them feel extremely uncomfortable.

If the other party can disregard the lives of other diners today, who knows if they won't be the next victim?

Without fading his smile, Gu Lin smiled slightly at the crowd and said, "My laughter is not out of contempt for the lives and safety of the diners, but because I find this person's words utterly ridiculous."

After speaking, Gu Lin pointed at the man and then asked everyone, "Did you all hear what dishes this person ate at Good Fortune Restaurant yesterday?"

A man stepped out from the crowd and said, "I heard him. He said he ordered garlic-marinated pork and ginger-marinated chicken and duck!"

Turning to the man, Gu Lin smiled and asked, "Does this brave man still remember what he said he ate at home?"

The man whom Gu Lin called a hero replied without hesitation: "Wheat rice."

Gu Lin smiled without saying a word.

Seeing the other party's behavior, the onlookers were somewhat puzzled.

They started making noise again.

"It's just a bowl of wheat porridge, what exactly happened?"

"I don't quite understand what Boss Gu is saying?"

Some people don't understand, while others seem to have sensed something and are deep in thought, but they can't grasp that spark of inspiration.

Seeing Gu Lin's performance, the man scoffed disdainfully, "Playing hard to get!"

“Young man, you can’t do anything right. You can even make people sick by running a restaurant. I advise you to find someone to marry quickly, stay at home and raise children, and serve your husband and elders.”

Gu Lin's eyes grew cold.

He looked at everyone and said, "I believe you all heard this person mention what dishes he ate at Haoyunlou yesterday. Garlic-pickled pork and ginger-pickled chicken and duck are indeed dishes at Haoyunlou, but in the past month, all the customers who have dined at Haoyunlou know that good garlic is hard to come by in winter, so the garlic-pickled pork has been replaced with ginger-pickled pork. I haven't had garlic-pickled roast meat in a long time either. How come this person ate it yesterday?"

As soon as Gu Lin finished speaking, someone in the crowd clapped and shouted, "I knew something was off about what that guy was saying! I often eat at Haoyunlou Restaurant, and I love their garlic-marinated pork, but I haven't seen it for a month. How come this guy is eating it?"

As Gu Lin spoke, others echoed his words, and the troublemaker's expression clearly became flustered: "I remembered wrong, I didn't order garlic-marinated pork, it should be ginger-marinated pork."

"Not urgent."

Gu Lin had no intention of letting the man in front of him off the hook. Seeing the other man trying desperately to make amends, he said, "A dish at Haoyunlou costs at least several hundred coins. Just the two plates of meat you mentioned cost nearly one tael of silver, which is not something that ordinary people can afford."

"Can't our family save up money specifically to treat ourselves to a meal at a restaurant?"

The man said, his neck stiff.

“Okay, of course!” Gu Lin nodded, then changed the subject: “But your family eats wheat rice.”

The young man's expression was filled with pity, but it was not the pity he usually showed to the weak.

For some reason, the man had a bad feeling, but he still insisted, "Who says that people who eat wheat rice can't go to restaurants? Are you looking down on us ordinary people? Everyone, come and judge this!"

However, when the man turned around, he found that the people who had previously supported him were now looking at him with strange and disgusted eyes.

The man looked completely bewildered.

Gu Lin said, "Wheat rice is coarse and difficult to eat, and it is easy to cause indigestion. In severe cases, it can even cause discomfort, bloating and diarrhea. Families with the means will not choose to eat wheat rice."

Belatedly, a layer of sweat broke out on the man's back; he seemed to realize what a terrible mistake he had made.

As soon as Gu Lin finished speaking, everyone couldn't contain themselves.

“Even when we were poor, we never ate wheat rice; we ate millet. Now that they’ve started eating wheat rice, how could they possibly have extra money to eat at Haoyunlou?”

"I was so blinded by greed that I couldn't even see such an obvious mistake. Even my dog ​​wouldn't eat that wheat porridge."

Gu Lin's expression was indifferent as he said to the troublemakers, "I have no grudge against you. I don't believe anyone would cause trouble for no reason. Tell me! Who is behind this?"

His actions had been exposed, and the man's expression grew increasingly panicked. His lips moved slightly, and suddenly, the old woman lying on the cart beside him cried out, "Ouch!" and cried out, "Son, my stomach hurts so much! Quickly find the wicked man who harmed me!"

Looking at the young man's cold eyes and expression, the man couldn't help but tremble.

He opened his mouth slightly as if to say something, but the old woman behind him kept shouting, making him waver between opening and closing his mouth.

Suddenly, the crowd became noisy again.

Someone shouted in a panic, "The constables are here! The officials are here!"

Gu Lin looked over and saw that it seemed like some dangerous person had entered from behind the crowd, and the crowd was desperately retreating to both sides.

Gu Lin turned his head and watched as the troublemaker's panicked expression relaxed after the yamen runners arrived.

Gu Lin's brows furrowed slightly, becoming increasingly certain that someone was behind the scenes instructing him to destroy his Lucky Building.

But Gu Lin had only been in the prefectural city for a few months and had no idea who he had offended.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way, everyone!"

The constables in black robes reached out and roughly pushed aside the people gathered together, barging in from the outside.

The head constable's eyes swept over Gu Lin and the group of troublemakers in front of him, and he asked, "Who is the owner of Good Fortune Restaurant?"

Gu Lin's expression darkened slightly. He stepped forward and said, "Sir, I am the owner of Good Fortune Restaurant. May I ask what brings you here?"

The constable sneered, "Someone has filed a complaint at the yamen, accusing your Good Luck Restaurant of using inferior and cheap ingredients that have caused health problems for people. The magistrate has ordered us to take you back to the government office to await your judgment!"

After saying this, the constable ordered the officers behind him, "Take him down!"

The constables came in a menacing manner, and Gu Lin knew he would have to go to the government office.

His mind was racing, but he said aloud, "No need to trouble the officials, I can walk by myself."

Gu Lin raised his eyes and gestured to Yu Ercheng beside him. Yu Ercheng immediately stepped forward, smiling as he stuffed things into the hands of the yamen runner, saying, "Sir, our boss is a law-abiding citizen. He has always paid his commercial taxes on time and has never been in arrears. Do you know what's going on? This will help us keep track of things."

After weighing the silver in his hand, the head constable's expression softened considerably. Looking at the delicate young man before him, he was willing to reveal some information: "Your restaurant is too conspicuous; you've offended the wrong people!"

Yu Ercheng and Lin Xiaoyao's expressions changed immediately.