Chapter 1268: Completely Stunned

Chapter 1268: Chapter 1268: Completely Stunned

He and Ye Ning are together; even a fool would know his intentions.

"Since we have suspects, let’s investigate first. Don’t wait until those people are released to start the investigation," the old man said. "With your ability, I suppose you would have found everything out before they’re even released."

The old man gave Zhao Gushen a promise: "If it turns out to be him, daring to harm his own family, no one will be able to plead for him. Even if we can’t kick him out of the Zhao Family, we can still remove him from all the companies under Zhao Family’s name."

Kicking him out is essentially kicking Zhao Guqing out of the core circle.

Zhao Guqing still fancied the idea of replacing Zhao Gushen.

Now, he’s directly kicked out of all companies, unable to work in any Zhao Family businesses. What’s left for him to hope for?

Not only Zhao Guqing, but even Zhao Dingye also has no hope now.

Zhao Dingye was counting on Zhao Guqing.

With Zhao Guqing out, considering Zhao Dingye’s age, it’s too late to rely on a second child, no matter how robust he remains.

With the old man’s assurance, Zhao Gushen didn’t hesitate for a moment and immediately sent people to investigate, couldn’t even bother about being in the middle of a meal.

Once he was done, he returned to continue with the meal.

***

Zhao Gushen is investigating Ye Ning and Zhao Guqing.

Meanwhile, Ye Fei’s competition is proceeding in an orderly manner.

Challenging teams from different countries can’t pick just any team for a challenge.

Otherwise, everyone would challenge the weakest teams first, and the weak team’s matches would be lined up long after the finals conclude.

Therefore, the competition has restrictions.

A defending team can only accept up to 10 challenges.

And the order for selecting the contesting team follows the rankings from the previous International Cooking Competition, from high to low.

Priority is given starting from the first place team.

So, if a defending team has been selected for 10 slots,

the remaining teams can’t choose this team and have to opt for others instead.

However, weak teams aren’t so sought-after that everyone scrambles for them.

Strong teams disdain challenging weak teams.

Even if they win a badge, the victory doesn’t seem honorable, damaging the strong team’s reputation.

Teams like India, despite questionable character from coach to players, boast strong culinary skills as a renowned gourmet nation.

They challenge Hua Country not just due to rivalry but also from confidence and pride.

Thus, strong teams choose teams they feel confident against but aren’t overwhelmingly weak.

However, teams like Hua Country are so strong that not many strong teams dare challenge them.

There are only a handful, barely.

The remaining teams, from medium to lower levels, first target weak teams, ensuring a sufficient number of badges to enter the finals.

This results in weak teams being selected early, while strong teams like Hua Country,

except those with great confidence or historical rivalry,

aren’t challenged by medium-level teams, which all go for weak teams instead.

By the time weak teams are done choosing, only strong teams like Hua Country remain.

So Ye Fei’s upcoming matches are relatively easy, sometimes even effortless.

Even Guo Wenbo carelessly picks three people for a match.

All ten contestants take turns competing, and each gets to compete two or three times, winning quite handsomely.

Yet, even the weak teams can sense the significantly enhanced strength of Hua Country’s defending team this year.

Weak teams lack the player resources that strong teams have.

Each year, players must compete for spots, so the participants change annually.

In weak teams, you’ll sometimes see the same player joining for several competitions, as long as they meet the age requirements.

From the coaching staff to players, they know Hua Country’s previous performances well.

Hence, they feel more deeply how even Hua Country’s defending team has become stronger this year.

And the strength of their contesting team? That’s simply unimaginable!

Meanwhile, Zhao Gushen, before those who attacked Ye Fei and Xiao Mo earlier could be released, found evidence pointing to Ye Ning.

Unfortunately, although Zhao Guqing is straightforward, he’s cautious about this matter.

He didn’t get involved or hadn’t reached the point where he needed to act.

Therefore, after investigating again and again, it only led to Ye Ning.

Nothing linked directly to Zhao Guqing.

Without evidence involving Zhao Guqing, there’s nothing to be done against him.

This left Zhao Gushen very frustrated.

Although as long as Zhao Guqing doesn’t give up, he’ll eventually slip up.

But this increases the danger for Ye Fei and Xiao Mo.

Because he couldn’t act against Zhao Guqing for now, Zhao Gushen vented all his rage on Ye Ning.

Ye Ning’s restaurant was shut down.

Ye Ning was baffled because an inspection found her restaurant’s kitchen unclean.

There were not only rats and cockroaches but also salmonella on chopsticks, and the restaurant’s fire safety didn’t meet standards, among other things.

Every possible issue was there.

Ye Ning was completely stunned.

Initially, while preparing for the restaurant, she indeed wasn’t detailed enough, didn’t ensure it was flawless.

Because Zhao Guqing was helping.

All documents and permits were issued smoothly.

But Ye Ning had checked the restaurant’s facilities.

Even with smooth permit issuance, she didn’t want to invite unnecessary trouble.

So the facilities met the standards.

For a high-end restaurant, cleanliness and an elegant environment are fundamental.

The customers mustn’t feel any discomfort.

So Ye Ning was confident about the hygiene of the restaurant.

Yet, in a situation where she was completely unprepared, violations hit her one after another like a storm.

No warning signs, not even a slight pause in between incidents.

One issue after another.

It didn’t give her any time or mental space to prepare.

From the surprise inspections to the restaurant getting sealed, it took only three days.

Two consecutive days of surprise inspections, and on the third day, it suddenly got shut down.

Ye Ning was utterly confused.

She immediately sought out Zhao Guqing.

But Zhao Guqing was helpless as well.

"I asked around, but they insisted on following the rules, unwilling to bend them," Zhao Guqing said.

"How come?" Ye Ning couldn’t understand. "When issuing those permits, they didn’t seem to follow the rules."

They just went through the motions.

"Why are they insisting on following the rules now?" Ye Ning’s gaze seemed to imply Zhao Guqing wasn’t competent, that his face lost its value.

Why wouldn’t those people even give him face?

"I’ve already helped you a lot," Zhao Guqing said, gritting his teeth in anger and shame.