Chapter 166 - 163: Expulsion

Chapter 166: Chapter 163: Expulsion

Liu Ming, who was in charge of ingredient prep in the back kitchen, did his usual inventory check after arriving at the Restaurant today and noticed something wasn’t right.

The number of chickens for the Medicinal Cuisine didn’t match the records. A few were missing.

He assumed someone had cooked extra without reporting it, so he went straight to the two chefs responsible for stewing the chickens.

"Master Qi and Master Li, the chicken count for the Medicinal Cuisine isn’t matching up. Did you two cook extra and forget to log it?"

Qi Shijie froze for a moment before remembering the three chickens from two nights ago. He had forgotten to log them.

He said hastily, "Xiaoliu, my bad, my bad. I forgot about a few batches of Medicinal Cuisine. Could you help me log them?"

Liu Ming asked, "Should I put it under your name?"

"Yes, just put it under my name. I’ll pay for the ingredients all at once later."

Liu Ming didn’t think much of it. He turned, left, and went back to organizing his ingredient invoices.

Qi Shijie was startled. ’Good thing I changed my method yesterday,’ he thought, ’or I would’ve been caught for sure.’

After a while, when he realized no one was coming for him, he relaxed and went back to preparing the Medicinal Cuisine.

However, someone else did notice something was wrong. While tallying up the numbers, the two receptionists out front found that the amount of Medicinal Cuisine sold didn’t match the list they had.

"What’s going on? Why are there eleven jars of Medicinal Cuisine that aren’t accounted for?"

"There really are no records for them. But the money paid for the ingredients matches the quantity, so that’s odd."

The two compared the accounts and found no issues with customer sales. The problem lay with the Medicinal Cuisine prepared for internal staff.

"Could someone be sneaking it out to sell?"

"It’s definitely possible. Look at this Qi Shijie—he’s one of the chefs who makes the Medicinal Cuisine. He has the most under his name. Let’s tell Supervisor Fang about this."

Qi Shijie, in the back kitchen, had no idea that restaurant waiters and other village employees who wanted Medicinal Cuisine had to register with the front desk first.

Otherwise, it would be chaos if everyone could just run to the back kitchen and buy Medicinal Cuisine privately.

Of course, this rule was also in place to prevent people from cooking extra Medicinal Cuisine to sneak out and sell.

After Fang Qingqing heard the news, she reported the situation to Wan Qianqian. Problems in the back kitchen were beyond her authority.

"Qianqian, you were looking for me?" Huang Yi asked, entering the office.

"The front desk reported a discrepancy of eleven jars of Medicinal Cuisine. They were all logged under these two names, and the money was paid by Qi Shijie and Yu Wenjin."

"You suspect they’re secretly making Medicinal Cuisine and selling it on the side?"

"Yes, it’s a possibility. If village employees were buying it, they would have registered at the front desk. They wouldn’t buy it privately from the chefs."

Hu Xia had already notified the village employees, but only a few had come over to purchase any, mainly because the special ingredients for the Medicinal Cuisine were still in short supply.

Huang Yi took the list and glanced at it. He saw the problem instantly. This Qi Shijie and Yu Wenjin were definitely up to something.

"I’ll handle this."

He walked out of the office with a dark expression. The rules regarding the Medicinal Cuisine had been emphasized repeatedly, yet someone actually dared to do this.

Back in the kitchen, he resumed his work without mentioning a word about it. He didn’t approach the two men to question them, either.

Instead, he kept a close eye on the two of them all day and quickly discovered what was going on.

’So they’re working together, a joint operation. Too bad they’re not using their cleverness for good,’ Huang Yi thought.

He watched as Qi Shijie hid a secretly prepared batch of Medicinal Cuisine behind a table. A little later, Yu Wenjin took it and left through the back door, only to return empty-handed a few minutes later.

Huang Yi glanced at the security camera by the back door, perplexed. ’Do those two think the camera is just a decoration?’

You couldn’t call them stupid—they knew how to coordinate with each other. But you couldn’t call them smart, either—they were completely ignoring the obvious security camera.

Over the course of the lunch shift, Qi Shijie and Yu Wenjin worked together to send out eight jars. During their break, they exchanged a look and slipped out behind the Restaurant.

"Brother Qi, are we going to keep this up this afternoon?"

Qi Shijie turned off his phone, feeling ecstatic. ’Over a hundred thousand yuan in hand, just like that. It’s too easy.’

"Of course we’re continuing. Let’s make as much as we can. Even if we get caught, it’ll have been worth it."

Yu Wenjin asked worriedly, "If we get caught, we won’t be arrested, will we?"

"Arrested for what? It’s not like we didn’t pay for the ingredients. The worst they can do is fire us.

"Don’t worry. As long as we’re fast enough, by the time they find out, we’ll have already made a few years’ salary."

Qi Shijie now completely looked down on his salary at Lin Xian Village. Tens of thousands of yuan a day—this rate of making money was incredible.

’I don’t know what’s wrong with the boss of Lin Xian Village,’ he thought. ’If it were me, I’d just sell Medicinal Cuisine all day and make a fortune.’

In the village’s staff lounge, Wan Qianqian was reporting the matter to Lin Feng, asking him how to proceed.

"It’s confirmed. Including what they sold this afternoon, the two of them have sold over nineteen jars."

Lin Feng watched the two of them talking on the security footage, not sure what to say.

The wages at Lin Xian Village were so high, yet they still weren’t satisfied. ’And their salaries will only get higher in the future. It’s not like I’m a stingy boss.’

He wasn’t going to be short on money in the future, so he was always generous when it came to wages.

"Replace Qi Shijie for now. After their shift ends tonight, fire them both."

"Alright, I’ll let Brother Huang know."

The month was almost over. Lin Feng glanced at a message from accounting; profits for the month were very high.

Once salaries were paid out at the end of the month, he expected even more people would want to come work at Lin Xian Village.

Lin Feng got up and headed outside. He was going to South Mountain to check on the planting progress.

"Zhou Jun, what are you doing?"

He saw Zhou Jun squatting on a rock like a monkey, looking all around with a pair of binoculars.

Good thing he was looking at the sky, otherwise people would have definitely thought he was some kind of peeping tom.

"Lin Feng, why are there Golden Eagles around your village?"

"You saw them? I’d spotted them before, but I didn’t expect they’d actually migrate here."

"I did, I did! A lot of people are looking for them. One guy was using a drone to track one, and it just got snatched out of the sky and crashed."

Lin Feng looked down and saw that there were indeed a lot of people on the plaza below searching around. There was an even bigger crowd over by the Arrow Tower.

It seemed the Golden Eagles really had moved their nests near Lin Xian Village. The small animals in the area were in for a tough time.

"What about Sun Lili, the woman you brought with you?

"She’s undergoing treatment. I hear it’s going well. This place of yours is really amazing," Zhou Jun said, looking at Lin Feng with curiosity.

He truly hadn’t expected that the incense in the Land God Temple could actually treat mental illness.

"I wish her a speedy recovery. You take your time looking. I’ve got to go."

Zhou Jun stood up and asked, "Where are you headed?"

"I’m going over to South Mountain to check on the tea plants."

"I’ll go with you."

The two of them went down to the plaza. The Wharf over here wasn’t finished yet, so they had to use a temporary wharf.

The boats on the water had been replaced with large transport vessels, and a wooden bridge was also under construction across the water to the other side.

An octagonal pavilion was even planned for the center. Once everything was completed, getting to the cave would be much easier.

Of course, on the western mountain, a stone path leading to South Mountain was also under construction, which would make access even more convenient.

The two soon reached the mouth of the cave. The area had been simply developed, with a fence erected around the entrance.

Upon entering the cave, Zhou Jun said in amazement, "I heard this cave was formed from a collapse, but you can’t tell at all."

It was too strange. The surrounding cave walls looked as if they had been artificially constructed.

"It was formed from a collapse, but we touched it up a bit afterward."

In reality, not much had been done. They had just secured some potentially dangerous spots, leaving the cave walls in their original, natural state.

When he saw the central cavern, which was over two hundred square meters, Zhou Jun was truly dumbfounded. You could build a house in here.

He touched a stone pillar so thick that two people might not be able to wrap their arms around it. If it weren’t completely devoid of any carvings or decorations, he would never have believed it was a natural pillar left over from the collapse.

"This is huge. Is there any danger of the mountain collapsing again?"

"No. There are eighteen pillars of various sizes just like the one you’re touching. They act like support columns for a house."

"That’s incredible!"

Seeing that the pit in the center was filled with water, and especially after learning that the water was connected to the lake in the valley outside, he couldn’t help but marvel at the wonders of nature.

Even if you hired a construction crew, creating a structure like this inside a mountain would be an incredibly difficult task.

After coming out of the cave, they stood on the mountainside and looked out over a vast, long, and narrow valley. In the distance, they could hear the rushing sound of a waterfall.

He raised his binoculars and looked toward the sound. A waterfall cascaded down between two mountains, forming a natural dam.

A band of orange-red maple trees nearby quickly caught his eye. Unfortunately, most of the leaves had already fallen, making the trees look a little sparse.

Still, surrounded by so much other greenery, the patch of color was a beautiful sight.

"There’s a maple grove over there, but only a few leaves are left. It’s a shame. It would’ve been great to have come earlier."

"You can still see them tomorrow. Once the path is finished, you’ll be able to walk straight over there through the mountains."

Zhou Jun scanned the contours of the mountains and felt that the natural scenery here was even more beautiful than on the main side of Lin Xian Village.

The mountains on either side formed a semi-circular triangle with South Mountain at the base, looking something like half a football.

"These tea trees look pretty old!"

"These were all planted by the village in the past. They haven’t been tended to in over a decade, so they’re pretty much wild now.

"Over there are the newly planted tea trees—half are West Lake Longjing Tea, and half are Huangshan Maofeng Tea. We also planted some fruit trees around them."

"There’s plenty of sunlight here. It really is a suitable place for growing tea."

Lin Dongyue had seen Lin Feng arrive with someone else, but he didn’t come over. He was busy leading the hired villagers in planting medicinal herbs on the eastern slope.

This planting was relatively simple. After loosening the soil on the eastern side, they just scattered the herb seeds directly onto the mountain.

"Dad, are the tea plants all taken care of over here?"

"Yes, we’ve already fertilized them. Come spring, the tea trees will start to grow."

Lin Feng looked at the tea trees, which had been pruned to about half a person’s height. They were all over four years old and had been properly prepared before being transported here.

The area was vast, stretching from the top of the mountain to the bottom, covering nearly seventeen acres. Over thirteen acres were planted with tea trees.

He selected a central area that included all three types of tea trees, designating it for the production of their specialty, Lin Xian Tea.

Thankfully, the tea trees hadn’t undergone any dramatic, visible transformations, but looking at their overall condition, there was a slight, subtle improvement.

Once the tea trees here started showing more obvious changes, he would come back and put a fence around this area.

On the way back, Zhou Jun said, "When you start selling your tea, you have to save some for me.

"The environment here is amazing. The tea grown here will definitely be top-quality."

Anyone who visited Lin Xian Village nowadays would praise its environment, saying it was even better than a primeval forest.

"Alright. Once the tea is harvested, I’ll definitely set some aside for you."

Just as the two of them got back to the plaza, they heard angry shouting. A crowd had gathered at the entrance to the Land God Temple.

He saw Professor Quan standing in the crowd with Daoist Qi beside him. A woman, accompanied by a teenage boy, was yelling at the professor.

He heard Zhou Jun say, "That boy looks like the patient with the mental illness who was brought here yesterday. Why are they arguing with Professor Quan?"

He couldn’t understand it. Professor Quan was in charge of the entire experiment. ’Are they picking a fight with him because they don’t want the treatment anymore?’

"Come on, let’s go see what’s going on."

A tourist saw Lin Feng approaching and shouted to the people in the crowd, "Boss Lin is here! Everyone make way, let Boss Lin through."