Chapter 285 - 286: A Terrible Speculation

Chapter 285: Chapter 286: A Terrible Speculation

A thought crossed Zhao Xuechu’s mind. She nodded and sat down to eat with Li Yang.

"This is delicious!" Li Yang couldn’t help but exclaim after one bite. "No wonder business is booming."

"It’s all thanks to the quality of your ingredients and your excellent medicinal recipes," Zhao Xuechu said with a slight smile.

It seemed this venture was already a great success.

"Forgive me for being forward, but where are you and Xiao Zhen from?" Li Yang asked after a moment of deliberation.

"We’re..." Zhao Xuechu hadn’t expected the question. She paused for a second before answering, "We’re from the provincial capital."

Li Yang just said, "Oh."

"What is it?" Zhao Xuechu knew Li Yang wouldn’t ask something like that for no reason, and she asked, a little nervous.

"It’s nothing..." Li Yang said with a smile. "You two must come from fairly well-to-do families, I imagine."

"Decent enough," Zhao Xuechu said after a moment’s thought. "Let me put it this way: my family is quite well-off. As for Zhenzhen... she’s an orphan, raised by another family. But her foster family is also very wealthy, just as much as mine, if not more so."

Li Yang said, "Oh." Then, "With family backgrounds like that, you can’t get your hands on Tiexiancao?"

Zhao Xuechu froze again, then shook her head. "Ever since you mentioned it, I’ve been looking for it. I just haven’t used my family’s name to do it."

"But you must have tried through your personal connections, right? Since you’re from a wealthy family, the people you know can’t be just anybody, yet you still couldn’t find any Tiexiancao..." Li Yang chuckled. "Don’t you find that odd?"

Zhao Xuechu remained silent. Now that Li Yang had pointed it out, she had to admit something felt very wrong.

Li Yang said with a smile, "I’ve already found... a supplier for Tiexiancao. But he told me that within the province, there’s a single buyer who snaps up all their stock. As soon as they receive a shipment, they immediately sell all the Tiexiancao to that mysterious buyer."

"So, you’re saying it’s available, it’s just being bought by someone else, right?" Zhao Xuechu’s spirits lifted. "Well, that’s great news! We can just ask the seller to set some aside for us. We don’t need much, after all."

Li Yang gave a faint smile. "I looked into their company. It divides our province into two areas: the North District and the South District. The person I spoke with is the regional manager for the South District. He said... Tiexiancao isn’t grown around here. To get it, he has to arrange a transfer with other managers. In other words, he’d have to coordinate with the North District manager. This suggests that the person buying the herb is probably in the North District. And the provincial capital is in the north, right?"

Li Yang laid it all out, piece by piece.

Zhao Xuechu was sharp as a tack. As he spoke, something suddenly clicked. "Are you saying... that someone from our own provincial capital is the one buying all the Tiexiancao?"

Li Yang just smiled faintly.

Seeing the look in Li Yang’s smile, Zhao Xuechu shot to her feet. "You... you mean..."

"I didn’t say a thing," Li Yang said, shaking his head. "Don’t go scaring yourself. I just wanted to give you a heads-up. Like I said before, her illness was something she was fed. Understand?"

Zhao Xuechu began to tremble uncontrollably.

"It’s strange, isn’t it?" Li Yang continued. "You’re from the provincial capital. If you truly needed Tiexiancao, it’s impossible that you wouldn’t be able to find it. The best-case scenario is that nobody knows about the formula I gave you; perhaps I’m the only one. But the worst-case scenario..."

At that, Li Yang trailed off, saying no more.

Zhao Xuechu’s expression was grim.

"You... don’t tell her," Zhao Xuechu finally said after calming down a bit.

"Don’t worry. It’s not like I’m a good person in her eyes. Even if I told her, she wouldn’t believe me anyway," Li Yang said with a self-deprecating laugh.

Zhao Xuechu forced a smile. "Don’t say that. She’s just a bit headstrong. In reality, she’s been very grateful ever since you saved her. She’s just too embarrassed to express it."

In response, Li Yang merely offered a faint smile.

Zhao Xuechu was lost in thought, her mind racing.

Li Yang didn’t disturb her, continuing to eat his meal in peace.

A short while later, the door creaked open and Xiao Zhen strode in. "You! Isn’t this your restaurant too? You just leave our Xue’xue here to manage everything by herself and don’t even bother to stop by. Have you no shame?"

Li Yang chuckled. "Yup, yup, I have no shame. I’m a total scumbag."

’He’d already learned how to deal with Xiao Zhen. There was no point in wasting words.’

Xiao Zhen was dumbfounded. "You... you’re actually admitting you’re a scumbag?"

Li Yang chuckled. "And you’re a player. That makes us a match made in heaven."

"You!" Xiao Zhen’s face suddenly flushed red. "In your dreams!"

With that, she plopped down next to Zhao Xuechu. "Xue Chu, what’s wrong? You don’t look so good. Did he bully you?"

Li Yang was speechless. ’What is she even talking about?’

Zhao Xuechu shook her head. "Don’t be ridiculous. President Li came to visit, so I’m just treating him to a meal, that’s all."

"Then why do you look so awful?" Xiao Zhen pressed. "You’re actually sitting with a scumbag like him! He’s no good, you know."