Is the True Nature Finally Revealing Itself? (2)
The Next Day, at Noon
Jiang Wan listened to the waiter’s report. None of the customers who had eaten the batch of fish and shrimp had experienced any unusual symptoms.
She thought that perhaps Cangman Tower had genuinely realized its mistake. After all, her restaurant was no weaker than theirs, and completely falling out with them would only create unnecessary trouble for herself.
After all, having one more friend was always better than having one more competitor.
With that, she finally let go of her worries about the incident.
At that moment, the waiter came in to report another matter.
“Shopkeeper, the kitchen sent me to ask you. The fish and shrimp delivered yesterday haven’t all been used yet. Should we have the people from the fish market deliver a new batch, or should we continue using these?”
Jiang Wan answered directly, “Continue using them.”
Having received a definite answer, the waiter didn’t waste any time and hurried back to the kitchen to relay her instructions.
In the Back Courtyard
Sheng Zixu was happily enjoying the snacks he had bought the day before, humming a little tune as he relaxed.
He was lying on a small bed set up in a secluded corner of the wine storage room. The bed wasn’t very large or wide, but it wasn’t so cramped that it restrained him. It only became a little restrictive when he stretched out.
Sheng Zixu felt that living like this wasn’t bad.
Perhaps not recovering his memories wasn’t so bad either.
He didn’t have to worry about the wind or the sun, he had money, and most importantly, he felt that Jiang Wan would be lenient with him no matter what he did.
However, that thought was quickly dispelled.
He remembered what had been said at the time. The clothes he wore were made of expensive fabric, he had a jade pendant, and there was also the little bit of information he had learned after being kidnapped.
As he continued thinking about it, he suddenly became sleepy.
He put the food back where it belonged, adjusted himself into a comfortable position, then contentedly pulled a thin blanket over himself and drifted off to sleep.
Afternoon
People from Cangman Tower came over again, bringing another group with them.
As expected, Jiang Wan went out to see what they were up to this time.
The person leading them was still Li Deru.
Today, he was wearing a light-gray long robe, but his eyes remained just as shrewd as ever.
He stepped forward and explained the purpose of their visit.
“Shopkeeper Jiang, how could fish and shrimp be enjoyed without the proper seasonings? That’s why we’ve brought some excellent ingredients this time—chili peppers, star anise, dried longan, Sichuan peppercorns, and so on.”
Jiang Wan suspiciously looked at the seasonings covered by cloth.
A mixture of fragrant aromas immediately rushed toward her and drifted through the air. Even someone who knew nothing about spices would have to admit, These ingredients are excellent.
She lifted a corner of the cloth, and an even richer aroma wafted out.
Something felt unusual to her.
It was too strong.
At an inappropriate moment, Jiang Wan suddenly thought of a saying:
The more fragrant something is, the more dangerous it may be hiding within.
The uncovered seasonings were top-quality in both color and size. There was nothing obviously suspicious about them.
After all, Jiang Wan had investigated the market herself before. These ingredients had cost quite a lot.
Cangman Tower had certainly gone all out.
Jiang Wan lowered the corner of the cloth.
“They’re indeed very good, but these must have cost quite a bit. I appreciate the gesture, but you should take them back.”
Li Deru smiled as though he had expected her to say that.
“Shopkeeper Jiang, as I said, these are seasonings meant to go with the fish and shrimp. We should have delivered them together yesterday, but unfortunately, there was a small issue on the trading side, so they arrived a little late. Please accept them and allow us to show our sincerity.”
Jiang Wan was practically speechless.
That man smiled like an ancient fox, which made her feel rather uncomfortable.
Seeing that she remained silent, Li Deru continued persuading her.
“These ingredients will last you quite a long time and save you some money. Why wouldn’t you accept them?”
At this moment, another thought surfaced in Jiang Wan’s mind:
Free things are often the most expensive.
She still wanted to refuse. Her internal alarm bells were practically screaming.
She was just about to wave her hand and reject them when a waiter hurried out and approached her, whispering a few words.
“Shopkeeper, the kitchen says we’re running low on seasonings. They need us to buy more right away and have them back within half an hour. They’re in a hurry.”
Jiang Wan had no choice now.
She cupped her fists toward Li Deru.
“Thank you. But I can’t take them for free. I’ll have someone pay you according to the market price.”
Several strong men immediately came out and carried all the seasonings into the kitchen. She also had the accountant pay them for the goods.
Li Deru still wore that gentle smile.
“Since Shopkeeper Jiang insists, it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to refuse.”
Jiang Wan’s expression remained as calm as still water.
“It’s nothing. This is simply mutually beneficial. I happen to need the goods, and you happen to have them.”
Li Deru stroked his short beard.
“Shopkeeper Jiang is right. Mutually beneficial.”
He placed particular emphasis on the last few words, as though subtly hinting that there was something unusual behind them.
“Hahaha, it’s getting late, and I don’t want to interfere with your business. We’ll take our leave.”
“Farewell,” Jiang Wan replied simply.
Li Deru soon led his people away.
Jiang Wan became increasingly puzzled by their behavior.
Even if they wanted to ease their relationship, there was no need to go this far.
After all, they were competitors and fellow merchants in the same trade. No one wanted to see a competitor doing better than themselves.
People were usually eager to watch their rivals make a fool of themselves. And if they could completely bring their opponent down, that would be even better.
Watching them disappear completely from sight, Jiang Wan couldn’t help but remark,
“They move pretty fast. Almost like thieves.”
She headed to the kitchen and quietly stood somewhere out of the way, observing everything without disturbing the workers.
She watched as they smelled the seasonings and, finding nothing unusual, added them to the pot and stir-fried them together with the food.
The high-quality ingredients collided with the food, and one mouthwatering dish after another was brought out of the kitchen.
They were bound to receive excellent reviews.
Sure enough, as the dishes were served to the customers’ tables one after another, compliments flowed in like water.
Jiang Wan gave everyone at the restaurant a reward.
She had tasted the dishes cooked with the ingredients sent by Cangman Tower. They were indeed slightly better than before, but she felt that the restaurant’s own cooks were no less skilled. In fact, they deserved the greater share of the credit.
When Sheng Zixu received his reward, he initially thought Jiang Wan had given him some sort of special “relief payment.”
But then he discovered that everyone had received the same amount—one hundred copper coins each.
He immediately pouted, somewhat disappointed.
He had thought his would be something special.
Well, no reason to refuse free money.
Sheng Zixu put the 100 copper coins into the purse Jiang Wan had given him last time. There were already some pieces of silver inside, and once he added the 100 copper coins, the purse visibly bulged.
There seemed to be a faint, lingering fragrance on the purse, the same scent he had noticed on Jiang Wan.
He carefully tucked the purse deep into his robe. “This way, I won’t have to worry about losing it.”
His mood improved slightly. He picked up a feather duster and began sweeping the dust off the liquor shelves.
With that sweep, a small amount of dust fell from the shelves, drifting silently to the floor, unnoticed.
Jiang Wan did not go back to check the kitchen. Instead, she continued with her daily inspections, still managing to pick up some fairly valuable clues, though they would still need to be verified.
After returning to her room, she had someone bring her the account books. She wanted to check the profits and losses from the past few days.
With a red cinnabar brush, she circled the figures while moving the beads on the abacus with one hand.
A small, adorable, round white pigeon landed in front of Jiang Wan and cooed twice.
She untied the note from its leg. This time, the note was filled with writing.
【There is something suspicious about the butcher Li’s missing daughter, as well as the children who disappeared before her. His wife did not actually hang herself. According to our investigation and surveillance over the past few days, the children he lost all seem to have disappeared in the same manner. They went out to play with children of the same age and never returned. Our investigation shows that they were from different groups of children. We examined the butcher Li’s wife’s body and found obvious signs of poisoning. We suspect she was poisoned first and then made to look as though she had hanged herself. We have also observed that his behavior has been abnormal recently. Only a few days after his wife’s death, he already found a matchmaker and married a new wife. We have not seen the slightest trace of grief from him, and his temperament is highly unpredictable.】
The note was signed: No Name.
Jiang Wan fell into deep thought.
At this point, she was highly suspicious that the disappearance of his children and his wife’s death were connected to him, and that he himself was the one carrying out the orders behind the scenes.
Could the person behind everything be the owner of that manor?
After all, aside from a few recent minor disturbances, things had been suspiciously peaceful.
She wrote back, instructing the people in the covert network to investigate more deeply and try to uncover as many people involved as possible.
She would have to start taking action as well. The sooner they eliminated this great scourge, the sooner they could bring a little more peace to the world.
After Sheng Zixu finished dusting several empty liquor shelves, the sensation of his fingertips brushing against Jiang Wan’s when she gave him the purse inexplicably surfaced in his mind again.
He wondered why her hands were so cold.
The intertwining of warmth and coolness kept stimulating his thoughts. He wondered whether holding her hand would feel just as cold, or whether it would retain that peculiar sensation.
He always seemed to catch Jiang Wan’s faint fragrance, intentionally or otherwise, to the point that he sometimes felt as though Jiang Wan was chasing after him even in his dreams.
To be fair, Jiang Wan was quite good-looking herself. She had a face that grew more pleasing the longer one looked at it, and there was a tenacious, unyielding quality about her.
His thoughts wandered aimlessly for a while before he suddenly stopped himself.
No. He was supposed to dislike her and keep his distance from her.
He made the decision unilaterally: from now on, he would maintain a cold and aloof persona around her and make himself unapproachable.
The sky gradually darkened.
The covert network sent another message.
Jiang Wan opened the note, only to find two lines written on it.
【There is no trace of the missing children. At present, there are no clues linking them to any manor.】
Jiang Wan closed her eyes, recalling all the clues and experiences she had gathered along the way. There seemed to be a thread faintly connecting everything together, but she could not quite grasp it.
Sheng Zixu’s face suddenly appeared in her mind, and her thoughts immediately became clearer.
The group of people who had abducted him—she had actually forgotten about them. She had completely forgotten to investigate their background. But quite some time had passed now, so it might not be easy to investigate them anymore.
Jiang Wan first replied to the covert network, instructing them to keep an eye on Butcher Li’s every move. As for the others, they could follow up on the other matters depending on the situation.
She opened the window and released the carrier pigeon. Standing by the window, she took a deep breath.
There were so few clues about her younger sister that she was beginning to wonder whether the system had actually deceived her.
The moment that thought arose, the cold, mechanical voice of the Mirror System interrupted her:
“The system has not deceived the host. Your younger sister is indeed in this transmigrated-book world. As for her exact location, you need to find a way to locate her yourself. This was the agreement between the system and the host. All emotions generated during this process will belong to the system.”
Jiang Wan retorted, “If you just tell me that I’ll find my family, then what? Even the emotions I experience during the process of finding them don’t count? What about the emotions when I finally meet them?”
The Mirror System was not led astray by her words.
“No, Host. The system requires all the complex emotions generated during this entire process. What I can tell you right now is that she is not in any danger to her life. Please continue making progress, Host.”
Jiang Wan had not forgotten the agreement they had made in the beginning. It was just that she felt as though it was the same as before she had transmigrated.
Back then, she had received only the slightest clue and desperately searched for her sister, only to end up with nothing but false hope.
If things were like this, it felt more like a scam.
The system interrupted her unpleasant thoughts again.
“The system keeps its word. Please rest assured, Host. According to the system’s programming, it is forbidden to deceive its bound host. Otherwise, there will be punishment.”
Hearing this, Jiang Wan fell into thought.
“Mm, I understand. You can leave now.”
Seeing that she no longer harbored any negative thoughts, the system’s reassuring programming allowed it to go offline.
Night fell.
The servant responsible for putting up the shelter over the fish ponds was the last person to leave. He looked around, making sure there was no one nearby.
Then, he took a porcelain bottle from his sleeve and poured the liquid inside into several of the fish ponds.
Afterward, he acted as though nothing had happened and swaggered back to his quarters to rest.