Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 131

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai panicked and reached out to pack up his stall, shouting, "Shazhu, you're clearly just trying to retaliate by coming here to cause trouble. We'll just stop setting up our stall here!"

Qin Huairu was still stunned, but seeing that Yi Zhonghai had already packed up his stall, she subconsciously offered to help.

He Yuzhu shouted loudly, "Neighbors, some of you know me. You know I'm a family chef. I can tell just by tasting a dish. This pig's head meat definitely has opium in it. Everyone, grab those two and don't let these bad guys get away."

"Shazhu, is there really opium in here?"

"Yeah, Sha Zhu, Lao Yi has a much better reputation than you. How could he put opium in pig's head meat?"

“You’ve been fooled by this hypocritical old Yi. This pig’s head meat isn’t his; it was made by his apprentice.”

Yi Zhonghai tried to run away with the wooden basin, but He Yuzhu grabbed him and used his strength to snatch the basin from his hands, tripped him, and pinned Yi Zhonghai to the ground.

Qin Huairu, who was standing next to her, was also frightened and stepped back. He Yuzhu reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled hard, causing Qin Huairu to fall to the ground, screaming loudly.

Someone who knew him asked, "Zhu Zi, is there really opium in this pig's head meat?"

"Would I joke about something like this?"

Yes, these are things that can lead to detention, fines, and jail time. Even if it's just a joke, you wouldn't ruin someone's reputation like this.

"Old Yi, I never imagined that the pig's head meat you sell was laced with opium."

"I only bought it twice because of Lao Yi, I never expected it to be poisonous pig's head meat."

Yi Zhonghai stubbornly insisted, "I didn't. Don't listen to his nonsense. He just wants to retaliate and frame us."

Several neighbors argued with Lao Yi, some saying the pig's head meat was poisonous and demanding compensation from him.

Old Yi just refuses to admit it; there's no reason for him to admit it directly.

"Everyone, make way, don't crowd around!" someone shouted from outside, and the crowd, layer upon layer, made way.

Several police officers from the local police station walked in.

He Yuzhu looked up and saw familiar faces. The team leader was Ye Dapeng, and the other police officers also looked familiar.

"Director Ye, you've come at the right time. The pig head meat these two are selling here is adulterated with opium."

"It's you. You can tell that opium was used in this?"

He Yuzhu said, "Yes, I can tell what kind of recipe and ingredients are used just by tasting it."

Ye Dapeng nodded, having no doubt about it. His father-in-law was Li Fugui, a master chef who had previously demonstrated that even if he had never tasted a dish before, he could deduce the recipe and ingredients with great accuracy just by eating it for the first time.

These chefs have the best sense of taste, especially their tongues and noses.

“Since that’s the case, let’s go to the police station and find someone to identify these pig heads.”

Yi Zhonghai had been pinned under He Yuzhu's body the whole time, and by this point, his attempts to argue were useless; the pig's head meat had indeed been made with opium as an ingredient.

I just can't understand why He Yuzhu would risk a lose-lose situation to expose me.

He Yuzhu said, "Send a few more people to the northernmost end of the alley. Jia Dongxu and an old lady from our courtyard are setting up a stall there, selling pig's head meat that's also made with opium."

"Okay, you two go over there and bring them here."

Ye Dapeng sent people over there, and Yi Zhonghai suddenly shouted: "I'm reporting that He Yuzhu's pig head meat is also mixed with opium."

He Yuzhu immediately laughed and said, "Yi Zhonghai, do you think I don't know what you've been doing? I dare to stand up and report you. How could there be opium inside a pig's head? Of course I'm on guard against this."

Yi Zhonghai's expression changed. Things he couldn't understand before suddenly became clear. Yes, no one would be foolish enough to report someone else after breaking the law themselves.

Could the recipe be fake?

If you think about it this way, you'll understand why braised meat made with the same recipe tastes different.

At first, I thought it was because we didn't have enough stock and lacked experience in braising, since the time mentioned above was just a short while, a moment, or about how long.

"Did you give us a fake formula?" Yi Zhonghai asked.

He Yuzhu said, "I don't know if your formula is fake or not, but my formula definitely does not contain opium. The military control committee has checked it several times before."

Yi Zhonghai now knew he was in trouble. Yes, He Yuzhu's confident demeanor meant he was sure of himself. If he were also selling pork head meat containing opium, he certainly wouldn't be so brazen.

"Alright, let's talk about it at the police station."

Ye Dapeng arranged for Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu to be taken away, and of course, two other people also took away the pig's head meat and offal as evidence.

Upon arriving at a meeting room in the police station, Ye Dapeng said, "He Yuzhu, since they have also reported this, I will also conduct a routine inspection at your place."

He Yuzhu nodded: "Okay, cooperating with the inspection is what we should do, but try not to alert others."

He took out ten yuan and said, "Go and buy all the pig's head meat and offal. Use some for testing and confirmation. It's okay, we'll have a late-night snack later."

"Isn't this bad?"

"I'm hungry too, so consider this as buying it for me."

In private, He Yuzhu always called Ye Dapeng his brother-in-law. They often ate and drank together. He Yuzhu was not short of money, and besides, Li Fugui only had this one son-in-law and no son. They got along very well.

"Okay, it's settled then."

Ye Dapeng took the money and asked the police officers to buy pig's head meat from He Yuzhu's shop.

Yi Zhonghai shouted, "This is unfair! Why did you arrest us all but treat Sha Zhu so politely?"

He Yuzhu laughed and said, "Yi Zhonghai, ask yourselves honestly, is there opium in your pig's head meat?"

Yi Zhonghai couldn't answer the question directly, so he just said, "But your pig's head meat also has that."

He Yuzhu said, "Let me make a promise here: I can guarantee that there is absolutely no opium in my pig's head meat. If there is, I will give you the house on Yandaixie Street."

Then he asked, "Yi Zhonghai, do you dare say this? Guarantee that there's no opium in your pig's head meat? If there is, give me your two houses."

"You..." Yi Zhonghai's face turned bright red, and he didn't dare to agree at all, after all, he felt guilty.

I've already thought of a solution. Since Jia Dongxu was the one who made the pig's head meat, I can say that I didn't know if there was any opium involved.

We can't just build two more houses because opium was used in the pig's head meat.

"Huh, I'm too lazy to pay attention to you."

Seeing Yi Zhonghai's expression, Ye Dapeng knew what was going on; the other party definitely understood but was pretending not to.

A moment later, an older woman and Jia Dongxu were also brought in.

Jia Dongxu glared at He Yuzhu, his face full of anger: "You idiot, you dog, you deserve to die a horrible death! You actually reported me for using opium. I'll report you too! The pig head meat He Yuzhu sells also contains opium."

Ye Dapeng said, "We have already sent people to buy samples, and we will find someone to come and test them later."

The key point of this case is whether the pig head meat sold by the two companies contained opium; the interrogation itself is secondary.

Although Jia Dongxu is not admitting it now, it doesn't matter. As long as the experts come and confirm that it contains opium, the case can be classified and there will be no room for excuses.

After a while, they bought a bunch of pig head meat and pig offal from He Yuzhu's shop.

After waiting a few more minutes, the experts in charge of drug enforcement arrived.

First, he smelled the pig's head meat from both restaurants to get a sense of what was going on. Then, he took samples for testing in front of everyone.

"Only this one contains opium," the expert said, pointing to the pig's head meat prepared by Jia Dongxu.

"Do you have anything else to say?" Ye Dapeng asked, looking at the four people who had slumped into their chairs.

Grandpa Yi and his wife, along with Qin Huairu, all stared intently at Jia Dongxu.

Jia Dongxu's face had already turned deathly pale, and he said in a trembling voice, "I confess, I admit my mistakes to the government and hope for leniency."

Then Jia Dongxu suddenly said, "I'm reporting this. The recipe I used was sold to me by Sha Zhu. He told me to use opium to braise the meat. I thought his shop also used opium and he didn't have any problems, so I used opium."

"You're kidding me. You said I sold it to you? When did I sell it to you?" He Yuzhu retorted.

Jia Dongxu said, "I bought it from Er Yong. His brother is one of your guys. He said you all use this formula."

Jia Dongxu didn't care about anything else anymore. He was about to go to jail, so what was there to hide?

I only regret that I trusted my sworn brother's words and really thought that the formula I got was the same one that Sha Zhu used.

Since he was going to jail, his sworn brother couldn't have an easy time either, so he directly implicated him.

Going back could reduce his sentence.

He Yuzhu said, "You clearly bought it from someone else, and it wasn't even one of our shop's employees. Don't try to smear us."

"Are you stupid? You believe everything people say?"

Jia Dongxu was so angry he didn't know what to say.

It seems I was indeed deceived by Eryong. So don't blame me for not being loyal to my brother. If we're going to jail, we'll all go to jail together.

When Ye Dapeng saw that there was a third person, he asked Jia Dongxu for Er Yong's address and then arranged for someone to go and invite Er Yong.

Half an hour later, Er Yong was also invited in.

Jia Dongxu said angrily, "Eryong, I never thought you would trick me like this. You'll be going to jail with me tomorrow."

"Who tricked you? I clearly told you back then that this was an old recipe from a braised meat shop, and it contained opium, which is no longer allowed to be used."

"When did you say that?" Jia Dongxu said angrily, "You clearly told me that one was a regular recipe, and this one was the recipe from Sha Zhu's shop."

Erqi lost his temper and shouted, "Stop trying to smear me! Everyone knows the government is cracking down on opium, and everyone who smokes opium is being forced to quit!"

“You asked me to buy the recipe, and I only gave you the recipe from the old braised meat shop. Who told you it was the one used in He Yuzhu’s shop?”

“I told you before that you couldn’t use opium and that you should give it up, but you didn’t listen and now you’re blaming me?”

When He Yuzhu was selling the formula, he treated Dayong and Eryong to a meal, telling them that he would report them later, and also asking them to think of their excuses.