When Liu Yuan returned to the kitchen after his trip, he saw everyone engrossed in their steamed spare ribs with black bean sauce, too preoccupied to pay attention to him. Relieved, Liu Yuan quickly walked to the takeout counter and knocked on Ji Caimai’s table.

Ji Caimai looked up at him and, after hearing Liu Yuan whisper something, nodded and went behind the counter to speak a few words with Wen Mingtang and the others.

Soon after, Wen Mingtang and Tangyuan each carried out a lunch.

Once everything was settled, Liu Yuan finally breathed a sigh of relief and returned to his seat at the food counter. Facing the gaze of his superiors, Liu Yuan had no choice but to temporarily set aside the steamed spare ribs with black bean sauce he had been longing for, explaining, “Old Wei sent the kids on an errand, saying he made a discovery.”

Lin Fei’s eyes flickered.

That expression was all too familiar. As a competent subordinate, Liu Yuan didn’t wait for his superior to ask any questions before immediately saying, “The child doesn’t know what happened either; he just ran an errand!”

It wasn’t surprising that Old Wei didn’t mention cases often; even he rarely discussed some cases with his family.

After all, hearing too much about murder and arson to cover up a crime could be frightening, making one suspicious of everyone, even suspecting poison when a neighbor brought over some food.

Lin Fei nodded, not asking any further questions, and said, “Let’s eat first!”

Finally, he got that! Liu Yuan excitedly picked up his chopsticks and hurriedly picked up the dòuchǐ zhēng páigǔ he had been craving.

The steamed ribs were extremely delicious; Chef Wen must have specially prepared them, making the meat even more tender than ordinary ribs.

The moment it entered his mouth, the rich aroma of garlic, black bean sauce, and pork filled his entire palate with a unique and delicious flavor.

Steamed pork ribs were tender and delicious; the meat easily fell off the bone with a gentle bite. Although easy to separate from the bone, the meat wasn’t mushy but rather tender and juicy. A light bite released the flavorful juices that blended perfectly with the various seasonings and fermented black beans, creating a truly unforgettable taste.

This seemingly “refreshing” dòuchǐ zhēng páigǔ, while not as overpowering as spicy dishes, possesses its own unique flavor that makes it increasingly enjoyable with each bite.

Before he knew it, the plate was empty. Looking at the empty plate and savoring the lingering deliciousness, Liu Yuan took the plate out of the steamer, poured the rice into it, and “made” himself a “rice with fermented black bean sauce.” He continued to eat, thinking to himself how fortunate it was that Chef Wen hadn’t made spicy chicken or anything like that today; otherwise, Old Wei’s two children probably wouldn’t have been able to eat. These light and uniquely flavored dòuchǐ zhēng páigǔ were probably exactly what those teenagers would like.

Liu Yuan’s guess was spot on. The small and cute steamer and the unique dish he’d never seen before greatly piqued the interest of Wei Fu’s two children. Although they were a little reserved at first, as they ate, they were only thinking about the food and ate heartily, forgetting all about being reserved.

The Dali Temple’s kitchen had changed chefs in the past six months, and the food they prepared was excellent, as their father had mentioned. Although their father wasn’t stingy enough to refuse to bring back any food, it wasn’t much and was mostly just small snacks like candied chestnuts; he never brought back any staple foods.

Chewing on the tender ribs, the two children’s cheeks puffed out as they chatted with Tangyuan and the others: “Next time, we can ask Father to bring back more staple foods. He’ll bring back snacks and staple foods anyway! As for money… Father’s savings are quite substantial. If we save on buying flowers and plants, we won’t lack money for this little bit of food!”

Ji Caimai, who had brought over two servings of milk tea, couldn’t help but twitch her lips upon hearing this: Good heavens! Their initial intention in inviting the two children to lunch was pure; they just saw that the two children were hungry. After all, they had made a trip for the case, and they couldn’t just watch them go hungry.

They were absolutely certain they had no ill intentions and certainly no intention of stealing Wei Sicheng’s private stash of money! As for whether Wei Sicheng’s private stash of money would be safe after the two children returned, that was truly none of their concern!

While everyone was enjoying their meal, the people in the public kitchen had almost finished their lunch and were gradually leaving to go back to their work.

Liu Yuan shoveled the last mouthful of rice into his mouth, then got up and followed Lin Fei and Bai Zhu out of the Dali Temple.

They didn’t walk fast; it wasn’t advisable to rush after eating, especially since Wei Fu wasn’t in a hurry. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been asked to make time to go.

Now that they had time after eating, they figured they might as well do it today.

When they arrived at Wei Fu’s place, Wei Fu was squatting alone in the courtyard, intently looking at a charcoal brazier.

Because his back was to everyone and he was so focused on what he was looking at, he didn’t notice them appearing behind him. Liu Yuan had no choice but to knock on the door.

When they heard a knock at the door, they realized everyone had arrived. Wei Fu stood up, greeted them, and then naturally asked about the two children who hadn’t returned.

Liu Yuan laughed, “Old Ji has been unusually generous this time. Seeing the two children were hungry, he let them stay for lunch!” Before Wei Fu could speak, he added, “The two children were very satisfied with the lunch at our Dali Temple and are saying they want their father to bring back more staple food next time!”

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Wei Fu’s expression changed slightly, and he instinctively clutched the purse at his waist.

Seeing Wei Fu’s change in expression, Liu Yuan couldn’t help but chuckle. Bai Zhu, standing nearby, glanced at the chuckling Liu Yuan, shook his head, and looked at Lin Fei, who had walked over to the charcoal brazier Wei Fu had been looking at and squatted down. He then turned to Wei Fu and asked, “What did you find?”

Wasn’t he supposed to be investigating the cause of his stomach upset? Where did this charcoal brazier come from?   

Upon hearing this, Wei Fu opened his mouth, about to speak, when Lin Fei, who was squatting in front of the charcoal brazier, suddenly said, “Water.” Lin Fei’s words startled everyone. Before they could speak, Wei Fu, who was about to speak, nodded and said, “Lin Shaoqing is right, it’s water!”   

Cases of stomach trouble were, in fact, never that complicated. Since the vendors selling vegetables, meat, and other ingredients at the market had already been ruled out, the source of the problem clearly did not lie with the market stalls.

As for the physicians… Lin Fei had already examined the prescribed medicines. Moreover, each afflicted villager had consulted a different physician, visited a different medical hall, and filled their prescriptions at different apothecaries. Unless every single one of those physicians and pharmacies had somehow gone wrong at the same time, such a widespread outbreak could not have been caused by them. Therefore, neither of those possibilities was the culprit. 

So… the problem must be something else.   

People need more than just food every day; they also need water.   

(End of Chapter)

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