The Legend of Fangren

So Fang Shi was "forced" to eat another meal by Luo He.

After they finished eating, he told Luohe about his suspicions during the meal, and then he saw the silly girl start to strain her throat.

"What are you doing? Take your hands out, it's unhygienic."

Fang Shi pulled her hand away, but she said aggrievedly, "Didn't you say there was something wrong with the meat, Fang Shi...?"

"..." Fang Shi was speechless. "I meant there's something wrong with Qu Mucheng, not the meat. You're so stupid, how come you've never heard Senior Sister Qu mention it before?"

"Because I'm usually very smart!" Luo He said, grabbing Fang Shi's hand.

However, this reminded Luo He of his kidnapped senior sister Qu, and his mood, which had finally eased a little with the lamb chop, became heavy again.

The important thing is to get down to business. When I have some free time, I'll have plenty of time to find a recipe to indulge in.

"Then... it's the same as before. He Zi, you keep an eye on the guests at the inn. I'll go out and take a look."

As the saying goes, concern leads to confusion. Fang Shi saw that Luo He was so concerned about Sister Qu's matter that sending her out on the street would only make her wander aimlessly. It would be better to use this concern to focus on one thing.

"So, Fangzi, what are you doing out there now?"

"As I just said, there's something strange about Qumu City. I'm going out to wander around and see if I can find any clues. If you see anyone you know, don't do anything rash. Wait for me to come back."

"Okay." Luo He nodded, immediately locked the door, squatted by the window, and prepared to keep watch for the whole afternoon.

"..." Fang Shi silently walked to the door and unlocked it.

Oh, I forgot the recipe hasn't been sent out yet.

So after Fang Shi left, Luo He moved over and locked the door. Then, without stopping, she jumped to the window, peeking out furtively to keep an eye on the inn... and also to think about what to eat for dinner.

……

Stepping out of the restaurant, Fang Shi glanced around the street, spotted a few restaurants, went inside, and called over a waiter.

"Waiter, what's your signature dish?"

Upon hearing this, the waiter knew a wealthy customer had arrived, and immediately began to speak in a glib manner: "Oh, sir, you've come at the perfect time! Our restaurant has recently changed its signature dish, which is a stew of pig's ears and tail with salted leafy greens. Served with a bowl of rice, it's incredibly delicious."

"Hmm, sounds good, give me a bowl."

After listening, Fang Shi, as usual, tossed out a string of coins. The waiter was naturally delighted. It seemed that the waiters on this street all used the same method of making money off wealthy customers.

A short while later, the waiter brought over a large pot of soup, which was quite generous and filling.

At this moment, Fang Shi stopped the waiter who was about to leave and said, "Waiter, I've been to many cities, and I've never seen such a generous amount of meat and vegetables elsewhere. Hey... could you tell me where you buy your meat? I'd like to buy some to take with me so I can have a good meal on the road."

"this……"

Upon hearing this, the waiter's eyes immediately began to wander.

He wasn't greedy; he was content with the beginning and end of a string of coins. But precisely because he had taken advantage of others, he found it difficult to refuse decisively.

Fortunately, the restaurant wasn't too busy, and Fang Shi deliberately chose a seat furthest from the counter so that no one would rush the waiter to get things done.

After some hesitation, the waiter said somewhat awkwardly, "Sir, please don't blame me. It's just that our manager managed to buy this meat through connections. Traveling merchants like you certainly wouldn't be able to get it."

"Why is that?" Fang Shi thought, "Isn't this the clue?"

He immediately reached into his pocket and pulled out a few more coins, which landed in the waiter's hand. He then said to him, "Brother waiter, I'm young, but I've been doing business for many years and I'm quite well-off. However, good meat is hard to come by. I tasted your restaurant's dishes today and found the meat to be delicious. I'm really craving it. Tell me how you know about it, and I'll go and see if I can buy it with money. If not, that's fine too; it's just a little money. What do you say?"

The implication was that they were trying to entice him with money.

The waiter was just a waiter; as soon as he saw the money, he secretly glanced at the shopkeeper. Seeing that the shopkeeper was focused on calculating accounts, he gritted his teeth and said, "Sir, if you really want to buy meat, go and see if you can find any in the mansions of the officials in this city. You probably won't be able to buy it directly, but if you stop some restaurants that buy meat on the way and offer a high price, you might be able to buy some."

After whispering the details to him, the waiter didn't hesitate for a second, pocketed the money, and went off to get to work.

"I see……"

Fang Shi nodded, having obtained the clue he wanted. However, he did not leave immediately, but instead quickly finished the signature dish.

After all, the money has already been spent, so we can't waste it.

Everyone around was astonished. This person had such a large bowl of soup and meat, and his stomach seemed like a bottomless pit. He forced it down, and it looked incredibly delicious to watch.

Immediately, several people gathered around a table and ordered the same signature dish, which made the innkeeper so happy that he no longer cared why the waiter had been chatting with the customers in the corner.

I suppose it's for publicity.

In this way, Fang Shi unintentionally resolved a complicated matter.

He came to the street and walked straight along the main road towards the city center, where the mansions of the city's officials and nobles were usually located.

Upon arriving at the place, however, there was no sign of liveliness. This place was the only one in the entire Qumu City that resembled Qingye City.

Fang Shi lingered in front of the gate for only a short while before the guards on duty came to shoo him away.

No wonder there aren't many people here.

He slunk away to a side path. Fang Shi pretended to be a passerby and carefully observed his surroundings. Finally, he spotted a man pulling a wooden cart with a sweat towel around his neck. He figured the man was probably a purchasing agent for a restaurant, so he quietly followed him. The two of them walked around the city lord's mansion one after the other.

To my surprise, the purchasing agent didn't know the way very well either. After wandering around for a while, he saw a man coming out of an unsigned door and called out to him.

Afterwards, Fang Shi, who was behind, overheard them exchanging a few words, and the purchasing agent followed the man inside.

Looking up, Fang Shi realized that the wall he was leaning against belonged to the same courtyard where that door was located.

So he stood with both feet on the wall of the path, and quietly peeked his head over the edge of the wall to see what was inside.

Inside the high-walled compound, there was a large, solid wooden shed. The purchasing agent followed into the compound but didn't enter the shed. He just rubbed his hands together expectantly, as if he was waiting.

Before long, the man who had just come out came out of the wooden shed. In his right hand, he was leading a large, fat sheep that was almost as tall as a person. It was covered in white wool, plump and strong, almost like a cow.

Even with its massive size, the ram's eyes were dull and lifeless. It lowered its head and let its horns be grabbed, offering no resistance whatsoever, like a puppet.

The buyer was very satisfied with the sheep. The two discussed the price in the yard and then began to slaughter the sheep.

Fang Shi frowned as he watched, because the sheep seemed to feel no pain at all; even when the knife was cut into its neck, it did not struggle or cry out.

How strange, how strange...