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Chapter 27
"Old Chen, you're being too unfair! You sell at a high price yourself, yet you won't allow others to sell at a lower price."
"That's right! Greedy profiteer!"
"Before, I could only afford cold dishes at the prestigious Ruyi Restaurant when treating myself, but now I can eat my fill of delicious food at Qi's Noodle Shop. ...Anyone who goes against Little Qi goes against Da Hu!"
Anger erupted all around, surrounding Shopkeeper Chen. He had no choice but to apologize to Qi Huan and compensate him with money.
With Shopkeeper Chen having been put in his place, Mr. Qin and his wife slowly retreated from the crowd, intending to slip away.
Just as they reached the main entrance, they bumped into Coroner Zhu rushing in.
"Where's the corpse? Where's the body?"
Coroner Zhu was visibly agitated, cracking his knuckles. It had been a long time since he last dissected a fresh corpse.
Upon hearing of an accidental death requiring a toxicology test, he rushed over without even eating lunch, following the beggar child who reported the case.
However, after looking around, he couldn't find the alleged corpse.
"My apologies, the deceased is alive."
Li Shuchen gestured apologetically towards Coroner Zhu.
Initially, when Mr. Qin and his wife caused a commotion, he sensed something amiss.
For a martial artist, it's not difficult to distinguish between the aura of the living and the dead.
After confirming that Mr. Qin was deliberately causing trouble, he reported the case to the officials and specifically requested the summoning of the legendary "Coroner Zhu, who lives for dissecting corpses."
Unexpectedly, before Coroner Zhu arrived, Qi Huan had already resolved the issue himself.
Coroner Zhu had no interest in the details of what transpired.
His sole interest was behind him - a middle-aged man who had tripped and fell while exiting, still trembling from the shock.
"Alas, how boring."
Coroner Zhu sighed, deeply disappointed.
He glanced at the fallen middle-aged man and lamented, "Call me next time when you're sure they're dead through and through."
"..."
Qin Daquan shuddered as if shaken by a sieve.
To think that for the sake of a few taels of silver, he nearly got pricked by silver needles.
Yet even more terrifying was the fact that they had actually summoned a coroner, intending to dissect him.
Horrifying!
He vowed to never commit any wrongdoings again!
As he resolved to reform himself, Qi Huan received a system notification, "Act of Kindness +1, Points +1."
"System, I was just standing here without doing anything. Why did I suddenly gain points?"
Qi Huan was puzzled, as she had charged for the noodles today, even chasing after Mr. Qin and his wife to collect payment as they tried to slip away.
"To the host, the system has determined that you unintentionally compelled Qin Daquan to reform, which has been marked as an act of kindness. Good intentions, whether intentional or not, big or small, can be sensed by the system, and points will be awarded accordingly."
"I see."
Qi Huan nodded, reminded of another charitable endeavor she had been preparing.
Taking advantage of the crowd, she promptly advertised her delivery service.
"Esteemed elders and fellow townsfolk, considering the increasingly cold weather, Qi's Noodle Shop is launching a new service - delivery!"
"What if you don't feel like going out? Qi's Noodle Shop will bring the food to you!"
"For instance, if you come to the shop for noodles today but plan to have them again tomorrow without leaving home, you can register your order at the counter, provide your address, and leave a deposit. The shop will arrange for someone to deliver it to you."
"Upon receiving your noodles, if you wish to order again the next day, you can simply inform the delivery person."
"As for the delivery fee, it will be determined based on the distance. Deliveries within Qixiang Street are free, up to half a li away is one fen, and beyond half a li is two fen."
"Unfortunately, we cannot support deliveries beyond one li for now."
One li is approximately a quarter of a mile, and the noodles would be delivered with the broth separated, preventing them from becoming too thick or cold.
Insulated food containers would be used to keep the noodles warm.
However, longer distances could not guarantee quality.
Moreover, if the distance was too great, straying from the bustling streets, she worried that Little Shitou and the others might get robbed.
Considering all factors, her delivery service would only operate within this affluent district of the city.
As soon as Qi Huan finished speaking, the young man named Da Hu immediately placed an order, "Qi Niang's idea is great. Let me order one for tomorrow - I'll have the tomato and egg noodles."
"I'll have a bowl of beef noodles," another chimed in.
...
Orders poured in one after another. Qi Huan quickly retrieved the paper and pens she had prepared earlier, passing them to Li Shuchen to record the customers' addresses and requests, while she collected the deposits.
As the last customer left at sunset, Qi Huan hung up the "Closed" sign and returned to the counter.
The few pages of paper she had prepared were now densely filled with various noodle orders and addresses.
"You must be tired. Is your hand sore?" she asked Li Shuchen.
Upon hearing her concern, Li Shuchen lifted his gaze and, for some inexplicable reason, lied, "Yes, it's sore."
In truth, having copied books extensively, writing for a short while was a trifle for him.
But meeting Qi Huan's caring eyes, he deliberately furrowed his brow and pursed his lips, "Writing for so long has made my hand a bit sore. It would be better if someone could massage it for me."
"I'll do it for you."
The words left Qi Huan's lips instinctively before she realized their potential impropriety.
This seemed a bit intimate.
However, Li Shuchen had already extended his hand towards her.
Left with no choice, Qi Huan cradled his palm with one hand and gently kneaded his fingers with the other.
This scene happened to be witnessed by Tao Su.
She discreetly withdrew her foot, which was about to step into the main hall, and stopped Nuan Dong who was about to clean the premises.
"Don't you have any sense? Can't you see Qi Niang is being intimate with Lord Li?"
"I just noticed."
"...They're even holding hands now. They must be a couple! No wonder Qi Niang wouldn't let me warm Lord Li's bed - she wants to do it herself!"
Tao Su's voice wasn't loud, but Li Shuchen's keen hearing picked up her words about them being "a couple." The corners of his mouth curved upwards involuntarily.
...He realized Tao Su's only virtue was her penchant for telling the truth.
Seeing his smile growing broader, Qi Huan assumed his hand no longer hurt and immediately stopped.
"Since your hand doesn't hurt anymore, I'll go find Little Shitou and discuss the delivery arrangements."
Before Li Shuchen could react, she turned and headed towards the kitchen.
Earlier that afternoon, she had instructed Nuan Dong to send Little Shitou directly to the kitchen if he arrived.
Little Shitou was currently waiting for her by the stove, but he had dozed off, leaning against the ash pit.
The lingering warmth from the embers must have lulled him to sleep.
Qi Huan gently shook his shoulder and softly woke him up.
"Little Shitou, there was a bit of a situation today, so I launched the delivery service ahead of schedule while there were many customers."
"The orders were quite numerous. Could you gather your friends to help?"
"Of course!" 𝑓𝓇𝘦𝘦𝔀𝓮𝒷𝘯𝓸𝓋𝓮𝘭.𝓬𝓸𝘮
Little Shitou happily agreed and dashed off.
He couldn't wait to share this good news with his companions.
He and his friends were all children of female convicts, disowned by their father guards from birth. After raising them until they were old enough, their mothers forced them to fend for themselves, as the rations were meager.
They began begging, occasionally scavenging for food scraps near restaurants and inns.
They had tried finding work, but being small and weak, and requiring substantial food, no one would hire them.
Now, Qi Niang was offering them a stable job and filling their bellies. Little Shitou felt like he was dreaming.
He ran as swiftly as he could, entering the cattle shed where they lived to gather his companions before racing back.
He feared the beautiful dream would end if he was too slow.
Last winter, Little Shitou had several dozen companions, but now only nine remained.
The others had disappeared, frozen or starved to death, buried in the snow, returning to nature, entering a world free from hunger and cold.