Transmigrating with a Five Million Dollar Retirement Life

Chapter 174 Catching a Thief

After buying her things, Song Jiaojiao prepared to leave. She asked the driver to take her to the shop where Wang Ziyi was planning to open a hot pot restaurant.

In just one day, the shop was basically finished. The previously dim shop was fitted with several large windows, making it bright and airy all of a sudden.

There were quite a few people surrounding Wang Ziyi in the store.

"Ziyi, you're incredibly fast! It's only been three days and you've almost finished it."

A group of people turned around when they heard Song Jiaojiao's voice, wondering who this man who addressed their young master so intimately was.

"Brother Song, you've arrived. This is Young Master Song, the other owner of this hot pot restaurant." Wang Ziyi introduced Song Jiaojiao to the group so that the others wouldn't be unfamiliar with her.

However, because Song Jiaojiao was still dressed as a man, she did not reveal her real name.

Upon hearing that it was another owner, the group realized that Wang Ziyi had told them before that the hot pot restaurant had two owners, and today they finally met the person in person.

"Greetings, Young Master Song." Everyone greeted Song Jiaojiao in unison, afraid of falling behind.

"Alright, that's enough. Go check if there's anything that's not done properly and try to get it done within three days and open for business within five days."

After sending these people away, Wang Ziyi asked in a low voice.

"Sister Jiaojiao, what brings you here? Is something wrong behind the inn?"

"No, everything at the inn is fine. I'm just taking a stroll outside and checking on how things are going. It looks like things are progressing quickly; it shouldn't be long before it opens."

Have all the pots and pans been ordered?

Song Jiaojiao explained with a smile,

"Everything is arranged and should be delivered tomorrow. However, we are still short of chili peppers for the soup base, and I have asked the escort agency to purchase more as soon as possible."

"Chili peppers should be available in the prefecture. I see that most people here can't live without spicy food. This year, we can only do this for now. However, it should be enough to plant chili peppers now, and we can still harvest them for a few more months."

Song Jiaojiao thought about it. Although it was a bit late to start the seedlings, the fruiting period of peppers is very long, usually three or four months, so it was still possible to plant them now.

"Yes, I had the people on the estate plant chili peppers a month ago, and they should be bearing fruit soon!" Wang Ziyi said with a smile.

As expected of a businessman, he thinks further ahead than ordinary people when doing things.

"That's good. By the way, I bought a lot of green plants yesterday. Once the hot pot restaurant is renovated, you can have them moved over. I can't take them with me, so it's better to put them in the hot pot restaurant to add some freshness."

Song Jiaojiao's main purpose in coming today was to deal with that pile of green plants. Taking them away was not realistic. If it weren't for the fact that buying only seeds would be too obvious and Wenxiang Pavilion might not sell them, she would have bought a lot of green plants as a cover.

"Okay, I'll have someone go once the renovation is finished. It'll be perfect for putting in the private room." Although Wang Ziyi has been incredibly busy these past few days, he still knows about Song Jiaojiao buying flowers. Mu Xue even brought out the flowers she chose for him to see today.

"Okay, that's what I came here to talk about. Alright, you go ahead and get busy, I'm going to take a walk around the neighborhood."

After saying that, Song Jiaojiao left.

The streets were bustling with people, and street vendors were cheerfully calling out their wares.

"Stop thief!!!" a girl shouted loudly.

Song Jiaojiao saw a man in gray linen clothes run past her quickly, causing her to stumble and almost fall.

The maid whose purse had been stolen was still shouting loudly. The constables on the street heard it and rushed forward to chase after the thief. The maid also chased after the thief in the direction he ran, leaving her young mistress behind.

Just then, a burly man in a cotton coat stepped forward and tried to pull the woman away, saying something as he did so.

"Well, you old hag, you really are here. Zhang Laizi said he saw you in the city, but I didn't believe him. You've been gone for days, leaving little Jun, who's not even a year old, crying his eyes out at home. Come back with me now."

"Who are you? I don't know you, let me go."

The woman struggled and shouted, but her voice was too soft and was completely drowned out by the man's voice.

"Who am I? I'm your man. We just had a few words, and you don't even recognize your own man? I was wrong. Let's go back and talk about it."

Those around them, seeing it as a private family matter, completely ignored the woman's voice and genuinely assumed it was a quarrel between husband and wife.

"Let me go, I don't know you!! Help, Chuncao, Chuncao!!!" The woman struggled desperately, tears streaming down her face.

Looking at this situation, Song Jiaojiao felt that something was wrong.

Just as the man was about to pull the woman past Song Jiaojiao, Song Jiaojiao spoke up.

"Wait a minute!!! I don't recognize this woman. What proof do you have that she's your wife?"

Song Jiaojiao reached out to block the man's path. The woman looked at Song Jiaojiao gratefully, her eyes brimming with tears and red, and said...

"Young master, please save me! I really don't know him!"

"Where did this shorty come from? What, you want to meddle in other people's family affairs!"

Song Jiaojiao, who was about 1.6 meters tall, was half a head shorter than this big man. The man took a closer look and realized that this was the young master from that day.

He looked around but didn't see the other men who had been with him. He was just worried about not finding an opportunity to make a move when this guy showed up. It was a perfect chance to settle both old and new scores, so his tone became even more arrogant.

"You wouldn't happen to be this slut's lover, would you?! Well, I knew that slut ran away without the kids, turns out she'd found someone else."

The man's eyes widened, and he shouted loudly.

"You're talking nonsense. I don't know you, nor do I know this young master," the woman said loudly.

People around, seeing that there was something to watch, gathered around and pointed at Song Jiaojiao.

"Nonsense! You say this woman is your wife, but how come your clothes are so different?" Song Jiaojiao stepped forward, took out a silver needle, pricked the man's hand, freed the woman, and pulled her behind her to protect her.

The tall man winced in pain and released her hand. "You said you two had nothing to do with each other, but look, you're holding hands now."

At this moment, Song Jiaojiao forgot his identity as a man and forgot to let go of the woman's hand.

"Don't talk nonsense. You say this woman is your wife, then show me the proof. Look at yourself, you're so ugly, how could you possibly marry such a beautiful woman?"

Those watching, upon hearing Song Jiaojiao's words, looked at the burly man, then at the woman, and indeed...

This man is so ugly that if he went out at night and met someone, they would think he was seeing a ghost.

Looking at the woman again, her small face, no bigger than a palm, was fair with a hint of pink, her bright eyes were like twinkling stars in the night, and her lips were red without any makeup. Her appearance even surpassed that of a lady from a prominent family.

"You're talking nonsense! This is the wife I spent fifty taels of silver to marry. How can you, a pretty boy, say she isn't? I think you're just trying to frame me because you're attracted to my wife's beauty."

Enraged, the man shouted, saying he was going to hit him.