"However..." Su Wanran's face sank as she questioned Lu Ming, "Since you already knew Yang Qing's true identity, why did you still bring him in? Isn't that inviting a wolf into the house?"
Heh, not necessarily.
Lu Ming chuckled and said, "The art of war is the art of deception. When you are within me and I am within you, striking when unprepared is how you create the greatest killing opportunity."
Su Wanran shook her head, "I don't understand."
Jiang Mengxin's eyes, however, lit up, and she said excitedly, "Lu Ming, you want to use Yang Qing, this mole, to backstab Wu Lingxuan? Tsk tsk tsk, this is playing with fire."
Lu Ming said, "What's wrong with that? If we succeed, we profit. If we fail, we lose nothing."
After finishing the whole orange.
Lu Ming dusted off his hands and said, "Tonight, I'll send everyone else away, leaving only Yang Qing and another chef on duty. This will give Yang Qing a perfect opportunity to make his move."
Su Wanran asked, "What do you mean? Are you trying to lure the snake out of its hole?"
Lu Ming smiled mischievously, "Something like that. The chefs have the right to view the recipes for all 30 types of mortal-grade medicinal dishes. Tonight is also a very suitable time. I don't believe Wu Lingxuan will miss such a rare opportunity. Just wait and see, our recipes will definitely fall into Wu Lingxuan's hands."
Hearing this, Su Wanran almost jumped out of her skin.
"Our recipes are going to be stolen?" Su Wanran's face changed drastically. "Then hurry up and hide the recipes! How can you still be in the mood to eat and drink here? Lu Ming, you're going to anger me to death!"
Uh...
Lu Ming looked at Su Wanran speechlessly.
Even Jiang Mengxin could hardly stand it.
"Ahem," Jiang Mengxin said, "Since Lu Ming already knows the recipes will be stolen, how could he possibly leave the real ones behind?"
Su Wanran then suddenly realized, "Oh, Lu Ming, you deliberately left fake recipes for Yang Qing to steal?"
Lu Ming nodded. "The fake recipes are very close to the real ones, but the proportions and types of ingredients are slightly different. The dishes made with the fake recipes will not only fail to cure illnesses but will also cause various new problems. What do you think will happen if the Wu family gets their hands on these fake recipes?"
If the Wu family used these fake recipes to make medicinal dishes, they would be utterly ruined!
Jiang Mengxin asked, "Won't they experiment with them beforehand?"
Lu Ming nodded. "That's why I'm taking a gamble. Our medicinal dishes were a huge success today, and we even secured an opportunity to be featured in a special episode of 'Taste of Misty City.' How impatient do you think Wu Lingxuan is? Do you think she'll have the leisure to experiment slowly? The moment she gets the recipes, she'll be desperate to use them to counter us. She can't wait, she doesn't have the time."
Changing the subject, Lu Ming added, "But if Wu Lingxuan is very cautious and experiments with the recipes, my plan will fall apart. So, it's a gamble. If we win, we profit. If we lose, we break even."
Listening to their conversation, Su Wanran's skin crawled.
What kind of cunning schemes were these?
If Su Wanran were to 'battle' with Lu Ming, she would be defeated in minutes! Fortunately, Lu Ming was on her side. Otherwise, the Su family would surely be lost.
...
Late at night, at Ming Yue Zhai.
Yang Qing, who was on duty, took advantage of his companion falling asleep and sneaked to the safe alone. He opened it with his own key and took out all the recipes for the mortal-grade medicinal dishes.
"Heh heh, the recipes are all here. Su Wanran, Lu Ming, you would never have imagined that I'm actually from the Wu family, right?"
"Yang Tong is my twin brother. No matter how you investigate, you won't find any problems."
"Because my brother is inherently clean! Hahahaha."
"Now, the 'weapon' you used to deal with the Wu family is in my hands. I'll take these 30 recipes for mortal-grade medicinal dishes, heh heh."
Yang Qing took out his phone, opened the camera, switched to high-definition photo mode, and took pictures of each page of the 30 recipes for mortal-grade medicinal dishes. After saving them, he sent them to Wu Lingxuan's email.
After completing all the operations, Yang Qing put the recipes back into the safe and continued his shift.
The entire process took less than 10 minutes.
Yang Qing was satisfied and smug. Having completed such a crucial task for the Wu family this time, Wu Lingxuan would surely reward him handsomely upon his return.
Yang Qing sat in his chair, envisioning a bright future.
At the same time.
At the Wu family's residence.
Wu Lingxuan received the email from Yang Qing and immediately opened, downloaded, and saved it. The 30 recipes for mortal-grade medicinal dishes had thus fallen into the Wu family's hands.
Even Wu Lingxuan, who was usually inscrutable, found it difficult to suppress her joy at this moment, her lips involuntarily curling upwards.
Happy.
So happy!
Wu Hao, sitting beside her, was even more delighted, clapping his hands together.
He exclaimed excitedly, "Hahahaha, the secret weapon Ming Yue Zhai used to deal with us has so easily fallen into our Wu family's hands! Now, let's see how the Su family can continue to show off? Once our Wu family also launches medicinal dishes, the Su family's advantage will cease to exist. Heh, you still want to surpass our Wu family and overtake us? Bah!"
Compared to Wu Hao's smugness, Wu Lingxuan was much calmer.
With the items obtained so easily, she was actually somewhat suspicious.
Wu Lingxuan flipped through the recipes page by page.
At first glance, there seemed to be no problem; these recipes were all very reliable. Based on the ingredients listed, the medicinal dishes should be able to treat various illnesses.
But...
Practice makes perfect.
Without experimentation, they could not be certain.
Wu Lingxuan said, "Don't get happy just yet. We still need to be careful. How about this, take the recipes to Hu Ziming and have him prepare all 30 medicinal dishes and experiment with them one by one. Once we confirm there are no issues, then we..."
Before Wu Lingxuan could finish, Wu Hao's expression turned cold, and he said disdainfully, "Sister, I don't think this is necessary."
Immediately.
Wu Hao analyzed, "If it were usual times, we could take our time without any rush, but not now! Ming Yue Zhai's medicinal dishes are incredibly popular. Every day we delay intercepting them, there's an extra day of risk. Sister, you know, Ming Yue Zhai is going to be on 'Taste of Misty City'! Once the show is filmed and broadcast, Ming Yue Zhai will become immensely popular, and the reputation of 'medicinal dishes' will be firmly established. By the time we enter the market, customers won't recognize us. Sister, everything needs to be done quickly, time waits for no one!"
The logic made sense, and time was indeed pressing.
However...
Wu Lingxuan looked at the 30 recipes and still felt a bit worried.
Wu Hao persuaded her, "Sister, you are just being overly cautious. These recipes were stolen by Yang Qing from the Su family's safe. What could be wrong? Nothing is wrong! Su Wanran and Lu Ming would never have guessed that Yang Qing had impersonated his brother Yang Tong to enter Ming Yue Zhai, nor would they know that Yang Qing is one of us! Sister, this time, just listen to me. Let's quickly counter the Su family, don't procrastinate."
Under Wu Hao's repeated persuasion, Wu Lingxuan finally wavered.
She took a deep breath and said, "Alright, I'll listen to you this time. Immediately take the recipes to the three restaurants on Commercial Street and have them simultaneously launch medicinal dish services tomorrow to counter the Su family!"
Wu Hao was overjoyed. "That's the spirit! Okay, Sister, I'll go do it right away. Tomorrow, we'll step on the Su family and trample them ruthlessly! Hahahaha."