Chapter 412 474
"Holy crap! Could this medicinal herb actually be fake?"
"This kid is something else! He could tell the Red Training Grass was fake without even testing it?"
"That's not important! What's important is that this medicinal herb is from... the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion!"
Zhao Dong took back the Red Training Grass and looked at Huo Hongyan. "Proprietor Huo," he said calmly, "do you have anything else to say?"
"No... impossible! How could this be?!" Huo Hongyan was stunned, her brow furrowed in utter disbelief. "There must be something wrong with this Red Training Grass!" she insisted. "I stake the reputation of the Huo Family and my own integrity on this! Every single herb that enters the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion is inspected by a dedicated professional. It's impossible for there to be a problem!"
"Something went wrong... There must have been a problem at some stage!"
With that, she whirled around and glared at the saleswoman. "Tell me! Is there really a problem with this Red Training Grass?"
"No, no, no! There's definitely no problem!" the saleswoman said, shaking her head in panic. "This kid must be lying. He definitely did something to the herb. You can't believe him! Before its fiery energy is purified, the Red Training Grass isn't hot, but it should still feel warm to the touch. You can feel the Red Training Grass for yourself; there's absolutely no problem with it!"
Hearing this, Huo Hongyan took the herb. After touching it, she indeed felt a residual warmth.
Zhao Dong said calmly, "Residual warmth can be faked in many ways. The simplest is to infuse it with Spiritual Energy. It doesn't prove anything. Everyone here saw me act just now. If I had tampered with it, wouldn't you have noticed? Assuming your shop is as honest as you claim, the only place a problem could have occurred is at the final point of sale."
Zhao Dong's insinuation was very clear. Huo Hongyan's brow tightened, a flicker of suspicion in her eyes as she glanced at the saleswoman. She had been watching Zhao Dong the entire time. If he had tampered with the herb, she really shouldn't have missed it.
But there was no proof! To suspect her own employee without evidence would not only demoralize her staff but would also ruin the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion's reputation.
The saleswoman was already in a full-blown panic. Seeing Huo Hongyan's doubt, she cried out, "Proprietor, you can't listen to this outsider's slander! I think this kid was probably sent by a competitor to deliberately cause trouble! Hurry and seize him! Don't let him get away!"
Her words only deepened the crowd's confusion. On one hand was the renowned integrity of the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion; on the other was the experiment they had just witnessed with their own eyes. They really didn't know who to believe.
At that moment, Zhao Dong smiled. "Didn't you say the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion has its own appraisers? Since you don't trust me, why not call someone to take a look? Wouldn't that solve the problem?"
His words were a wake-up call. Huo Hongyan slapped her forehead. "Of course," she said with a wry smile. "How could I have forgotten?"
With that, she immediately pulled out her phone and made a call.
Seeing this, the saleswoman's face turned green with fright. She couldn't hold back her tremors anymore, her eyes welling with tears of fear. This unspoken confession made Huo Hongyan's heart sink. The onlookers weren't blind. Seeing this, they already knew the answer.
Sure enough, about ten minutes later, the expert Huo Hongyan had summoned examined the Red Training Grass and shook his head with a bitter smile. Instantly, the entire crowd turned to look at Zhao Dong with admiration.
Huo Hongyan exploded with rage.
"Courting death! You're truly courting death!" she shouted. "I have repeatedly warned that the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion will not tolerate fakes or shoddy goods, yet you dare to pull a bait-and-switch right under my nose! Speak! Who did this!" she bellowed, pointing at the saleswoman.
The saleswoman was so frightened her legs trembled, unable to form a coherent sentence.
Zhao Dong remarked coolly, "Isn't it obvious? Who else could it be but the woman standing before you?"
Everyone, of course, could see what was happening, and Zhao Dong's words only added fuel to the fire. Huo Hongyan demanded an answer again. Driven by a powerful sense of self-preservation, the saleswoman began to ramble incoherently. Seeing this, Huo Hongyan summoned all the salespeople in the shop.
Huo Hongyan's gaze was like ice. "Confess and you will be treated with leniency; resist and you will be dealt with severely! Tell me who did this now, and I can give you a path forward. But if you refuse to confess, don't blame me, Huo Hongyan, for forgetting old loyalties!"
Facing Huo Hongyan's immense pressure, the salespeople finally broke. A male salesperson pointed a trembling finger at the woman. "It was her! She used her seniority to force us to help her swap out the herbs so she could sell the real ones privately for a huge profit. If we didn't agree, she threatened to make up reasons to have us fired. That's what happened to Xiao Hong. She refused, so our boss found a way to drive her out. Proprietor, you must believe us, we were truly forced into this!"
As he finished, the other salespeople chimed in, begging for mercy.
"You traitorous wretch! To think I trusted you so much! You're really courting death!" Huo Hongyan was beside herself with fury.
The saleswoman collapsed in terror, clinging to Huo Hongyan's legs and weeping bitterly. "Proprietor, I was wrong... I was blinded by avarice. I never should have coveted that profit, tarnished the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion's reputation, or framed Zhao Dong. Please, for old times' sake, spare me just this once... I guarantee there won't be a next time! I beg you..."
The saleswoman's pleas did not move Huo Hongyan to spare her. With everyone watching, if she let the saleswoman go, what would become of the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion's reputation?
Ultimately, perhaps out of some lingering sentiment from their past, Huo Hongyan didn't deal with the saleswoman directly. Instead, she called the Inspectorate Bureau to take the woman away to be prosecuted. For the saleswoman, this was a relatively good outcome. If Huo Hongyan had acted in her rage, the woman might not have kept her life.
The incident came to a close. Thinking of how they had misjudged Zhao Dong, the onlookers were mortified and dispersed, their faces red with shame.
A pang of guilt struck Qing Yu as well.
"Senior... I'm sorry..." Qing Yu mumbled, her head bowed.
"Why the sudden apology?" Zhao Dong asked, surprised.
Qing Yu said awkwardly, "To be honest... I also suspected you were just bluffing earlier..."
Hearing this, Zhao Dong simply smiled without a word. This Qing Yu was certainly straightforward. If she hadn't said anything, he would have never known what she was thinking.
Seeing that Zhao Dong bore no grudge, Qing Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief. The admiration in her eyes deepened, mingling with affection.
A Senior really is a Senior! That magnanimity alone is something most men don't possess! Mmm! Senior is the best!
Just then, Huo Hongyan approached Zhao Dong, her face filled with shame. "Mr. Zhao, I offended you earlier. The fault lies with me and with the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion..."
As she spoke, she took a bundle of ten Red Training Grass stalks from an employee and offered it to Zhao Dong, her voice full of shame. "These are ten stalks of genuine Red Training Grass. I hope they can appease your anger..."