Chapter 156: The Culinary Tycoon

Clues

Inside House of Prosperity, Yu Qingze was teaching Jiabao, Da Song, and Da Zhi a new dish. When he heard what Gui Pi said, he immediately dropped his spatula and asked, “Are you sure it was Uncle Lin who took Baobao away?”

Jiabao and the others were extremely worried upon hearing this news. How could the baby just disappear like that?

Gui Pi nodded and replied, “Yes, it was Uncle Lin who was carrying the baby, and then they disappeared.”

“Which fabric shop are you at? And where is Le Ge?” Yu Qingze asked.

“We are at Zhou Ji Fabric Shop on East Street. Madam Yu and our Madam Xue are currently searching on the street. Our Young Master Xue asked me to come back and inform you, and he wants you to gather the staff and join the search,” Gui Pi answered.

“I understand.”

Yu Qingze quickly turned to Jiabao and the others and said, “We won’t open the shop today. I need everyone to go out and help me find Uncle Lin and Baobao. Da Song, Da Zhi, you go search the streets of the north and south. Xiao Ding and Xiao Ping, go to the west street. Search everywhere, the main streets, the alleys. Uncle Min, I need you to watch the shop. If anyone has any news, come back and inform Uncle Min, and we’ll meet at the restaurant later. Jiabao, you go tell the other employees and those at the snack shop to go out and help search. Search the whole city, east, west, south, and north. Then take someone and go to Uncle Lin’s house in the west of the city. You’ve been there once, so you know the way. I’ll go find your brother-in-law first.”

“Okay, big brother!” “Okay, boss!”

Everyone immediately started taking action.

Jiabao immediately went to the hall to gather the other colleagues and explain the situation to them, asking everyone to go out and search. Then he went to the snack shop and informed them as well, and then he took Tiezhu and headed to Uncle Lin’s house in the west of the city.

Da Song, Da Zhi, and the two colleagues in the kitchen all rushed out to search the streets upon hearing the instructions.

Yu Qingze also ran out, searching for Baobao while heading to the east street to find Chang Le.

Baobao is missing, and Chang Le doesn’t know how to handle the urgency. We need to find him immediately.

Upon hearing this, the colleagues in the shop also went out to search for the missing individuals.

On the east street, Chang Le was extremely anxious and worried. Whenever he saw someone wearing gray clothes, he would rush up and grab them to see if it was Uncle Lin.

The people he grabbed were all puzzled, looking at him and asking what he wanted.

But Chang Le couldn’t say anything, and others couldn’t understand his gestures. They had no idea what he was trying to communicate, so he could only shake his hand and continue searching.

He searched one person in gray clothes, then another, and another…

Chang Le searched all the way from the cloth shop to the east city gate, but he didn’t see any sign of Uncle Lin. He turned back and ran, entering various shops and alleys in search. After a full round of searching, he couldn’t find him. He returned to the main road and halfway encountered Brother Chang and Xue Baizhu, who had also found nothing.

Brother Chang left Baby Muhua at the pharmacy with his uncle and came out to search with Xue Baizhu.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

Chang Le was now completely frantic, like a headless fly, on the verge of tears. When he heard that Brother Chang and the others had also not found anything, his anxiety grew even stronger. He was about to continue diving into other alleys.

Brother Chang grabbed him and said, “Brother Le, don’t panic. Think carefully about where Uncle Lin could have gone. Could he have brought Baobao home? I remember his house is at the intersection of the West City District and the North City District, right?”

Chang Le nodded, feeling that it made sense. He immediately turned back and ran, intending to go to Uncle Lin’s house to search.

Just as he had run a few steps, he bumped into Yu Qingze, who had come to look for him.

When Chang Le saw Yu Qingze, tears welled up in his eyes. He quickly wiped them away and gestured urgently. “Baobao is missing. I’m going to find him. Brother Chang and I searched the east street, but he wasn’t there. Now we’re going to Uncle Lin’s house to look for him.”

Yu Qingze felt sorry for Chang Le. He wiped away the tears and gave him a hug, saying, “I’ve already sent the colleagues from the restaurant and the snack shop out to search. Jiabao has taken some people to Uncle Lin’s house. Don’t worry too much. Take a moment to calm down. Let’s go back to the restaurant and wait for updates from the colleagues, okay?”

Chang Le shook his head, indicating that he also wanted to find Baobao. How could he go back to the restaurant now!

Yu Qingze, feeling helpless, held Chang Le’s head and made him look at him. Then he said, “Brother Le, I know you’re very anxious, and I am too. Listen to me. Many people are already searching for Baobao, but if our colleagues have any updates and we’re not there, we might miss out on news about Baobao. Trust me, the fastest way to find Baobao is to go back to the restaurant and wait for everyone’s updates. Understand?”

Chang Le, with teary eyes, gestured, asking if it was true.

“It’s true. Trust me, I also want to find Baobao as quickly as possible!” Yu Qingze nodded, giving a firm response. He then held Chang Le’s hand and said, “Come back with me, okay?”

Chang Le nodded, wiped away his tears, and then held Yu Qingze’s hand, running forward swiftly.

Go back, go back quickly!

Brother Chang was also extremely worried, but he and Xue Baizhu didn’t go back to the restaurant. They continued searching in the alleys on the east street.

Chang Le and Yu Qingze returned to the restaurant. A sign indicating that the shop was closed for the day was already hanging outside. Only Uncle Min was standing at the entrance, watching the people passing by on the street.

“Uncle Min, any updates?” Yu Qingze asked.

Uncle Min shook his head and replied, “Not yet. I’ve been watching the people passing by from the entrance, but I haven’t seen Uncle Lin and Baobao.”

“Thank you for your hard work.” Seeing Chang Le also standing at the entrance, keeping an eye on the pedestrians, Yu Qingze entered the shop and brought out three chairs, asking Chang Le and Uncle Min to sit down.

Uncle Min frowned and asked, “Boss, why would Uncle Lin take Baobao away? You didn’t have any grudges with him. He seemed like a friendly person before, and he liked Baobao too.”

This was a question that both Yu Qingze and Chang Le wanted to know.

They had gotten along well in the previous two months, and Yu Qingze believed he hadn’t treated him unfairly. When Uncle Lin left, Yu Qingze even gave him more silver coins than the agreed-upon payment.

They could never have imagined that this seemingly kind Uncle Lin would take Baobao away.

Yu Qingze shook his head and said, “We don’t know why he took Baobao.”

Uncle Min cursed, “Truly, you never know someone’s true nature!”

Chang Le leaned against the pillar at the entrance, continuously watching the road with tears in his eyes, consumed by self-blame.

Why did he let Uncle Lin take Baobao?! Why didn’t he insist on holding Baobao himself? Why didn’t he keep a closer eye on Baobao? Why, why, why…?!

“You’re so stupid! You’re so foolish!”

Chang Le was filled with regret, repeatedly banging his head against the pillar.

The pillar echoed with loud thuds, sounding terrifying.

“Chang Le, what are you doing?!” Yu Qingze was terrified when he saw it and quickly rushed over to pull him away, embracing him tightly, then holding him at arm’s length, shouting, “What are you doing?! I’m also extremely worried about Baobao’s disappearance. Why are you hurting yourself like this? If something happens to you, what will I do?! What will Grandpa do?! What will Xiao Hao do?!”

He was truly angry, speaking in a tone he had never used with Chang Le before. In the past, there was never enough love, so how could he speak to him like that? But now, he couldn’t help it. He never expected Chang Le to harm himself in such a way.

Chang Le was momentarily stunned by Yu Qingze’s outburst. He looked at the expression of worry, fear, and shock on Yu Qingze’s face and realized that his husband misunderstood and thought he didn’t want to live anymore.

Shaking his head, Chang Le explained with some guilt, “I… I didn’t feel hopeless. I just wanted to punish myself.”

Seeing his gestures and the sincerity in his eyes, Yu Qingze breathed a sigh of relief. Then he hugged Chang Le tightly and said, “You scared me! I thought you…”

Chang Le, realizing his mistake, hugged Yu Qingze’s back and gently stroked it, soothing his husband’s emotions.

The two of them embraced for a while before Yu Qingze let go and looked at the red mark on Chang Le’s forehead. He spoke seriously, “Look, you’ve bruised your forehead. From now on, you’re not allowed to mistreat your body like this, do you understand?!”

Chang Le guiltily nodded and reached up to touch his forehead. It was quite painful.

“Wait here, I’ll get some medicinal wine to apply on it.” Yu Qingze went into the storage room and fetched a bottle of medicinal wine to rub on Chang Le’s forehead. As he did so, he asked, “Tell me, what exactly happened? Maybe we can find some clues?”

As Chang Le recounted the incident, tears welled up in his eyes once again. He quickly gestured and conveyed the details to Yu Qingze.

After watching the gestures, Yu Qingze realized that there were no clues either, and his brow furrowed in frustration.

Uncle Lin had unexpectedly taken away Baobao, and they had no idea about his motives or intentions.

They were at a loss.

Chang Le looked at Yu Qingze expectantly, hoping that he would come up with something useful. Unfortunately, Yu Qingze shook his head, indicating that he couldn’t think of anything either.

Anxiously, Chang Le gestured, wondering if something had happened to Baobao. He was only three months old, so small and vulnerable. He blamed himself for not watching over the baby properly, blaming himself entirely.

While gesturing, Chang Le couldn’t hold back his tears.

Yu Qingze hugged Chang Le’s shoulder and comforted him, saying, “It’s alright, don’t cry. Baobao will be fine. Remember, you went to Anfu Temple to pray for his safety and well-being. He carries that with him. He’ll be alright…”

Even Yu Qingze himself felt that his comforting words were feeble and lacked conviction. However, at the moment, he couldn’t think of any other comforting words or solutions that could console Chang Le.

He was also deeply worried about Baobao’s safety, but Chang Le’s emotions were on the verge of collapsing, so he couldn’t afford to panic. He had to be Chang Le’s pillar of support; otherwise, Chang Le would crumble.

The two of them waited for about twenty minutes, but the staff members didn’t return. They were still searching outside, and no news reached them. They couldn’t sit still and kept pacing back and forth at the entrance, feeling the growing unease in their hearts.

After another quarter of an hour, one of the staff members came running back.

“Boss, Brother Da Song got some information!”

“Where is it?!” Yu Qingze quickly asked. Chang Le and Uncle Min also looked at the staff member expectantly.

“It’s at the dock outside the North City Gate. Brother Da Song heard from someone there that a man in his forties, dressed in gray, was seen leaving the city carrying a small baby wrapped in a red swaddle. Brother Da Song inquired further and found out that the man was seen at the dock. Then he headed towards the left side, the unloading area, and disappeared into the woods! Brother Da Song came back, saw me, and immediately informed you. He’s already gone after him!” The staff member relayed the information in one breath.

Upon hearing the staff member’s description of the person and the color of the baby’s swaddle, Chang Le immediately grabbed Yu Qingze’s arm and nodded frantically, indicating that it was indeed Uncle Lin and Baobao.

Yu Qingze quickly asked, “Is the dock outside the North City Gate, in the unloading area, the same area we used to go to buy seafood?”

“Yes! Brother Da Song said it’s the same area where you used to go before!” the staff member confirmed, adding, “However, there was another person with that man. He’s a man in his twenties. The witnesses at the North City Gate didn’t see him, so he must have been waiting outside the city.”

Another person? That means there’s an accomplice!

“Good, I got it! Uncle Min, please wait here with the other staff members. If someone comes back, inform them to go to the dock and turn left. Xiao Cong, go to the city and find the other staff members, let them know the news. Brother Le, let’s go!” Yu Qingze quickly gave his instructions, then grabbed a pole from the backyard and pulled Chang Le, heading towards the dock.

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Thandar: That Jia Xiaodumb must have given shit loads of money for Lin guy to steal someone’s baby. I mean he could have just told Yu Qingze about someone approaching him to steal the baby and I’m sure Boss Yu would give him some hefty rewards for such a big information. Why risk so much, Uncle Lin?