Chapter 333 Someone sets fire
The next morning, Steward Zhong prepared gifts. Ye Jiayao personally sent Steward Qiu out and reminded him to be careful on the road. Steward Qiu agreed to all the instructions, and then Steward Zhong sent him out of the city.

Ye Jiayao went to the training class instead. She had a class today. Since Mrs. Rong came, she had focused all her attention on the training class and took on most of the class responsibilities. Lu Xiaotian also came back to teach. Ye Jiayao was much more relaxed. She only had a class once every five days.

In this episode, Tianshangju sent Cui Dongpeng and Jiang Youli, both of whom passed the test successfully. Cui Dongpeng was very ambitious this time and vowed to take first place and not bring shame to Tianshangju.

Ye Jiayao comforted him, saying that just do your best in everything, as first place is not easy to get.

Any skill is a gift from God, talent is very important, not just hard work. Cui Dongpeng is smart, good at interpersonal relationships and management, but he lacks some inspiration in cooking. Wang Mingde is just the opposite. Wang Mingde looks dull, but he has a high level of understanding in cooking and works diligently and conscientiously. This kind of person can succeed.

Ye Jiayao said this because she didn't want Cui Dongpeng to suffer a setback. Among this batch of students, there are several very good talents.

Cui Dongpeng was very confident: "Second Young Madam, just wait and see! This is my second round, if I still can't get first place, I will be too embarrassed to see anyone."

Ye Jiayao sneered and thought, it seems that I need to give Cui Dongpeng some special treatment.

The morning was for theory and the afternoon was for practice. The students studied very hard and Ye Jiayao taught very enthusiastically. Time passed quickly and it was almost dusk in the blink of an eye.

When Ye Jiayao went out to get on the carriage, she found a few people acting suspiciously nearby, peeking over here. Ye Jiayao felt very uncomfortable and had a vague feeling that something was wrong. She turned back and called Cui Dongpeng, who was now the squad leader, and she had some instructions for him.

"You should be careful recently, there seem to be some uneasy people around."

Cui Dongpeng nodded solemnly: "Manager Lu also said it yesterday, I will pay attention to it."

When Ye Jiayao heard that Lu Xiaotian had also discovered it, she felt even more uneasy. She gave Lu Xiaotian repeated instructions before going back.

The next day, before dawn, Ye Jiayao was awakened by a series of hurried knocks on the door.

The one knocking on the door was Xiangtao.

Qiao Xi went to open the door and complained quietly, "What's going on? It's not even daybreak yet!"

Xiang Tao said, "It was Cui Dongpeng who came. He said he had something very urgent to discuss with the Second Young Madam."

When Ye Jiayao heard that it was Cui Dongpeng, her heart skipped a beat and she lost all her sleepiness. She quickly got up and dressed, and said, "Tell him to wait in the front hall. I'll be there soon."

When Ye Jiayao saw Cui Dongpeng, she was shocked. Cui Dongpeng's face was pitch black and his clothes were tattered.

"Cui Dongpeng, what happened?" Ye Jiayao asked anxiously.

Cui Dongpeng's eyes were cold as he gritted his teeth and said, "Second Young Madam, someone came to the training class last night and set fire. Fortunately, I sent people to keep watch and they discovered it in time. Everyone escaped and no one was injured, but..."

"But what? Tell me quickly!" Ye Jiayao was anxious.

"But last night the wind was strong and the fire was very fierce. Most of the house was burned down in an instant. We caught the arsonist and were struggling with him when suddenly a group of people appeared from nowhere. There were many of them and most of our people were fighting the fire, so we let that guy get away again." Cui Dongpeng said angrily.

Ye Jiayao took a deep breath and felt like her heart was on fire. That was Duan Qilin’s ancestral home!
"Have you informed Manager Lu?"

"We have sent people to report the situation separately and have also informed the authorities. The government officials should be arriving soon. Everyone is still there now," said Cui Dongpeng.

Ye Jiayao's eyes were cold: "Let's go and take a look."

Damn it, which bastard set the fire? If I find out, I’ll kill you.

Ye Jiayao hurried to the training class. Duan Qilin and Lu Xiaotian had already arrived. Government officials were investigating the scene, and more people arrived one after another.

Everyone looked at the charred ruins, their hearts filled with rage.

Ye Jiayao said in a deep voice: "Fortunately, no one is hurt. Shopkeeper Duan, please count the losses first. Shopkeeper Lin, please comfort the students. Shopkeeper Lu, let's go and hear what the government says. We will meet again later to discuss how to deal with the aftermath."

Everyone agreed and acted separately.

After inspecting the scene and questioning some students, the head of the police said, "It seems that someone is deliberately sabotaging. Think about it, have you offended anyone recently? Or who do you think is the most suspicious?"

Ye Jiayao and Lu Xiaotian exchanged glances. There were quite a few suspicious people around.

This time, the people sent by several restaurants were resentful because they failed to pass the assessment. Also, during the last food festival, some people were jealous and came to sabotage.

However, the arsonist ran away, and it is difficult to prove such a thing without any evidence.

Ye Jiayao thought about it and called Cui Dongpeng: "You had a fight with that guy. Do you still remember what he looked like?"

Cui Dongpeng said in annoyance: "It was still dark at the time, so I couldn't see the man's face clearly, but it seemed that he had a mole on his left cheek, the size of a little fingernail."

The head of the police said, "It's not easy to find. Jinling City has a population of hundreds of thousands! But it's a clue anyway. You'd better provide a list of suspicious persons. Maybe they are connected." Lu Xiaotian said, "If you want to talk about suspicious persons, we eliminated some students sent by the restaurant this time. Will they be suspicious?"

The captain said, "This definitely counts."

Lu Xiaotian said: "I will give you the list later. Please take care of this matter."

The head constable was very dedicated: "Intentional arson is a serious crime. We will naturally do our best to arrest him. Now we have to find the arsonist first."

Duan Qilin had already counted the losses and came over: "The last registration list has been burned, and the lounge was the worst damaged."

Ye Jiayao did not participate in the selection and assessment, so she couldn't help even if she wanted to.

Lu Xiaotian said: "It's okay, Madam Rong should have it. She corrected the written test papers."

The head of the police said, "Please prepare the list and give it to me as soon as possible. If we take too long, it will be difficult to check."

After sending the head of the police away, Lin Changchun came over and said, "I asked the students to go back to their respective restaurants and wait for news. The problem now is that the bedding and personal belongings that the students brought with them were all burned. How can we solve the loss of the shopkeeper and the students?"

Lu Xiaotian said solemnly: "Let's go to Madam Rong first! Get the list first, and then discuss it together."

Everyone went to Mrs. Rong's house together.

Because her home was far away and she usually kept to herself, the students didn't know where she lived and didn't inform her.

At this moment, Mrs. Rong had just woken up and was making breakfast in the kitchen. When she heard that everyone had arrived, she hurried out to greet them.

"What? Someone set a fire?" Mrs. Rong was shocked when she heard the news.

Lu Xiaotian explained the situation, and Madam Rong said, "I have the list. I'll go get it."

After getting the list, Lu Xiaotian sent someone to deliver it to the government office immediately, and everyone began to discuss the aftermath.

"The losses of the students and Shopkeeper Duan should be borne by the Chamber of Commerce! This is not just a matter of one family, it is everyone's matter." Lu Xiaotian said.

Ye Jiayao seconded the motion: "It should be. The training class is not for profit, but to do good things for everyone. Now that the training class has been burned, this loss should be borne by everyone."

Lin Changchun said: "I think those shopkeepers who don't send students to our training classes will have opinions."

"No matter what his opinions are, he should either quit the Chamber of Commerce." Ye Jiayao knew that what Lin Changchun said was true. There were some people who were very active in getting benefits, but would not be willing to do so once they were asked to contribute some effort or money. It didn't matter if there were fewer of these people.

Duan Qilin was the victim, so he couldn't express his opinion and just listened quietly.

Shopkeeper Du said, "If they don't contribute, we can pool the rest together, or mobilize the 39 restaurants that participated in the food festival last time to each contribute a little. We all benefited a lot last time."

Lu Xiaotian said: "Let's calculate how much we have first. Shopkeeper Duan, please don't be embarrassed and report the loss truthfully."

Duan Qilin pondered and said, "More than half of the old house was burned down, and there are no valuable items in it. Even if the cost of renovating it is just forty or fifty thousand taels, I estimate it will cost about four or five thousand taels, plus our cooking utensils have to be bought again. These can be reimbursed according to actual expenses. We will pay for the specific amount used."

Everyone has no objection, that's as it should be.

"As for the students, let them first register how much they have lost." Lu Xiaotian said.

"I have asked Cui Dongpeng to do this. Everyone has reported their losses and returned. I guess the amount should have come out by now," said Lin Changchun.

"Could someone have made a false report? How much silver did they bring with them? They just gave a random number, we don't know it." Shopkeeper Du questioned.

Mrs. Rong thought about it and said, "It can't be helped. However, even if the report is false, it won't be too outrageous. After all, these students are just small cooks in the restaurant, and their income is not high to begin with."

"The money is easy to deal with, the problem is whether we can find this person. If we don't find this person, he will always be a hidden danger. If he can come to burn once, he can come a second time." Ye Jiayao gritted her teeth in hatred. This incident really made her very annoyed and intolerable. Murder and arson are the most despicable and worst means. Fortunately, she was alert in advance this time. What if someone was burned to death?
When talking about this issue, everyone's faces are very solemn. It is indeed true. If the mastermind behind this is not caught, who can guarantee that he will not come a second time?

"It is indeed difficult to find the person just because of a mole on his face. I am afraid that the government's efforts will be in vain in the end." Duan Qilin sighed sadly.

"No matter what, we have to try it first. Let's all think of a way to see if there are other ways?" Lu Xiaotian looked at everyone and asked.

Ye Jiayao thought, the people who dared to set the fire must be gangsters who value money more than their lives. There was even someone to help them. They must be gangsters. This kind of thing is indeed difficult for the government to investigate. What should she do?

Ye Jiayao was worried, and suddenly an idea came to her mind. That's right, go find Zhao Qixuan. Zhao Qixuan has many connections and is familiar with both the black and white worlds. Let him send someone to inquire secretly, and maybe there will be some results.

(End of this chapter)