Chu Lian looked toward the neighbors with his hands clasped in a salute, "For today’s events, thank you all for your help. Once Yuelai Restaurant reopens, I’ll treat everyone here to a meal to show my gratitude."
Everyone repeatedly said it was nothing significant and then they all went back, dispersing the crowd of onlookers.
Chu Lian entered the main hall of Yuelai Restaurant, inspecting the fire damage.
The main hall was severely burned, beyond salvageable, and the kitchen was completely disfigured; only the upstairs had been spared.
"Young master, the fire seems to have started in the kitchen," Acheng reported after the inspection. Discover more novels at novel•fire.net
After hearing this, Chu Lian’s brows furrowed. He too had noticed that the kitchen had suffered the most damage. The fire must have spread from there into the main hall, "Acheng, how do you think this fire started?"
"Young master, I think someone deliberately set the fire," Acheng expressed his opinion.
"Our people wouldn’t make such a mistake. We extinguished the fire source with water before leaving the kitchen to ensure there were no sparks left. That it still caught fire can only mean it was set intentionally," Acheng shared his thoughts.
Chu Lian nodded. He had already suspected as much. Their management at Yuelai Restaurant was extremely strict; an accident was nearly impossible.
"Young master, should we report this to the authorities?"
The corner of Chu Lian’s mouth slightly turned up, report it to the authorities? It was better not to bother the greedy officials with such a personal vendetta, "No need to report it."
"Get someone to redecorate the restaurant quickly and reopen as soon as possible."
"Yes, young master," Acheng agreed, and then went to make arrangements.
At that moment, Li Fugui, having heard the news, rushed in.
Upon seeing Li Fugui, Chu Lian greeted him, "You’ve arrived."
"Brother-in-law, this must be the doing of my brother, Li Fuyou," Li Fugui said indignantly as he came in. He couldn’t believe his brother would go to the extreme of setting fire to Yuelai Restaurant.
"We haven’t caught anyone red-handed, so it’s hard to conclude," Chu Lian said, although he also suspected Li Fuyou was behind it, without evidence it was hard to judge. A thorough investigation was still necessary.
Li Fugui clenched his fists, his emotions running high, "It has to be him, there’s nothing he wouldn’t dare do. I’ll go find him right now."
Seeing Li Fugui about to go after Li Fuyou, Chu Lian quickly held him back, "Don’t get worked up, we need a careful plan for this matter. There’s no rush. Let’s investigate further before deciding."
"Do we still need to investigate? It must have been him," Li Fugui continued to say heatedly.
"Don’t worry, he won’t get away," Chu Lian gave Li Fugui a reassuring look.
This incident might really have been caused by Li Fuyou. From the start of the conflict, Li Fuyou had always been on the receiving end of their attacks. It wouldn’t be normal if Li Fuyou hadn’t done something in retaliation.
Unable to deal with Li Fuyou, Li Fugui felt extremely remorseful. He said, "Brother-in-law, this incident, again because of me, has implicated Yuelai Restaurant, and I owe you another favor."
"Hey, we were planning to refurbish Yuelai Restaurant anyway. This is just an opportunity. Besides, without your involvement, Dongfeng Restaurant and I were already enemies, bound to face off sooner or later," Chu Lian said.
Li Fugui shook his head, he knew very well that it all stemmed from his relationship with Li Fuyou, "Regardless, I’m very sorry about this incident, and for the retrieval of Dongfeng Restaurant, thank you."