PDLP Chapter 2167 Something Too Abnormal
Chapter 2167 Something Too Abnormal
As soon as Huo Changxu handed the packet of energy-boosting incense to his friends, the men who had been talking to him frowned in unison.
The incense was a prized item he had specially selected from his own spice shop. It was made with freshly harvested mint, sandalwood, and a little borneol, ground extremely finely and sealed in an exquisite little porcelain bottle.
In the past, once the food was displayed in the shop, it would sell out in less than half a day, and every customer who came and went praised its refreshing and invigorating aroma.
But these people in front of them seemed to have smelled something filthy. Some of them quietly took a step back, while others fanned their noses with their hands, their expressions all somewhat strange.
Huo Changxu, puzzled, brought the porcelain bottle to his nose and took a deep breath.
The light minty scent first enters the nasal cavity, followed by the mellow sandalwood, and finally the aftertaste carries the coolness of borneol. The layers are distinct, and there is not a trace of any strange smell.
"What's wrong?" He put down the porcelain bottle and looked at the people opposite him. "Is there something wrong with this incense?"
The group looked at each other, none of them daring to speak first.
Sitting on the far side, Young Master Zhou, who was usually closest to Huo Changxu, just scratched his head, moved his lips but swallowed his words back.
Seeing this, Huo Changxu smiled and said sincerely, "We are friends who can talk about anything. You can speak freely. Is there really something wrong with this incense?"
Upon hearing this, Young Master Zhou seemed to have made up his mind and lowered his voice to say, "Changxu, it's not that we're being picky, but this incense... it smells really strange. It has a faint stench, like... like rotten leaves mixed with stale water."
“I smelled it too,” Young Master Li next to him nodded, his brows furrowing even more. “At first I thought it was just my nose that was bothering me, but everyone is reacting like this, so it shouldn’t be my problem.”
“Yes, it’s clean, but there’s a stench hidden inside, it’s really unpleasant to smell,” another classmate chimed in. “It’s completely different from the spices you usually bring.”
Huo Changxu's smile froze for a moment, and he blurted out, "Impossible."
He picked up the porcelain bottle and smelled it again, confirming repeatedly. The familiar, crisp fragrance still lingered around his nose, and he didn't detect a trace of foul odor.
"I got this incense from the shop this morning. It's all genuine stuff from the shop. I wouldn't say it's top-grade, but it's much better than most of the stuff from other spice shops. How could it smell bad?"
“We know the reputation of your spices, but that’s just how it is,” Young Master Zhou said with a troubled expression, pushing the small sachet back. “Why don’t you have someone else smell it?”
Huo Changxu was increasingly puzzled. He didn't believe in superstitions, so he handed the porcelain bottle to a passing academy servant and asked him with a smile to smell it for him.
The servant took the porcelain bottle, and as soon as he brought it to his nose, he immediately frowned and waved his hands repeatedly: "Young master, this incense... has it been sitting out for too long? Why does it have a strange smell that makes me nauseous?"
Huo Changxu was truly stunned.
He smelled nothing unusual, but everyone around him said that there was a foul smell in the fragrance. Could it be that there was something wrong with his nose?
After saying a hasty goodbye to his friends, Huo Changxu didn't linger and headed towards Youcheng with the bottle of incense in his pocket.
He didn't go back to his paper shop first, but went to the spice shop first, because he had to find out what was going on.
As soon as I reached the street corner where the spice shop was located, I heard a commotion coming from inside, and I could vaguely hear people arguing loudly.
Huo Changxu's heart tightened, and he quickened his pace to turn into the shop.
The once neat and elegant spice shop was now in complete chaos.
A crowd had gathered in front of the shelves, some carrying sachets, others holding incense boxes, all arguing with the shopkeeper. Several opened sachets were scattered on the ground, with spices spilled everywhere.
He initially thought it was just good business and that being crowded was normal, but as he got closer, he realized that these people weren't there to buy incense at all; they were clearly there to return it.
"I just bought some calming incense from your store yesterday, which cost me three hundred coins. After lighting it for less than half an hour, the whole house smelled strange, and my wife even vomited after smelling it!"
A burly man slammed the sachets on the counter, his face turning bright red: "What kind of inferior goods are you selling? Give me my money back right now!"
"And this incense I bought the other day, it stinks when I use it today, it made my child cry!" A woman holding her child, her eyes red-rimmed, said, "Your Huo's Spice Shop used to have such a good reputation, how come you're selling such rip-off stuff now!"
The waiter was sweating profusely, smiling apologetically while frantically making change for the customers, repeatedly explaining, "Please be patient, sirs. We don't know the details either. We'll give you all an explanation when the manager returns, and you'll get your money back in full..."
Seeing this, Huo Changxu immediately stepped forward to help. He first supported the man who was banging on the counter and said gently, "Brother, let's talk this out. The incense you mentioned has a strange smell. May I smell it?"
Seeing his extraordinary demeanor, the man softened his tone and handed him the sachet: "Smell it yourself. If you can't smell anything strange, then there's something wrong with your nose!"
Huo Changxu took the sachet and brought it to his nose to sniff it carefully.
It still has that familiar calming scent, agarwood mixed with a small amount of lavender, mild and mellow, where is there any unpleasant smell?
He then picked up several incense sticks that customers wanted to return and smelled them one by one. Sandalwood, blended incense, and mosquito repellent incense all smelled the same as usual, and he didn't notice any strange odor.
However, the customers all insisted that the incense had an unpleasant stench, and some even compared it with incense from other shops, saying that Huo Ji's incense smelled no different from swill.
Just as things were in chaos, the shop assistant quietly pulled Huo Changxu to the backyard of the shop, his face full of anxiety: "Second Young Master, you've arrived. This is too strange. Since this morning, people have been coming to return goods, saying that the fragrance has a foul smell, but it smells the same to me as usual!"
Huo Changxu frowned and asked, "Where is the shopkeeper? Where did Brother Zhongmao go?"
“This morning, the manager of the Qian family’s spice shop sent someone to invite him,” the waiter said in a low voice. “He said that their spices were also experiencing this problem and they wanted to invite Manager Huo over to discuss countermeasures. The manager went there early this morning and hasn’t returned yet.”
A sense of unease suddenly rose in Huo Changxu's heart.
The recipes in our own spice shop are all unique to us and have nothing to do with other shops. How come the Qian family's shop has the same problem?
This is no coincidence.
He calmed himself down and instructed the shop assistant: "Go and tell the customers in front that they should get a full refund, and that all the returned goods should be kept in the empty warehouse in the backyard. They are not allowed to be mixed with the new goods."
in addition……"