As a result of the previous reactions, Qiu Xi knew that this person was unaware of the situation.
However, such a significant oversight in the shop would undoubtedly incur responsibility.
"Sister Xi, this is indeed my fault..."
As soon as he thought this, Liao Xinming immediately lowered his head and admitted his mistake.
But this was not what Qiu Xi and Song Daiyao wanted to hear.
"Alright, we don't want to hear you say these things here."
"Tell us, we haven't checked on the shop for a while. Are there any anomalies?"
Since the incident had already occurred, further discussion would be futile.
It would be more practical to resolve the issue quickly.
Liao Xinming nodded busily, "Okay..."
Then he sat to the side and began to ponder.
If there was anything amiss, he couldn't really think of anything immediately.
Pastries... pastries...
Since the shop introduced additional pastries, they were initially delivered personally by Sister Xi and the others.
Later, for convenience and to save trouble, Sister Xi and the others brought a pastry chef to the shop and personally taught her for a considerable period.
He had also tasted the pastries made in the end. While they weren't top-tier, they were comparable to those from most other shops.
Thus, the shop profited considerably from these additional pastry sales, and his salary increased significantly during those months.
But when did the money he received start to decrease...
Liao Xinming scratched his head, which had long lost any semblance of hairstyle, and began to struggle in his mind.
What could it be?
Pastries... Wei Wei?!!
He remembered!
"Sister Xi, I recall something, but I'm not entirely certain yet."
This person was brought by Sister Xi and the others, so he was hesitant to make assumptions.
Qiu Xi frowned, "Speak."
"This matter also has something to do with Wei Wei."
Liao Xinming tidied up the jumbled information in his mind.
"Some time ago, around before the summer break, the accounts for that month showed a significant drop in profit. So, I called a small meeting with everyone in the shop to inquire about the situation."
"Everyone said there were no major problems, just that the weather had gotten hotter, affecting pastry sales."
"Then I checked, and indeed, fewer pastries were sold. Nothing else seemed to be wrong."
Qiu Xi and Song Daiyao's faces darkened, "That's it?"
Liao Xinming nodded, "Yes!"
He thought carefully; everything in the shop was normal, except for this.
Moreover, since Wei Wei was hired by the boss herself, she didn't allow others to interfere with her work.
He had also been keeping an eye on her for a while and truly found no issues, so he gradually relaxed, focusing most of his time on procurement.
After all, the shop used to require a lot of materials, and the original suppliers would occasionally inflate prices. Therefore, he later took it upon himself to oversee the procurement.
"If that's the case, then let's go to the back kitchen."
Seeing that Liao Xinming couldn't say anything more, Qiu Xi stopped asking.
By seeing it for herself, she would know if the problem lay with this person.
However, even without going, she had a pretty good guess.
If the problem wasn't with the items coming out of the kitchen, where else could it be?
"Okay."
Seeing both bosses walking forward, Liao Xinming said something and immediately followed them.
"Sister Xi?"
"What are you looking at me for? Open the door!"
"Opening it now..."
Since the milk tea and pastries were in separate sections of the shop, usually only Liao Xinming and the pastry chef, Wei Wei, had keys to the back kitchen where the pastries were made.
As soon as the door opened, Qiu Xi walked in first.
At first glance, there seemed to be no problem; at least it was clean and tidy, nothing obvious.
"Xiao Xi, can you see anything from this?"
Song Daiyao followed behind, also scanning the area carefully.
She hadn't discovered anything.
Qiu Xi herself was uncertain, "Let's just take a look first."
"Okay."
After a brief look around, Qiu Xi opened the place where materials were stored.
Well... there were still quite a lot left.
But she could understand the flour and seasonings, but what was with this pile of extra fruits and other ingredients!
"Liao Xinming, didn't you say you were paying close attention to procurement later? What are these?"
Qiu Xi and the others knew about the procurement matters, and Liao Xinming had reported it in the group chat.
However, before they could intervene, he had already resolved it himself.
For this reason, they had specifically come to see if it had truly been resolved.
But at that time, there were indeed no problems, and the materials were all good.
But now this...
Song Daiyao walked over to take a look after hearing Qiu Xi's questioning.
Seeing this almost made her furious!
Putting aside the minor details, these fruits and ingredients had a short shelf life and needed to be replaced daily for the taste of the milk tea and pastries.
Even if they took the leftovers home and ate them themselves, they couldn't be used the next day.
And they had to be fresh!
But in this cabinet, even without rummaging, the strong smell and the occasional bugs that made their presence known told her the situation was not good.
It was natural for Qiu Xi and Song Daiyao to be angry and confused.
But why was Liao Xinming also furious after looking?
Liao Xinming was naturally furious!
The ingredients were all bought by him. He inspected them every morning after they were delivered, so there was no way these substandard items could exist.
Especially these fruits and ingredients that looked like they had been left out for days, and even the varieties were different.
"Sister Xi!"
"This really wasn't purchased by me. I check the materials delivered to the shop every morning. These are not what I bought."
Liao Xinming was trying to explain to the two of them while suppressing his anger and unease.
"Where are the shop's surveillance cameras? Get them for me to see."
Liao Xinming tapped on his phone several times, "Sister Xi, here!"
The milk tea shop had surveillance cameras in two places: one at the front desk and one in the back kitchen.
And for ease of management, Liao Xinming had connected both of these cameras to his separate work phone.
Qiu Xi took the phone, opened the video, and began to watch.
Qiu Xi could see the unloading and carrying of the purchased goods. When checking the items, the materials were indeed not problematic.
A little bit each day, the goods were also very fresh.
After randomly viewing several clips, Qiu Xi opened the surveillance video of the back kitchen.
What was used seemed normal, but the abnormality was with the people.
Upon opening several videos of Wei Wei making pastries, they initially seemed fine.
But when Qiu Xi and Song Daiyao watched the recent videos, they discovered something fishy.