"Then the shop owner must accompany us. Using unapproved ingredients is no small matter."
After all, without permits for these ingredients, who knew if there were any problems with them. It was one thing if they consumed them themselves and no one intervened, but if they served them to customers, then regulations would apply.
Meng Huai listened to this and asked the one who had just claimed no record could be found, "No record? What method did you use to search?"
The subordinate who had accompanied Chen Deye was surprised that the shop owner was asking him. He replied as a matter of course, "Our internal software. What? Do you have a complaint?!"
Their department had software that could search for ingredients, usually by taking a photo for automatic searching.
At the time, he had seen those unfamiliar ingredients and had used that software to search. As expected, nothing was found. This indicated that these ingredients had not been approved by the relevant authorities. Without approval, there was no way to ascertain the safety of these ingredients.
The inspector hadn't expected the shop owner to actually say, "Yes, I do have a complaint."
Meng Huai looked at the inspector and said, "I don't know what kind of software you use, but I can tell you that your information needs to be updated!"
Meng Huai opened her light brain, found the permits for those ingredients, and shared them with Chen Deye for viewing. "Here are the permits. I can show you any ingredient you have questions about."
Chen Deye looked at these images and said, "Send them to me."
After receiving them, Chen Deye checked the issue dates of these permits. They were all from a few days before the shop's operation, and the paperwork was in order.
Furthermore, most of these permits were issued by the Imperial Military Academy Laboratory, which was a top-tier certification institution. No one dared to impersonate or issue fake permits, as the Imperial Military Academy was not to be trifled with.
Chen Deye found no issues with these documents; the permits in the images were authentic. Therefore, if his subordinate claimed no record was found, the problem lay with their system.
He frowned and asked his subordinate, "We were told some content was updated recently. Did you download it?"
The subordinate indeed panicked upon hearing this. "Boss, the updates are always similar and not useful. I didn't download it... it takes up memory..."
Chen Deye shamefully stepped forward and kicked his subordinate. "You can't accomplish anything but you sure can mess things up! Is it up to you whether to download it or not?! Download it immediately!"
"I'm downloading it now, right now."
Actually, this subordinate was Chen Deye's trusted subordinate, and Chen Deye usually overlooked his small tricks. He hadn't expected him to cause such a scene today, making him lose face.
The ingredients used were recently approved, and even by the Imperial Military Academy Research Institute Laboratory. This shop owner must have some connection with this laboratory. Either the shop owner asked the laboratory for help in issuing the permits, or the ingredients for which the laboratory issued the permits were first provided to this shop owner.
Both possibilities were enough to prove that this shop owner had some connections.
After kicking his subordinate, Chen Deye apologized to Meng Huai. "I'm truly sorry, shop owner. It was my subordinate's oversight. These ingredients are fine. As for food safety, we will need to verify it back at our office and will notify you of the results."
Meng Huai nodded, understanding, but she still asked, "When can we expect the results? My shop cannot wait indefinitely. If you don't have results for one day, I can't operate for one day? If you don't have results for a month, do I have to wait a month?"
Chen Deye told Meng Huai, "The results will be available today. Our machines are all the latest models, and the results come out quickly."
"Alright."
After a few pleasantries, Chen Deye left with his men. Xie You stood behind Meng Huai. He had also seen the screenshots Meng Huai had shown Chen Deye.
He realized then that the shop owner seemed to have some connection with the Imperial Military Academy Research Institute? Truly not simple.
Outside the shop, Chen Deye spoke to the subordinate who had questioned the ingredients' validity. "Don't always try to take shortcuts! This is a lesson. If I catch you doing this again, you're fired! Do you understand?"
"Understood, understood, I won't dare again."
The three returned with large bags of goods. Other staff members glanced at them and continued their work. The two subordinates placed the collected samples into the machines one by one, awaiting the inspection results.
Then, they opened the takeout containers. The containers used a special process. Upon opening, they were still piping hot, and the aroma immediately wafted towards many people.
Many people instinctively sniffed the air. "What's that smell?"
"Who's eating here?"
Chen Deye said helplessly, "Who's eating here! These are the samples we brought back. Why did you bring so many samples?!"
The subordinate was also at a loss. "The chef was very enthusiastic and brought them all back for us."
Chen Deye waved his hand. "Hurry up and inspect them!"
The person then took samples from all the takeout items and put them into the machines for inspection.
As Chen Deye had expected, the subordinate looked at the reports. "There are no problems at all. In fact, the hygiene ratings are very high."
"Send me those reports."
After receiving the images of these reports, Chen Deye decided to visit in person to give these images to the shop owner.
Before going to the medicinal cuisine restaurant, his friend had asked him if he would cause trouble for no reason if there were no problems. His answer was: no.
After all, he still had his principles. He thought that if there were indeed problems, then the shop would have to pay the due price. But if there were no problems, there was no need to make trouble just because Miss Meng said something.
After all, this was Imperial Capital Star, where many people had connections. He believed in being cautious; he didn't want to accidentally offend someone while trying to please someone from the Meng family.
His thoughts proved correct. Although he still didn't know what connection this shop owner had, it was better to avoid trouble than to create it. It was much better to know more people than to offend them.
As Chen Deye prepared to leave, some of his subordinates asked, "Boss, it's a shame to throw these things away!"
Chen Deye turned back and saw these people drooling as they looked at the medicinal cuisine they had brought back.
Chen Deye thought, how could these people be so spineless? He waved his hand and said, "You can deal with them as you please."
But Chen Deye didn't know how many people had already been won over by this medicinal cuisine!