Chapter 241: Chapter 241: Humility
The next day, at the entrance to the Anju Community in Donghua District, shortly after a convenience store opened for business, a van spray-painted with the words 'Industrial and Commercial Law Enforcement' pulled up to the entrance and two men in caps got out.
The girl on duty that morning thought that the two men were there to buy something and smiled and said, 'Welcome!'
The two men ignored her and one of them took out a small notebook from his pocket and waved it at her, 'Industrial and Commercial Bureau.'
The two men walked around the store a few times and then went straight to the cashier's desk, took a pen and wrote a fine ticket, saying that there was no information on the food label and the fine was 1,000 yuan. Not only that, but before leaving, they casually took a few bars of chocolate from the shelf, saying that they needed to test them.
Seeing the 1,000 yuan fine, plus the chocolates that had been taken without any evidence, the young girl, who was experiencing such a scene for the first time, was a little panicked. But before she could notify the company, another car with 'price inspection' written on it pulled up in front of the store. Two men in uniform got out and came in. This time they were quick. Looking at the 'buy one get one free' tissue paper promotion at the entrance, they immediately wrote a fine. 'Promotional language is vague,' and the fine was still 1,000 yuan.
Next came the Quality Supervision Bureau, which also took a look around the store and then left a thousand-yuan fine on the grounds of irregularities in product labelling.
Then the Fire Department came, saying that the fire inspection had failed and still fined one thousand yuan, and ordered a deadline for rectification.
...
This wave followed one after the other, attracting the attention of the neighbours, and after the tax department had left, the doctor at the clinic next door said to her, 'Girl, you must have offended someone, tell your boss to think of something quickly!'
Feng Yiping got the news after class at noon. Not only was this shop affected, but another shop in Donghua District had the same experience. Considering Zhou Xinyu's experience yesterday, he could easily guess that it must be Boss Lu who had used his connections.
He was so angry that he wanted to laugh. You're an outsider, bullying me as a local, and you haven't even figured out the situation here, and you're already resorting to underhanded tactics.
He told Zhou Xinyu to drop what he was doing and rush to the city immediately. Accompanied by Zheng Lezhi, he went straight to see Mayor Fang.
When Zhou Xinyu arrived in the city in the afternoon, these law enforcement officers from Donghua District actually went to the store on the Lianghu District Commercial Street and did the same thing. They fully considered that the store had good business, so the fines were doubled accordingly, starting at 2,000 yuan each.
Now, Zheng Lezhi, who thought he had caused trouble for the company, went directly to the city government to find his aunt.
So, after Mayor Fang had finished a long meeting that lasted more than two hours, when he arrived at his office a little later, his secretary took out nearly 20 administrative penalty notices totalling more than 20,000 yuan and mentioned that Boss Lu from Wenzhou had gone to see Zhou Xinyu the previous day.
Mayor Fang glanced at the stack of notices. 'When you took Jia Company to the aluminium products factory, did many people know about it?'
She first needed to find out whether someone didn't know about it and hadn't found out the details of Jia Company, or whether someone knew that Jia Company had been invited by her secretary and was still trying to use underhanded tactics.
'I took them there during my lunch break that day, so it was rather rushed. For the next few times, I gave instructions over the phone.'
'Hm,' Mayor Fang also thought it through. Someone must be concerned about the movements of her secretary, which means that there is a high possibility of knowing the details of You Jia. Is this a warning to You Jia, or is there something she wants to say to her?
'Get me Donghua District Mayor Yue on the phone.'
When the call came through, Donghua District Mayor Yue was in the middle of a meeting with several deputy district mayors. Mayor Fang immediately started berating him, 'Mayor Yue, the law enforcement agencies in your Donghua District really love their jobs. One morning, almost every unit with administrative punishment powers went to two convenience stores. Not only that, but in the afternoon they went to Lianghu District and doubled the fines at the other store of that company. The city is negotiating a business investment project with this company, and now, well, someone has taken the matter directly to me. Tell me, what should I tell the other party?'
District Chief Yue was puzzled. 'Mayor Fang, I'm not familiar with the situation you're describing, but I'll look into it right away and give you an answer before the end of the day.'
'Tell someone to take these receipts back,' Mayor Fang said, and hung up.
After being lectured, District Chief Yue returned to the meeting room and asked with a cold face, "Did anyone arrange for joint law enforcement this morning?'
Everyone looked at each other, and only Vice District Chief Jiang, who was in charge of commerce, instinctively felt that something was wrong. However, there was no way to hide it, so he had to grit his teeth and say, "I heard that it seems that recently many people have reported a convenience store, and the relevant units in the district went to verify it in the morning. A comrade from the Industry and Commerce Bureau told me before leaving.'
'Of course we have to investigate after receiving a report, but why did these people from our district go to Lianghu District in the afternoon to enforce the law, and at the same convenience store as before?'
Vice-District Chief Jiang thought that Jia had gone through District Chief Yue's connections, and immediately said, 'I'll look into the matter of cross-district law enforcement right away.'
'Wait, Lao Jiang,' District Chief Yue stopped him, 'This company is talking to the mayor about a project. Now, someone has handed Mayor Fang a stack of our penalty notices, saying that our city's investment environment is so bad that negotiations should be suspended. The mayor asked me what to tell the other party. Please advise me. What should I say? That our LGBT colleagues are working too hard? Or that some of our LGBT colleagues have been deceived?'
The other deputy district heads all understood what was going on, and they all looked at Deputy District Head Jiang without saying a word. Hehe, it's most amusing to watch someone suffer more than others.
Deputy District Head Jiang fidgeted uncomfortably, cursing Boss Lu in his heart. Didn't they say that Jia was a provincial company with no background? Everyone else was talking directly to the mayor, and they had no background?
"District Head Yue, I'll deal with this immediately, and I'll make you satisfied.'
'It's not about making me happy, it's about making Mayor Fang happy and the investors happy. It's a good thing that Mayor Fang told us to go get those penalty notices back. Jiang, you can take care of it on the way.'
Vice-Mayor Jiang waited until after work at the city hall, but he was unable to see Mayor Fang. Mayor Fang's secretary handed him the notices. 'The mayor said that we should apologise and make amends as appropriate. In short, we must explain the situation clearly and allay their concerns.'
Vice-District Chief Jiang pulled him aside and said, 'Director Wu, please join us this evening. Don't worry, you just need to help smooth things over. We'll do the apologising and making amends.'
Secretary Wu half-heartedly agreed. It was also part of his job to persuade Youjia to do the right thing.
So that evening, Vice-District Chief Jiang hosted a banquet, and the heads of the units that had been visited by the law enforcement officers during the day all attended, treating Zhou Xinyu, Gao Zhiyi and Zheng Lezhi.
Zhou Xinyu made a few toasts, and after everyone had made a round of drinks, he never mentioned it again. The mayor has a term of office, but these people below him don't, and there's no point in offending them.
Moreover, these units are, in theory, the ones that Jiaya will have to send someone to visit in person in the future. It just so happened that they all gathered together today, which really saved a lot of trouble.
So, during the banquet, the guests and hosts had a good time. Zhou Xinyu took the opportunity to chat with the leaders of the various bureaus and set a time to visit them one by one.
After the banquet was over and Secretary Wu had been seen off, Vice-District Chief Jiang took them to a teahouse next door. As soon as the door to the private room was opened, Boss Lv came running over to greet Zhou Xinyu, bowing the whole time. This time, he didn't call him 'Brother Zhou'. 'Mr Zhou, I'm sorry for being so rude and acting so rashly. If you want to punish me, I'll accept it.
'Come, let's sit down,' said Vice-District Chief Jiang. "Old Lu is straightforward, and I don't think that Mr. Zhou is a mean person either. I'll be the mediator. Some other time, Old Lu, you should be the host and properly apologise to Mr. Zhou. Okay, Mr. Zhou!'
Secretary Liang handed over three exquisite little bags. "I'm sorry, Mr. Zhou, for causing you trouble. These are small gifts, as a token of my respect. Please accept them!'
'Really, no need,' Zhou Xinyu hurriedly pushed it out, 'Vice-District Chief Jiang said, I definitely have to listen, but really, it's no trouble for Boss Lu to spend money, and it didn't cause any consequences. It's just better to talk things out.'
He was really happy when he said these words, and together with Gao Zhiyi, he always looked at Zheng Lezhi, intentionally or unintentionally. Hee hee, they didn't know that this was the same as Secretary Wu, someone who could often see Mayor Fang.