"They’re shutting down our shop?"
"He said there’s a fire hazard and we need to make corrections," Li Yuanyuan said, her voice urgent.
"Brother Lin, you have to come back quick. We don’t know what to do."
"Don’t panic," Lin Jiang said, his expression calm.
"What’s the situation now? Has he shut it down yet?"
Lin Jiang was very calm. He knew that panicking wouldn’t solve anything.
"Not yet. Brother Yang grabbed a cleaver and is holding them off. No one dares to make a move."
"Tell Yang Tao to calm down. There’s no need to fight them head-on. I’m on my way back now."
After hanging up, Lin Jiang walked out without a second glance.
"Something’s come up. I have to head back."
Hurriedly, Liang Shuhuo followed him out.
"Is something wrong at the shop?"
"The fire safety department is causing trouble. They’re saying the renovations don’t meet standards. I’m going back to check it out."
"Impossible!"
Liang Shuhuo said decisively, "There’s no way my work would have problems in that area."
"Exactly. They’re just looking for trouble."
"I’ll go with you. I’d like to see for myself what’s supposedly not up to code."
"Alright."
Liang Shuhuo was the expert in this field. Having her along would save him some trouble.
Downstairs, Liang Shuhuo got into Lin Jiang’s car, and the two of them drove toward the noodle shop.
"Normally, the mall’s fire safety department can’t just come and shut down a shop directly. Did they give any prior notice?"
"They came yesterday. I bought two cartons of cigarettes for them, but they were returned to me."
"They were returned?"
Liang Shuhuo’s lovely eyebrows furrowed.
For any business in the mall to operate smoothly, fire safety was an unavoidable hurdle. They would always find some trouble to make.
Normally, a red envelope with 5,000 to 10,000 yuan would solve the problem.
But Lin Jiang’s situation was different. The mall management had personally recruited him. And given how popular his shop was now, there was really no need for them to pick a fight.
Even if they really wanted a little kickback, Lin Jiang buying two cartons of cigarettes was more than enough to show respect.
And now, they were shutting down the shop directly. No matter how you looked at it, this was going too far.
"These fire safety people don’t know what’s good for them."
"We’ll know when we get there."
Thinking it over, Lin Jiang also felt something was off.
He had been recruited by the mall, and the noodle shop’s popularity brought in a huge amount of foot traffic, which goes without saying.
Besides, He Jing was helping him navigate things. No matter what, a situation like this shouldn’t have been possible.
But that guy, Wang Chunmin, seemed dead set on opposing him.
’Interesting.’
At this thought, Lin Jiang sent a message to Qin Yangyang, preparing to intimidate Wang Chunmin and finish this.
Driving back to the noodle shop, he found a crowd of people watching the commotion outside.
"Make way, make way..."
Pushing through the crowd at the entrance, Lin Jiang led Liang Shuhuo inside.
Before they even got in, they could hear Yang Tao’s voice.
"Fuck! I don’t give a damn who you are! If any of you motherfuckers dare to shut this place down before my Brother Jiang gets back, you’ll have to go through me!"
Wang Chunmin stood with two of his men and several mall security guards.
In his hand, Yang Tao was holding the steak knife used for cutting beef.
Yan Ming and Zheng Jiachun stood behind him, their gazes dark.
He Jing stood to the side, trying to talk Yang Tao down, afraid that he would do something rash and irreversible.
"Brother Jiang!"
Seeing Lin Jiang return, Li Yuanyuan hurried over.
The rest of the staff also gathered by his side, and the tense atmosphere inside the shop eased.
"Boss Lin, what’s wrong with your employee? He’s being barbaric," Wang Chunmin said with displeasure.
"He has a bad temper. Please calm down, Manager Wang. You can talk to me if there’s an issue."
"The shop has fire safety hazards. I’ve already listed all the problem areas. Just make corrections according to the requirements. But for now, for the safety of the customers and the entire mall, you must temporarily suspend operations for rectification."
After speaking, Wang Chunmin gave a look to the subordinate behind him, who understood immediately. Holding a paper seal, he went to stick it on the noodle shop’s main entrance.
Another person went to the back kitchen and put seals on all the cooking equipment.
"Brother Jiang..." Yang Tao said, his face cold.
"Don’t worry. The same way they’re putting them on is the same way I’ll make them take them off."
The two men spent over ten minutes doing this. As far as the eye could see, everything was covered in seals.
The whole scene was a farcical display of malicious fault-finding.
"Boss Lin, our work here is done. You should find a professional to take a look. This setup you have is definitely not going to work."
After the stick, Wang Chunmin didn’t forget to offer a carrot.
"Once the corrections are made, I’ll come back. I can help you cover up any small issues. It definitely won’t delay your business."
"No need to look. I’m the professional."
Liang Shuhuo stepped forward. Her serious aura was a bit too much for Wang Chunmin to handle.
Wang Chunmin was the manager of the fire safety department, with a monthly salary of 11,000 yuan.
In a city like Zhonghai, this salary wasn’t considered high. His lavish lifestyle was sustained by this sort of grey income. But even so, it was a far cry from Liang Shuhuo’s earnings.
As the saying goes, your income determines how straight you can stand. In terms of presence, Liang Shuhuo completely overshadowed Wang Chunmin.
Furthermore, the people they each interacted with on a daily basis belonged to completely different social classes.
At this moment, facing Liang Shuhuo, Wang Chunmin’s arrogance was no longer as blatant as before.
"I was in charge of the noodle shop’s design and renovation. Manager Wang, you can tell me exactly what the problem is."
"Look at the route of the flue duct. It makes two turns. During low-pressure weather, this could lead to poor ventilation. There are also some wiring issues. As a professional designer, these are things you should have taken into consideration."
"While my specialty is residential design, I’ve done plenty of commercial projects as well." Liang Shuhuo snorted coldly.
"I’ve even been involved in designing the official banquet hall for the Zhonghai government. Do you really think I’d make a mistake on something like this?"
Wang Chunmin’s expression changed. He felt like he’d just run into a brick wall.
"I know full well how you fire safety people make your extra income. I took all of that into account when I did the design," Liang Shuhuo said.
"This location used to be a Sichuan restaurant. In other words, it already had the foundation. I didn’t touch the kitchen’s flue duct or gas lines. It’s exactly as it was before. Why was it fine then, but a problem now? I’d trouble you for an explanation."
"Secondly, if you’re claiming the mall has new regulations that re-specify the existing fire safety design, then please produce the relevant documents. I want to see them now."
Liang Shuhuo rattled off a long series of points, leaving the entire room dead silent.
Everyone looked at Wang Chunmin.
They had only done simple renovations and used the previous design for everything else. For him to come looking for trouble now was clearly his fault.
Li Yuanyuan watched from the side, her eyes wide with amazement.
’I want to be a cool, impressive professional like her too!’
’She’s so awesome!’
"Brother Jiang, where did you find her? She’s incredible."
"Don’t be hasty. The even more incredible part is yet to come."
"Huh? Is someone else coming?"
Wang Chunmin was rendered speechless by the confrontation. He wanted to say something, but felt that anything he said would sound unreasonable.
’If they had redesigned everything, no matter how amazing the designer was, I could have found some fault.’
’The problem is, they didn’t touch a thing. It all passed inspection before. Finding fault now would be like finding fault with my own department.’
"The past is the past, and now is now. We do indeed have new regulations, which is why renovations are required."
"I’ll say it again: I need to see the relevant rules and regulations. Please produce them."
Wang Chunmin fell silent, and the atmosphere grew tense.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—
Just then, a knock came from the door.
Everyone saw a person in a woman’s suit standing at the entrance, holding a bag.
Li Yuanyuan was instantly captivated. ’This one is even cooler!’
’That aura... she’s just too cool!’
The person who had arrived was none other than Qin Yangyang, but she couldn’t get in because the entrance was sealed.
"Yuanyuan, go bring her in through the shop next door."
"Okay, okay."
Li Yuanyuan went out and brought Qin Yangyang in.
As they entered, Li Yuanyuan was whispering something to Qin Yangyang, who kept nodding. They were probably discussing the situation in the shop.
"Boss Lin, who is this?" He Jing asked tentatively.
"This is the director of the legal department for our Xiaojiang Noodle Shop. We’ve finished discussing the professional aspects. Now, let’s discuss this matter from a legal perspective."
"Huh? The noodle shop has a director of legal affairs?" He Jing’s expression was exaggerated. "This shouldn’t involve legal matters, right?"
"Why wouldn’t it?" Lin Jiang said with a grin.
"My daily revenue is over 30,000 yuan. Do you have any idea how much I’ve lost because of this little stunt he’s pulled? And that’s not even counting the damage to my reputation, which is immeasurable."
Wang Chunmin was completely floored. He could barely handle Liang Shuhuo, but with a lawyer present, the nature of the situation had changed entirely.
"What’s the situation now?"
Lin Jiang briefly explained what had just happened, and Qin Yangyang understood the cause of the dispute.
She was familiar with this kind of thing and knew all the shady dealings involved.
In some ordinary residential communities, the property management would always find problems during renovations to withhold the renovation deposit and pocket the money themselves.
This situation was more or less the same as the one before them.
After getting a handle on the situation, Qin Yangyang walked up to Wang Chunmin.
"Hello, I am a lawyer from Jinghe Law Firm. My name is Qin Yangyang."
"Hello, hello. Wang Chunmin."
"According to relevant laws and regulations, my client has not engaged in any illicit activities during their period of operation. The relationship between the mall and its tenants is an equal civil relationship. If there has been no breach of contract, failure to pay rent, or similar issues, the mall has no right to seal the premises."
"We discovered problems during our inspection that require the owner to suspend operations for rectification. These terms are written in the contract. We have the right to do this," Wang Chunmin argued in his defense.
"May I ask, where are the problems you speak of? I need you to point them out one by one," Qin Yangyang said.
"Furthermore, we will contact the official fire department to inspect the noodle shop and determine if any fire hazards exist. If none are found, your actions constitute an illegal act, and you will need to bear the corresponding civil liabilities."
"According to the Public Security Administration Punishments Law, disrupting the order of an enterprise, and causing work, production, or business to be unable to proceed normally, where serious losses have not yet been caused, is punishable by a warning or a fine of up to 200 yuan. If the circumstances are more serious, it is punishable by five to ten days of detention and a fine of up to 500 yuan."
"Finally, I suggest it would be better to have the mall’s legal department communicate with me."
Qin Yangyang tilted her head up slightly, glancing disdainfully at Wang Chunmin as if to say:
’You aren’t qualified.’

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