NOVPUB
Chapter 604: Chapter 508: Blue Sky Project (Happy New Year’s Eve!)_1
Everyone came to the front desk of the hot pot restaurant, settled the bill under the surprised gaze of the cashier, thinking that Tang Qing and his friends have to rush back. Leaving the hot pot restaurant, they head toward the place they had dinner the night before...
"Tang Qing, what’s going on?" Once they were a safe distance away, Zeng Rou quickly asked.
Tang Qing slowed down, not avoiding the question, and said, "There’s something in the spicy soup base of that restaurant. Don’t eat there anymore. From now on, you should also eat less hot pot, especially if you find the spicy taste particularly satisfying."
"What is it?" Zeng Rou was startled, and the other women were also curiously waiting for Tang Qing’s explanation.
"Poppy shell."
Tang Qing popped out a term.
Hearing this word, the women’s faces changed. Of course they knew what it was, they just didn’t expect that they had almost eaten it just now. Zeng Rou was frightened, no wonder the food tasted so good last time, and the spiciness was extremely authentic. That’s because they put this stuff in.
A wave of fear washed over her, what if they had become addicted over time... Zeng Rou didn’t dare to imagine.
What followed was unparalleled outrage.
"What? How dare they? I’m going to confront them." Saying that, hot-tempered Zeng Rou immediately planned to go back and question them, but was immediately stopped by Tang Qing.
Zeng Rou was surprised to see this side of Tang Qing.
Tang Qing had no choice but to explain, "Don’t be impulsive, confronting them now won’t solve the problem. Let’s report it to the relevant authorities instead, let them investigate. We don’t need to take unnecessary risks."
Zeng Rou, reminded by Tang Qing, also calmed down. Going back now would be unwise, possibly leading to a whole lot of trouble. Indeed, there was no need to take risks in dealing with such unscrupulous merchants.
"Well, wait a moment, let me make a call."
With that, Zeng Rou took out her mobile phone and dialed a number.
"My darling girl, what’s the matter?" After the call was connected, a strong and full voice came over. The other women couldn’t clearly hear the content of the conversation, but Tang Qing could.
"Dad, someone is trying to hurt me," Zeng Rou said with a look of grievance and a hint of crying in her tone.
This caused an immediate uproar on the other end of the line.
"What? Who dares to do that, don’t they want to live? Quickly tell daddy who it is, see if I don’t deal with them." The voice was full of concern and indulgence, someone was trying to harm his precious daughter, he would not allow it.
"It’s the hot pot restaurant you took me to when you last sent me to school. They put poppy shells in their food." Zeng Rou’s acting skills were top notch, full of grievance and fear. The person on the other end of the call couldn’t resist.
"Is that so? They’ve grown leopard’s guts! No wonder I thought it tasted pretty good last time. Have you been going there regularly these days?" Zeng Rou’s father asked hurriedly.
"No, I only went there once with you, and it was my classmate who discovered it this time. We were about to eat...thankfully we didn’t." As she spoke, Zeng Rou glanced at Tang Qing. The calm Zeng Rou realized a problem - how did Tang Qing find out?
But she chose to trust Tang Qing’s judgement.
The person on the other end of the phone breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "That’s good, change places for lunch, I’ll take care of this immediately."
"Bye, Dad." Zeng Rou said sweetly, making the person on the other end of the phone feel warm. This was followed by a surge of anger. Damn, you’re in deep trouble now.
Zeng Rou hung up the phone.
Zeng Rou cheerfully said, "Don’t worry, my dad will handle this. Humph, they refuse to do honest business and instead resort to unlawful practices. It’s too despicable." She believed her father would give the restaurant owner a lesson he wouldn’t forget.
The other women also nodded in agreement.
They were still overcome with fear.
Tang Qing didn’t ask who her father was or anything like that. He had no interest in knowing. Tang Qing was originally considering having a Fighter or Shen Yi handle the situation, but now it seemed unnecessary. Someone was doing the job, and he was happy to relax.
"Tang Qing, how did you come to know they put this thing in?" Zeng Rou asked curiously. Earlier, Tang Qing seemed to discern it just by sniffing, even amidst the strong spiciness, it was incredible.
Could it be that Tang Qing is very familiar with this stuff?
Zeng Rou suspiciously looked at Tang Qing.
Seeing the expressions of Zeng Rou and the other women, Tang Qing knew he had to clarify now, or they would probably think something was up with him. He wasn’t a drug addict.
"What are you thinking? My sense of smell is just more developed. I’ve encountered such unscrupulous merchants before and my friend taught them a good lesson. He taught me how to identify the smell of this stuff." Tang Qing explained lightly.
Although the women were puzzled, they didn’t actually suspect Tang Qing.
Lin Jiaxue trusted him without any doubt.
Considering the changes in Tang Qing over this period and how everything good that happened related to his friend, and all the ’black tech’ in the villa, she believed him. She knew what kind of person Tang Qing was, he certainly wouldn’t get involved with such stuff.
After lunch.
On their way home, they saw several police cars and a vehicle from the Shanghai Administration of Industry and Commerce parked outside the hot pot restaurant. Many diners were standing at the entrance, cursing vehemently. They also learned that unclean substances had been used in the restaurant.
Each one of them was filled with indignation.
Quite a few influential figures were making phone calls. Tang Qing shook his head, thinking that the restaurant owner, having offended so many people, was beyond redemption. Not only would he lose his profits due to fines, but he was also facing detention.
As for imprisonment...
Tang Qing wasn’t optimistic. There were still regulatory blind spots in this area in the country. Although it was specified that ’anesthetics’ could not be arbitrarily operated, there were no punishment provisions for non-criminal acts. Before, violations would have been punished according to the provisions of the ’Management Method of Anesthetics’.
However, as of July 26 of this year, 2005, the ’Regulations for the Administration of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances’ came into effect, and the ’Anesthetics Management Method’ was abolished at the same time.
This meant that penalties were virtually nonexistent.
Some lawbreakers had utilized this loophole to conduct illegal operations of such substances.
Not until seven years later, at the end of 2014, when there were more and more business operators committing such illegal acts, did the country adopt a ’zero tolerance’ policy toward this behavior. Therefore, right now, the most the restaurant owner can face is a fine and detention. Imprisonment is not possible.
However, if Zeng Rou’s family was extremely powerful, the fate of the restaurant owner would probably be worse than bankruptcy.
Tang Qing did not underestimate a father’s indulgence in his daughter, especially a powerful father. He would not be surprised at all about any actions taken against those who would dare to harm her.
Thinking of this...
Tang Qing had another idea.
It was to set up a website similar to ’Find Relatives Network’, specifically exposing various unscrupulous merchants in the food safety center, and giving the public a healthy eating environment. Nowadays, food safety problems in the country are becoming increasingly severe. Various strange diseases are emerging one after another, the cancer rate is skyrocketing, and this has a lot to do with those unscrupulous merchants.
Setting up a website to expose them would be a contribution. Tang Qing was truly distressed by things like melamine, Sudan red, ractopamine, plasticizers, and gutter oil in his previous life. He even doubted if there was any clean food in the world.
As for other forms of punishment...
That was the matter of the state. Tang Qing had neither the interest to interfere nor the courage to do so. As before, at any time, neither individuals nor other forces could replace the state in law enforcement, because this directly involved a country’s right to law enforcement.
Just like private punishment, no matter how much of a bastard the other person is, if you kill them, it still accounts to murder and exemption from criminal punishment is not possible. This is because the country has laws and law enforcement power lies with the state. If you infringe this power and overstep your bounds, regardless of right or wrong, it would be a provocation to the state laws. At most, discretionary treatment can be considered, but exemption from criminal punishment is impossible. If not, then what is the use of having laws?
Tang Qing did not dare to overstep.
It was a bottom line.
He could only expose, but he would not get involved in handling the matter.
Not only the food safety, but even the actions of those black tour guides and black travel agencies that they encountered last time could be exposed. Tang Qing had thought about the name for the website, ’Blue Sky’. The website wouldn’t accept any forms of contributions or edits from users. The users could only read, discuss, and report to the backstage.
Upon receipt of the report...
The fighters would verify it.
This was to prevent people from hiring gunmen who would stir up trouble on the website, creating confusion, and filling the online world with all kinds of junk information. This left people bewildered.
The entire website would only voice one thing, that is, ’the truth found out through investigation’.
Especially regarding food safety issues, it would be easy to handle. They didn’t even need to visit their factory. They could simply buy the products on the market then produce a research report in the research area. As for whether the public would believe it, well...
Once this report was recognized by the appraisal institutions worldwide, and that fabricated lab rolled out some impressive results, no one would doubt it ever again. It was not difficult to operate, and Tang Qing was ready to include not only domestic companies but also those worldwide into the scope of his efforts.
So as to avoid being too region-focused...
Even though it seemed a bit like meddling, but his influence would surely spread globally and become the top presence in the future. Since that’s the case, why differentiate so clearly? Foreigners are people too. There are also ordinary people, people who can’t afford food, medical treatment, who have no home to return to, who die of starvation and freeze to death abroad.
Anyway, it wouldn’t increase any costs.
They watched as the owner of the unscrupulous hot pot restaurant was brought out, hauled onto a police car, and cheered by the crowd.
"Serves him right, these people should all be sent to jail," Zeng Rou said vehemently.
Tang Qing couldn’t help reminding her, "He won’t go to jail, at most he will be detained and fined, because there is a legal loophole in this area, there are regulatory gaps, and there are no suitable penalty regulations."
Zeng Rou didn’t care, she fixed her eyes determinedly on the restaurant owner, "Then they should fine him more, make him bankrupt."
"..."
Tang Qing didn’t say anything more. He knew that Zeng Rou would definitely call her dad again. Sure enough, as the motorcade drove off and the hot pot restaurant was closed, Zeng Rou made another call to her father, who on the other side assured her that the restaurant owner would be severely punished.
Alright then...
All Tang Qing could do was to hold a moment of silence for the restaurant owner.
