NOVPUB
Chapter 302: Chapter 302 Eating a Meal without Paying
"It’s been two days since the trouble started, with Qin Han dealing with it while also managing the house construction.
They thought having run the Bun Shop for so long and encountering all kinds of situations, there should be a way to solve this.
But this time the situation was different.
That noon, a group of people suddenly showed up at the Bun Shop. Initially thought to be customers there for a meal, they ate but then refused to pay.
How is it reasonable to eat buns without paying?
Qin Han immediately started to argue with these people. 𝓷ℴ𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝒸𝓸𝓶
Those people boldly told Qin Han that they were workers from the Old Food Factory, and as Xiyang Food Factory had taken their orders, they had been out of work for more than a month. No work meant no wages, and no wages meant nothing to eat.
Since Xiyang Food Factory didn’t leave them a way out, they were coming to eat at Qin’s Buns Shop.
Qin Han was infuriated. What kind of robber’s logic was this?
When he decided to call the police, the crowd ran off.
There were too many of them, and they really did have a free meal at his expense.
He thought that once they knew the police would be called, they wouldn’t dare to come again, but the next day another group appeared.
The same situation—eating buns without paying. This time, knowing they were Old Food Factory workers, Qin Han was wary and told Zhang Guilan to call the police right away.
The police arrived promptly, but even after they arrived, they first tried to understand the situation and then mediated on the spot.
In the end, although those people paid for the buns, the presence of the police for the entire afternoon disrupted the business of the Bun Shop.
Today, they didn’t go to the shop to eat for free, but they gathered at the door of the Bun Shop, declaring that if they couldn’t eat, they wouldn’t let Qin’s people have it easy.
Not only was the Bun Shop in the county affected, but the Bun Shop near the train station was also surrounded, and even some people gathered at the entrance of Xiyang Food Factory.
When Lin Chuxia received the news, her first concern was for the two pregnant women in the Bun Shop.
"Find someone to tell Lanlan and Wu’s wife to take leave. No matter what happens at the Bun Shop, they should stay at home and not come out, especially Lanlan. Tell her that even if the Bun Shop is smashed, she shouldn’t get involved."
She had foreseen this situation.
The Old Food Factory had once stolen their spice packs in an attempt to obtain their recipe, and Lin Chuxia retaliating by adding a beef sauce production line.
During this time, Xiyang Food Factory’s beef sauce rapidly conquered the market, taking a large share from the Old Food Factory.
Li Jian had already briefed her on the current situation of the Old Food Factory.
According to Lin Chuxia’s knowledge, due to the reduced orders, the Old Food Factory had already shut down several workshops in the past two months.
If things continued like this, going out of business was inevitable.
After instructing the necessary actions, Lin Chuxia went straight to the Bun Shop in the county.
The incident started at this Bun Shop, and currently, it was also the one most surrounded.
When Lin Chuxia arrived, indeed the entrance was packed with people, other than Qin’s Steamed Bun employees inside the shop, everyone else was outside, and there was a crowd of onlookers.
As Lin Chuxia approached, she could even hear indignant voices from the crowd.
"Do you only think about getting rich and don’t care about others’ lives? Selling cooked food here, you say you’re not targeting the Old Food Factory?"
"Exactly, they want to ruin our livelihood, we can’t just let them have their way, can we?"
"Right, let’s just stand here, no one can disturb us, even if the police come, they have no right to drive us away. I just want to see who dares to buy from Qin’s Cooked Food Bun Shop."
"Xiao Wang is right, aren’t they crying for competition? Now we are also competing, look, by standing here, our own cooked food shop will naturally do better business. As long as it improves the factory’s performance, I’m willing to stand here every day."
Qin’s Cooked Food side was surrounded by so many people that those who intended to buy cooked food did not want to invite trouble, indeed many turned to the cooked food shop of the Old Food Factory across the street.
There were too many people gathering at the shop’s entrance; it was beyond their ability to disperse.
Fortunately, Lin Chuxia knew that Qin Han had already called the police.
In just a short while, the police really arrived.
Once the police came, the onlookers stepped back, leaving mostly Old Food Factory workers at the front of Qin’s Bun Shop.
Perhaps from experience, these Old Food Factory workers didn’t panic upon seeing the police, and even started airing their grievances to them.
While the police were comforting them and asking them to disperse, Lin Chuxia frowned slightly.
"Big brother, have the police responded like this the previous times, too?"
Qin Han nodded, "Yes, it’s always like this. They disperse the crowd, but on the second day, these people come back. I’ve reported this to them, but they say since these people are only standing on the street and not doing anything illegal, they don’t have the authority to arrest anyone."
But this wasn’t a solution. With this going back and forth, their Bun Shop’s business had been delayed for several days.
Qin Han was anxious and felt powerless.
Lin Chuxia’s expression darkened, and she went straight to the leading police officer.
She got straight to the point and explained the situation.
The officer looked Lin Chuxia up and down, "Are you the person in charge of the Bun Shop? I remember the person in charge of Qin’s Buns Shop was a male comrade."
"I am in charge of both Qin’s Buns Shop and Xiyang Food Factory. These people have surrounded not only my Bun Shop but also Xiyang Food Factory, affecting the business and reputation of both. This way of handling things by you isn’t quite appropriate, is it?"
The officer was easy to talk to and gave Lin Chuxia a slight smile, "How would Boss Lin like us to handle it? Take everyone to the police station? You’ve seen it yourself, they’re just standing there—the street is public, you can’t prevent people from being there, right? Even if they are affecting the business of your Bun Shop, it hasn’t reached the point of detaining them. Don’t we all preach that harmony brings wealth? I think Boss Lin should make some concessions too; these workers also have families to support, it’s not easy for them."
"If it’s not easy for them, it doesn’t mean they can take it out on our Bun Shop," said Qin Han from the side.
The man spread his hands, "Then I’m at a loss. Nobody wants to see things get to this point; we can only mediate both ends. Honestly, our work in the middle is the most difficult."
Lin Chuxia squinted her eyes slightly, Qin Han wanted to say more, but she stopped him.
"Please do try to persuade them to leave as soon as possible and not to come back again. Even if we stop selling our cooked food, with the business condition of the Old Food Factory, it’s not going to revive from the dead."
"Yes, we definitely will persuade them, but whether or not they listen, that’s hard to say. But don’t worry, if they come back tomorrow, notify us promptly, we will get them to leave early so that they don’t affect your business."
