When asking for help, one should not arrive empty-handed. A pack of Yuxi cigarettes was the way to go. Zhou Yan asked Comrade Xiao Wu on duty to pass on a message and help find Lin Zhiqiang.
Uncle Lin was currently his strongest connection at the textile factory; they had a good relationship, and they had recently forged a deep friendship.
Asking him for help was reliable.
It wasn't hard to tell from the finance staff's words that her director wanted to target Zhou Erwa Restaurant because she had her eye on him.
Sun Meili, this glamorous, plump woman, left a deep impression on Little Zhou.
She was a subordinate in the finance department, the office director in charge of the canteen's accounts, and also managed the rental of over a dozen shops of the textile factory.
Her husband was the deputy director of the silk reeling workshop, an honest man, but get cheated.
Sun Meili and Wang Defa's relationship was ambiguous; it wasn't a secret in the kitchen.
An apprentice said he had heard unspeakable sounds coming from the office.
Of course, there's no concrete evidence for this.
One managed the canteen's affairs, the other its finances; together, they practically controlled everything in the factory canteen.
Zhou Yan stole customers from the canteen's stir-fry business and ousted Huang Fusheng. It's understandable that Sun Meili would try every means to get rid of him; raising the rent was indeed a ruthless tactic.
100 yuan a month—that's almost three months' wages for an average textile factory worker.
This was in 1984, 1200 yuan a year.
Even the best locations in Jiazhou wouldn't cost that much, let alone Suji.
Sun Meili and Wang Defa wanted to drive him out, forcing him to close down because he couldn't afford the rent.
But they ultimately lacked imagination.
Zhou Erwa Restaurant's gross profit yesterday was enough to cover a month's rent; 100 yuan wasn't actually that much of a burden for him.
Based on the current business, even a conservative estimate would be 20,000 yuan a year, so 1,200 yuan in rent is nothing.
Little Zhou has invested nearly 1,000 yuan in this restaurant. The tables and chairs can be moved, but the expensively built stove can't. Moving it would mean finding someone to rebuild it.
The restaurant is currently in its growth phase and can't afford to waste time.
Besides, how can a restaurant be the same no matter where it is?
Even the best wine needs advertising.
If this shop was just ten meters away, Zhou Yan would still be worrying about how to open a business.
By being located near the gate of the most profitable state-owned factory in Jiazhou, with nearly 3,000 workers earning stable wages and among the top earners in Jiazhou, even a shop in downtown Jiazhou might not be better.
As a food blogger, Zhou Yan has met many restaurant owners. When discussing site selection, they all consider it the most important task in the early stages of opening a restaurant. If there is no suitable location, they will not invest money recklessly.
Those who believe that good food will naturally attract customers will choose to open a restaurant in a remote location; such businesses are either novice in the food service industry or rely on online marketing.
Zhou Yan's restaurant's reputation is just beginning to take off and needs consistent, consistent quality to truly establish itself.
If he can't make his food irreplaceable, even walking an extra 100 meters will be a reason for customers to turn away.
Zhou Yan is determined to protect this business.
However, he won't accept this rent increase and needs to get justice from Lin Zhiqiang.
Outsiders aren't allowed to freely enter the textile factory. Shortly after Xiao Wu informed him, Lin Zhiqiang appeared.
"Little Zhou, Xiao Wu said you urgently need to see me?" Lin Zhiqiang had inspected the workshop that morning and was free now.
"Uncle Lin..." Zhou Yan briefly explained the situation to Lin Zhiqiang.
"A sudden rent increase? And you still have to pay this month's rent?" Lin Zhiqiang frowned. "Your shop is in a good location, but it's still less than 100 yuan a month. The way the finance department is doing this is too frivolous and definitely not right!"
"If the factory raises rent uniformly and equally, and all other merchants agree, then I will definitely cooperate." Zhou Yan said seriously. "But I feel this is deliberate targeting, a blow to individual merchants, and I'm not happy about it."
Lin Zhiqiang nodded: "Okay, I'll go see the factory director. After all, the finance department isn't under my jurisdiction, so I can't directly interfere."
Zhou Yan added: "By the way, Uncle Lin, there's an accountant in the finance department named Wang Wei. Because she refused to raise my rent, Sun Meili retaliated against her and is going to transfer her to guard the warehouse and move goods. What do you think…"
"Wang Wei?" Lin Zhiqiang smiled upon hearing this and waved his hand, "You don't need to worry about her. Sun Meili doesn't have the ability to transfer her to guard the warehouse."
After saying that, he turned and walked into the factory.
"Huh?" Zhou Yan was stunned. What did that mean?
…
Outside the factory director's office.
Lin Zhiqiang knocked on the door.
"Come in." Wang Hongliang's voice rang out.
Lin Zhiqiang pushed open the door and entered. Wang Hongliang sat behind his desk, a short-haired girl standing beside him, her eyes slightly red, as if she had just been crying.
"Zhiqiang, did you need something?" Wang Hongliang asked, looking at Lin Zhiqiang.
"Factory Director, I'm here for Little Zhou." Lin Zhiqiang nodded.
"Little Zhou, Zhou Yan?" Wang Hongliang smiled upon hearing this. "Why are you all here for Zhou Yan today? Are you here because of the rent increase for his restaurant?"
Wang Wei, standing beside him, also looked at Lin Zhiqiang with some surprise.
"Sit down, sit down and let's talk." Wang Hongliang invited.
Lin Zhiqiang walked to the table and sat down, smiling. "It seems Wang Wei has already told you. I find this situation a bit strange—a sudden rent increase, and by such a large margin."
"See? Deputy Factory Director Lin and I thought the same thing, sir. Sun Meili is deliberately causing trouble, trying to make Zhou Yan's restaurant go out of business!" Wang Wei chimed in.
"Alright, alright, I understand. Seeing how anxious you are, anyone would think it's your restaurant that's being targeted." Wang Hongliang said with a smile, getting up to hand Wang Wei the glass of water on the table.
Lin Zhiqiang, hearing this, glanced at Wang Wei, a growing sense of unease creeping into his heart.
"Thank you, sir." Wang Wei took a sip of water, calming herself. "I believe there should be justice in this world. Zhou Yan finally managed to revitalize the restaurant, gaining everyone's recognition through his culinary skills, and business is slowly improving."
"Aunt Zhao is such a good person. She helped Zhou Yan run the restaurant, running errands day and night, her voice hoarse from shouting all day, but she always greeted customers with a smile."
"Why would anyone think they're making too much money and want to target them? They were operating at a loss for the first three months."
"If we're talking about the loss of state assets, I think the factory canteen's accounts are a mess. The factory allocates so much money to subsidize the canteen every year so that the workers can eat well and feel at ease."
"Now the workers are full of complaints, cursing the canteen everyday. You should send someone to investigate!"
Wang Hongliang nodded slightly upon hearing this, lost in thought.
Lin Zhiqiang looked at Wang Wei's stubborn expression and felt a surge of admiration.
This young girl, unexpectedly, is a passionate young woman, intolerant of injustice and unfairness.
"You mentioned problems with the cafeteria accounts, do you have any evidence?" Wang Hongliang asked, looking at her.
"Yes!" Wang Wei opened her sling bag and pulled out a red notebook. "This is a record of all the accounts I think are problematic this year. Many don't add up. Sun Meili will try to balance them at the end of the month; it happens every month."
"The canteen's supplier is also problematic. Their vegetable prices are about 20% higher than the daily prices at the supply and marketing cooperative. And when I went to the finance department to submit my accounts, they made me reconcile them with the supply and marketing cooperative's; the accounts there are also discrepancies."
"Factory Director, today I'm filing a formal complaint against Sun Meili for falsifying accounts. I originally wanted to gather more evidence for a more in-depth investigation, but I have to file this complaint today."
Wang Hongliang's expression turned serious. He stood up, took the notebook with both hands, and began to examine it.
Lin Zhiqiang also joined in for a while.
Wang Wei, a vocational school graduate majoring in accounting, meticulously marked out the dates and issues, making her work highly organized and easy to understand.
"Comrade Wang Wei, you've done a great job." Wang Hongliang said sternly to Wang Wei. "This matter is extremely serious. I'll immediately have the security department take control of the cafeteria's accounts and detain the relevant personnel for investigation. We will get to the bottom of this."
This matter was no longer just about Zhou Erwa's 100 yuan rent for the restaurant.
Lin Zhiqiang remained silent, but he knew Sun Meili was about to be in trouble.
Or rather, it wasn't just Sun Meili; others might also suffer the same fate.
...
Sun Meili was still signing and stamping the notice, while Wu Lili stood obsequiously to the side.
Just then, security personnel, led by Luo Weidong, filed in.
"Section Chief Luo, what's going on here..." Sun Meili looked at Luo Weidong with some confusion.
"Sun Meili, someone has filed a formal complaint against you for falsifying accounts, embezzlement, and misappropriation of canteen subsidies. Please come with us to the security section for investigation." Luo Weidong interrupted her.
"Who...who filed the complaint! Nonsense, how could I do such a thing..." Sun Meili's face changed drastically as she argued.
Luo Weidong waved for the personnel to take Sun Meili away and have them seal up the office ledgers and take them back.
Wu Lili trembled with fear, standing motionless by the table.
Luo Weidong glanced at the notice on the table, frowned slightly, looked at Wu Lili, and ordered, "Take her back for questioning too."
Stacks of accounts were carried away from Sun Meili's office.
The two remaining accountants in the canteen's finance office watched this scene, somewhat frightened.
"Don't be afraid, this has nothing to do with us." Wang Wei returned, smiling and comforting the two.
She had felt so happy watching Sun Meili being taken away!
The canteen's finance office was next to the factory canteen, and when she was taken away, the canteen's chefs all came out to watch the commotion.
When the news reached Wang Defa, he slumped into his chair, his face deathly pale, completely disoriented.
The security department had arrested Sun Meili.
And they're checking the accounts!
That means they must have evidence of them taking kickbacks.
What was he going to do! What was he going to do?
It was just adding 100 yuan to Zhou Yan's rent, how did things turn out like this?
Knock knock.
There was a knock on the office door.
Wang Defa was startled and looked up to see Luo Weidong and two security officers walking in.
"Director Wang, there's something we need your cooperation with in an investigation. Please come with me to the security office." Luo Weidong said, looking at him.
"Wh...what is it?" Wang Defa stood up, trying to remain calm.
"It's about the factory canteen's accounts. As the canteen manager, you should know the situation better. Please cooperate with our work." Luo Weidong said, his attitude relatively polite.
"Okay, I'll go with you."
Wang Defa nodded and followed them out, his steps heavy.
Who exactly reported them?
He could only hope that Sun Meili would keep her mouth shut.
…
Sun Meili and Wang Defa were both taken away, and the news quickly spread like wildfire throughout the textile factory.
Scandals about the two of them also began to circulate, told with great detail.
Xu Rui, the deputy director of the silk reeling workshop, squatted by the flower bed near the wall, smoking one cigarette after another, leaving a pile of cigarette butts beside his feet.
"Old Xu, forget it, life goes on." Zhao Dong patted him on the shoulder, comforting him.
Xu Rui looked up, his eyes bloodshot, and smiled bitterly: "Three kids, what else can I do?"
Zhao Dong offered him a Hong Mei, but the words he was about to say remained unspoken; he didn't even know if the child was his.
This family...it's definitely fallen apart.
...
Zhou Yan didn't receive Wu Lili's message; instead, he was greeted by Xiao Wu, the security officer, who told him about Sun Meili's arrest and Wang Defa being called in for questioning.
(｀Д)!!
"Huh? One hundred yuan, and this is such a big fuss?"
Zhou Yan was shocked after earing this.
He never even considered sending Sun Meili and Wang Defa to jail!
Uncle Lin really is his uncle!
He truly cares when something happens to him.
Zhou Yan felt it was necessary to write a letter to Xia Yao tonight, even if it was just because of their dear uncle.
Aunt Zhao was also somewhat surprised after hearing this, equally unexpected that a mere hundred yuan could lead to the arrest of two directors.
At lunch time, the workers were all discussing the matter.
Women made up 80% of the textile factory's workforce, and they were always eager for gossip.
Multiple sources confirmed the veracity of this news.
The gossip was so big that everyone in the gossip field was enjoying it immensely.
Zhou Yan felt a bit conflicted.
Comrade Little Zhou's grand ambition might not be fulfilled.
The factory canteen hadn't collapsed, but Wang Defa was about to fall.
A slight sense of satisfaction, a bit of happiness.
Rumors circulated that Zhou Yan was the catalyst for this incident, stemming from a 100 yuan rent increase imposed on Zhou Erwa Restaurant.
Because of this, many onlookers specifically came to the restaurant to eat and get the latest gossip.
The booming business continued until the work bell rang.
"These women are crazy!" Zhou Jie slumped onto a bench and let out a long sigh.
Zhou Yan shook his aching hands, picked up a nearby enamel mug, and gulped down several mouthfuls of herbal tea. He'd even sparked from wielding the spatula at lunch time.
[Ding! Side Quest: Cross-legged Beef Inheritance Completed. Zhou Jie, Learning Progress: 3/3]
[Reward Received: Sichuan Cuisine's Number One Dish—Twice-Cooked Pork]
The system suddenly popped up two notifications.
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