It is said that people who work in the same industry are enemies. This is the first time in Mayor Ji Qi’s life that he has seen a businessman drive people away to a competitor.
It's been a long time coming, but since the waiter in the shop said this, he couldn't force his way in.
Just at this moment of hesitation, two more guests came in from the door.
"Boy, do you have a seat?"
The waiter hurriedly said to Ji Qizhen and his party:
"I'm sorry, sir. We really can't accommodate these people in our restaurant. Please go check out other places. I'll go greet other customers first."
After saying that, he bowed and walked to the new guest:
"Guest officer, please come inside..."
Ji Wenjun was about to run away on the spot. Why, we obviously came first.
When she was about to start causing trouble, Ji Qizhen took her hand and shook her head.
Then we went to the restaurant diagonally opposite as the waiter said.
The business here was still full, but they were lucky, there were just two tables of customers finishing their meal when they entered the store.
It happened to be all occupied. There were many guards, so they occupied a big table. Gao Xiaosong had a different status, so he couldn't squeeze into the same table with the guards.
Ji Qizhen asked him to sit at the same table with him. If he were in the capital, Gao Xiaosong would not dare to go overboard like this, but now that he was away from home, he agreed.
While ordering food, Ji Qizhen wanted to ask the waiter about the situation in the county.
As a result, the waiter in the shop had no time to talk nonsense with them:
"Sir, I see you are new to this county, right? If you want to find out something, just go to the city gate and find the resident volunteers.
Those elders in this city have nothing to do every day. They just help new merchants who come to this city to answer their questions about various new regulations in this city.
If you want to ask something, just go talk to them, they have plenty of time, you see our store is so busy, I really don’t have time to waste."
Ji Qizhen smiled bitterly and could only quickly order a few dishes that were ranked higher on the menu.
In other places, most of the dishes are steamed and a small amount of grilled, but the dishes here are almost all stir-fried.
You must know that even in Beijing, only a few famous restaurants can cook. But in Bao'an County, you can cook in any restaurant.
Even Ji Qizhen and Gao Xiaosong, who are used to seeing big scenes, were a little confused by this gap.
Soon the waiter brought all the ordered dishes.
When the three people in Ji Qizhen saw the dishes, they were full of questions. They only thought that the owner of the store here was crazy.
There are prices for the dishes on the menu boards. Ji Qizhen took a look at them when he ordered the dishes just now. They were not very expensive.
The price of the dish with the same name is nearly a hundred times cheaper than that of the famous restaurant in Beijing. Originally, Ji Qizhen thought that the price was so much cheaper, so the ingredients of the dish must be much different.
But in fact, it's just the opposite. Both the weight and raw materials here are better than those in famous restaurants in Beijing.
For example, the dish "Spicy Stir-fried Chicken" is usually served in famous restaurants in Beijing, with 30% chicken, 50% vegetable, and 20% chili.
In this store, chicken accounts for more than 50%, and the portion is double that of famous restaurants in Beijing.
Could it be that it was a shady store? Ji Qizhen and the three of them looked in disbelief.
When you finish the meal and pay the bill, the price is generally the same as the price on the menu.
Ji Qizhen smiled bitterly and shook his head. He felt that everything in Bao'an City was so weird that it was hard to understand.
After coming out of the hotel, following the waiter's instructions, I walked outside the city gate and saw a shed made of cloth, with many old men sitting inside.
Each old man also wears a red armband with the word "help" embroidered on it.
Ji Qizhen walked over to chat with the old man. As expected, the old man chatted with him very enthusiastically.
He told them all the new things and new rules in the city in detail.
Ji Qizhen frowned when he heard this, and anger accumulated in his chest.
Gao Xiaosong broke into a cold sweat after hearing this, and marveled at Hou Yao's boldness, which was close to open rebellion.
Ji Wenjun's irritable little universe was completely boiling, and he couldn't help but cursed angrily on the spot:
"What a treacherous traitor Hou Yao. He dared to be so audacious. He even dared to promulgate tax laws privately. He is really a traitor by nature. The owner was really blind..."
Before they could finish the scolding, the face of the old man they were chatting with changed and he shouted loudly:
"Where did this ignorant little kid come from? Mr. Hou loves the people like his own son, how can you slander him at will?"
Hearing the old man's angry shouting, the old men around him gathered around and began to accuse Ji Wenjun and his group.
Ji Wenjun was startled by this battle and was a little at a loss.
Ji Qizhen looked horrified, thinking that a civil uprising had been triggered, so he hurriedly protected Ji Wenjun.
The other guards also quickly stepped forward to block him.
If these people were not old men, the guards might have already drawn their swords to kill them.
The old men only angrily accused a group of people in Ji Qizhen and did not take any further extreme actions.
Due to the confrontation between people on both sides, people were watching, and this area soon gathered many people passing by.
When they heard Ji Wenjun calling Hou Yao a traitor, many people joined in accusing Ji Wenjun.
"Master Hou is the best official in the world. You, a little girl from out of town, don't tell lies if you don't know."
"Master Hou serves the country and the people, how can a silly girl like you, who has not yet been weaned, be able to slander him at will?"
"Little girl, you can eat whatever you want, but don't talk nonsense. Even if Master Hou Bodhisattva doesn't care about you, we can't coddle you."
Some people also shouted to Ji Qizhen:
"Hey, scholar over there, your silly girl needs a good education."
"We don't know better than you who our county magistrate is, but we want you to come to our county to scold our county magistrate when you're full?"
…
Seeing that more and more people are gathering together, the situation is about to get out of control.
Whether it was Ji Qizhen, Gao Xiaosong or the guards, they were all broken into cold sweats. If this really was a civil uprising, then they would really have to be blamed here.
Ji Wenjun's face was livid with fear, and she looked at the angry people with tears in her eyes. She had never seen such a battle before.
At this moment, a group of government officials pushed through the crowd and walked in. The leader was Zhou Tiesheng, the chief arrester.
Now the entire Baoan County is divided into five areas inside and outside the city, and each area has a head catcher.
Zhou Tiesheng is the chief arrester in the city.
The gate of the city was also within his jurisdiction. With so many people surrounding him, it was natural for someone to report it to the Yamen.
Now the Yamen is a symbol of justice in the eyes of the people. When they saw Zhou Tiesheng coming, the people around them said:
"Sir, these people are rude to the magistrate, arrest them quickly."
Zhou Tiesheng waved his hand and shouted loudly:
"What's the quarrel? What's the quarrel? They've all dispersed. They've dispersed. What are you doing here? Outsiders don't know the county's bylaws. Don't you still know?
Do you want to pay a fine for blocking traffic? Go quickly, let's all disperse, disperse. We will handle this matter ourselves, and we are not allowed to stay at the important gate of the city."
Driven away by Zhou Tiesheng and the policemen, the crowd gradually dispersed. Then Zhou Tiesheng said to the old man in the shed who was accusing Ji Wenjun:
"Uncle Liu, is it you again? How many times have I told you that outsiders who don't know the situation in this county will misunderstand the county magistrate.
You don't have to agree with them, just do the necessary explanations.
If you do this again, I will cancel your volunteer qualifications."
Upon hearing that his volunteer qualifications were to be revoked, Uncle Liu immediately became anxious:
"No, no, please be kind to the boss. I know I was wrong."
Zhou Tiesheng nodded, then looked at the guard at the front and said:
"Are you from other places? Are you visiting relatives and friends or doing business? Where are you going?"
The captain of the guard looked back at Ji Qizhen behind him.
Ji Qizhen gave a helpless smile. He was supposed to conduct an unannounced visit, but it caused such a big stir, so it was useless to conduct an unannounced visit.
If Hou Yao was truly disloyal, he must have known about the arrival of himself and others. Covering up and deceiving himself would only give Hou Yao the opportunity to secretly kill him.
So now it is better to show off the chariot and horse and let Hou Yao throw the rat into the trap.
Besides, there seems to be no need for secret visits. Baoan County has always exceeded regulations. If you want to prosecute him, you don't need to search for any so-called evidence.
Thinking of this, Ji Qizhen took out his own card:
"This king is inspecting Bao'an County according to the imperial decree and asking your county magistrate to come and greet you."
Zhou Tiesheng took the gold medal and took a look at it, not knowing what it was.
But Hou Yao warned him in advance, saying that there might be high-ranking officials sent from Beijing to come down to cause trouble, and asked him not to offend anyone.
So after Zhou Tiesheng got the waist card, he and the others were here to guard him, while he hurriedly took two guards back to the Yamen to report the news.
In the Yamen, Hou Yao and Yu Xiuer were eating spicy hotpot.
The only ones used are the best Hunan peppers, a specialty sent by a Hunan glass agent.
This thing is quite difficult in Guangdong. The local chili peppers in Guangdong are generally not spicy, so many spicy hotpots are made.
Seeing Zhou Tiesheng bringing people in, Hou Yao greeted with a smile:
"Lao Zhou, you guys, would you like to have a bite? It's so good."
Zhou Tiesheng glanced at the bright red soup in the pot and shuddered immediately:
"No, my butt was spicy for three days after eating it last time. I'm scared."
After speaking, he looked at the two people around him:
"Do you want to eat?"
The two shook their heads like rattles. There are very few people in Guangdong who can eat spicy food.
Hou Yao smiled contemptuously:
"You are not in good taste."
Zhou Tiesheng chuckled and handed over the gold medal:
"Sir, this thing is only for you and the gang leader. We don't want to suffer this.
Someone gave me this thing just now and asked you to go and meet the driver.
The subordinates didn't know what he meant, so they just asked them to wait where they were."
Hou Yao took the waist badge and weighed it in his hand. It felt heavy. Then he saw it was golden and had the word "郕" written on it.
Then I turned it over and saw the character "王" on the back. My mind couldn't help but connect the two characters together.
King Tan.
Hou Yao almost spat the pork into the pot:
"Damn it, King Tao's waist card, you stupid thing, why can't you learn to recognize two more words? You will be tricked to death sooner or later. Where are they?"
Zhou Tiesheng muttered in his heart: What can I do if I can't learn from you?
"Sir, they are all waiting at the city gate outside Zhenhai Gate in the west...".