Chapter 102: Grand Opening Disturbance
Liu Liang had been with the Bureau of Industry and Commerce for over a decade without a single promotion, working as a frontline enforcement officer.
Why? Because he was too impartial, never bending the law for personal gain, which meant he’d offended a lot of people.
But he was also undeniably competent, so the bureau’s leadership couldn’t bring themselves to fire him. Instead, they just kept him on the front lines.
As it happened, Liu Liang and Liu Tianwang were distantly related—cousins several times removed. This whole affair had been instigated by Liu Tianwang, partly as a way to help out his relative.
After all, besides their salaries, frontline officers earned bonuses, and those bonuses came from busting business owners for illegal operations.
Boss Cao glanced at the certificate Shen Lu handed over. It looked nothing like his own business license.
’This is a sure thing.’
’If that certificate isn’t fake, he’d do a handstand right here and wash his hair in the gutter.’
First, Liu Liang felt the paper of the certificate. He then took out his work-issued Light Brain and shone it on a corner of the document. An extremely well-hidden QR code lit up with a fluorescent glow. He scanned it, and the relevant information quickly appeared.
The man froze for a moment, his lips pressing into a tight line.
Seeing his expression, Boss Cao couldn’t wait to pronounce Shen Lu’s doom. "Xiao Shen, even if you’re going to buy a fake certificate, you should at least find a convincing one! A business license doesn’t look anything like that! You really are..."
"Remember to pay your taxes on time." Liu Liang cut off Boss Cao’s tirade flatly. He returned the certificate to Shen Lu. "Also, you should hang this type of certificate on the wall to avoid similar misunderstandings in the future."
"Thank you for the reminder." Shen Lu nodded acceptingly. "Officer, if you’re not busy, why not sit down for a drink of water? Thank you for making the trip."
"No need."
Liu Liang turned and left with his men in a rush. It wasn’t until the two black enforcement vehicles had driven away that the crowd started to process what had happened.
"How could they just leave?"
"They left, so does that mean there’s no problem with this shop?"
"Probably. If there was a problem, they would have definitely taken the young owner away."
"Bullshit!" Boss Cao roared, lunging to snatch the license from Shen Lu’s hand. "You think I’ve never seen a business license before? Don’t forget, I used to run a shop myself! A real license looks nothing like yours!"
Xue Can blocked Boss Cao’s arm, and Shen Lu smoothly took a step back.
"Boss Cao, what are you doing?" Shen Lu tilted her head, the very picture of innocence. "The people from the Bureau of Industry and Commerce already checked my certificate and didn’t see any problems, yet you’re the one making a scene. What, are you their boss?"
Boss Cao was so infuriated by her that he blurted out everything he had done.
Shen Lu gave a disdainful smile. "In that case, I’m afraid I’ve made you waste your money, Boss Cao."
"I’m going to report you! I’m going to the main bureau in the Upper City District to report you all!" Overcome with rage, Boss Cao started making threats. "Just you wait! When the time comes, you and whoever made that fake certificate for you won’t get away!"
Boss Cao had subconsciously assumed Shen Lu would have gone through the Lower City District’s bureau, since her shop was on Gold Street. He’d never considered she would go to the main bureau.
’So... she got this certificate from the main bureau?’
Boss Cao’s expression shifted again and again as he glared at Shen Lu, grinding his teeth.
’Fine, fine, fine. So he’d underestimated Shen Lu.’
Boss Cao suddenly recalled the rumors about Shen Lu. They said she used to be the young lady of the Shen Family from the Upper City District, but she wasn’t a true-born daughter. Later, when the real young lady returned, she, the fake one, was kicked out.
’That’s right. How could he have forgotten? Shen Lu had lived in the Upper City District for so many years; she must have some friends there who could help her.’
’This time, he’d truly drawn water with a bamboo basket—a complete and utter waste of effort!’
Once he put the pieces together, Boss Cao deflated like a punctured balloon. Still, he shot one last threat over his shoulder to save face before turning and storming off resentfully.
"Take care, Boss Cao! You’re welcome to come by my shop for a meal next time," Shen Lu called out politely. Her smug little expression was reminiscent of a proud kitten.
The camera from "The Real Scoop" captured the entire scene, and the livestream chat was full of people stating the obvious after the fact.
—This guy is such a buffoon.
—The girl is so pretty, she can’t be a bad person.
—Can all you simps who only care about looks go die somewhere else?
Shen Lu walked to the front of her shop and announced loudly, "We had a small incident just now, but it’s all been resolved. My shop may be small, but all our paperwork is in order. We are law-abiding citizens, so please rest assured."
Shen Lan bit her lip, unwilling to accept that Shen Lu had navigated the crisis so easily.
’She’s stealing the benefits that come with my identity! If she hadn’t been the Shen Family’s young lady before, how could she possibly know people in the Upper City District, let alone skip the Lower City District’s bureau and have someone pull strings to get a certificate from the main bureau?’
Shen Lan felt as if something of hers had been stolen, and it made her deeply uncomfortable.
"That still doesn’t prove your crayfish aren’t poisonous! What kind of business owner sells at a loss? You probably got them from some shady source—diseased, toxic crayfish, right?"
Shen Lan remained hidden in the crowd, lowering her voice to spread the rumor.
Shen Lu’s gaze shifted slightly in that direction. "If there was a problem with the crayfish, are any of the customers who ate them showing symptoms of discomfort?"
Shen Lan was relentless. "Not now, but that doesn’t mean they won’t later! Maybe there’s a virus with an incubation period?"
Shen Lu shot Xue Can a look. He understood and nodded, then moved silently toward Shen Lan’s position.
"If any customer experiences any discomfort from eating my crayfish, this shop will take full responsibility."
"What’s the point of that? Who knows what kind of illness they might get? What if they just drop dead and don’t even get a chance to be treated?"
Shen Lan grew more and more excited as she spoke. She kept her head down, trying to minimize her presence for fear of being discovered, but her mouth kept moving uncontrollably, slinging mud at Shen Lu with every word.
"Unless you can reveal where these crayfish came from, then you’re selling diseased, poisonous crayfish!"
Before the words had even left her mouth, a large hand grabbed the back of her collar and unceremoniously dragged her out of the crowd.
Shen Lan let out a shriek before quickly clamping a hand over her mouth, struggling to break free from Xue Can’s grip.
Shen Lu crossed her arms, watching the person who was wearing sunglasses, a face mask, and even had all their hair tucked into a hat. While the person was busy struggling against Xue Can, Shen Lu abruptly snatched off her sunglasses and mask.
’As expected, it was Shen Lan.’
"What are you doing?!" Like a rat causing trouble from the shadows, Shen Lan was suddenly stripped of her disguise. A powerful sense of unease washed over her, and she clawed at the air, trying to get Shen Lu to give back her sunglasses and mask.
Shen Lu took half a step back, putting herself just out of reach.
"Isn’t this Miss Shen? Why are you dressed like this, hiding in the crowd? Are you up to something shady?"
"Don’t you dare make baseless accusations!" Shen Lan’s face flushed with anger, and tears welled up in her eyes. "It’s my freedom to dress however I want! How can you just slander me like that?"