171: Chapter 171 A Great Satisfaction

Across the street, the sign of Zhangs Noodle Shop clattered in the cold wind.

Zhu Wenhao walked in the lead with his hands behind his back, while Police Chief Zhao Gang followed closely, half-dragging Director Zhang Qiu.

Su Qinghan and Director Xu Jie flanked them on both sides.

Before the group could step onto the threshold, the glass door was shoved open from the inside.

The noodle shop owner, Wang Fengjiao, greeted them.

This woman was broad in stature, her face painted with garish, low-quality lipstick, and thick foundation that couldn't hide her inherent vulgarity.

"Oh my, Director Zhang! What brings you here today!"

Wang Fengjiao spotted Director Zhang Qiu immediately, rushed forward enthusiastically, and reached out to grab his arm.

Her gaze drifted past Director Zhang Qiu, landing on Zhu Wenhao and the others behind him, and she grinned from ear to ear.

"Director Zhang really looks out for his own brothers. It's midday, and you've specially brought so many customers to support our business. Please, come in! There are empty seats inside!"

Zhu Wenhao did not refute her, stepping over the threshold and into the shop.

Unlike the cold, quiet atmosphere of the long-established shop across the street, this newly opened Zhangs Noodle Shop was bustling with activity.

However, a closer look revealed the truth.

Those seated here were all weary long-haul truck drivers passing through.

The locals knew the truth; who would trust their stomachs to this establishment?

The dining hall was noisy, and as soon as Wang Fengjiao entered, two long-haul drivers approached her, arguing.

"Boss, is this real beef you're serving? It tastes fishy and sour, and the color is black!"

A big man at another table slammed his chopsticks down.

"Exactly! It's bad enough the meat isn't fresh. Why is there half a caterpillar on your cabbage leaves? Give us a refund! This food is inedible!"

Faced with the angry crowd, Wang Fengjiao's thick-skinned nature was on full display.

She put her hands on her hips and raised her voice to drown everyone out.

"Nonsense! The meat we buy was slaughtered this morning! You can't taste the difference yourself, so you blame my meat? Worms? Those are pesticide-free vegetables grown on our own farm; the presence of worms proves there's no pesticide! Trying to eat for free and extort money? Not a chance!"

Out-of-town drivers, being away from home, feared getting entangled with local bullies.

The two men spat, swore, threw down the money for the noodles, accepted their bad luck, lifted the door curtain, and left.

Standing by the door, Director Xu Jie leveled the lens of her law enforcement recorder.

The red light flickered, capturing Wang Fengjiao's arrogant face along with the drivers' grievances.

Seeing the troublemakers leave, Wang Fengjiao turned and shouted toward the kitchen: "Zhang Li! Your brother is here! Stop busy-bodying in the back, come out and serve the food!"

Zhu Wenhao turned his head: "Director Xu, did you capture the footage outside?"

Director Xu Jie held the device steady with one hand: "Every word, it's all saved in the file."

"Very good."

Zhu Wenhao looked at Director Zhang Qiu, who was shrinking to the side.

"Director Zhang. They are calling for you. It's your turn to step up."

Director Zhang Qiu was pushed to the edge of a cliff.

With Su Qinghan from the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection watching in front, and the Party and Government Office's law enforcement recorder filming from behind.

Driven by the survival instinct to save himself, he steeled himself and walked to the front of the hall.

"Um…" Director Zhang Qiu raised his voice, "I am now representing the Heishi Town Health Supervision Institute. Yes, to conduct a surprise inspection of the kitchen of Zhangs Noodle Shop!"

Wang Fengjiao was stunned.

She didn't understand what kind of madness had taken hold of Director Zhang Qiu.

Without waiting for her to ask, Director Zhang Qiu eagerly turned to wink at his two subordinates.

"You two, hurry up and fill out the inspection form! Follow the procedure!"

He was trying to stall for time by filling out forms, hoping Zhang Li in the kitchen would hear the commotion and hide the incriminating evidence.

How could Zhu Wenhao allow him to delay like this?

"Take your time with the procedure. We'll go in and take a look first."

Zhu Wenhao strode forward, passing the stunned Director Zhang Qiu, and headed straight for the wooden door leading to the kitchen.

Director Xu Jie followed closely, the recorder's lens pointing straight ahead.

Wang Fengjiao finally realized what was happening.

The people Director Zhang Qiu brought weren't customers at all; they were here to raid the place.

"Hey! What are you doing!"

Wang Fengjiao rushed over, relying on her broad physique to block the kitchen entrance like a human wall.

"This is a restricted area! Unauthorized personnel cannot just enter! Don't you have any respect for the law!"

Zhu Wenhao stopped half a step away, not engaging in a verbal dispute.

He turned his head and gave Police Chief Zhao Gang a look.

"Police assisting health supervision enforcement."

Police Chief Zhao Gang stepped forward, grabbed Wang Fengjiao's shoulder, and pulled her aside.

The woman's three-hundred-pound weight was useless against the grappling techniques of a veteran criminal investigator; she was dragged away from the door.

"They're hitting people! Is there no justice left!" Wang Fengjiao wailed.

Zhu Wenhao reached out and pushed open the kitchen door.

A nauseating stench of rot mixed with the sour smell of fermenting sewage rushed into his nose.

Su Qinghan, following behind, couldn't help but cover her nose and mouth with her hand.

This twenty-square-meter kitchen was shockingly filthy.

Thick grease coated the black walls, making the original color of the tiles unrecognizable.

On the chopping board by the window, pieces of dark red, sticky, low-quality beef were piled up carelessly, without even a cover.

Beside it was a pile of unwashed, sandy, rotten cabbage leaves.

Most disgusting of all, several large green-headed flies were circling the sink in the center.

The rat mesh was long gone, and sewage was flowing everywhere.

At the end of the chopping board, Zhang Li had his back to the group.

Hearing the commotion in the front hall, he was in a panic.

He was holding a large plastic basin full of spoiled meat, scrambling to dump it into the slop bucket in the corner, trying to destroy the evidence.

"Stop pouring." Zhu Wenhao spoke up.

Zhang Li's hand shook, and the plastic basin clattered to the ground.

The sour-smelling meat rolled all over the floor, and soup splashed everywhere.

Director Xu Jie steadily held the law enforcement device, capturing the stinking beef, the flowing sewage, and Zhang Li's panic as he destroyed evidence from multiple angles.

Zhu Wenhao surveyed the kitchen with cold eyes.

Facts speak louder than words.

He turned and slowly walked back to the main hall.

Director Zhang Qiu hung his head, his legs weak. He had hoped Zhang Li would be smart enough to smooth things over, but he hadn't expected them to be caught red-handed.

"Director Zhang, you saw it yourself." Zhu Wenhao pointed to the kitchen door, "As the person in charge of the health supervision department, how do you think this noodle shop should be dealt with?"

Director Zhang Qiu's Adam's apple bobbed.

Normally, he would just go through the motions and issue a fine of a thousand or so.

But under the watchful eyes of the Discipline Inspection Commission and the Deputy Secretary of the Town Committee, if he punished lightly, it would be considered shielding, and he would be implicated himself.

Sacrificing the pawn to save the knight is an ancient tactic.

"According to... according to relevant health regulations." Director Zhang Qiu closed his eyes, "The shop's sanitary conditions are extremely poor, posing a major food safety hazard. I order it to be closed immediately for rectification and fined... one hundred thousand!"

One hundred thousand.

In a place with the consumption level of Heishi Town, this was equivalent to passing a death sentence on the shop.

Zhang Li, who had just been driven out of the kitchen, rolled his eyes and nearly fainted on the spot upon hearing the verdict.

"You Zhang! You have no conscience!"

Wang Fengjiao, held by Police Chief Zhao Gang, went completely insane.

This one hundred thousand was going to cost her life; she no longer cared about the kinship of being cousins.

"If you won't let me live, I won't let you live today either!"

Wang Fengjiao broke free from Police Chief Zhao Gang's restraint, rushed to the counter, pulled open the drawer, and flipped out an old, greasy notebook.

She held the book up, looking like a mad tiger.

"You bring those fox friends of yours to eat and drink for free every day! I recorded every single transaction in this book! When did you ever pay a single cent!"

Wang Fengjiao spat everywhere.

"And! The day we opened, I gave you two big red envelopes. You swore that all future health inspections in Heishi Town, and the connections with the Town Government, were all covered by you. Whoever dared to check us, you would make them get lost!"

Wang Fengjiao grew more intense as she spoke.

"Don't even think about denying it! When the money was delivered, the clan elders were all there as witnesses! You were all brothers when you took the money, and now that something has happened, you want to use us as scapegoats?"

Director Zhang Qiu was terrified.

Eating and drinking for free on a tab was at most a matter of conduct, but accepting large red envelopes to act as a protection umbrella, and even involving clan elders as witnesses, this was outright corruption and cronyism.

"Shut up! You crazy woman! Stop talking nonsense!" Director Zhang Qiu's eyes turned red, and he rushed over to cover Wang Fengjiao's mouth.

He turned to look at Zhu Wenhao, his face ashen.

"Secretary Zhu, don't listen to this crazy woman's babbling. None of this happened; she is just holding a grudge because I enforced the law impartially, and she is slandering me!"

This infiltration of government agencies by clan forces was the real purpose of Zhu Wenhao's forced shop inspection today.

Zhu Wenhao ignored Director Zhang Qiu's defense.

"Director Xu." Zhu Wenhao turned his head, "Did you record what she just said?"

Director Xu Jie nodded: "Every word, including the footage of that account book, has been recorded in the file."

"Good." Zhu Wenhao made a decision, "Add one more item. Zhangs Noodle Shop operator Wang Fengjiao has publicly reported Director Zhang Qiu of the Health Institute for bribery and abuse of power."

He turned to look at Police Chief Zhao Gang.

"Director Zhao. Since this owner has officially reported a public official and it involves local forces, to prevent the whistleblower from being retaliated against and to prevent physical evidence from being destroyed."

Zhu Wenhao pointed to the notebook in Wang Fengjiao's hand.

"Contact the special case team from the Municipal Public Security Bureau stationed in the town immediately. Take this owner, along with her account book, back to the Police Station. Protect her strictly and interrogate her carefully. Do not let her be threatened by any external forces."

In the name of protection, it was actually detention and interrogation.

Using the pretext of protecting the whistleblower, he kept the key witness to the clan's corruption securely in his hands.

Police Chief Zhao Gang understood and immediately took out his phone to contact the police officers from the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Before long, a car with Linjiang police license plates stopped outside the shop.

Several plainclothes officers efficiently escorted the still-cursing Wang Fengjiao into the car, along with the old account book.

Zhang Li sat slumped on the ground, while Director Zhang Qiu stood there ashen-faced, at a loss.

This thunderous raid had dismantled the tumor on this street with overwhelming force.

"Team, pack up. Let's go eat noodles across the street." Zhu Wenhao straightened his jacket hem.

The group returned to Auntie Cui's long-established shop across the street.

Seeing them return, and witnessing Zhangs Noodle Shop being sealed, the elderly couple was moved to tears and thanked them repeatedly.

They specially went into the kitchen and cooked four large bowls of the most generous mutton noodles.

At the table, Zhu Wenhao ate quietly.

A bowl of hot noodle soup dispelled the winter chill.

The development of the local economy begins with cleaning up the environment. If bad money is allowed to drive out good, the business soil of Heishi Town will never have a chance to turn around.

After the meal.

Director Xu Jie took Su Qinghan to the dormitory building, and Zhu Wenhao returned to the office building alone.

Passing through the corridor, he pushed open the door of the Deputy Secretary's office.

He had just taken off his jacket and hung it on the coat rack, picking up the white porcelain cup on the table to pour some warm water to moisten his throat.

There were two rhythmic knocks on the door outside.

"Come in."

Zhu Wenhao put down his water cup.

The solid wood door was pushed open.

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang walked in, carrying a stainless steel thermos.

"Secretary Zhu, just got back from eating?"

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang rested half his body on the guest sofa and placed the thermos on the coffee table.

"Town Mayor Luo, is something the matter?" Zhu Wenhao turned and walked toward the large desk.

The overall situation of the world is affected by the slightest move.