147: Personal grudge, Jiang Qianyu's revenge

"Officer Gao, I also want to thank you for helping with our firefighting efforts!"

Li Jiangtao, the captain of the Huangpu District Fire Brigade, shook hands with Gao Ze, Zhou Xiaodong, and the others one by one.

His face was full of smiles and warmth; it was clear that he had truly let out a sigh of relief.

Although his rank was similar to that of Xie Fang, a division-level cadre in the Financial Development Section of the Finance Bureau, and he had absolutely no need to fear her, if any personnel from the Finance Bureau or foreign affairs department had died or been injured, he would certainly have had to shoulder a disciplinary action, or even a major demerit.

"I am a police officer. Seeing a fire happen right in front of me, it was my duty to act!"

Gao Ze chuckled and said, "Captain Li, the person you really should be thanking is Mr. Zhou Xiaodong, Ms. Lili, and this Ms. Jiang Qianyu. She has always cherished her own life, so this is her first time saving someone!"

Li Jiangtao grinned instantly and nodded, saying, "That goes without saying. When you all have time, you can come to our Huangpu District fire station cafeteria, and I'll treat you to a big meal!"

Had they never eaten before?

Zhou Xiaodong and Lili: "..."

Jiang Qianyu, however, had no interest in such small talk. Her beautiful eyes looked coldly at the middle-aged man standing at the entrance of the Peace Hotel: "Manager Chen, you're finally willing to come out."

"When I went to the back kitchen of your Peace Hotel with Officer Gao, you didn't even accompany us. Didn't you tell me over the phone that you were outside the hotel?"

Jiang Qianyu had an extremely vindictive personality and had not forgotten the slight she encountered when accompanying Gao Ze to the back kitchen of the Peace Hotel.

"Furthermore, when Officer Gao pointed out the fire safety hazards in your Peace Hotel in the back kitchen, you swore up and down that the Peace Hotel had never had a fire in twenty or thirty years."

"Now that you have been warned, and you nearly let Finance Bureau officials and foreign affairs personnel die in a fire, do you still dare to make such boastful claims?"

In an instant, Chen Jingxuan, the person in charge of the Peace Hotel, felt gazes coming from all directions, and the pressure came crashing down like a mountain.

"Ms. Jiang, I am truly sorry. At that time, I really did have business outside the hotel and was unable to meet you and accompany you in time!"

"As for today's fire, it is indeed our hotel's responsibility, but the main reason was those foreign customers carelessly discarding cigarette butts, causing the private room to catch fire!"

"From now on, our Peace Hotel will adopt a cautious attitude and strictly improve our security standards!"

The person in charge of the Peace Hotel was very slippery and not so easy to deal with.

Gao Ze noticed the confrontation between Jiang Qianyu and the person in charge of the Peace Hotel, and more and more dining customers and wealthy merchants were also observing intently.

"Manager Chen, is this your hotel's attitude?"

"Shifting the blame—do you want to smash your hotel's century-old reputation?"

Jiang Qianyu's beautiful eyes were filled with malice as she sneered, "The cause of the fire was indeed a cigarette butt igniting a blanket, but the armored doors installed in your private rooms had their internal electronic components burned by the fire, making them impossible to open. Isn't this your negligence?"

"Just imagine, if Director Xie Fang had been able to open the armored door and escape when the fire started in the private room, or if there had been a fire extinguisher inside the room, would she have needed to face a life-or-death crisis?"

"This..." Chen Jingxuan was tongue-tied and unable to refute.

"This was caused by your hotel's arrogance and negligence!"

Jiang Qianyu continued, "Before dining, Officer Gao and I had already warned your hotel. If you had only been vigilant and taken care to eliminate the safety hazards throughout the entire hotel, this fire would not have occurred."

"But that food runner manager of your back kitchen not only boasted and insisted that the hotel had no safety hazards, but also complained that Officer Gao was meddling in other people's business. Is this how your hotel treats customers?"

"That was just that food runner manager's personal arrogance and cannot represent our entire hotel!"

Chen Jingxuan sighed inwardly, realizing he had to provide an explanation: "Ms. Jiang, I am truly sorry. What kind of resolution do you require?"

"Fire that food runner manager, and your hotel must suspend operations for rectification for three days!"

Chen Jingxuan's eyes widened. That food runner manager was his trusted aide; firing him was already difficult enough, not to mention suspending operations for rectification, which would be a huge blow to the hotel's reputation.

"Ms. Jiang, please forgive us, but we cannot do that!"

"We will only accept the handling methods from the fire department and the city!"

"Is that so?" Jiang Qianyu smiled leisurely, her gaze sweeping over the wealthy merchants including Zhou Xiaodong, Jiang Wenmin, Li Guobang, and Xu Yan, and said, "Mr. Zhou, the Peace Hotel ignored Officer Gao's warnings and was blindly arrogant. Do you think my request is excessive?"

Zhou Xiaodong was the first to speak: "It's not excessive. The hotel must suspend operations for rectification and eliminate safety hazards before reopening!"

Jiang Wenmin, Li Guobang, Xu Yan, and the others knew perfectly well that this was Jiang Qianyu's personal grudge, but they looked at Gao Ze and, seeing that he did not speak up, immediately understood his stance.

"The request is very reasonable. The hotel disregards our safety as customers. If they don't rectify this, I will absolutely never come here again!"

"They don't even listen to Officer Gao's warnings, so they certainly won't consider the opinions of us customers. What is the point of coming to such a hotel?"

"I won't come either. They must suspend operations for rectification. I support Ms. Gao... Ms. Jiang!"

What on earth was going on?

Chen Jingxuan's eyes widened in surprise, scanning Zhou Xiaodong, Jiang Wenmin... all these wealthy merchants one by one.

Wasn't it rumored throughout the wealthy circles of Donghai City that Jiang Ruiming was about to take over the Jiahua Group, and that Jiang Qianyu would completely lose her right of inheritance and was about to lose her influence?

How could Jiang Qianyu have the support of so many wealthy tycoons?