Siheyuan: A master brewer starts with a jar of bone-strengthening wine!

The next day, the number of guests was reduced by half.

On the third day, less than 30% of the attendees came.

The fourth day was sparse and few.

On the fifth day, the area was completely cleared out—not a single person was seen.

For Fan Jinyou, this was just the beginning. What alarmed him even more was yet to come.

Neighborhood committee.

Director Zhang, carrying a blue cloth bag, rushed into the office: "Xiao Bao! Xiao Xu!"

"Hurry up, hurry up, bring me the list of merchants whose contracts are to be evaluated and signed today!"

"Oh my goodness, we've been so busy these past few days, we're short-staffed! We can't even spare enough staff for the general manager, so the higher-ups have just filled in with everyone they can!"

Director Zhang shook his head.

That's right, she was in charge of the Qianmen and Dashilan area, where shops were packed together like an anthill.

In the past few days, thanks to Xu Huizhen's leadership in the joint venture, many merchants have voluntarily signed up, eager to put up the public-private partnership sign overnight.

But today, the situation suddenly changed.

Before long, two young staff members came in and handed over only a thin stack of papers.

"Hmm?" Director Zhang's eyes narrowed, and his brows furrowed immediately. "Just these two?"

"Yes." Xiao Bao nodded. "Director Zhang, today... only two were reported."

"Impossible!" Director Zhang stood up abruptly. "Wasn't it quite lively these past few days? How come it suddenly got so quiet?"

Xiao Bao was also puzzled: "I'm wondering the same thing. The street is so quiet, not a single person has come to ask."

Director Zhang grabbed the documents and headed straight for the back door of the neighborhood committee.

A few days ago, the line here stretched for half a block, filled with business owners waiting to sign their papers.

Today? The place is deserted, and the cold wind makes scraps of paper fly everywhere.

She's been in this line of work for decades, and her nose is incredibly sensitive—something must have happened.

"Something's happened! Something terrible has happened!" she yelled at the two young people. "Quick, come with me to the street, let's see what's going on!"

Dashilan.

As usual, it was packed with people.

Although the joint ventures are in full swing, ordinary people still need to go shopping. This is one of the busiest areas in Beijing.

Two small shops stand side by side. One sells breakfast, and the owner's surname is Lu. He fries dough sticks, steams buns, and makes sugar cakes fresh, creating a lively and bustling atmosphere.

Next door was a hardware and ironware shop, owned by a man surnamed Luo who spent his days sitting at the entrance drinking tea.

Just then, Boss Luo looked across the street and shouted, "Old Lu, have you heard? The first pilot joint venture tavern has gone bankrupt!"

"Heh..." Boss Lu sneered, "It spread yesterday, how could we not know?"

"That private manager, Xu Huizhen, who used to run the tavern, was kicked out!"

"Can you believe how disheartening this is? And this is a pilot unit! They made all sorts of promises when we signed the contract, saying we'd get bonuses and high salaries, but once the contract was signed, they went back on their word, turning the high salary into 'no salary'—it was all just empty talk!"

"Exactly!" Old Lu sighed. "This public-private partnership is a very complicated situation. We can't be rash; we have to wait and see. Who knows what other unexpected problems might arise!"

"well……"

They weren't the only ones discussing it.

The entire Dashilan area and the entire Qianmen area are talking about this matter.

"Have you heard?"

"That tavern that went into partnership has started selling counterfeit alcohol!"

"The liquor is all diluted with water; it tastes sweet the moment you drink it. Who knows what they added!"

"This is outrageous! How can a government-owned store do this?"

Good things don't go out, bad things pass thousands of miles.

Merchants who had been hesitant suddenly retreated, and ordinary people were also starting to have doubts. If even the pilot program turned out like this, what could they expect from anything else?

Director Zhang, accompanied by two assistants, inquired along the way.

She has lived in this area for decades. She is sweet-talking and hardworking, and the people are willing to talk to her.

In just ten minutes, the cause and effect were clear.

"Fan Jinyou... that bastard! He's utterly heartless!"

Director Zhang slammed his hand on the wall in anger, throwing the documents in his hand to the ground with a clatter. "You all go back to the neighborhood committee first. I'll go to the tavern myself!"

She walked all the way to the front of the tavern.

Pushing open the door, I entered a completely empty room; not even a fly could be seen.

Fan Jinyou looked up and immediately put on a smile: "Oh, Director Zhang is here? Please have a seat!"

Director Zhang stared at him, his voice as cold as ice: "Fan Jinyou, you tell me properly, what exactly happened?" Director Zhang had yelled at Fan Jinyou as soon as he entered the room: "Where's Xu Huizhen? Who told you to kick her out?"

Did you even think about the consequences?

"Now, things have gotten really interesting; they're even selling counterfeit alcohol now, huh?"

Director Zhang was so angry that his chest ached and his face turned pale.

Fan Jinyou smirked coldly, "Oh, Director Zhang, you've come here to interrogate me? But my official position is just a street official's name, not yours. What's wrong with me diluting the liquor a little? Old He did the same thing when he ran his shop, why can't I?"

"You know nothing!" Director Zhang slammed his fist on the table and stood up. "Old He's watering down his liquor and people still come in! Look at you, how much did the tavern make yesterday? Not a single coin! A whole night of work for nothing!"

"Yes!" Fan Jinyou said stiffly, "We really didn't make any money."

"But we're looking at a long-term business, not just immediate profits. What's the big deal if we don't have money? The government will allocate funds, and the higher-ups will provide support. Do you think no one will take care of these things?" He was still unconvinced and kept spouting out his own set of arguments.

"I...I..." Director Zhang slumped in her chair, her finger trembling as she pointed at him, "You've really made me so angry I'm heartbroken..."

"Fan Jinyou, Fan Jinyou, you've caused a huge disaster!"

"Now, everyone in the Penglan Street and Qianmen area is saying that the public-private partnership should be abandoned! Xu Huizhen, the private manager, can be dismissed so easily. What kind of cooperation and trust is this?"

"All the goodwill I'd worked so hard to build up, you just kicked it all away!"

"Huh?" Fan Jin was taken aback, and the relaxation on his face vanished instantly.

He never imagined that firing one person would cause such a huge mess.

If I delay the joint venture's progress in the entire street because of my own little matter, I'll really be in big trouble.

It's over! It's over!

A thought flashed through her mind, and she immediately shifted the blame: "It wasn't me! Auntie, please don't wrong an innocent person. Xu Hui really left on her own. She wrote a resignation letter. It has nothing to do with me!"

"You think it's okay just because you say so?" Just then, an angry shout came from the doorway, the voice deep and hard, like a stone hitting the ground.

The door was pushed open with a bang, and Director Li from the neighborhood committee walked in with a dark face, his eyes fixed on Fan Jinyou. He shouted, "Fan Jinyou!"

thump--

Fan Jinyou's legs went weak, and he knelt down on the ground. "Director Li... this really isn't my fault..."

"Fan Jinyou!" Director Li glared and cursed, "If I were to take a pig and make it the manager of a tavern, it wouldn't have messed things up like this!"

"Is your brain filled with lead or stuffed with shit? Who gave you the right to fire Xu Huizhen? Huh? What were you thinking?"