Reborn in 1991, I opened supermarkets all over the world.

A reporter pointed his camera at Qiao Ling and said, "Boss, I think you should just return the goods to them."

The man in the white vest said, "Big department stores usually offer a three-fold compensation for counterfeit goods. I don't want you to pay three times the price. Just refund me the cost of the towels, and the rest is none of my business."

Qiao Ling raised a finger and said firmly, "I won't return a single penny! Jiang Ce, call the police! Call Chief Wang directly."

At the same time, Qiao Ling turned to the store's regular customers and said, "Please stay and be a witness to see if our store sold counterfeit or substandard products, or if someone is deliberately causing trouble. If it turns out we didn't sell substandard products, everyone here will receive a box of eggs. Otherwise, I'll smash up my own store."

Her voice was strong and clear, but she was actually incredibly nervous inside.

She wasn't worried that the inferior products actually came from New Age; her main concern was that she had never faced an emergency of this magnitude before.

But Lu Zifeng wasn't there, so she had to step in.

Not far away, Lu Zifeng, who had just returned from the city, was leaning against the utility pole where he used to eat boxed lunches, watching the situation in the mall.

Gu Quan stubbed out his cigarette on the utility pole and said, "There's something I'm not sure if I should say."

Lu Zifeng glanced at him: "You won't give up even if I don't tell you."

Gu Quan chuckled: "If Lin Siyan were in this situation, wouldn't you have rushed in already?"

"Lin Siyan won't face this situation, but my sister Ling will have to stand on her own sooner or later. Are you satisfied with that?"

Back at the mall, the troublemakers felt a little guilty when they saw that Jiang Ce had actually called the police station.

The man in the floral shirt sneered, "So, you're the one who's accusing me first? Fine, I can afford to lose money on a bottle of soy sauce. As long as the masses can see your true colors, what's a few cents to me?"

After saying that, the group prepared to retreat.

They've already spread the word, and reporters have taken photos, including the signboard.

The mission is complete.

They were just waiting for the news to spread, for rumors to spread like wildfire, for the situation to escalate, and for the shopping mall to go bankrupt.

"Don't go!" Qiao Ling tried to stop them, but was pushed by the woman in the floral shirt and almost fell. Fortunately, Zhong Qin caught her.

"Fuck your mother!" Jiang Ce couldn't hold back any longer. He stepped forward, grabbed the collar of the floral shirt, and slammed him against the wall.

The man in the white vest and several reporters, under the guise of dissuading Jiang Ce, stepped forward and pushed him, attempting to free the man in the floral shirt.

Qiao Ling was worried that Jiang Ce couldn't handle it alone, so she asked the crowd, "If we call the police, they'll run away. Who's hiding something? We're all smart enough to know, right?"

Many of the onlookers, including some reasonable people, pointed at the group and said, "That's right, if you really want an explanation, calling the police would be in your best interest. Why are you running away?"

The man in the white vest said, "Who said we're running away? We just don't want to waste our time on something that costs a few cents."

Qiao Ling sneered: "You guys? You admit you're in cahoots, huh?"

The onlookers burst into laughter.

A customer in the store shouted, "Comrade Qiao, I believe you! When can I pick up the eggs?"

The onlookers burst into laughter again.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Qiao Ling shouted, "Help me stop these people. Once the police arrive and clear our names, we'll collect the eggs."

"Yes, yes, yes!" A burly man ran over: "If they get away and can't clear their name, none of us will get the eggs."

Seeing everyone's willingness to help, Qiao Ling said with a choked voice, "Although we haven't been in business for long, you're all long-time employees. You're the ones who have the most say in whether our products are good or bad."

Everyone shook their heads: "Anyway, there's nothing wrong with what I bought."

"This is such a big store, they've invested so much money in it, why would they cheat us out of a few dollars?"

"..."

Qiao Ling was deeply moved and bowed to everyone present, saying, "Thank you all."

"Scatter! Scatter!" Wang Jianguo walked in with two police officers: "What's going on?"

The man in the floral shirt, pinned against the wall by Jiang Ce, shouted, "Comrade, their shop sells counterfeit and shoddy products, and they even assault people!"

Wang Jianguo pointed at Jiang Ce: "You, let go!"

Jiang Ce said viciously, "If I were to actually make a move, he'd be lying on the ground by now!"

However, now that Wang Jianguo has brought his men, Jiang Ce can finally relax.

As soon as Jiang Ce let go, the group tried to run away, but were blocked by the onlookers.

Wang Jianguo looked at the group and said, "ID cards. And you guys, ID cards, press cards."

Those people all shook their heads and said they didn't bring it.

These days, it's understandable not to carry your ID card, but it's unacceptable for a reporter to go out on an interview without their press pass.

Wang Jianguo already had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on, and asked Qiao Ling, "Can you prove that this bottle of soy sauce and this towel didn't come from your store?"

Qiao Ling snatched the towel from the woman in the white vest and glanced at it: "He cut off the label; that's clearly a guilty conscience. But we always order in batches, and we don't even have this style of towel. You can't possibly say we order all other styles by the dozen, but only one of this style, can you?"

She then took the soy sauce from the woman in the floral shirt and said, "The date on this is indeed expired, but the manufacturer stamps the production date according to the batch when it leaves the warehouse. We haven't been open for long, so the packaging boxes are still there. Zhong Qin, go and get the packaging boxes of this brand of soy sauce for everyone to see. Director Wang can go to the manufacturer to verify at any time; they will definitely have batch documents that match ours."

Wang Jianguo smiled and said, "That's a matter for industry and commerce and food safety. I'm only responsible for causing trouble."

He turned to look at the troublemakers and asked, "Where do you live?"

Those people stammered and couldn't answer. They weren't familiar with Dong County, so even if they made it up, they couldn't come up with a real address.

"So, you're from out of town? I thank you all for coming all the way to our Dongxian County just to buy a bottle of soy sauce and a towel?"

Upon hearing this, the onlookers burst into laughter again.

At this point, the rumors were disproven.

What Wang Jianguo had to do was take these people back and deal with them according to Article 22 of the Public Security Administration Punishment Law, which addresses "fabricating facts to falsely accuse and frame others" and defamation (insulting others' dignity)—because they shouted in public that "this shopping mall sells expired food," which constituted defamation against the mall's management and employees.

What awaits them is detention and fines.

As for whether he could pry the mastermind out of them, that was another thing Wang Jianguo needed to do.

Before anyone knew it, Lu Zifeng was already standing next to Qiao Ling.

As soon as Qiao Ling saw him, tears welled up in her eyes and started to fall.

Lu Zifeng reached out and wiped away her tears, smiling as he said, "Weren't you quite assertive just now?"

Qiao Ling couldn't explain it either.

I was barely holding on by sheer willpower, but when I saw someone I could rely on, my heart softened, and tears started streaming down my face uncontrollably. It felt like the day I lost my home.

An elderly woman nearby interrupted them and asked, "Boss, can we collect the eggs now?"