Mrs. Lu had been worrying about her rental contract being rejected. After the rejection, she received a lot of complaints from her family. They blamed her for losing this renter.
Wang Yuqin was so angry that she sulked in her room alone. She was doing this for her family. She just wanted to help raise her family’s income.
They bought a house in the city center, and the price was ridiculously expensive.
A three-bedroom, two-living, 120-square-meter house with a down payment of 600,000 to 700,000 RMB. The down payment and renovation alone had used up all the savings of the Lu family, and they had also incurred a huge debt later on.
Now, not only did they have to pay the mortgage every month, but they also had relatives and friends coming over from time to time to collect the debt. Together with their daily expenses, the monthly expenses were a huge sum.
The two elders had retired and some retirement funds. However, they had taken out all their savings to buy the house. They had to save some. What if something emergency happened?
They had a pair of children. The son was unemployed, and the daughter was in university. So the only breadwinner was her husband, Lu Qingliang.
Lu Qingliang was a general employee of a state-owned enterprise. He was quite senior, but his monthly income was only 10,000 RMB.
He had a mortgage, a car loan, and daily expenses. How could 10,000 be enough?
Therefore, the family was counting on renting the old house.
However, the house was in a slightly remote area. It had four floors, and combined with the surrounding area, it had a total area of more than 2,000 square meters. The family was willing to sell for five million, but no one was willing to buy at that price. Therefore, they thought about renting it. They posted the ad for three months. There were people who came to ask about it but they all said that the price was too high.
Finally, someone was willing to rent it for 36,000. Mrs. Lu thought the other party could afford to pay a higher rent, but…
It had been three days, but the other party did not pick up her call. The other party did not give her a call either. She was anxious.
She felt like she should go to Taoyuan Village’s Green Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Supermarket to take a look. She would find the general manager and see if she could reach the boss from there.
When she took the car and arrived at the supermarket’s entrance, she saw a group of people surrounding the supermarket entrance. The group didn’t look like customers. They were more like a mob. She was puzzled.
Then, she heard some people discussing animatedly.
“I heard that the vegetables in this supermarket are injected with hormones, so they are very fresh.”
“Also, I heard that these vegetables are grown with drugs, so eating them will cause people to become addicted.”
“No wonder many people said that after eating the vegetables from this shop, they can’t eat other people’s vegetables anymore. It turns out that it’s because of the drugs.”
“How do you think this black-hearted merchant came up with this idea? Using drugs to water the vegetables?”
Someone asked in puzzlement, “With so many vegetables, where did this boss get so many drugs?”
“Yeah, drugs aren’t cheap. This supermarket has many chains. There are already eleven chain stores, including this one. I hear that the boss is preparing to open a second chain in City N. The drugs needed to supply such a big chain should be more than several kilograms.”
“Hehe, with such a large amount, it should have been noticed by the police a long time ago, right? How could it only be exposed now?”
“Maybe the boss has a powerful background?”
Wang Yuqin asked a girl in confusion, “Miss, what are you talking about? What is happening?”
The girl replied, “Auntie, someone exposed on the internet that the reason why the vegetables and food here are so delicious is that the boss mixed the water with drugs to water the vegetables. The customers thus became addicted to them. After seeing the news, many customers came to mount a protest.”
Wang Yuqin frowned and immediately said, “How sinful is that? That’s poisoning everyone!” Wang Yuqin asked curiously, “Then has the person in charge been arrested?”
The girl smiled and said, “Auntie, this is just gossip. There is no evidence at all. Without evidence, how would the police department dare to arrest people?”
“But everyone is saying the same thing,” Wang Yuqin said indignantly, “Isn’t that evidence?”
The girl laughed and said, “Auntie, you have to be kidding, right? If the police arrest people based on internet comments, the whole world would be lawless already.”
When Wang Yuqin heard this, she felt a little regretful but also a little glad.
Regretful because this meant that Taoyuan Village’s Green Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Supermarket wouldn’t be able to open a second chain at City N. Her family would lose the rental income.
Thankful because she didn’t rent her house to this boss. Or else it would ruin the reputation of her house. Now, she still had the option of renting it to someone else.
Wang Yuqin watched the bustle in front of the supermarket for a while before leaving. She didn’t find the person in charge of the supermarket.
…
Not only the supermarket in City N was attacked, but all the supermarkets were also affected by the news. It caused a major panic.
There was protest everywhere. People demanded an explanation, or they would smash the supermarket.
Such a matter quickly made the headlines of the day, the hot news, and various newspapers and media outlets.
Taoyuan Village’s Green Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Supermarket became infamous. They became the nation’s most hated enemy.
…
“CEO Xiao, as you instructed, except for the shops in city z, the rest of the supermarkets have been closed. At the moment, the protesters are merely shouting loudly. No actual damage has been done yet!” Zeng Yaozu reported solemnly.
Fortunately, they focused on the high-end route. Most of the people who came to buy vegetables and do business were either rich or noble.
Most of these people were more educated and wise. They were not the kind of people who’d succumb to rumors. However, they were also waiting for an explanation.
As for the protestors, most of them were ordinary people who had occasionally bought things in the supermarket.
These people were probably angry and resentful. After all, these vegetables were too expensive. They could not buy them every day. When this news came out, it was as if they had found an outlet, and it all exploded.
However, the online exposure didn’t have any evidence, so the protests hadn’t gotten violent.
Therefore, things were quite stable for now.
This was especially true in City Z.
The supermarket in City Z didn’t even close its doors. It continued to open its doors to welcome customers and did business as usual.
Of course, due to the influence of the online news, there were still some people who came to cause trouble.
However, when they came to cause trouble, there were people who retaliated.
“Hehe, you said that these vegetables were watered by drugs. Can you hear yourself? How much would that cost?”
“Plus, this has already happened before. Someone also suspected that the vegetables in this supermarket were injected with hormones and were contaminated with drugs. However, the authoritative food inspection agency had tested these vegetables. The vegetables actually have active molecules that are beneficial to the body.
“At that time, this test report was reported in the newspaper and also in the news media. Haven’t you seen it?”
“Also, this fruit and vegetable supermarket has been open for a long time. I’ve never heard of any accidents. But I’ve heard of many praises.
“Since you suspect these vegetables are harmful, don’t buy them. It’s perfect. We can buy more.”
“Some of the vegetables here are limited. We often can’t get them. So do us a service and don’t buy them. And stop shouting!”
The protesters, “…” They just wanted to use this opportunity to force the supermarket manager to give them some money. They didn’t expect such a reaction from the customers.
…
Xiao Lingyun turned on her computer and saw an overwhelming amount of news about Taoyuan Village’s Green Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Supermarket. Some of the comments under the news were simply unsightly. She was so angry that her face turned green and red.
When An Xiaohui saw the comments on the news, her eyes were red, and tears were about to roll down her cheeks.
She bit her lips and said regretfully, “CEO Xiao, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault for harming the company and everyone. If I hadn’t recruited Bai Shanshan, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Xiao Lingyu didn’t say anything, but Xiao Lingyun yelled angrily, “That Bai Shanshan is really too much. She looks so harmless, but she has such a vicious heart. How have we mistreated her? She actually fabricated these things on the Internet. It’s really too detestable.”
Thinking of that round-faced, big-eyed, and rosy-cheeked girl, Xiao Lingyun was really angry. One shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.
Such a beautiful and cute girl actually had a venomous heart.
When she was in the company, everyone would take care of her. They didn’t let her do too much work because she looked so cute. They paid her well too.
But this person was just so cold and heartless!
She did something wrong, but not only did she not admit it, she even pushed all the blame onto others.
Xiao Lingyu would not tolerate the existence of such a person.
Hence, Xiao Lingyu decided to fire Bai Shanshan.
But this Baishanshan…
An Xiaohui felt extremely guilty.
She blamed herself and said, “CEO Xiao, it’s all my fault. When I saw her at the job market, she was being ostracized by others. Then, she walked to my seat and cried.
“She told me that these people were jealous of her high education and good looks. They were afraid that she would snatch a good position in a good company, so they weren’t willing to hang out with her.My heart softened, so I invited her to our company. But I didn’t expect…”
An Xiaohui knew that Xiao Lingyu had always said that she was too soft-hearted and kind, but she had never expected it would cause such great damage to the company. She felt so guilty.
She had completely betrayed Xiao Lingyu’s trust in her. The more she thought about it, the more guilty she felt and blamed herself. An Xiaohui could not help but cry.
She cried and said, “CEO Xiao, no matter how you punish me, I will accept it. But please don’t fire me. I really like working here! Sob…”
Xiao Lingyu sighed, “Xiaohui, I hope that you’ll learn from this lesson. I’ve said it before, being too soft-hearted doesn’t mean we’re being kind.”
An Xiaohui nodded. “Yes, I’ll remember it this time. But CEO Xiao, please don’t fire me!”
Xiao Lingyu smiled and said, “Silly, I didn’t say I was going to fire you!” At this point, she paused and said coldly, “It’s not entirely your fault. It’s just that someone took advantage of you.”
Xiao Lingyu asked Xiao Xinxin, “Xinxin, how do you think this matter should be resolved?”
Xiao Xinxin thought for a while and said, “The most direct way now is to send a lawyer’s letter to Bai Shanshan! Directly sue her for slander! Bai Shanshan is spouting nonsense for revenge,but there is no basis for anything. We can go through legal procedures!”
Xiao Lingyu smiled and nodded. “Mm, not bad. What else?”
Xiao Xinxin’s nearly two years of study were indeed not in vain.
The first thing she thought of now was to use the law to defend her rights and interests.
Xiao Xinxin continued, “Also, we need to find the most authoritative testing organization to send our products to be tested and reveal the report as soon as possible. Once that is posted, the public will see that we’ve been slandered.”
“Yes, you’re right,” Xiao Lingyu nodded. “But there’s one thing. When we send our products to be tested, we must have the most authoritative organization follow the procedure at every step! Only then will the test report be credible!”
Xiao Lingyun’s eyes lit up. She smiled and asked, “Sis, do you mean to involve the government agency?”
Xiao Lingyu nodded, “Yes. It’s best if we can get the agency from South City Council. If we can’t, we can find people from other cities. However, they have to be at least above the municipal bureau level.”
“But we don’t have any connections in the South City Council. How are we going to contact them?” Zeng Yaozu frowned and asked.
Xiao Lingyu was silent for a moment and said, “Leave this to me!” She had been in business for more than half a year. She had some new connections.
“Actually, you can leave this to me!” A man’s voice came from the door.
“Why are you here?”
Seeing the person who appeared at the door, Xiao Lingyu and Xiao Lingyun were very surprised.
