A chef brandishing a cleaver said, "You're telling us to watch our words? Are you kidding me? Pay up or you're not leaving today!"
Chen Xinyu took out her phone and said, "I'll call Zhang Zihan."
One of the foremen said, "It's no use calling us; we only care about money."
The result indicated that the other party's phone was switched off. Calling Geng Qiuhan again yielded the same result. Chen Xinyu was now certain that these two were responsible for the incident. She snorted and sneered. The image of these two men in her mind was completely ruined.
The shouts of "Give me money, give me money... give me money!" continued. This group was planning to make a big scene. Only in this way could they meet Zhang Zihan's requirements and get the bonus. It would be best to attract the surrounding people and create as far-reaching an impact as possible.
Zhao Qiang finally put down his chopsticks and asked, "You're here to ask for money? We haven't even finished our meal yet. You're in such a hurry. Call your manager over. I want to ask him how this service is done."
The supervisor snorted, "Calling us manager? Who do you think you are? Bringing a whole bunch of people here to dine and dash with such arrogance? This is the first time I've ever encountered such a thing. I've seen shameless people before, but I've never seen anyone this shameless."
One of the security guards said, "Stop wasting time talking to him. I think we should beat him up first." The guard's mission was to take the opportunity to beat Zhao Qiang up. If he succeeded, he would receive an extra reward, which is why he was in a hurry to make the first move.
Zhao Qiang said, "If you order, then we won't pay for the meal. You can choose one."
The security guard looked at the chef, and the chef looked at the security guard again. They didn't know which one to choose. However, theoretically, Zhang Zihan and Geng Qiuhan were not short of money, so what they wanted to see more was to embarrass this man. Therefore, the security guard chose to beat Zhao Qiang up. As for the money, it would naturally be paid by Zhang Zihan or Geng Qiuhan. This is what they call "the monk may run away, but the temple will not."
Two security guards rushed up: "Then we'll beat you up first." The two were unarmed. After all, the hotel security guards are different from those in other places. They don't usually carry weapons. In their opinion, the two of them should be more than enough to fight Zhao Qiang, because Zhao Qiang didn't look like a very capable fighter. He was more like a pretty boy than a gentle and refined man.
Chen Xinyu wasn't in a hurry at all. Instead, she secretly scoffed at the two security guards. She had already witnessed how powerful Zhao Qiang was in Africa. These two were just asking for trouble. Sure enough, Zhao Qiang made his move. His agility was far beyond what these two security guards could match. Before their fists could even touch Zhao Qiang's body, Zhao Qiang's fist struck the first one in the face. Bang! This man fell backward with blood spurting from his nose. Just then, the other security guard rushed over, and this man crashed into him. Both of them staggered and fell to the ground at the same time. Because they rushed and fell so quickly, neither of them could get up immediately. The guy with the broken nose was in even worse shape, his face covered in blood. He probably wouldn't be able to go back to work for at least ten days or two weeks, and he might even be disfigured.
It was that simple, one punch was all it took. The remaining chefs and waiters were a little scared, but the chef was carrying a weapon, so it seemed like it was their turn to step in. However, the chef had never used a kitchen knife to attack anyone before, and his hand holding the knife trembled slightly. He pointed at Zhao Qiang with his other finger and said, "You, you stay away, or I'll really chop you up."
Zhao Qiang kicked out, and whoosh! The cleaver flew from the chef's hand, passing right in front of another chef. A few strands of hair on his forehead were cut off, and the cleaver landed on the ground with a soft thud. The cleaver then slammed into the cement wall with a bang, most of the blade embedded in the wall, leaving only the handle trembling. The waiters screamed in fright, and the chef whose hair had been cut off was completely stunned. His heart pounded wildly, and his legs gave way, causing him to collapse to the ground.
Zhao Qiang shook his head and picked up his chopsticks again: "I think I'll eat some more. You guys are no match for us. It would be best to find someone stronger."
They were no match for him in a fight, and the rest of them scattered. They weren't stupid enough to let themselves get beaten up for a small tip.
Hiding in the shadows, Zhang Zihan stomped her feet in anger, while Geng Qiuhan said with some worry, "Director Zhang, things are not good. It turns out this Zhao Qiang is such a good fighter."
Zhang Zihan said, "We should have thought of this a long time ago. I guess he protected Chen Xinyu in Africa by being good at fighting, which is why he won Chen Xinyu's favor. We are using our weaknesses to attack his strengths."
Geng Qiuhan reminded Zhang Zihan, "Director Zhang, we live in a society governed by the rule of law. Just because you can fight doesn't mean you'll get away with it."
Zhang Zihan chuckled: "You're right. We know our stuff in Beijing. How dare this outsider act so arrogantly? He deserves to be taught a lesson."
Geng Qiuhan reminded Zhang Zihan again: "Don't forget about Chen Xinyu, she's not someone to be trifled with."
Zhang Zihan said, "We're in the right now, and Chen Xinyu can't just dine and dash. If this gets out, I don't know if she'll be able to handle it."
Zhao Qiang had almost finished eating the food, so as not to waste any of the laborers' food. At this moment, the room door was opened again. Instead of the chef, security guard, or waiter, several police officers came in. It turned out that Zhang Zihan had instructed the hotel to call the police, and he had secretly instructed the police officers to follow the plan and not to be afraid that Zhao Qiang would beat people again.
Behind the police officer was the hotel manager, who explained the situation: "Officer Wang, this is the man who dined and dashed and then assaulted someone. You must stand up for our hotel!"
Officer Wang sized up Zhao Qiang, confirming that the man had no special background to his knowledge. Officer Wang said, "Show me your ID card."
Zhao Qiang said, "I forgot to bring it."
Officer Wang said, "Take him back for questioning." Two officers came up from behind to deal with Zhao Qiang. Since it wasn't a criminal case, there was no need to handcuff him or anything like that. As long as Zhao Qiang didn't resist, he could just go with them. How to make Zhao Qiang submit once they got to the police station was another matter.
Chen Xinyu snorted from the side: "There needs to be a reason to arrest people. There's no law that says you can arrest people arbitrarily."
Officer Wang scrutinized Chen Xinyu for a moment: "This... isn't this Reporter Chen?" Officer Wang had a headache. If he had known Chen Xinyu was there, he wouldn't have come. The people above him were really underhanded; weren't they trying to get him into trouble? Other reporters were one thing, but this Chen Xinyu was not to be trifled with. How come he hadn't noticed her earlier? Luckily, nothing bad had happened.
With Zhang Zihan backing him up, the foreman, who was originally Zhang Zihan's confidant, naturally wouldn't let Officer Wang back down. So he said, "The law stipulates that you can't arrest people arbitrarily, but is this arbitrarily arresting people? It's wrong to not pay for a meal, no matter where you go. Officer Wang, don't bend the law for personal gain."
Officer Wang thought it made sense. He was afraid of Chen Xinyu, but he couldn't just back down like that. Otherwise, what would his superiors think of him? He would be seen as incompetent.
Officer Wang said to Chen Xinyu, "The law doesn't stipulate that you can't pay for a meal, so taking you back for investigation is within the scope of law enforcement. I hope Reporter Chen will cooperate."
Chen Xinyu said, "Didn't we say we wouldn't pay? I've been recording with my phone on the whole time, why don't we show it to everyone?"
Officer Wang was unaware of the previous events, so he dared not draw any conclusions. He could only verify with his supervisor: "You must explain exactly what happened. We cannot wrong an innocent person, nor can we let the guilty go unpunished."
The supervisor thought for a moment and then recounted what happened. However, in his version, Geng Qiuhan asked Zhang Zihan to pay the bill when he left, but Zhang Zihan asked Geng Qiuhan to pay the bill when he left. As a result, the two left without knowing each other's identities. The hotel could only ask the sober one for the money, otherwise the hotel would have to pay out of pocket. It sounded like Zhang Zihan, Geng Qiuhan, and the hotel had no responsibility. The one at fault was Zhao Qiang, who wasn't drunk. What kind of logic is that?
Officer Wang hesitated. This was a complicated matter. Reporter Chen was an invited guest, and Zhang Zihan was truly despicable for leaving a guest here to pay the bill. Although he knew it was a prank, this kind of prank was shameless. Did people of their status care about a little bit of money for a meal? It was embarrassing for Officer Wang to come up with such an idea. The cold smiles on Zhao Qiang and Chen Xinyu's faces seemed to be mocking him.
Officer Wang decided to report the matter to his superiors for a decision, so that he could shirk responsibility if anything went wrong.
Volume 2 [557] AA System
【557】AA system
Ultimately, Officer Wang is just a low-level clerk running errands. No matter who is in the right, he has to listen to his superiors, otherwise, how can he keep his job? In this society, those who work in government are not serving the people, but serving their superiors. What do the people matter? If the superiors say you're capable, you're capable; if they say you're not, you're out. So, those who work in government are just running errands for officials.
"Chief, this is the situation. What do you think we should do?" Officer Wang asked on the phone, with the hotel supervisor following behind him, a mocking smile on his face. A mere station chief at a local police station—wouldn't Director Zhang be scrambling to lick his boots after just one phone call? This Officer Wang didn't seem very cooperative; otherwise, he should have arrested the person and taken them to the police station immediately.
Sure enough, Officer Wang was criticized by his superiors. "Xiao Wang, what's wrong with you? You dare to go out to eat without money to pay the bill? Aren't we police officers supposed to protect the normal operation of businesses in our jurisdiction? Don't you know that the normal operation of hotels is being affected? How have I always taught you to do things? Don't you have any sense of party spirit or principles?"
Officer Wang was given a severe dressing-down, followed by a slammed-down call from his superior, who was clearly extremely dissatisfied with him. Officer Wang didn't even have a chance to defend Zhao Qiang; it seemed he had no choice but to reluctantly arrest the two men. However, offending Reporter Chen would bring him trouble later. Officer Wang was truly caught in a dilemma. When officials just give a word, their subordinates have to run themselves ragged.
Officer Wang thought for a moment and stepped forward with a gentle smile to Chen Xinyu, saying, "Reporter Chen, I actually believe you, but there are orders from above that this matter must be resolved at the police station. How about this, you and the hotel each send someone to the police station, and both parties sign an IOU to settle the matter, is that alright?"
Chen Xinyu said firmly: "No way."
Officer Wang said, "Why? I'm doing this for your sake, but you should think about me too. The higher-ups are urging me to make arrests, saying it's to ensure the normal operation of businesses in the jurisdiction. Don't make things difficult for me."
Chen Xinyu scoffed, "Even if we had the money, we wouldn't pay this debt."
Officer Wang said, "No, you're putting me in a difficult position by going against each other. How about this, you have your friend bring the money over, and the hotel won't pursue the matter further, okay?"
Chen Xinyu said coldly, "I've already thought about tomorrow's report. The hotel conspired with others to frame innocent people. The invited guests were tricked and treated like fools. Let everyone judge who is right and who is wrong, and let everyone say whether we should pay this bill."
Officer Wang's face looked like a bitter gourd. He knew he was bound to be the villain in the report, and would be condemned by everyone.
The manager, with an arrogant air, said, "Don't think you're so great just because you're a reporter. Our hotel has no obligation to pay for your food and drinks. This is a matter between you and your friend, and has nothing to do with our hotel. Besides, I saw the whole thing from beginning to end. You two ate almost all the food and drinks at this banquet, and now you want to renege on the bill? You have the nerve to do that! If you want to report on this, we'll post the video we recorded online and let everyone judge. He devoured almost all the food and drinks by himself and now he wants someone else to pay? That's outrageous!" The manager's words did make some sense. Zhao Qiang had drunk most of the wine and eaten almost all the food.
The commotion had been going on for so long that it finally alerted the hotel manager, and even the police arrived. It would be strange if he didn't show up soon.
"What happened? Why did you argue with the guests? Who is in charge of this floor?" The hotel manager, surnamed Fu, was in his early forties and looked very serious. The supervisor quickly lowered his head when he saw him, looking somewhat flustered.
"I'm asking you, who's in charge of this place?" Manager Fu was furious. The hotel had strict rules that no matter what unreasonable demands guests made, they couldn't argue with them. But here, they had called the police without his permission. It was incredibly audacious. Of course, Manager Fu didn't take the police officers seriously at all. With his position, he didn't need to greet ordinary police officers.
The supervisor whispered, "Manager Fu, I'm in charge of this floor. Let me explain. Here's what happened: these two guests didn't pay for their meal. One of them is a CCTV reporter who threatened to report on it. I think Manager Fu is naturally not afraid of her, so she's arguing her case."
Manager Fu glared at the foreman: "You've got some nerve. Who gave you the right to 'argue with reason'?"
The supervisor argued, "I... am doing this for the good of the hotel. Otherwise, if everyone comes to eat but doesn't pay, how can our hotel do any business?"
Manager Fu ignored the foreman at first, considering him a nobody. He glanced at Chen Xinyu, but unlike the foreman and Officer Wang, he didn't show any restraint towards her. However, when he looked at Zhao Qiang, his expression immediately became serious, and he walked up to Zhao Qiang and bowed.
"Hello, Mr. Zhao." Manager Fu's tone was extremely respectful, sounding like a subordinate speaking to a superior.
Zhao Qiang nodded: "Hello."
Manager Fu said, "It's an honor for our hotel to have Mr. Zhao here. May I ask what you need?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Tell them whether I need to pay for my meal here."
Manager Fu said sternly, "Mr. Zhao doesn't need to pay for any of his expenses at this hotel. Who would dare to charge him?"
Manager Fu's words startled the supervisor. Others might not know Manager Fu's temperament, but he knew that Manager Fu was serious and never joked around when it came to work matters. But he said that Zhao Qiang didn't have to pay for any of his expenses at the hotel. What was going on? The hotel had never made such a special exception before.
Even Officer Wang was surprised, "What... what's going on?"
Manager Fu snorted and said to Officer Wang, "You lowly police officers really have a lot of power. Who told you to be so rude to our esteemed guests at the hotel? I'm going to file a complaint and report you. Leave your badge numbers."
Officer Wang wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Manager Fu, there's a misunderstanding. We're not here to be rude to anyone. We did receive a call reporting that someone was dining and dashing here. If we don't respond to a call, we'll be punished too."
Manager Fu turned to the head waiter and demanded, "Why didn't you report this to your superiors? Who do you think you are? Dining and dashing? Do you even know who this Mr. Zhao Qiang is? He's our hotel's most distinguished guest, and the most distinguished guest in Beijing. He's a guest we can't even invite. And yet you dare to offend Mr. Zhao? You're something else. It seems you have the potential to manage this hotel beyond my control. Go back and pack your things right now, and get out of here!"
The supervisor never expected that a dine-and-dash incident would get him into such a mess. He was pale and dejected. The hotel paid extremely high salaries, and not long ago, it was acquired by Jiayuan Investment for a hefty sum, doubling the salaries again. The benefits were unmatched in all of Beijing. The employees would be laughing in their dreams at such good fortune. But now he had been fired. He really shouldn't have done something so foolish to please Zhang Zihan. He wondered if Zhang Zihan would take responsibility for his current predicament.
"Manager Fu, I...I..." The supervisor tried to explain, but Manager Fu waved his hand and said, "No need to say anything. Even if you hadn't offended Mr. Zhao, you still have to get out of here. Your behavior shows no respect for store rules. Keeping someone like this around is a disaster."
The foreman knew the situation was beyond repair. He glared at Zhao Qiang with hatred, vowing to hate him for life. However, Zhao Qiang was not afraid of him at all. This kind of person was just a bully who relied on his master's power. Once he was hurt, he would stay far away from you and would never come back to bite you again.
Chen Xinyu said to the manager's retreating figure, "Tell Zhang Zihan and Geng Qiuhan that we don't need to pay, but they still have to pay for their drinks and food. At most, we'll split the bill. Besides, I'm not done with them about this."
Not long after the head waiter left the private room, Zhang Zihan pushed the door open and entered. Manager Fu was negotiating with Officer Wang. "Officer," he said, "the person who called the police has already been fired by this hotel. Do you have any further objections?"
Officer Wang's lips twitched; he was utterly humiliated. This wasn't his fault; the blame lay with the sycophantic station chief. He hadn't expected Zhao Qiang to be such a VIP guest at the hotel—even their station chief wouldn't dare offend the hotel owner. The original plan was to avoid alerting the hotel management, humiliate Zhao Qiang, and then take him to the police station for a little treatment. But Zhao Qiang was proving too difficult, and things escalated until the hotel's upper management was finally involved; now, the situation was beyond repair.
“We certainly wouldn’t dare to worry about Manager Fu’s distinguished guest. Since no one has reported the incident, we’ll call it a day.” Officer Wang tried to sound relaxed, but he was actually quite uneasy.
Zhang Zihan came up and said, "Oh, what's going on? Why did even the police get involved?"
The hotel manager glanced at him, not daring to say it was with hostility, but there was no respect in it either. This minor official had offended someone he shouldn't have, and yet he was completely unaware of it. Just wait and see what happens to him.
Officer Wang wore a smile on his face, but inwardly he cursed Zhang Zihan to the core. Zhang Zihan was pretending nothing was wrong, but in reality, he was the one who orchestrated everything. This two-faced bastard deserved to die a horrible death.
Chen Xinyu said, "Zhang Zihan, we've settled our bill. Please pay for your food and drinks. Your so-called welcome banquet was quite something; I've certainly seen it for myself. It's perfect material for a news report. We'll see how things unfold."
Zhang Zihan said with a pained expression, "Xinyu, what happened? I asked Geng Qiuhan to stay and pay the bill, but this guy... he's drunk. Sorry, sorry, waiter, please take my card to pay the bill."
The hotel manager waved his hand: "You don't need to worry about other people's bills. Since Reporter Chen said it's a split bill, then Director Zhang only needs to pay his own bill. Estimate how much alcohol you drank and how much food you ate. If you can't estimate it yourself, I'll give you a figure."
Zhang Zihan's face turned as red as a monkey's bottom. If word got out that he had asked others to split the bill at dinner, he would lose all face, and no one would dare associate with him again. If someone invited him to dinner and he then demanded to split the bill, wouldn't that be a slap in the face? Conversely, if he invited others to dinner and then demanded they also split the bill, the invited person would also lose face.
Zhang Zihan said, "Manager Fu, please stop joking. I can afford to pay for the drinks. Hurry up and settle the bill. Don't keep my guests waiting."
Chen Xinyu and Zhao Qiang said nothing more, got up and left the private room without looking back. The hotel manager told the staff, "Give Director Zhang 1,000 yuan, and put the rest on the tab." 1,000 yuan was a drop in the ocean compared to the nearly 100,000 yuan total, but this small amount was precisely what was meant to humiliate Zhang Zihan.
Zhang Zihan was somewhat annoyed: "Manager Fu, what do you mean? Are you looking down on me?"
Manager Fu, however, was not afraid of Zhang Zihan: "Yes, I look down on you because you have offended our hotel's most distinguished guest."
Volume 2 [558] Learning from the AA System
【558】Learning from the AA System
Zhang Zihan was somewhat surprised and helpless. He was surprised that Chen Xinyu and Zhao Qiang were called the most distinguished guests, especially since the deputy manager had previously said that Zhao Qiang was the most distinguished guest in Beijing. He had thought it was just an exaggeration to please Chen Xinyu, but now it seemed there was more to it than met the eye. Zhang Zihan was helpless because, despite his anger, he was too inexperienced to go against this hotel. The deputy manager had no connections, but the hotel had been acquired by Jiayuan Investment. For Zhang Zihan, a minor official in Beijing, to oppose Jiayuan Investment was simply overestimating his abilities.
The waiter quickly returned with the bill, and Manager Fu coldly handed the card back to Zhang Zihan. He didn't need to maintain a facade of peace with Zhang Zihan. Losing such a stingy guest might not be a bad thing for the hotel. More importantly, someone above had instructed Manager Fu not to let Zhao Qiang and Chen Xinyu suffer any grievances here.
Zhang Zihan took the card with a gloomy face. There was no point in saying anything now. He walked out of the hotel with a dark expression. Geng Qiuhan was still waiting for him outside. They had originally agreed to go in and pay the bill together, but Geng Qiuhan backed out after learning about the situation inside. There was no other way for Zhang Zihan to come back alone to pay the bill. But in the end, it was not Zhao Qiang who was humiliated, but Zhang Zihan.
Geng Qiuhan said to Zhang Zihan, "This is a bit unexpected."
Zhang Zihan said angrily, "Unexpected my foot! It's all that foreman's and that policeman surnamed Wang's fault for their incompetence."
Geng Qiuhan was unwilling to analyze with Zhang Zihan who was more responsible. He said, "What should we do next? Chen Yuxin definitely hates us. We invited her to dinner and then didn't pay the bill. It's embarrassing if word gets out."
Zhang Zihan said, "Does she think she can slander us at will? Who would believe this if word got out? We'll just explain to others that it was a misunderstanding."
A misunderstanding? That reason is too far-fetched. However, Geng Qiuhan knows that things have come to this point, and it would be useless for him to go and explain to Chen Xinyu. It seems that this alliance is very smart on the surface, but in reality, they are making a fool of themselves.