The sudden appearance of the group at the bridge entrance caught everyone in the Qin family completely off guard. They couldn't understand how, after just seeing off one group, another had arrived.
Seeing the large characters written on the white banner, it was clear they were targeting them.
What in the actual hell was going on?!
The elderly couple, Qin Shuren and Jiang Cuihua, were the most nervous, their faces immediately paling. They had never experienced such a scene before. The previous group of officials, while sent by opponents, had at least followed the rules.
But this group walking from the bridge clearly harbored malicious intent. They were likely to disregard rules and act arbitrarily.
"Yangzi, Xiaogang, what... what should we do?"
Jiang Cuihua grabbed her two sons' arms, trembling with tension.
"Mom, don't be scared. We're here for everything!"
Unlike the previous time when he faced the joint enforcement personnel with restraint, Qin Er Ge showed no fear this time. Instead, he licked his lips, a fierce glint in his eyes.
Damn it, this situation was clearly orchestrated, with a large group gathered to cause trouble. Judging by their attire and age, they were just ordinary people.
Simply put, they were a ragtag bunch. Having gone through 'great storms,' Qin Er Ge was not afraid at all.
"Lao Er, don't be rash!"
Just as Qin Er Ge was eager to jump out and fight, Qin Yang grabbed his arm.
"Today is the grand opening day of our family supermarket. It's not appropriate to fight."
"Besides, the police are here too!"
Qin Yang gestured with his chin towards Xiao Guodong and his team, who were already on standby at the intersection.
Only then did Qin Er Ge calm down considerably.
At this moment, Xiao Guodong, standing by the roadside, also frowned intensely at the sudden appearance of a group from the bridge. What the hell was going on? Where did such a large group come from?
Looking at the content of the white banner, it was clearly targeting the Meitehao Supermarket. At this instant, Xiao Guodong finally understood why Qin Chuan had promised him such great benefits – he had foreseen all of this!
"Bastard!!"
"There's never a moment of peace!"
Xiao Guodong cursed Qin Chuan profusely in his mind but didn't delay his actions. He immediately instructed his subordinates to call the bureau and request reinforcements, stating that there were people causing trouble here.
This time, he had only brought four subordinates with him. He had originally thought that maintaining order would be enough with just five of them, but the unexpected had occurred so suddenly.
A subordinate quickly hid to make the call, while Xiao Guodong, with a serious expression, led his men forward to block the approaching team.
"What are you doing? What's going on?"
"Who are you? Do you know that such behavior already constitutes gathering and causing trouble, which is illegal!?"
Xiao Guodong, leading his men, intercepted the approaching team and sternly reprimanded them.
"We're not causing trouble, we just want justice!"
Someone in the crowd immediately shouted loudly.
"Yes, we want justice from Meitehao Supermarket!"
"Tell Meitehao Supermarket to get out of our county! This county doesn't welcome this foreign capitalist!"
Cheers rose and fell, creating an atmosphere of collective outrage.
Xiao Guodong frowned. Had Qin Chuan, that scoundrel, offended these people somewhere, with some hidden reason he didn't know? If that were the case, he had been set up!
He quickly asked, "What has Meitehao Supermarket done to you to make you so angry?"
"Everyone, please rest assured. I am Xiao Guodong, the captain of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Yongnan County. I will absolutely ensure fairness and justice! I will not show favoritism to anyone!"
"It stole our livelihoods!!"
After Xiao Guodong finished speaking, a middle-aged woman in the crowd suddenly cried out loudly:
"After Meitehao Supermarket opened, our vegetable market's business decreased significantly. People are all going there now. Today, many of us had zero business!"
"They're trying to force us to death! My whole family relies on the small stall I run to support them!"
"This damned Meitehao Supermarket is a wicked capitalist, stealing our livelihoods!"
"That's right! That's right, my business was also zero today. Please, Officer, help us get justice!"
"With Meitehao Supermarket open, we have no food to eat..."
"We all have elderly parents and young children to support, relying on those small stalls. How can we live in the future!"
More and more people joined in the crying, the scene becoming chaotic. Xiao Guodong's ears buzzed, and the more he listened, the more confused he became.
"Meitehao stole your livelihoods. What kind of work do you do?"
"Captain Xiao, I recognize them. They are all small vendors selling vegetables and fruits from the Fuxijie Vegetable Market!"
At this moment, someone from the crowd of onlookers suddenly shouted.
"No, there are also people from the Fudongjie Vegetable Market. I live on that side and often buy groceries there, so I recognize them!"
"Not just Fudongjie and Fuxijie, but also people from the market near the square!"
Someone else added from the onlookers.
"Small vendors from three vegetable markets gathered together?"
When Xiao Guodong heard this answer, his previously muddled mind finally began to form a clear picture. He roughly understood what was happening.
It turned out that after Meitehao Supermarket opened, it had impacted the business of three vegetable markets. These people, seeing their income drastically reduced, had gathered together to cause trouble for Meitehao.
However, after clarifying the whole situation, Xiao Guodong's head began to ache again.
This seemed like an unsolvable conflict!
From an emotional standpoint, Xiao Guodong felt sympathetic towards these ordinary people. He himself came from a humble background and a farming family, so he clearly understood that the situation was as they described – their entire families relied on their small stalls for survival.
But from a rational perspective, the opening of Meitehao Supermarket was something no one could stop. They had all the proper documentation and acted legally and reasonably, doing nothing illegal.
Just because their supermarket was larger and their prices were cheaper, they were going to cause trouble and gather so many people to protest?
Xiao Guodong looked at the group of people causing trouble in front of him and couldn't help but sigh. They were really acting impulsively, thinking things were too simple.
Even without that scoundrel Qin Chuan here, many people could have handled such a situation.
Because these people causing trouble were completely in the wrong!
He didn't know who had given them such a terrible idea, instigating so many people and unnecessarily burdening his work.
Couldn't you also be cheaper if the supermarket is cheaper?
Furthermore, if a city were to operate according to what these people wanted, forbidding large supermarkets one day, large shopping malls the next, and large housing developments the day after, how could it possibly develop?