The NO.1 Food Stall in the Wasteland novel Chapter 101

Chapter 101: Chapter 101: Grand Opening Turmoil

The livestream chat was divided. Some said they were crayfish, while others disagreed.

"Who cares what they are? The people from the Bureau of Industry and Commerce are here now, right? Let’s see how they handle it."

"Did someone actually call and report them?"

"What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying we’re not allowed to?"

"If you ask me, there are too many ways to fake things nowadays. It only looks real. I haven’t believed a word the owner of Little Deer Cuisine has said from the very beginning."

"But aren’t there people eating inside right now?"

"They’re probably hired shills."

"Keep the camera on them! Let’s see what the Bureau of Industry and Commerce is actually here for."

Little Zhen nudged her chin toward the cameraman. He took the hint, adjusting the camera to focus on the law enforcement officers passing through the crowd and entering the shop.

Seeing this, Shen Lu had no choice but to pause the competition and go to meet them.

"You’re the owner of this shop?" The man in the lead was in his thirties. His name was Liu Liang, and the two deep lines etched around his mouth made him look stern and unapproachable.

Shen Lu nodded. "I am. May I ask who you are?"

"We’re from the Bureau of Industry and Commerce." Liu Liang looked down at Shen Lu, his gaze cold and his tone stiff. "Are you unaware that you must obtain a business license from the Bureau to open a shop? Who gave you permission to open for business without completing the paperwork? You are breaking the law!"

His words sent a wave of gasps through the crowd of onlookers.

"What? This shop doesn’t have a business license?"

"It’s an illegal establishment?"

"She’s so young, but she’s got some nerve. The authorities have been cracking down hard on this lately."

"She’s in for it now."

"You people from the Lower City District are so clueless. You think this is just about a business license? The government is doing this for your own safety! Have you all forgotten about the people in the Lower City District who dropped dead from poisoning after eating unregulated Insect Cakes?"

"Oh, right. The business license is to make sure these shop owners don’t mess around and break the rules."

"Then does that mean the crayfish we just ate... could be a problem?"

"I knew there was something fishy going on! The crayfish are poisonous!"

"Poisonous?"

"They are! They’re definitely poisonous!"

Just like that, the rumor that the crayfish were poisonous began to spread.

The onlookers who had been unwilling to pay the fee to enter the competition suddenly straightened their backs. It wasn’t that they were stingy, oh no. They had seen all along that there was something strange about this shop and had only avoided the cheap deal for their own safety.

As for those who had participated in the competition, they looked as if they’d lost a loved one, certain they were about to be poisoned to death. Fear quickly turned to malice. Someone kicked the shop’s plate-glass window to vent their anger, shouting a few curses.

The others followed suit, raining their own fists and feet on Shen Lu’s shop. For a moment, the glass wall rang with loud BANGS, as if a mutant beast were laying siege to the city.

Shen Lu’s expression darkened. She glanced over at the contestants in the waiting area. None of them looked happy; they had likely been swayed by the rumors and now truly believed the braised shrimp were poisonous.

Fortunately, her shop was quite sturdy; this kind of random assault couldn’t cause any real damage.

Xue Can shot his men a look, signaling them to be on high alert. As a mercenary, confronting government officials was nothing new; he wasn’t afraid of a few people from the Bureau of Industry and Commerce.

The real threat, however, was the mob that believed they had eaten poisonous crayfish.

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