Chapter 79

Chapter 35: Creating a Provincial Health Standard Model in the Catering Industry

This was a blatant slap in the face! The first reaction of all the leaders present was this. Li Dongxing had personally invited the Fang family to open their restaurant in the county town. With his words, who would dare to obstruct the Fang family's entry into the county town? Wouldn't that be deliberately opposing the new county magistrate? If the new county magistrate enjoys this, and you don't allow it, who else would he target?

Moreover, every leader present had been in the system for many years. Who didn't understand that the new county magistrate would definitely clean up a batch of people and promote another batch upon taking office? Without a strong backing, no one would dare to offend the county magistrate at this time.

However, no one expected that just as they were marveling at the Fang family's good fortune, Li Dongxing's words were met with such a response. Deputy Factory Director Lu's face immediately turned grim. Although the Qinxi Pressing Equipment Factory was under the jurisdiction of the ministry, and the Pingchuan County government had limited control over it, it was still on their territory. If any rifts arose with the new county magistrate because of this, it would undoubtedly be detrimental to the factory's future operations.

The leaders of the town also had unpleasant expressions. Although this was a personal decision of the Fang family, who could guarantee that the new county magistrate wouldn't take it out on everyone present? Such a loss of face, if it spread, would undoubtedly undermine the new county magistrate's authority... Everyone naturally understood this.

Of course, the leaders present were also somewhat surprised. The Fang family's restaurant was now thriving, and its reputation had even reached the county. Why would they suddenly stop? Such a profitable business was among the best in the catering industry in Pingchuan County.

Cheng Gong's face had turned ashen. He finally understood that the Fang family was responding to his actions from the past few days! He hadn't expected that the Fang family would do this in front of the new county magistrate.

Zhao Jianguo was also somewhat alarmed. He secretly signaled to Fang Mingyuan, indicating that he should be careful with his words and not anger the officials present. This was the county leadership, the town leadership, and the factory leadership all in one place. If he said the wrong thing, the Fang family would have no place to stand in Hai Zhuang Town!

Li Dongxing, however, was not as angry as they thought. Instead, he immediately understood that the crux of the matter, as entrusted by Su Aijun, had arrived!

Fang Mingyuan looked at Li Dongxing, who seemed to be deep in thought, and then at the leaders present, whose faces were all unpleasant. He spoke calmly and respectfully, "Uncles, our Fang family restaurant has been fortunate to receive everyone's support and has gained a bit of a reputation in Hai Zhuang Town over the years. We are grateful to the town committee and government leaders, as well as the factory leaders, for recognizing our small restaurant and selecting it as the designated restaurant for receiving visiting leaders and guests. On behalf of the Fang family, I deeply thank the leaders for their care. However, the reason we opened this restaurant in town was, on one hand, to improve the image of Hai Zhuang Town's catering industry, and on the other hand, to earn some income to improve our family's life and support my future education in the provincial capital or even out of town."

"Hmm..." Li Dongxing nodded, "Fang Mingyuan, I understand what you're saying. The leaders here, on one hand, work for the country and the people, and on the other hand, seek a better life for themselves and their families. This is all understandable. But if that's the case, why should the Fang family restaurant close?"

"We have no choice but to close. If we continue, our family will only lose more money, and in the end, we might not even recover our initial investment. The money to open this restaurant came from the savings of all the Fang family members. If we can't even recover our initial investment, my grandparents would be the first to suffer." Fang Mingyuan's face showed a look of sorrow, "Our family is just an ordinary family in this town, and we can't fight against such a powerful force!"

Li Dongxing looked at the people present and noticed that some looked puzzled, some were deep in thought, and others had ashen faces. He understood some things.

Fang Mingyuan handed over the rectification notice written by Sun Fatty a few days ago. Li Dongxing glanced at it, and his expression became somewhat strange. He passed the notice to the county secretary, Wu Jiang, who accompanied him, and said with a smile, "I'm not familiar with health inspection regulations, nor do I know the current rules and regulations implemented in the county. Take a look at this. I feel that to meet these standards, even in the provincial capital Fengyuan, only a few top hotels that receive foreign guests could meet them."

Wu Jiang quickly took it and examined it carefully. As Li Dongxing had said, the health standards for a town restaurant were indeed excessively strict. No wonder the Fang family decided to close. If they followed these standards, the longer they operated, the more they would lose. The costs were too high. He passed the rectification notice to Town Committee Secretary Ji, who was eagerly waiting, and said with a cold smile, "Secretary Ji, it seems your town is planning to create a provincial health standard model in the catering industry within Pingchuan County? County Magistrate Li is right; these standards are comparable to those of the top hotels in the provincial capital Fengyuan."

Secretary Ji's face turned red and then purple. He glared at Deputy Town Mayor Cheng Gong, whom he had heard was deliberately making things difficult for the Fang family. With retirement not far off, he didn't want to have a falling out with Cheng Gong over such a trivial matter. But today's events made him regret it. If he had known, he would have warned Cheng Gong. "County Magistrate Li, Secretary Wu, this is due to my lax management of the town committee and government, leading to such a serious incident. I will immediately investigate the responsible party and handle it strictly!"

"Deputy Town Mayor Zhao, when I was coming upstairs, I saw that the head of the health inspection department, Sun Yu, was downstairs. Why don't we call him up and ask him why he issued such a strict rectification notice to the Fang family restaurant and which regulations he followed?" Zhao Guiying suddenly spoke up. Since the fire had been ignited, she saw that County Magistrate Li Dongxing clearly had a good impression of the Fang family, so why not let the fire grow?

"Deputy Town Mayor Cheng, such an ugly incident in our town is already a disgrace. The county magistrate is busy and has to continue inspecting the town's work this afternoon. How can we delay the county magistrate's schedule for such a trivial matter? County Magistrate Li, I represent the town government and promise to severely punish the responsible party and provide you with a detailed report," Cheng Gong glared at Zhao Guiying, thinking that this woman was deliberately targeting him. This was clearly adding insult to injury.

Li Dongxing looked at his watch and waved his hand, "We still have time. Call your Mr. Sun up. I'm also very curious about what he was thinking."