Han Shengquan had remained largely silent throughout, but his attitude towards Chen Lishu upon entering had already been a great help.
Accompanying Han Shengquan was a section chief. Although a prior arrangement had been made, he still had to show deference to his superior. After asking a few perfunctory questions, he stated, "We will not pursue past matters. This batch of goods will be confiscated, and an additional fine of two thousand yuan will be imposed. This serves as a warning for disrupting market order."
Originally, he had planned to confiscate the goods and detain the person, along with a four-thousand yuan fine. However, as the words left his mouth, they were halved, showing considerable respect for Han Shengquan.
At this juncture, it would be foolish to argue for oneself without knowing when to stop. Chen Lishu merely proposed, "Two thousand yuan is too much. I don't have the money on hand right now. Is it possible to have a few days to pay?"
The section chief subconsciously glanced at Han Shengquan. Seeing that he said nothing, he hesitated before replying, "Then we will give you three days to pay the fine. Remember to do less of this in the future. If you violate it again, you won't be let off so easily as today."
"Sister, what do we do now? A fine of two thousand yuan all at once. We haven't even paid Li Yuanchao for his goods yet. This is really..."
Wang Aixiang was both angry and anxious, her forehead beaded with sweat in the June heat.
Chen Lishu stood on the steps outside the Industry and Commerce Bureau, her brow furrowed in silence. It was only when she saw Liang Chunsheng emerge from within that she moved and walked towards him.
Upon seeing her approach, Liang Chunsheng instinctively took a step back, then stopped and met her gaze. "If you want to question me, there's no need. Although I've wronged you in this matter, I've also earned you a lot of money, and I even took a punch from Wang Dazhu. I consider us even."
"Who instructed you to do this?" Chen Lishu asked calmly, looking at his face.
At this point, angry accusations would be futile. While she was furious and disappointed by Liang Chunsheng's betrayal, the problem had occurred, and a solution needed to be found.
Everything had been fine before, but now problems were cropping up one after another: equipment confiscated, then the fabric issue. If she still couldn't figure out that someone was deliberately targeting her, then she had lived her decades in vain.
Liang Chunsheng's eyes darted away. "No one instructed me."
Wang Aixiang, unable to contain her anger, pointed at him and scolded, "You're still stubborn even now. How could you treat Lishu like this when she's been so good to you? Liang Chunsheng, are you even human?"
Liang Chunsheng, whether out of guilt or something else, turned and walked away.
"It seems you have a better place to go after leaving me," Chen Lishu's voice drifted from behind. Liang Chunsheng paused for a moment.
"I just don't know if your next employer will value you when they know what kind of character you have, or how your future colleagues will view you when they hear about this."
Liang Chunsheng suddenly turned back, his voice laced with anger, "Are you threatening me?"
"I'll ask you one last time: who instructed you to do this." Chen Lishu's voice turned colder.
Liang Chunsheng finally broke. "Two days ago, the Party secretary from my parents' factory suddenly visited and said they could arrange a formal job for me, with the only condition being that I report you."
Fine. Excellent.
A position as a formal worker had successfully made Liang Chunsheng betray her.
However, this also showed that the other party had gone to great lengths to ruin her.
"Liang Chunsheng, after doing business for so long, you have no basic moral bottom line as a person. Your path ahead will only become narrower. Rest assured, from the moment you chose to betray me, we have no relationship. Your fortune or misfortune is of no concern to me. Take care of yourself in the future."
Chen Lishu turned away after speaking. From this moment on, they were strangers, and there was no need to waste any more time or emotion on him.
"Aixiang jie, you go back first. There's a problem with the fabric, and the agents won't be able to get the goods, so we'll need to negotiate. The fabric supply will be cut off in the short term. We'll compensate them the full amount, plus a ten percent breach of contract penalty. We just need them to extend the deadline by a few days, a week at most. I'll go to the store after I resolve this issue."
Chen Lishu calmly arranged matters and let Wang Aixiang leave.
"Dazhu, come with me to the cargo station."
"Alright." Wang Dazhu responded, and the two quickly got into the car and headed to the cargo station.
"Chen jie." Lin Qi, thinking something had happened, was anxiously waiting at the entrance of the cargo station. Seeing Chen Lishu approach, he hurried forward to meet her. "Why did it take you so long to get here?"
Chen Lishu: "There was a problem at the store. I'll tell you the details later. How's your investigation going here?"
"Someone is indeed trying to target us, but we haven't figured out who exactly."
It seemed her suspicions were correct.
First, the equipment was confiscated, and then Liang Chunsheng set her up.
Yet, she had been focusing on her studies and resting peacefully during her pregnancy, hardly interacting with others. She hadn't expected to encounter such a situation.
Judging by the opponent's actions, they were determined to crush her completely.
A cold glint flashed in Chen Lishu's eyes. She hoped she wouldn't find out who it was, or else she would make them pay dearly.
"Let's go inside," Chen Lishu said, and the three of them entered the cargo station together.
"Hey, what are you three doing? Who let you touch the goods here?" A staff member, seeing Wang Dazhu and Lin Qi moving things, quickly stepped forward.
Chen Lishu stepped forward, smiling. "These goods are mine. You've come at the right time. Please make a record. I'll take the items now."
The staff member's expression turned unpleasant. "Who authorized you to take the goods? The procedures are not complete. You cannot take them."
"Tell me what procedures are still missing. I'm right here, and the situation is clear. They'll take the goods first; we need them urgently. I'll complete whatever is missing later."
There were regulations against releasing goods without proper clearance, and if the goods were taken, what was the point of keeping them? They weren't law enforcement.
Seeing that they were about to forcibly take the goods, and that the person standing in front was a woman with a visibly pregnant belly, the staff member's expression soured.
He turned to call two other people over and then ran off to fetch the station manager.
In the time it took for this exchange, Wang Dazhu and Lin Qi had already loaded the equipment onto the transport vehicle. Wang Dazhu clapped his hands and turned to get into the driver's seat.
"What are you doing? Quickly stop them!"
Seeing the vehicle start to move, Station Manager Zhou hurriedly instructed his staff to intercept.
If the goods were actually taken, he would be in serious trouble.
"Stop immediately, or I'll call the police." After sitting for too long, the sudden exertion of running made Station Manager Zhou gasp for breath, holding his stomach.