Chapter 177 157: Tough Nut

Geng Sijian was feeling uneasy, damn it! How is this possible? He had specifically instructed them about the hygiene issues. Even though they used subpar ingredients and often overcharged, their hygiene had always been passable, and they had never received complaints about it.Geng Sijian steeled himself, since he had already eaten some, he might as well eat one more. Good things come in pairs, so he stretched out his hand, grabbed another, and stuffed it into his mouth: "It's burnt!"

Yang Zhen Gang, standing nearby, felt nauseous just watching. He also took out his chopsticks and poked at his own food. Since he was having the same dish as Xu Chunliang, he wasn't surprised to find a dead fly inside when he poked around.

Yang Zhen Gang also got angry: "Geng Sijian, you're too greedy, there are flies in the food!"

Now no one dared to eat, and all the staff gathered around with their trays, infuriating Geng Sijian.

Seeing the timing was right, Xu Chunliang directly picked up his tray and slapped it onto Geng Sijian's face: "If you like it so much, eat till you're full!"

Geng Sijian was covered in food.

Once Xu Chunliang led the way, everyone started slapping their trays onto Geng Sijian. The restaurant was a complete mess in no time.

When Yu Xiangdong, the head of the security department, rushed over with his team, the entire dining area was in chaos. Geng Sijian was sitting in the corner, shivering and covered in food, having swallowed two flies, and nearly got beaten up by his colleagues.

Yu Xiangdong, seeing Xu Chunliang present, instantly understood that this commotion was likely orchestrated by him. This kid sure doesn't wait long for revenge.

Yu Xiangdong didn't have a shred of sympathy for Geng Sijian. Wasn't he acting high and mighty this morning when distributing items? Where's all that arrogance now? You should've done your homework before offending someone. Do you think Xu Chunliang is someone you'll have it easy with after provoking? However, Xu Chunliang's desire for revenge is strong; he couldn't even wait half a day to make his move.

Yang Zhen Gang could relate; he tried to flex on Xu Chunliang when he first went to the medical office and got immediately countered. He realized that Xu Chunliang was not there to eat but to cause trouble.

Yang Zhen Gang found the flies suspicious. He hadn't seen any flies in the cafeteria; how could they suddenly appear in the food? Did Xu Chunliang put them there? He tried to recall and felt like he didn't see Xu Chunliang do anything.

Yu Xiangdong urged everyone to calm down. The best way to quell the uproar right now was to refund everyone's meal money. Geng Sijian, full of grievances, wondered who would still eat at the cafeteria after such a commotion today.

He underestimated it. That afternoon, Vice Dean Gao Xinhua called him in and reprimanded him sharply, telling him to seriously reflect and treat the matter seriously. Thankfully it was the staff cafeteria that had the incident; if it had been the patients' cafeteria, the consequences would have been severe.

Geng Sijian said, "Dean Gao, someone is framing me. Our cafeteria strictly controls hygiene. You can't even see a single mosquito, let alone flies. It must be Xu Chunliang secretly putting them in the food."

Gao Xinhua slammed the table in anger: "You're blaming others for your own problem? I'll put the hygiene issue aside for now. Did anyone tell you to overcharge them?"

"It was a temporary worker who did it, and I'll fire her later."

Gao Xinhua said, "Don't give me excuses. Ever since you took over the cafeteria, hasn't the quality of the food been declining step by step? There has been longstanding dissatisfaction with you among the staff, and today was just the explosion of the conflict. If you don't improve, problems will definitely arise again."

According to Gao Xinhua, he wanted to remove Geng Sijian directly. But since Geng Sijian was Zhao Feiyang's person, Gao Xinhua had to be cautious.

Geng Sijian said, "Dean Gao, it's not my fault. The prices keep going up, and the hospital insists we provide affordable meals, but I'm losing money now."

"If you're losing money, why keep doing it?" Gao Xinhua was most annoyed with people who got the benefits and then complained. The hospital deposits three hundred yuan into each staff member's meal card every month, and everyone spends it at the cafeteria. These healthcare workers are guaranteed customers, not to mention the patients and their visitors with over two thousand beds. Many have their eyes on this cash cow of a cafeteria.

Geng Sijian only managed to secure the cafeteria contract through Zhao Feiyang's connections, and this festival gift distribution also relied on his connections. There were significant complaints from the hospital staff about this.

Geng Sijian said, "Dean Gao, today's lunchtime incident was instigated by Xu Chunliang; he's taking revenge on me."

"Did you have a grudge against him? Why would he take revenge on you out of nowhere?"

Geng Sijian recounted how he embarrassed Xu Chunliang during the morning gift distribution. Gao Xinhua thought to himself, so you know what happened, and isn't it only right for Xu Chunliang to take revenge on you?

Gao Xinhua said, "I won't intervene in your personal feud. It's the holiday tomorrow. You caused this trouble yourself, so handle it yourself. If this reaches Dean Zhao, you won't be in your position any longer."

After leaving, the more Geng Sijian thought about it, the angrier he got. Not only did he lose money today, but he also suffered indignity. He had some connections socially and, after pondering, decided he couldn't let it go. He called his sworn brother, Yang Dazao, and told him about today's incident.

Yang Dazao immediately promised to help him get even. Yang Dazao, being a businessman, had worked hard to establish a link with Geng Sijian and needed to act when Geng asked. So he reached out to another contact, a famed figure in Dongzhou known as Ding Si.

Ding Si received a call from Yang Dazao and became instantly alert when he heard it involved Changxing Hospital. He asked Yang Dazao for the opponent's name first.

When Yang Dazao said it was Xu Chunliang, Ding Si cursed him for being blind. Yang Dazao quickly asked what was going on. Of course, Ding Si didn't tell the truth and just said Xu Chunliang was his brother.

Upon hearing this, Yang Dazao immediately backed down, apologized to Ding Si, saying he didn't know, and promised to arrange for everyone to meet up another day.

After running circles, Geng Sijian finally realized that Xu Chunliang was not someone he could afford to offend. Yang Dazao advised him that the root cause was not letting Xu Chunliang collect holiday gifts, so he suggested delivering them to him quickly.

After much internal struggle, Geng Sijian decided to concede. Before getting off work, he personally delivered the holiday gifts to Xu Chunliang's office in the medical department.

Luckily, there was only Xu Chunliang in the office.

Geng Sijian put the things down and with a smile accompanied, said, "Director Xu, I've brought Director Zheng's things to you."

Xu Chunliang glanced at him but said nothing.

Geng Sijian then placed a meal card in front of Xu Chunliang.

"What's the meaning of this?"

"I've refunded the lunch money into the card."

Xu Chunliang handed the card back to him. This guy was still sensible. Xu Chunliang said, "Take this card back, and don't be too greedy in the future. If you're cheating your colleagues at the hospital, do you still plan to hang around in Changxing?"

Geng Sijian hung his head, wanting to get angry but lacked the power.

Xu Chunliang didn't intend to push him too far. After all, Gao Xinhua had also mentioned that just teaching him a lesson would suffice. Geng Sijian was somewhat connected to Dean Zhao, so things wouldn't look good if pushed too far.

Geng Sijian said, "Director Xu is right, I haven't managed the cafeteria for long. Please supervise me more in the future, and just let me know in advance if you need anything arranged."

Xu Chunliang unfolded the newspaper and ignored him. This guy knew how to be tactful; no wonder he was able to cozy up to Zhao Feiyang.

Geng Sijian saw that Xu Chunliang wasn't fond of him, so he slipped out dejectedly.

##

Huichun Hall hadn't been this lively for a long time. In the afternoon, Xu Chunliang's eldest aunt Xu Jia'an's family rushed over from Shen City, and his youngest aunt Xu Jiawen also came with her daughter Zhen Chun.

When Xu Chunliang arrived home, everyone was already there. The young man talking confidently in the middle was his eldest cousin, Liang Linan. Next to him was his second cousin Liang Lixin, while his youngest cousin Zhen Chun sat on the sofa playing games. The sisters Xu Jia'an and Xu Jiawen were holding hands, chatting happily.

His eldest uncle Liang Shude was sitting with the grandfather, usually not speaking much, and looking at his son with a smile. Liang Linan was his pride, having graduated with a PhD at twenty-six, and now working as an executive at a multinational financial company.

Liang Lixin was also impressive, working in the educational training sector, and already serving as an English teaching supervisor for a listed institution, Eastern Education, in the Hu Hai region.

This pair of siblings both had annual salaries in the millions. Liang Shude and his wife worked in the power system, with decent income too, having purchased four properties in Shen City alone. Their family background was quite superior.

Xu Chunliang, carrying the hospital-issued festive gifts, walked in, immediately capturing everyone's attention.

Xu Jia'an said joyfully, "Is that Xiaocong!" Although Xu Chunliang had changed his name, they were still used to calling him Xiaocong.

Xu Changshan corrected, "Call him Chunliang."

Xu Chunliang put down his things and smiled, "Hello, eldest aunt!"

"Hey!" Xu Jia'an stepped forward, grabbed Xu Chunliang's hand, looked him up and down, and said joyfully, "Just now Jiawen said Chunliang was tall and handsome, and I didn't believe it. But indeed, he's changed into a handsome man as he grew up."

She wasn't exaggerating. The last time she came, Xu Chunliang was tall and thin, like a bamboo stick, wearing glasses for nearsightedness, with messy hair, and a listless demeanor, looking completely different now.

Xu Jiawen said, "I was saying he's like the frog that turned into a prince."

Zhen Chun, sitting nearby, muttered under her breath, "A frog is still a frog."

Liang Shude also came over and reached out his hand to Xu Chunliang, "Chunliang, do you still recognize me?"

"Eldest uncle, you look younger than last time!"

"Is that right?" Liang Shude was delighted to hear this.

Xu Chunliang shook hands with Liang Shude. His cousins also came over. They didn't have much impression of this little cousin, only knowing that his father divorced and left the child to be cared for by the grandfather. Their most lasting impression of Xu Chunliang was his poor studies, having repetitively attended school for several years and ultimately still failing to get into college.

They also knew about Xu Chunliang's work situation. If it hadn't been for the Huichun Hall relocation, this guy would still be unemployed.

Even though they were cousins, they lived in different worlds. When someone doesn't do well, don't expect others to think highly of you, relatives included.

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