399: Chapter 399 Secretary-General Tian, ​​Deputy

After calling the police, the officers arrived quite quickly.

However, something felt a bit off.

After the police arrived, Liu Laosan, the shop owner, didn't show the slightest bit of fear. Instead, he greeted them with a beaming smile and proactively pulled out a cigarette. "Captain Zhou, you came personally."

Captain Zhou took the Zhonghua cigarette, lit it, took a puff, and asked nonchalantly, "What exactly is going on here?"

Liu Laosan replied, "It's a very simple matter. They broke a jade bracelet of ours worth 200,000 yuan and don't want to pay for it."

The police officer nodded and said to Qin Chuan and the other person, "Since you broke their bracelet, just pay for it. Once it's settled, we can head back."

Heh.

Qin Chuan laughed, though it was a cold laugh. "As a police officer, is this how you handle things? You don't even ask who reported the incident or what the specific sequence of events was?"

Instantly, Captain Zhou's expression changed. "You don't need to teach us how to do our jobs. Let's go, both parties come with us to the station. We'll handle this there."

Qin Chuan said, "There's no need to go to the station. Dealing with this in front of everyone is perfect, as they can serve as witnesses. Or is there something you're trying to hide?"

Another young police officer who had arrived pointed at Qin Chuan's nose. "How are you talking? Do you believe I'll slap handcuffs on you right now?"

Qin Chuan retorted tit-for-tat, "I honestly don't believe you. Come on, come on, show me those handcuffs."

The young officer was furious and actually pulled out his handcuffs.

Captain Zhou grabbed his hand to stop him. There were so many people watching, and some were even taking pictures with their phones. "Officer Zhao, be careful."

Then, he shouted at the surrounding crowd, "No taking pictures! Did you hear me? Put your phones away, or we will confiscate them."

Once he said that, the people around didn't dare to continue taking photos.

Captain Zhou said, "Let's go. We'll go to the station to handle this."

Qin Chuan sneered again. "What, is it something you can't show in public? If we're going to resolve this, let's do it right here. You should first check the shop's surveillance footage, and the truth will be clear."

Liu Laosan immediately said, "Sorry, the shop's surveillance camera is broken."

Qin Chuan said, "The camera is broken? Well, there are plenty of people right here who saw what happened."

The tour guide, Xiao Li, was quite decent and not afraid of trouble at all. She immediately spoke up, "Officer, I was the one who called the police. Here's what happened: this shop owner insisted on shoving this bracelet into this lady's hand, but she never even reached out..."

She briefly explained the situation.

Zhu Qingxi also added, "That's right, that's exactly what happened. The bracelet breaking has nothing to do with me. I know the rule that 'jade should not pass hand-to-hand.' If he really wanted me to look at this bracelet, he should have placed it on a tray or the counter first. Only after he let go would I have looked at it, not have him shove it at me."

Perhaps sensing that the situation was becoming difficult to handle, neither Qin Chuan, Zhu Qingxi, nor the tour guide Xiao Li showed any fear.

Especially Qin Chuan; throughout the ensuing confrontation, he remained clear-headed, articulate, and logical.

A few minutes later, Captain Zhou had no choice but to say, "Regardless of what happened, the bracelet is broken, and you bear some responsibility. It's a 200,000-yuan item. You should take half the responsibility and pay the shop owner 100,000 yuan. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

This seemed flawless, hitting both sides equally, but the bracelet wasn't worth 200,000 yuan at all; it was probably only worth 20 yuan.

Qin Chuan said, "There's clearly something wrong with this bracelet. It looks like glass to me. Just because he says it's worth 200,000 yuan doesn't make it so. I suggest we request an independent third-party appraisal."

A few minutes later, as the crowd grew larger and many tourists began speaking up in support of Qin Chuan and the others, the matter had to be dropped.

After leaving, Qin Chuan felt a bit uneasy. Once he took office, he would definitely need to conduct a thorough cleanup. Such shady shops must be shut down, and the owners needed to be sent inside to operate the sewing machine.

After all that commotion, it wasn't early anymore, and the sky was growing dark.

Qin Chuan waved his hand and said, "Let's find a place to eat."

The tour guide, Xiao Li, was very familiar with Dongjiang City and took the two of them to a nice restaurant. It was the kind of place that was busy and had great food.

There were no private rooms left, but there were still a few empty tables in the main dining hall. They found an empty table by the window, sat down, ordered a few local specialties, and the three of them began to eat.

While eating, they were surprised to hear a table nearby discussing the jade bracelet incident from earlier.

"Tourism in our Dongjiang City is getting more and more outrageous. That Liu Laosan isn't doing this for the first time, and the police don't even care!"

"Yeah, if things keep going like this, who would dare to come to Dongjiang City for tourism!"

"..." Hearing such words, Qin Chuan shook his head slightly. It was true; if things continued like this, who would still come for tourism? Although he hadn't seen the tourism data for Dongjiang City, he could imagine that it must be declining.

When they were almost finished with their meal, two people, one big and one small, walked in: a man around forty years old and a little girl around ten.

"Buddy, there are no seats left. Mind if we share your table? There are only two of us."

Qin Chuan took a look. In just this short while, there were indeed no seats left in the restaurant, and some people were even waiting for tables.

This business was doing too well.

Seeing that the man was polite, and since there were only three of them, two more people wouldn't be crowded, Qin Chuan nodded and said, "Sure, no problem."

The man was delighted and thanked him, "Thank you, thank you so much!"

After saying that, he happily brought his daughter to sit down. The little girl was also very polite and said sweetly, "Thank you, Uncle. Auntie, you are so pretty; you are the prettiest auntie I've ever seen."

Zhu Qingxi smiled happily. "Little beauty, you have such a sweet mouth. How old are you?"

"Auntie, I'm ten. After summer vacation, I'll be in fifth grade."

It was a father and daughter. Although he didn't know who they were and it was their first meeting, they were polite and courteous, so Qin Chuan chatted with the man for a bit.

At this moment, someone walked over holding a wine glass with a look of surprise. "Secretary-General Tian Chaoqun, it really is you. You're eating here too."

The man smiled. "Oh, if it isn't President Sun."

"Yes, yes, it's me, Little Sun." The man holding the wine glass was very excited. "Secretary-General Tian Chaoqun, why don't you come over to my table for a few drinks?"

"No thanks, I'm just having a casual meal with my daughter. You go ahead and attend to your business."

Seeing that the other party had no intention of going upstairs to the private room to drink, President Sun could only politely toast him and say a few courteous words.

After President Sun left, Qin Chuan showed some interest. "You are a Secretary-General; you must be the Secretary-General of the Municipal Party Committee. I'm quite lucky today, getting to eat with the Secretary-General of the Municipal Party Committee."

The man introduced himself, "Secretary-General Tian Chaoqun, Municipal Party Committee Secretary-General, the deputy one."

Qin Chuan laughed. This person was interesting, specifically emphasizing the words "the deputy one."

Finding the man interesting and seemingly quite compatible, Qin Chuan chatted with him while they ate.

Secretary-General Tian Chaoqun insisted on paying the bill. "It's nothing. Running into each other is fate. You are here to travel in Dongjiang City, right? As a local of Dongjiang City, it's only right that I treat you to a meal."