Chapter 329: Chapter 328: A Matter of a Phone Call

"Xia, what’s going on with them?"

"Why are they making trouble?"

Hearing his uncle shamelessly call her "Xia," Yan Feifan couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

’Great. I can’t call her Mrs. Xia anymore. I’ll have to start calling her Auntie at the very least.’

"Sigh..."

Liu Xia let out a long sigh, then said with a troubled expression, "My lease here with the landlord is signed every three years."

"I just renewed it this year."

"But I never expected the landlord to transfer ownership of the property last month."

Liu Xia said resentfully, "The new landlord wants me to terminate the lease. How could I possibly agree to that?"

"I’ve been running this place for years. I’ve worked hard to build up my reputation and base of regular customers. If I move, I’ll have to start all over from scratch."

"Not long after I flatly rejected the new landlord’s proposal, these troublemakers started showing up."

Yan Ziruo asked indignantly, "Aren’t the police doing anything?"

Liu Xia sighed again and stood up. "Come with me and see for yourselves."

Yan Feifan, Yu Suye, and the others followed Liu Xia out of the private room and stood by the railing, looking down at the first-floor dining hall.

They saw nine large dining tables—nearly half the tables in the hall—each occupied by only one or two people.

"After these people come in, they each take over a whole table, order the cheapest dish, and then sit there until we close."

Liu Xia said bitterly, "We’ve called the police, and more than once."

"But the officers from the local station said this doesn’t count as causing a disturbance, so all they can do is give a verbal warning."

Shu Lei said, filled with righteous indignation, "This doesn’t count as a disturbance? This is just bullying!"

"Feifan..."

Shu Lei said with a serious expression, "You’re a doctor, and a very skilled one at that. You must know some influential people."

"If the local station can’t handle this, then get the district sub-bureau involved."

"And if the sub-bureau can’t handle it, then get the municipal bureau."

"And if the municipal bureau can’t handle it..."

Shu Lei slammed his hand on the railing and declared domineeringly, "If the law can’t handle it, then I’ll use the ways of the streets and blow this thing wide open!"

If Liu Xia hadn’t been standing right there, Yan Feifan would have rolled his eyes at his uncle a dozen times over.

’Seriously? You’re the one running your mouth to show off, but you want me to be the one to pull strings and call in favors.’

Still, the situation was indeed infuriating to watch.

Yan Feifan picked up his phone and said, "I do know someone at the district public security sub-bureau. I’m just not sure if it will do any good."

Liu Xia’s eyes lit up. "Mr. Yan, for them to be so bold, they must have already smoothed things over with the local station."

"If you can get in touch with someone at the sub-bureau, even if they just make a casual inquiry, it might be enough to make the troublemakers back off."

"I’ll give it a try then."

Yan Feifan scrolled through his contacts and found Zheng Libin’s name.

He hesitated for a moment, didn’t dial, and kept scrolling...

Having been reluctantly dragged into performing surgery on a mysterious figure last time, Yan Feifan now had a rather poor opinion of the guy.

’It’s better to avoid asking people like him for favors,’ Yan Feifan thought.

Soon, he found the name he was looking for.

Yi Honggang, the director of the district public security sub-bureau.

To date, Yan Feifan had only met this Mr. Yi once. Even his phone number had been passed on to him by Zheng Libin.

Without much hesitation, Yan Feifan tapped the name and made the call.

He was a little worried, though. He hoped that Mr. Yi wasn’t one of those important people with a short memory who had already forgotten him.

After three or four rings, the call finally connected, and a hearty voice came from the phone.

"Mr. Yan, hello!"

"Mr. Yi, you remember me?" Yan Feifan asked, a little surprised.

"Haha, the genius doctor from the Affiliated Hospital who helped us crack a major case and even saved my subordinate’s life! How could I possibly forget?"

After a brief pause, the voice on the other end continued, "Mr. Yan, you must have something to discuss if you’re calling me."

"Whatever it is, just speak freely."

Yan Feifan organized his thoughts and said, "Mr. Yi, sorry to take up your valuable time, but there’s something I need to report to you."

"I’m having dinner at my friend’s place, Xinfeng Restaurant."

"A group of people has come in. They’re occupying entire tables with just one or two people, ordering a single cheap dish, and staying until the restaurant closes."

"This has happened more than once."

"My friend has reported it to the police more than once."

"But the officers from the local station just say it doesn’t qualify as a disturbance and leave after giving a warning."

"Mr. Yi, what do you think about this?"

The moment Yan Feifan finished speaking, Yi Honggang’s serious voice came through the phone. "We police have a duty to protect and ensure the normal operation of businesses."

"Mr. Yan, I will have someone handle the situation you’ve reported immediately..."

Yan Feifan took a short video of the first-floor dining hall with his phone, gave him the restaurant’s address, and ended the call.

"Mrs. Xia... er, Auntie, now we just have to wait and see what happens."

"Just keep calling me Mrs. Xia. Let’s keep your relationship with me separate from your uncle’s."

Liu Xia corrected him, then asked expectantly, "Mr. Yan, this Mr. Yi you were talking to..."

"Is he..."

Yan Feifan said casually, "He’s the director of our district’s public security sub-bureau. I met him by chance once, so you could say we’re acquainted."

Liu Xia’s face bloomed into a smile. "Having his direct number isn’t as simple as just being ’acquainted’."

"Come on, let’s go back to the private room. We can eat while we wait..."

As they entered the room, Shu Lei clapped Yan Feifan on the shoulder and said with a sigh of admiration, "Little Feifan, you’ve really become something else."

"Not bad, not bad. You didn’t embarrass me, your uncle."

Yan Feifan just rolled his eyes...

They didn’t have to wait long. About twenty minutes later, two police cars and a police minibus arrived.

Five or six officers got out and immediately led the dozen or so people occupying the tables onto the minibus.

Liu Xia went out to see what was happening and quickly ran back, her face flushed with excitement.

"They’re all from the sub-bureau! They said they’re taking these people directly to the sub-bureau for questioning."

"Because of the previous calls and the dispatch records, they just asked me a few simple questions, like how many times this has happened."

Liu Xia looked at Yan Feifan, her eyes shining, and said emotionally, "Mr. Yan, you’re my savior."

"It’s so hard to keep a restaurant going these days. If I had to move and start over, the business would probably fail."

"Mr. Yan, I..."

As she spoke, the rims of Liu Xia’s eyes suddenly turned red.

Shu Lei quickly got up, walked over, and gently patted Liu Xia’s shoulder, comforting her in a soft voice, "I understand. It’s so hard for anyone, especially a woman, to make it on their own in a big city."

"There, there. It’s all over now."

"For Feifan, it was just a phone call. You don’t have to take it to heart so much."

Liu Xia wiped the corners of her eyes and said, "It may have been just a phone call for Mr. Yan, but for me, it was a matter of survival."

She composed herself, smoothed out her cheongsam, and bowed slightly to Yan Feifan. "Mr. Yan, words can’t express my gratitude."

"If you ever need anything from me in the future, you just have to ask."

Seeing her as a potential future aunt, Yan Feifan didn’t dare put on any airs. He quickly replied politely, "Mrs. Xia, you’re too kind."

"It was just a phone call, really."

"With your experience and ability, Mrs. Xia, I’m sure you would have found another way to solve it..."

Just then, a waitress entered the private room with a phone and reported, "Mrs. Xia, it’s a call for you."

Liu Xia took the phone, and after listening for a few moments, her expression turned cold.

"Pan, you’ve crossed the line with this."

"If you want to escalate this, let me warn you: even a worm will turn."

Liu Xia added menacingly, "Pan, don’t say I didn’t warn you. You’d better go to the police station and check out my background first."

"If this blows up and gets out of hand, I’m afraid the ending..."

"...will be something you can’t handle."

Liu Xia’s frosty expression, radiating a dangerous aura, left Shu Lei completely stunned...

At that moment, another waiter burst in, shouting frantically.

"Mrs. Xia, a guest in private room 206... isn’t breathing...!"