Chapter 404: What Kind of Brother Is This?

Customer satisfaction dipped at first, but not by much. It quickly recovered and even surpassed its previous high.

It wasn’t just customer satisfaction; even her reputation value saw a small increase.

Shen Lu was pleasantly surprised by this, but also a little confused.

’Weren’t most of these onlookers on the Deng Family’s side just now? I kicked them out by force, and my approval rating didn’t even drop?’

Shen Lu had forgotten that most of the people who ate at her restaurant were working-class folks.

And working-class folks tend to empathize with each other.

Many of them were very envious of Deng Ying. Although they didn’t entirely approve of her actions, they envied her for having a boss like Shen Lu.

A boss who wasn’t afraid of trouble and staunchly protected her employees.

They asked themselves, if the same thing happened to them, would their bosses act like Shen Lu?

No.

Their bosses would just blame them for not handling their family matters properly, for letting their relatives cause a scene at work, damage the company’s image, and delay progress.

They might even get fined or something.

The hall returned to its usual order. Customers went back to picking out their dishes, sat down to eat, and would head back to their companies after a short rest.

The Deng Family discovered they could no longer enter the restaurant. Even when they tried the same trick as before—hiding behind other people—an invisible wall blocked their path the moment they tried to step through the door.

No matter what they did, they couldn’t get in.

The Deng Family even came up with the idea of smashing the glass to force their way in.

After all, Shen Lu had used a similar method. They would just be giving her a taste of her own medicine.

But the glass was unusually sturdy. They exhausted themselves without making a single crack.

"We can’t just let this go! Let’s go to the police!" Deng Jianxin spat fiercely. "The fact that she broke into our home is undeniable! She has to compensate us!"

"Yes, you’re right, son." Mrs. Deng never did anything but agree with her son.

The four of them went to the police station to file a report. They exaggerated wildly, painting Shen Lu as a villainous businesswoman who held people captive and even went to their homes to kidnap them.

"Alright, I’ve heard what you have to say. Go home for now," the police officer said, waving his hand dismissively.

Deng Jianxin gritted his teeth. "That boss, Shen, is pretty rich. We can give you half of the compensation money afterward as a token of our respect."

The officer raised an eyebrow. "Half?"

"..." Deng Jianxin cursed him inwardly, ’You greedy bastard.’ "Two-thirds. We need to keep a little to repair the furniture, doors, and windows she destroyed."

"Fine. It’s only because I care so much about the public. Anyone else wouldn’t even bother responding in this weather."

Meanwhile, Shen Lu finished serving all the dishes for the guests in the Dragon Hall. She took out all the steamed fish heads with chopped chili that were ready, had Deng Ying sprinkle them with shredded scallions, and then poured sizzling hot oil over them before sending them to the service window.

With Wangcai’s help, the speed of plating dishes at the window had noticeably increased.

The robot was fast at calculating, precise with its portions, and had very clean movements. One of them could do the work of two people.

The dishes at the front were being consumed quickly, so the kitchen had to keep up. Shen Lu was getting a major headache. She stole a moment during the rush to post another hiring video, this time increasing the offered benefits.

’I really don’t get it. Why are so few people applying now? Not a single person has shown up in person to apply. They’re all just talking big in my comment sections.’

The Deng Family was still blocked outside, but the police officer entered without any obstruction.

He tapped on the front counter and ordered Huo Qian, "Go get your boss."

Huo Qian briskly swiped the card in her hand, brought over the lottery box for a customer to draw from, and shot the officer a quick, impatient glance. "Wait until we’re done with the rush."

She wasn’t afraid of the police, especially the ones from the Lower City District. They were all connected to some official or another through nepotism, just coasting through their jobs and living off the public payroll.

If it weren’t for the government backing them, she wouldn’t even have bothered to acknowledge him.

"Cooperating with the police is a citizen’s duty! If you refuse to cooperate, I’ll have to take you in to clear your head!"

It had been a while since Huo Qian had run into a cop who put on such airs.

She took a proper look at him. He was a new face; she’d never seen him before.

"Just joined the force recently?"

"Don’t change the subject! Hurry up and get your boss!"

"You really haven’t learned your lesson, have you?" Huo Qian took out the prize and gave it to the winning customer. "To those behind, please wait a moment. I need to deal with this reckless punk."

The officer froze. ’Reckless punk? Surely she’s not talking about me?’

Huo Qian walked out from behind the counter, reached out, and grabbed him by the collar.

"What are you doing?! This is assaulting an officer! It’s against the law! Let go! If you don’t let go, I’m not going to be polite anymore!"

He yelled furiously while pulling an electric baton from his belt.

Huo Qian grabbed his wrist and twisted. The officer cried out in pain, and the electric baton fell to the ground.

"Go back and ask your seniors what a Lower City District cop should and shouldn’t get involved in. I really can’t stand greenhorns like you."

Huo Qian dragged him to the doorway and threw him out with a shoulder toss.

The Deng Family members outside scrambled to get out of the way. The officer hit the ground hard and was even blown a dozen meters away by the wind before rolling to a stop.

If he hadn’t crashed into a stone pillar, he would have kept rolling.

The Deng Family crowded around and helped the officer up. "Are you okay?"

"Little Deer Cuisine, right? I, Ma Tao, will absolutely not let them get away with this!"

Ma Tao cursed and swore, having the Deng Family help him back to the station. After a quick patch-up of his injuries, he started making calls to get backup.

Ma Tao had indeed just joined the police force. His father was Ma Shiyou, the secretary to the deputy chief of the Lower City District, who was quite powerful in the area.

Ma Shiyou had two sons. The elder son was more promising, so he had arranged for him to work under him, ready to take over as soon as he retired.

The younger son was a good-for-nothing who was always getting into trouble, so Ma Shiyou could only stuff him into the police force.

In any case, the Lower City District police station didn’t handle major incidents and didn’t need to bother with minor ones, so he wasn’t worried about Ma Tao getting into any real trouble.

Ma Tao first called his older brother, Ma Hong. After angrily explaining his situation, he told Ma Hong to find some people to shut down Little Deer Cuisine.

"Okay, I got it."

Ma Hong hung up and continued with his work as if nothing had happened.

’He knew his little brother all too well. It was always him bullying others; how could he possibly be the one to lose out?’

Besides, lying to escape punishment was his specialty. Ma Hong didn’t believe a single word his brother said.

’Since he could still make a phone call and sounded so full of energy, it meant he wasn’t seriously injured. No need to get involved.’

Ma Tao waited and waited, but heard nothing further from his brother.

He spat on the ground, cursed, "Bastard," and called his dad.

This time, his story was even more exaggerated, and he took the opportunity to badmouth his brother.

"You always say my brother cares about me, but I got beat up and he won’t even get revenge for me! What kind of brother is that?"

Ma Shiyou had a huge headache when it came to his younger son, but he also doted on him the most.

"We’re all busy coordinating the government’s relief grain distribution recently. We can’t get away."

"It’s not the first time you’ve done that! What’s so important you can’t get away? Dad, I don’t care! If you don’t help me teach that Little Deer Cuisine a lesson, I’ll be too ashamed to stay on the force! I’ll take off this uniform and quit today!"