Chapter 676: Incident in the Ancient City

This boss actually came out chasing us with a knife.

I and Li Jia were both stunned,

We didn't say anything in the shop, just took a look, then left the shop.

The boss called us to stop,

"Where are you from? Why did you enter my shop and not buy my flatbread?"

I laughed,

"Boss, saying that, we were just looking, we didn't even ask the price. What era is this, are you trying to force a sale?"

"Yeah, I, I just want to force a sale. Anyone who enters my shop must spend money. Otherwise, don't even think about leaving." The boss said, pointing his knife at me.

Li Jia, seeing this situation,

quickly said, "Boss, we're from Zaocheng, not far from Huaihai. Don't do this. Tell me, what's the minimum spend?"

"Fifty yuan per person. Otherwise, don't even think about leaving." The boss said domineeringly.

Li Jia wanted to pull out a hundred yuan to give that boss, then settle the matter.

But I stopped Li Jia from taking out money; I really can't stand it—what a lousy place, we haven't even toured yet, and they're trying to extort a hundred yuan from us.

What Ancient City.

What shops, all like bandits.

If outsiders come here to play, they won't even let them off without being bullied to death.

I say, throughout the Ancient City, I haven't seen many tourists.

Who would come to travel in such an Ancient City.

"You really dare to extort people. We just went in to look, and you extorted a hundred yuan from me." I said angrily.

"If you don't pay the money, don't even think about leaving the Ancient City." The boss still pointed his knife at me and shouted.

"Go ahead and point, damn it, I hate it when people point at me."

I stepped forward in a flash, quickly gripping the boss's wrist with my hand,

With a bit of force, the boss screamed in pain.

The knife fell to the ground.

The boss's shout attracted the others over.

These people were also nearby shop owners; upon seeing the flatbread shop boss shouting,

they immediately all rushed over.

Li Jia and I were quickly surrounded by these people.

They were all shouting,

"He hit someone, outsiders are bullying us locals. Beat him quickly."

"Don't let him run; without five thousand yuan, this matter can't be settled."

Li Jia panicked at the sight.

I wasn't the least bit nervous inside. Watching these people surround me,

they were just shouting, but nobody dared to come hit me.

I continued to grip the boss's wrist tightly; the boss, in pain, knelt directly on the ground.

At this moment, the others' shouting grew louder.

Li Jia got scared, she pulled out her phone and urgently contacted Secretary Wu.

Have him come over to handle it urgently.

As for Li Jia contacting Secretary Wu, I didn't know about it.

In my eyes, these people are nothing at all.

I was just so angry, I wanted to teach them a lesson,

What is honest business, don't bully outsiders. Such a sign is just a scam.

These people were just shouting, but they didn't dare to step forward.

I looked at them and thought, as long as they step forward, I'll knock each of them down with one punch.

Soon, police lights flashed, and Secretary Wu came with people.

He dispersed the crowd.

Then Li Jia and I were rescued from the crowd.

Li Jia let out a sigh of relief at that moment.

I dragged that boss over to Secretary Wu,

"Secretary Wu, your Ancient City is really bullying people."

"Mr. Zhao, what's going on?" Secretary Wu asked.

I then explained the whole incident to Secretary Wu,

Upon hearing it, Secretary Wu had people take that boss away.

Secretary Wu said: "I'm really sorry, Mr. Zhao, I didn't expect that touring the Ancient City would lead to something like this."

"Secretary Wu, the management of your Ancient City is too chaotic. If outsiders come here, they'll just let you bully them to death.

We're lucky we have your contact information; otherwise, who knows what would happen in this Ancient City." Li Jia complained to Secretary Wu.

"Director Li, I'm really sorry, the management of this Ancient City is somewhat chaotic.

There's nothing to be done; this is just how it is. Actually, letting people extort a hundred yuan from you is already mild.

If you went into an antique shop, you might get extorted for tens of thousands. Forget it, Mr. Zhao, Director Li, I'll send you back to the guesthouse. Rest early." Secretary Wu explained.

Upon hearing Secretary Wu say that, I became somewhat confused,

Secretary Wu, I don't quite understand—how can sightseeing get someone swindled out of ten thousand yuan?

Mr. Zhao, you may not know, but this is all a trick of the merchants.

They deliberately place some porcelain in spots where you are likely to bump into them; a little carelessness and you'll knock the porcelain, causing it to fall to the ground and shatter.

Then a piece of porcelain, they claim it's a cultural relic, making it hard to price.

Think about it, anyone who can operate here has someone behind them.

Outsiders can't stand it; they'd rather pay money to settle the matter.

Here, it's common to get swindled out of several thousand or even ten thousand yuan.

So, when you came here to play, I knew something would happen," Secretary Wu said with a smile.

I and Li Jia followed Secretary Wu out of Guwan Cheng.

I asked Secretary Wu, somewhat puzzled:

"Secretary Wu, this Ancient City has such good resources; why not manage it well? The profits could be very good."

Secretary Wu shook his head,

"Mr. Zhao, you don't know much about Huaihai. The development of this Ancient City is very complicated; a sentence or two can't explain it clearly to you."

Zhuang Shi let you come to the Ancient City to play just so you could get a glimpse.

Mr. Zhao, I can only say this much.

Actually, Huaihai's economy fundamentally doesn't need tourism to support it.

The heavy industry in the city alone is already sufficient.

The development of this Ancient City is optional."

I nodded and didn't ask Secretary Wu anything else.

Because asking further would make them unwilling to speak; any place involves power struggles.

This is certainly true in Huaihai as well.

Zhuang Shi isn't the sole decision-maker either.

I remember clearly what Tian Shi did in Zaocheng with the Cui Family; I believe Zhuang Shi will be the same.

They just won't tell us.

It seems I should get in touch with Secretary Wu more; maybe I'll learn something useful.

After Li Jia and I returned to the guesthouse, Li Jia looked at me and said:

"Mr. Zhao, the Ancient City scared me to death; what if they really start fighting?"

I laughed and said, "They really don't need to be afraid. It's just to scare outsiders; if they really fought, I'd be afraid too. What era is this? Fighting doesn't bring any profit."

I just didn't expect their Ancient City management to be so chaotic.

"Yeah, I didn't expect that either; you know, this Ancient City is the most famous tourist attraction in Huaihai City."

I originally wanted to learn from them,

but ended up learning nothing.

We can't learn to let merchants swindle people, can we?

I chuckled,

"This certainly doesn't need to be learned, but it's good—it gave us a heads‑up lesson,

so we can avoid similar problems in future Ancient City management."

"Mr. Zhao is right; in our tourism project management, we must absolutely avoid such problems, otherwise nobody would want to come travel,

this isn't tourism at all—it's just asking for trouble, even risking one's life." Li Jia said.

I took out a cigarette, lit it, and started smoking.

Then I looked at Li Jia and said:

"Li Jia, I have something I can't figure out: the management of Huaihai Ancient City is chaotic, and I believe Zhuang Shi knows about it, so why does he still let us go to the ancient city to play?"

"How could Zhuang Shi know the Ancient City management is chaotic? In his position, he only likes to hear reports; if his subordinates say it's fine, he thinks it's fine." Li Jia looked at me and said seriously.