Chapter 471

After settling the related matters, Lu Fan solemnly said to Chang Zhi Chao: "Give me an honest explanation—did you or the Education Bureau meddle in the school's canteen affairs?"

Chang Zhi Chao replied without hesitation: "Mayor, I guarantee on party principles that I have never meddled once, taken a single cent, or made any contact in this matter! However, this area is overseen by Deputy Director Liu Haojie of the Business Office; from what I know, he may have some kickbacks—he secretly owns several companies and has basically monopolized the canteens of city‑run schools."

Lu Fan snapped: "You know there's corruption—why ignore it? Is it because you're short‑handed, or did Liu Haojie give you some benefits?"

"Mayor, you know I'm not that kind of person! Liu Haojie's father‑in‑law once served as Vice Mayor and is now Deputy Secretary and Deputy Director of the Municipal People's Congress Party Committee—I really can't control him! He's been Deputy Director for seven or eight years; he won't even take a top post if transferred to a subordinate unit, and he doesn't even think much of the recruitment office director. I tried adjusting his duties, but Director Ma soon showed up in person, so I had to let it be. I thought the student canteen wouldn't have any trouble—at worst the food would be a little subpar—I never imagined this would blow up into such a big problem. Mayor, this is a serious lapse in my work; please discipline me!"

Lu Fan admonished: "You can't escape responsibility for the oversight! Let's not dwell on that now—first fix the problem. I tell you clearly: the key links of school canteen food procurement, storage, processing, sample retention, and distribution must be safe and controllable, truly achieving an open kitchen and bright stove with no blind spots, so parents can monitor in real time, ensuring students eat safe, warm, nutritious, tasty meals, letting students and parents feel warm in stomach and heart, and the price must not be high—managing education requires conscience and a bottom line! You start planning now: all city school canteens should be under unified management and uniform pricing, with the government handling supervision and the safety net, including all counties and districts; the Education Bureau will take the lead on this work and quickly produce a plan."

At this moment, Deputy Director Liu Haojie of the Education Bureau, steeling himself, went to South Garden No. 5 Middle School, facing the parents' anger.

Upon arriving at the school, Liu Haojie found the student canteen already surrounded by angry parents; even trying to destroy the "evidence" was too late, he was also fuming, silently cursing those useless fools who had gotten him into this mess.

By now, the food‑poisoning incident had already blown up online; Liu Haojie must confront the issue and resolve it properly, first needing to placate the parents.

Entering the student canteen, Liu Haojie solemnly told the parents: "I am Deputy Director Liu Haojie of the Education Bureau. Such an incident is something nobody wants to see; it shows there are serious problems in the school's canteen management. Please rest assured, the Education Bureau will properly handle it—investigate what needs investigating, improve what needs improving, remove what needs removing—and will certainly give you a satisfactory answer."

One parent said: "Director Liu, look at this meat—it reeks, and the production dates are from several years ago!"

Another parent said: "Director Liu, look what's in the freezer—I can't even imagine my son eating this every day; is this how the school manages its canteen? They're still children, still growing! Would you feed such ingredients to your own child?"

The parents clamored, exposing the canteen's misdeeds, some already in tears.

Hearing these words, Liu Haojie spoke righteously: "Please rest assured, all problems with the student cafeteria will be resolved; this isn't the place to talk—let's go to the conference room for a three‑way meeting among the Education Bureau, parents, and the school, where you can raise any issues truthfully."

One parent asked: "Director Liu, if we leave and the school destroys this "evidence," what then?"

Before his words had finished, a joint team from the Emergency Management Bureau, the Market Supervision Bureau, and the Public Security Bureau entered, loudly declaring: "We have received Mayor Lu's order to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the canteen at No. 5 Middle School."

One parent asked: "Is that Mayor Lu Fan? Is he in charge of this?"

The head of the Market Supervision Bureau, Wang Pan, replied: "We're here because Mayor Lu personally instructed us; rest assured, the mayor will definitely handle this."

Liu Haojie leaned close to Wang Pan and whispered: "Does Mayor Lu have any further specific instructions?"

Wang Pan shook his head: "I don't know anything else; the mayor just told us to start the investigation."

Liu Haojie said: "Such matters shouldn't be spread, otherwise they'll create negative online sentiment; it's better to make a big thing small and a small thing smaller."

Wang Pan replied: "This is your industry's regulatory problem; I only need to determine the cause of the food poisoning. Old Liu, hurry up and handle it—I've already seen a video posted online, and when I came in I saw reporters at the school gate."

The situation was urgent; Liu Haojie had the parents brought to the conference room and began to soothe their emotions.

Having led the Education Bureau for over ten years, he naturally knew how to deal with parents—after all, the children still have to attend school, so promising a few things easily quiets things down.

At this point, Liu Haojie had already prepared to sacrifice the contractor to save himself; the contractor of No. 5 Middle School's canteen must be dealt with, and if needed he could simply replace it later with no impact.

Facing the indignant parents, Liu Haojie soothed: "Ladies and gentlemen, every child is a family's hope and the nation's future; their dietary safety must not suffer the slightest loss—no amount of emphasis is excessive. You are all parents, and I fully understand your feelings. Please rest assured, the Education Bureau will put people first, placing children's health at the forefront! If the contractor is truly at fault, the school will immediately terminate the contract."

The parent asked: "How will the school handle this? The meal‑accompaniment system requires school leaders to eat the same pot of food and sit at the same table as students, which forces the school to proactively and promptly detect problems and eliminate hidden dangers. Did the principal eat that rotten meat? Why wasn't the problem discovered in time? Has the meal‑accompaniment system become mere formalism?"

"On this matter, the Education Bureau will surely investigate thoroughly and handle it seriously!" Liu Haojie then thought to ask, "Who gave you permission to break the rules and storm the school, heading straight for the back kitchen? A bunch of troublemakers!"

The parent again asked: "How does the school plan to guarantee food safety for its canteen going forward?"

Liu Haojie replied: "We will certainly study and formulate policies as soon as possible to resolve this issue and guarantee everyone a satisfactory answer."

Faced with Director Liu's evasive 'tai chi' tactics, the parents grew displeased and their remarks became sharp.

Just then, more than thirty parents rushed in, furious and demanding the school be held accountable. They had come from the hospital, having seen with their own eyes the suffering of their children, their hearts burning with anger—there was no way they'd say anything nice!

At this point, Liu Haojie had secretly instructed the principal to have each class teacher work with the parents; he knew these parents couldn't overturn the situation, and once the current problem was solved everything would return to normal—after all, their own children still have to attend school, and not every family can transfer their child elsewhere. Moreover, if the Education Bureau blocked transfers, not a single student from this school could transfer out! That's why he feels so emboldened.

But Liu Haojie didn't realize that this incident had grown quite large; at that moment, attacks on South Garden were flooding the internet, and the top leaders of the provincial Party Committee and provincial government personally called Wang Haiyang and Lu Fan, demanding that South Garden immediately take effective measures to calm the situation.

The Party Committee manages personnel, the government handles affairs—no wonder being the municipal Party Secretary is so easy: great authority, no responsibility, and when something goes wrong the government takes the fall, with all the handling done by government officials.

Wang Haiyang directly called Lu Fan, demanding that the municipal government act promptly and give the provincial Party Committee, provincial government, and all sectors of society a satisfactory answer.

After Lu Fan exited the expressway, he dialed the Executive Vice Mayor Wang Hong's phone and asked: "How are the children doing?"

Wang Hong replied: "Mayor, I've been monitoring at the hospital; 90 senior‑year students are currently out of danger, but 53 remain hospitalized for observation and treatment, of whom 27 have been diagnosed with food poisoning, and the hospital is doing everything possible to save them."

"As long as there are no casualties, that's fine, Wang Hong—thanks for your hard work; keep watching at the hospital, and I'll go there after I've finished handling the school matters."

"Mayor, rest assured, I'm here!"

After hanging up, Lu Fan breathed a sigh of relief; as long as the children were unharmed, the remaining issues were merely about attitude and corrective action.

Around six in the afternoon, Lu Fan's car entered No. 5 Middle School.

In the conference room, the parents refused to back down, questioning that the school canteen's food‑safety management had serious problems and demanding that the Education Bureau and the school come up with a solution.

Liu Haojie glanced at the time, stood up, and said: "Please rest assured, parents, the Education Bureau and the school will certainly put students' health first; please rest assured, we will swiftly devise measures to comprehensively improve the quality and environment of the student canteen. We've been talking for two or three hours, so today's meeting will temporarily adjourn—if there are any further issues, we'll communicate later."

After saying that, several people 'pocketed and left'; some parents shouted: "Don't go! You haven't given us an explanation yet!"

Before Liu Haojie could even walk out of the conference room, he bumped into the mayor coming toward him.

Lu Fan ignored Liu Haojie and the principal, bringing with him Discipline Inspection Committee Secretary Fang Yang, Vice Mayor Ma Caihong, Public Security Bureau Director Tian Xian, City Government Secretary-General Dou Zhengyang, and Education Bureau Director Chang Zhi Chao, and went straight up to the podium.

Liu Haojie felt embarrassed—whether to leave or stay was awkward; the mayor didn't know him, so how could he not know the mayor? And to top it off, the Discipline Inspection Committee secretary had shown up as well!

Seeing this group of people sitting imposingly on the podium, their aura completely different from that of the deputy director just before, the parents realized the big leaders had arrived and quietly sat back down.

Suddenly someone whispered, "That young man in the middle of the stage looks like Mayor Lu Fan!"

Then someone in the crowd shouted: "Mayor Lu, you have to stand up for us! Dozens of kids are still in the hospital, the school canteen's whole tub of meat is rotten, the frozen dumplings have been sitting for a year or two—this can't go on!"