Chapter 384: They Are Engaging in Violent Enforcement!

The late spring evening breeze, carrying the scent of oil and salt, swept across the four-way intersection of the industrial park.

Cao Lei's food stall set up its blue-and-white striped canopy in the twilight.

The flames rising from the honeycomb coal stove licked at the iron wok.

His elderly mother, wearing an apron, was cutting green peppers at the chopping board, while oily pork belly sizzled in a colander.

The owners of the two neighboring stalls were busy soliciting customers; workers walked over in twos and threes, shuffling in slippers, sat down on plastic stools, opened bottles of iced beer, and, accompanied by the aroma of stir-fried pork liver, shed the exhaustion of the day.

If one studied it carefully, Cao Lei's stall had the best business because the ingredients were fresher and the portions were more generous.

Tang Ye and Cheng Lin chose a low table in the corner and sat down.

When Cao Lei came over to take their order, wiping the oil from his hands, his gaze lingered on Cheng Lin's face for two seconds.

This face seemed to have been seen on the television news, yet he couldn't quite place it for a moment.

He did not know that the woman with the gentle temperament before him was the Deputy County Party Secretary, nor did he recognize Tang Ye, who had just arrived in Suiyuan; he simply took them for two ordinary diners.

"Give us an order of shredded potatoes in sour and spicy sauce, stir-fried pork liver, braised pork intestines, and two bottles of iced soda."

Tang Ye smiled as he ordered, his gaze sweeping over the fresh ginger and green peppers on the chopping board, before he took his seat opposite Cheng Lin.

Cheng Lin wiped the tabletop with a paper napkin and suddenly chuckled: "Looking at this 'wok breath,' the cooking skills shouldn't be bad."

"People doing manual labor need heavy oil and salt." Tang Ye looked at the workers at the neighboring table wolfing down their food. "To them, hygiene is secondary; being able to eat until full and satisfied is what's real."

Cheng Lin raised her eyes and teased him: "Are you criticizing me for saying 'Why don't they eat minced meat?'"

Under the atmosphere of the bustling street food scene, Cheng Lin's features appeared three-dimensional and dreamlike under the projection of the bright moonlight.

A voice in Tang Ye's heart suddenly said that being with Sister Lin, no matter the environment or what they were eating, was a kind of enjoyment.

However, he did not say it out loud.

Some things, once said, would cross the line!

Cheng Lin ate a piece of stir-fried meat; in fact, she felt that the feeling of eating at a street food stall alone with Tang Ye today was much more appetizing than eating delicacies at a five-star hotel.

Suddenly, a car horn sounded at the intersection.

A pickup truck with the words "Urban Management Enforcement" printed on it braked in front of the stall, its headlights casting a long shadow of Cao Lei's mother.

"The vampires are here," the owner of the neighboring stall cursed in a low voice.

"Didn't we just pay our respects a few days ago?"

"Sigh, this bunch of Urban Management is truly annoying!"

Cao Lei took a deep breath, fished a cigarette pack from his trouser pocket, and went up to meet them.

The enforcement officer frowned and avoided the cigarette he offered: "How many times have I told you, occupying the road for business affects the city's appearance!"

Cao Lei smiled sheepishly, "Comrade, look, there are still two tables of guests... can you wait until they finish? We will start packing up the stall right now."

The enforcement officer looked Cao Lei up and down, "Is your surname Cao?"

Cao Lei was stunned for a moment; he had been setting up the stall here with his elderly mother and had always hidden his identity from the outside world. Although he didn't steal or rob and relied on manual labor to earn money, he was, after all, a public servant, and while moonlighting wasn't illegal, it affected the image of the government.

"Does it matter what my surname is?"

Seeing that Cao Lei would not admit it, the enforcement officer whispered a few words to a colleague beside him.

"In view of your repeated violations of the regulations, we are confiscating your temporary stall today. You can go to the County Urban Management Bureau tomorrow to pay the fine!"

Having said that, the enforcement officer walked straight toward Cao Lei's stall.

A bad premonition welled up in Cao Lei's heart.

Could it be that someone found out he was setting up a stall here?

He had reported Liao Guosheng for illegal and undisciplined activities; Liao Guosheng's cronies must have found out and were definitely going to retaliate against him.

But Cao Lei hadn't expected that they would find out he was running a food stall here and specifically arrange for people to come and seize his stall.

This temporary stall had a history of many years.

After his parents were laid off, the two of them relied on this stall to earn money to support the family.

His father had fallen seriously ill, so Cao Lei would come to set up the stall with his mother at night.

This was not only because Cao Lei wanted to earn a little more money for his father's medical treatment, but also because this stall held many memories.

Seeing that the Urban Management personnel were about to go over and forcibly seize the stall, Cao Lei's mother hurried over to stop them.

"Young man, we know we were wrong. We'll leave right now, please don't take the stall; this is our means of making a living."

The Urban Management personnel couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the old lady and pushed her aside, "Don't interfere with us performing our official duties."

Not far away, inside the enforcement vehicle, a middle-aged man was smoking, looking at Cao Lei in the distance with a look of mockery in his eyes. He thought to himself that Cao Lei was an honest man; such a person was simply not suited for the officialdom. To have ended up flipping a ladle at a food stall at night—if word got out, he wouldn't even be afraid of being laughed at.

Cheng Lin and Tang Ye sat in the corner, both of their faces covered in a layer of frost.

They lamented that Cao Lei's life was not easy, but they hadn't expected that things would now go from bad to worse.

"These people are truly going too far; they are really trying to force someone into a dead end!"

"Sister, don't be anxious, let's see how this develops!"

The enforcement personnel dismantled the stall in a flash and threw it into the truck bed.

Cao Lei was furious and rushed over to demand an explanation, but he was pinned down by someone.

At this moment, a person stepped out of the enforcement vehicle.

"Deputy Township Head Cao, what a fine mood you're in!" Zhou Liang slowly put on his hat, a mocking sneer hanging on the corner of his mouth. "Sitting in the office drinking tea during the day, and selling fried rice to earn extra money at night—this official work of yours is truly 'down to earth'."

"Zhou Liang, are you doing this on purpose, you motherfucker?" Cao Lei started cursing directly. "What law have I broken?"

Zhou Liang was the Deputy Captain of the County Urban Management Enforcement Team.

Seeing Cao Lei cursing so foully, he pointed at Cao Lei's nose and said coldly, "As a civil servant, it's pathetic that you've ended up like this."

Cao Lei sneered, "I don't steal or rob; everything I earn is clean money. You lot usually collect plenty of management fees, but after taking the money, not only do you not do your jobs, you do nothing but wicked deeds. Sooner or later, there will be retribution!"

Zhou Liang's face turned red and white from the scolding, "Your mouth is really filthy. I don't think you'll be getting these things back; we'll be destroying them in a moment."

Hearing that their livelihood was about to be destroyed, Cao Lei's elderly mother hurriedly rushed over and grabbed one of the Urban Management personnel.

"Little brother, I beg you, please give us a way to survive!"

"Don't touch me!"

The Urban Management officers were temporary workers, originally idle members of society, and did not understand how to respect the old or cherish the young.

During the shoving, Cao Lei's mother fell!

The glass jar containing seasoning shattered, and brown soy sauce meandered into a river on the concrete floor.

Cao Lei could no longer hold back; he swung his fist at Zhou Liang's face, and the hat flew off onto the greasy ground.

"I'll fight you all to the death."

Zhou Liang had not expected Cao Lei to be so impulsive and retreated in a panic, but he still took a punch to the face, and his hat was knocked flying.

At this moment, the sound of a police siren came from not far away, and a Police Station vehicle pulled up next to the Urban Management vehicle.

Three police officers stepped out of the car.

"We just received a report; what happened here?"

"We are enforcing the law here, and this guy not only resisted enforcement but also started a fight." Seeing the police officers appear, Zhou Liang immediately felt more confident, thinking to himself that with this punch, he would surely get at least fifty thousand yuan in compensation.

"I am the one who hit him. They forcibly confiscated the stall equipment and shoved an old woman! They are using violent enforcement!"