Lu Yanting was the first to notice the problem: "Are you only having us as your table of guests right now?"
Ji Lun gave a wry smile. "That's how it is."
Upon hearing this, Lu Yanting immediately called Yan Kai. "Yan Kai, have the public relations department work overtime. There's a barbecue restaurant called 'Boxing King' on Chang'an Avenue. Have them help promote it. In the next couple of days, have it played on the big screens in major shopping malls!"
Ji Lun was flattered and said, "Mr. Lu, this is too much trouble. How could our small shop possibly require such a great deal of your effort?"
Lu Yanting held his phone, giving instructions about company matters in the group chat, without even looking up, and simply said, "It's alright!"
Seeing this, Han Feng laughed, "Brother Yanting, he's right. It's just a barbecue restaurant, is it really that big of a deal?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a sharp pain in his head. When he turned his head, he saw Han Bing holding chopsticks, about to strike again.
He quickly reached out to block her, shouting angrily, "Han Bing! Are you fucking crazy! You asked me to come and back you up, and I'm here. What more do you want?"
"Shut up if you can't speak! No one will mute you if you don't talk!" Han Bing's temper flared up instantly, and the chopsticks in her hand were poised to strike.
"Alright, alright! My dear lady, you're right! Okay, fine!" Han Feng gave in and made a gesture of begging for mercy.
"Don't some people in our company still have to work overtime? Let them all go home! Just say I'm treating them to a late-night snack, and tell them to come over right away!" Han Bing sighed and said to Han Feng in an annoyed tone.
"Han Bing, isn't it unnecessary to go to the trouble? Your company is so big, even if you come, our small shop can't accommodate everyone!" Ji Lun quickly interjected to stop him.
Han Bing rested her chin on her hand, "What you said makes sense..."
Then she turned to Han Feng and said, "Han Feng, just send over a few key business personnel!"
Han Feng's eyes widened, and he was about to say "no" when he saw Han Bing raise her chopsticks again, with a "you try it" expression.
Han Feng felt a sharp pain in his head and nodded helplessly, "Okay, okay, I'll call out, I'll call out, alright?"
After saying that, he picked up his phone again and made a few calls.
Qiu Mang watched the two siblings bickering and burst out laughing.
"Hey! What are you laughing at! This is between my sister and me, what are you laughing at?"
"It's nothing, I just think Han Bing is very cute!" Qiu Mang said what was on her mind.
"Qiu Mang, ignore him. He's just asking for a beating!" Han Bing glanced at her brother.
"I'm only letting you have your way because you're my sister. If you were older than me, do you think I wouldn't hit you?" Han Feng said, but a hint of doting in his eyes was unintentionally revealed.
Qiu Mang pursed her lips, "Then... if you had an older sister, what would you do?"
Han Feng's heart skipped a beat. He knew he was adopted by the Han family. Although he didn't remember much about the past, in an era that favored sons over daughters, if a boy was abandoned by his family, it meant they really didn't want him anymore.
Han Feng shook his head, trying to appear calm. "That's impossible! I'll never have a sister in my life!"
After saying that, he looked at Qiu Mang with a half-smile, "However, if I had a sister like you..."
Qiu Mang froze, swallowed hard, and waited for him to continue.
"If I had a sister like you..." He secretly glanced at Lu Yanting and saw that he was wearing Bluetooth headphones and talking to someone else, not noticing them.
He leaned close to Qiu Mang's ear and whispered, "That's impossible, because I only have Jingyan as my sister! I will never acknowledge anyone else!"
Although Qiu Mang only asked tentatively, Han Feng's answer still made her heart flutter.
She was somewhat dazed. She reached for her water glass, took a sip, and her hand trembled slightly.
"Han Feng, I heard everything! Do you think everyone wants to be associated with you? Don't fool yourself!" Han Bing glanced at Han Feng sideways.
At this moment, a commotion came from the doorway. Ji Lun got up to see what was going on and found several men who looked like thugs blocking the doorway.
Ji Lun narrowed his eyes slightly, "Please enjoy your meal, everyone. I'll be right back!"
Seeing Ji Lun approach, the leader, a man with a tattooed arm and a toothpick in his mouth, asked irritably, "You're the shop owner?"
Ji Lun smiled. "Yes, that's me. And you guys, are you here for barbecue?"
"Pooh"!
The man spat the toothpick out of his mouth and said, "Barbecue?" Then he burst into laughter as if he had heard a joke.
“This whole street is under Brother Hui’s protection. You opened a shop on this street, don’t you know the rules?”
"I don't know any Brother Hui, and we operate legally with a business license and fire safety certification. I don't know what other regulations the country has," Ji Lun said, adjusting his glasses with neither servility nor arrogance.
The man slammed his hand on the table and roared, "Are you playing dumb, kid? Haven't you heard of protection money? Let me tell you! If you don't pay here and offend us, I'll make sure you can't do business for even a day!"
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Hearing the commotion outside, Li Wei and Zhang Peng came out as well.
"They're collecting protection money!" Ji Lun said, pushing up his glasses.
Seeing the two strong, burly men emerge, the tattooed man leading them instinctively took a step back, his voice trembling, "You...you're not going to hand it over? If you don't..."
"What do you want if I don't pay?"
Li Wei stepped forward, untied his apron, and tossed it aside. He then rolled up his short-sleeved shirt, revealing his well-defined biceps.
Many people gathered around to watch the spectacle, including many nearby shopkeepers.
They had been bullied by these thugs for years, so they naturally knew they were not to be trifled with.
Seeing Ji Lun and his group going head-to-head with these thugs, everyone was worried for Ji Lun.
The tattooed man glanced at the burly Li Wei in front of him, then turned to look at his brothers behind him. Fortunately, although the other man was strong, he also had more than a dozen brothers behind him. If a fight really broke out, it was hard to say who would win.
Thinking this, he cleared his throat and straightened his back. "If we don't hand it over... hehe, brothers!"
The man grinned slyly and winked at his henchmen behind him.
"Brothers, there are only three of them, and there are twelve of us. I'm giving you half an hour to take them down!"
The tattooed man raised his voice as he spoke the last few words, pulling out a plastic chair and sitting down.
The underlings exchanged glances, then immediately swarmed forward.
As soon as the tattooed man sat down, he felt a huge black object rush out of the store with a gust of wind. Before he could even see what it was, the tattooed man was stunned.
Immediately afterwards...
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