When the two men who had just entered stared straight at them, the strongest of the four men glared at them.
"What are you looking at? Look again and I'll gouge your eyes out!"
Then he winked at the two women next to him, and they hesitated for a moment.
"Brother, how about we call it a day? They're already on guard."
"Be on guard against my ass! See if they dare. If they did, would they be here serving us such a huge meal? Alright, hurry up, I'm full. Yesterday, your sister-in-law took a fancy to a watch, and I was worried about what to do. These two women just arrived, if I don't teach them a lesson, who will I teach a lesson to?"
So, to the astonishment of the two men at the next table, the two women began to put on a dramatic performance.
They vividly demonstrated what a real staged accident scam looks like!
A woman stood up, walked confidently to the kitchen door, and loudly asked, "Boss lady, we're finished eating, please pay the bill!"
When Zhao Lingli came out from behind, she suddenly swayed twice, and before Zhao could ask anything, she fell to the ground with a thud.
The other woman immediately jumped up: "Oh dear, what happened? Little girl, don't scare me! You, you, ouch, my stomach hurts, and my head is starting to spin! Brother, quick, quick, let's find someone! This, this food must have been poisoned as revenge! I knew it! Why were they so kind as to invite us to dinner? Ah…,"
Seeing the two women lying on the ground, the men rolled up their sleeves and started throwing punches at the petite Zhao Lingli.
"You wretched woman, tell me, what did you put in the food? Why did you put those two in there?"
Zhao Lingli coldly crossed her arms, showing no fear of his swung fist. She even looked at the other tall, thin man with interest.
"These two women fainted while acting, and what about you, did you poop your pants?" Before the two onlookers behind them could even laugh out loud, Zhao Lingli raised her eyebrows and asked the burly man again.
"Go ahead and fight! Who's afraid of who? Come on, if you've got the guts, hit me here! You're just trying to extort money, is it really that serious? Huh? You're all lying on the ground, you're really going all out! Come on, let me see if these two are really unconscious or just pretending."
Before the two men could react, a basin of water was splashed on the two women. The two women were drenched and jumped up from the ground, shaking off their clothes as they looked at Zhao Lingli.
"You bitch, how dare you splash water on me! I'll tear your mouth apart!"
As the two women pounced on Zhao Lingli like madwomen, the two onlookers finally spoke up.
"Alright, that's enough of your performance. We've figured it out. You four are repeat offenders, extorting money from people, that's your specialty, isn't it? Perfect timing, there's been a crackdown on crime lately. The reason we weren't wearing uniforms was to help the people solve their problems. Now that the people have invited us to watch this show, it makes us realize that our work is still inadequate. Sorry, comrades. We're taking these people away; we'll definitely discipline them properly!"
Upon hearing this, the two men and two women were completely bewildered. Just as the burly man was about to turn around and question them, two men in work clothes walked in with their law enforcement books in hand, their steps steady and powerful. Upon seeing the two officers beside them, they immediately saluted, and the officer in plainclothes returned the salute and asked.
"It's those four, isn't it?"
"Yes, that's them. We witnessed the four of them committing the crime. They're definitely repeat offenders. Take them back immediately and see if there are any other victims on this street."
Just as they were about to leave, Zhao Lingli ran up to them looking embarrassed.
"Hey comrade, they ate a total of 80,000 yuan from us. Last time they ate 30,000, and this time they ate 50,000, so it's 80,000 in total. This money..."
The burly man's eyes widened instantly. "What did you say? Eighty thousand? Comrade, this woman is trying to scam us! We can't possibly spend that much!"
Cuihua came in at some point, pointed to the price list on the wall, then to the ingredients they had ordered on the table, reciting them all as if they knew them by heart, including what they had ordered last time. She even brought over an abacus, and with a few quick additions, she said, "How much is it? A full eighty thousand! Not a penny less."
Refusing to pay? Refusing to pay would only prove that they were trying to dine and dash and extort money! It's not allowed by law. The country was newly established and everything was in disarray, but whenever ordinary people came to public officials for help, these illegal and criminal acts could not be tolerated.
The fat man was so angry he was grinding his teeth, but he refused to give it to them, even after the police officer had spoken.
"You won't give it to us, huh? Fine, then we'll lock you up until your family is willing to hand over the money."
Without giving them any further words, he dragged them out. They tried to run, but the well-trained militiamen quickly kicked them down. With their leader down, the other three were doomed.
The four of them managed to scrape together 80,000 yuan and gave it to Zhao Lingli. Only then did Zhao Lingli nod in satisfaction and call out to her comrades.
"Thank you, comrades. Please take care. You are welcome to come and visit us anytime."
As soon as she got the money, Cuihua didn't hesitate and excitedly started counting it. But before she could finish counting, several little beggars appeared outside, knelt in front of the police officers, and began to tell them all about how they had been tricked and harassed by these thugs, and how they had vandalized and threatened people everywhere.
Upon hearing this, the police officer's expression changed instantly. He had initially thought it was just a simple civil dispute, but it turned out that these four people were also suspected of gambling, assault, fraud, and even targeting children, using them to steal money. This was unacceptable! He immediately led his men and rushed to the police station.
The children were also taken away. Before leaving, the cleverest child turned back to look at Cuihua and winked at them.
As soon as these eyesores left, Zhao Lingli quickly went outside to call the guests in for dinner.
"Don't be afraid, everyone. It has been confirmed by the police that they came here specifically to extort money. It's just that they were unlucky this time and ran into trouble. Our ingredients are clean and hygienic. If you don't believe me, you can come and see for yourself in our kitchen. You can eat with complete peace of mind."
After someone went in to report the meal, Cuihua looked at Zhao Lingli with admiration.
"You actually know that those little beggars in the corner, oh no, I mean the children, were taken advantage of by them?"
Zhao Lingli nodded with a smile: "You know, every cloud has a silver lining. After we got scammed last time, that kid came over and told me that they had also been scammed. That's why I thought of this and asked you to give them 10,000 yuan so they could come and get justice for themselves."
Cuihua was a little worried, "If these people get out, will they retaliate against us? What if..."
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