Give Me Face

"What's wrong?"

Seeing this, Xie Tiancai quickly asked.

"Didn't answer."

Yan Yifan said with a gloomy face. He was a little embarrassed to say that he had been directly shut down, and his anger towards Lin Xiao increased even more.

"Could he be deliberately ignoring your calls?" Xie Tiancai added fuel to the fire.

"Does he dare? We'll fight him later!"

Yan Yifan snorted coldly, his tone filled with confidence.

"Yes, you're from the provincial department, how could he possibly dare?"

Xie Tiancai wore a broad smile, but his gaze towards Yan Yifan held a hint of disdain. The reason his classmate from the provincial department was being so enthusiastic was because he had shown "sincerity." In other words, as long as Yan Yifan dared to accept his "sincerity," he wouldn't have to worry about Yan Yifan not helping him solve his problem.

So, isn't the exchange of benefits the most reliable approach?

On the other end, Gong Lei flew into a rage after hearing Lin Xiao's report.

"These people are incredibly audacious. This matter must be thoroughly investigated, and everyone involved must be dealt with seriously."

After finishing his speech, Gong Lei quickly wrote instructions on the letter of complaint, mainly requiring the relevant responsible units to conduct self-rectification and investigation, while also requiring the Supervision Office to follow up and supervise the entire process, and resolutely investigate and punish any acts of bribery or dereliction of duty.

Just as she stepped out of the inner room, the phone rang again. Seeing that it was the same unfamiliar number, Lin Xiao was a little puzzled. After hesitating for a moment, she answered the phone.

"Lin Xiao, this is Yan Yifan. Come on, let's go out for a drink."

As soon as the call connected, Yan Yifan on the other end adopted a "commanding" tone.

Lin Xiao smiled and said, "You guys drink, I have something to do so I won't be coming out."

Yan Yifan persisted, "It's Friday, what could possibly be wrong? Besides, I'm already back from the provincial capital, what could possibly be keeping you from leaving? Hurry up, we're all waiting for you at Changxing Restaurant."

Just then, Xu Jingnan called, and Lin Xiao said coldly, "Sorry, I really have something to do tonight and can't go. You guys can have fun on your own. That's all, I need to take this call."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Xiao answered Xu Jingnan's call.

"Xiaolin, I'm already at Fengshan Elementary School. They're all fine, just their phones got broken."

Lin Xiao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Okay, thank you, Director Xu. I'll be right there. I just reported this matter to County Chief Gong, and he took it very seriously, instructing that it be investigated, handled, and punished severely. I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you all from now on."

Xu Jingnan smiled and said, "Don't mention it, it's our duty. Don't worry, the county bureau will fully cooperate."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Xiao went into the inner room to report to Gong Lei, and then headed straight for Fengshan Elementary School.

While in the car, Lin Xiao thought that it was highly likely that You Zhengbo and Hu Qingqing had discovered something, otherwise they wouldn't have been threatened, their phones stolen, and they wouldn't have been detained.

The fact that these people acted so brazenly suggests there's more to the story behind it, and with so many primary and secondary schools in the county, problems are bound to arise during the outsourcing of school cafeterias.

Therefore, the safety issues at Fengshan Elementary School's cafeteria are likely not an isolated case.

Whether it's an isolated case or not, the hygiene and safety of student canteens should never be underestimated...

Just then, his phone rang again, interrupting his thoughts. When he saw it was Yan Yifan again, Lin Xiao immediately became a little impatient.

So, after answering the phone, he said in a stiff, deep voice, "Old Yan, I really have something to do. You guys drink by yourselves..."

Upon hearing this, Yan Yifan's face also showed displeasure. He put on the airs of a high-ranking leader and said, "Lin Xiao, isn't it just a problem with the Fengshan Elementary School cafeteria? How big of a deal can it be? Give me some face and let them fix it up."

Lin Xiao was so angry she almost laughed: Why should he give him face? Does he think he's so important? Or is it because we're such close friends? She thought that since he'd gotten into a big government office in the provincial capital, he must have some ability, but it turns out he can't even tell how capable she really is...

"Old Yan, I don't know the specifics of what you're talking about right now. We'll talk about it later. I'm busy right now, so let's leave it at that."

Lin Xiao suppressed her impatience and amusement, said a few words, and then hung up the phone.

On the other end of the line, Yan Yifan stared blankly at the phone.

His head was buzzing: What on earth was going on? Had he not explained himself clearly? Had Lin Xiao lost his mind? Not only was he showing absolutely no respect, but he also seemed to disregard someone from the provincial government? Was he courting death...?

"How did it go? What did he say?"

Xie Tiancai also looked anxious.

He said he didn't know the specifics yet and would talk about it later.

Yan Yifan's face was grim. He had initially considered this a trivial matter; a single phone call from him would have been enough to make Lin Xiao comply. After all, he was a member of the provincial department and was about to become the deputy director's secretary. Therefore, when Xie Tiancai approached him with sincerity, he accepted it without hesitation.

But now, they've actually run into a wall!

A mere county-level secretary dared to disrespect people from the provincial government!

This isn't just embarrassing, it's intolerable.

"That kid Lin Xiao doesn't even respect you at all!"

Seeing Yan Yifan's expression, Xie Tiancai guessed what was going on, so he immediately stirred things up. If Yan Yifan took the sincerity but couldn't get things done, then the only one who would suffer would be him, the sucker who had put in the real talent and sincerity.

"Hmph, looks like I need to teach him a lesson he won't know who he is."

Yan Yifan, his face full of anger, pulled out a number from his phone and dialed it. Once connected, his face quickly broke into a smile, and his tone became polite: "Director Guo, this is Yan Yifan. Little Yan... it's like this, I'm currently in Fengshan County, and there's something I need to report to you..."

A moment later, after hanging up the phone, Yan Yifan adopted a confident demeanor, his tone becoming quite smug: "I just called Director Guo of the Municipal Education Bureau and asked him to look into this matter. If that doesn't work, I'll report to Director Yuan when I get back. I refuse to believe that such a trivial matter can't be resolved!"

Seeing this, Xie Tiancai immediately smiled obsequiously and flattered, "Haha, Lao Yan, you're absolutely right. What's a huge deal for us at the grassroots level is just a phone call for you and your provincial leaders. Alright, since you've made the arrangements, let's go have a couple of drinks later, then soak our feet and relax."

A hint of surprise flashed in Yan Yifan's eyes, but he then said in a serious tone, "You can arrange it as you see fit. I don't know much about these things."

Xie Tiancai smiled and nodded repeatedly, but inwardly he felt a surge of contempt.

Fengshan Primary School.

Seeing some parents queuing at the school gate, Lin Xiao, who hadn't even gotten out of the car yet, casually asked, "Isn't it summer vacation? Why are you still picking up and dropping off your kids?"

The driver, Zhu Gang, scoffed and said, "I can tell you don't have kids yet, so you don't know the ins and outs. Let me tell you, the Education Bureau issued a notice saying that tutoring is not allowed, but schools will use the guise of summer social practice activities to arrange intensive tutoring. I heard that each grade has a week of it, and each student has to pay 120 yuan. Some parents are unwilling, but they don't dare to say anything, afraid that their children will be treated differently later, and also afraid that they will fall behind in their studies..."

Now Lin Xiao suddenly understood. He had been wondering why a parent would report the school cafeteria, which was not open during the holidays.

So it turns out the school was defying the rules!

"Master, how did you know?"

"I have a relative whose child studies here. I heard this from my relative. He also told me that this situation is not only in Fengshan, but also in other schools. They all have different ways of charging money for tutoring. Some parents have reported this to the Education Bureau, but it's no use. The Education Bureau does come, but it's just a formality, and then they reply that they have no evidence."

Hearing this, Lin Xiao gasped. It seemed the education system had its share of problems: there were disguised ways to charge for tutoring, and there were issues with cafeteria safety...

Lin Xiao made a decision: to launch a special inspection campaign targeting all primary and secondary schools in the county.