Xu Chunliang was getting a bit carried away and sent another one, this time deliberately not retracting it.

Mei Ru Xue replied to him, "Keep your hands in check."

Xu Chunliang confidently replied, "Who told you not to help me."

"I’m too busy to bother with you, focus on your work."

Xu Chunliang put away his phone and noticed Xiaomeng sneaking glances at him: "I told you to concentrate on driving, why do you keep peeking at me?"

Xiaomeng responded with a smile, "Chatting with your girlfriend, huh?"

"How did you know?"

Xiaomeng said, "Your smile is quite suggestive."

In the back, Fan Lidada, pretending to sleep, chimed in at just the right moment, "In our local Dongzhou dialect, we would say your smile is quite flirty!"

That made everyone burst into laughter.

Nanwan Taiming Lake is located at the foot of Yishan, on the golden tourist route from Lujiang to Yishan, situated between Yishan and Jiuzi Mountain, thirty kilometers north of the Buddhist holy land Jiuzi Mountain’s south gate, and thirty kilometers south of the national treasure Yishan’s north gate, enjoying a geographically favorable position. It boasts rich tourism resources, with picturesque lakes and mountains, clear and transparent lake water, rolling green hills, and scattered islands like pearls, known as the "Chinese Emerald" and "World Pearl."

It’s over 500 kilometers from Dongzhou to Taiming Lake. They set off early in the morning and arrived at the Taiming Lake area by noon.

Fu Guomin suggested that they shouldn’t rush to check in but first go to the lakefront to enjoy the local specialty dishes.

Fan Lidada, being a seasoned foodie, quickly recommended the Blue Bay Fishing Village, having visited several times before.

Xiaomeng drove them to the spot. It was peak lunch hour, and the large parking lot of the fishing village was packed with cars, making it quite challenging to find a parking spot.

Xu Chunliang and the others got out of the car first. Fu Guomin stretched out his arms, gazed at the nearby azure Taiming Lake, and exclaimed, "With tourism resources like ours in Dongzhou, how can we compete? This is a naturally blessed place, a gift from the heavens."

Fan Lidada commented, "This is also a large reservoir, much like our Dongzhou Hidden Dragon Lake."

Xu Chunliang, being there for the first time, added fairly, "There’s no comparison; they’re not on the same level."

Fan Lidada said, "Don’t look down on our Dongzhou. Hidden Dragon Lake is a 5A level, while Taiming Lake is only 4A level."

Fu Guomin stated, "This kind of rating is meaningless, as many factors are involved. All aspects, including service and facilities, should be considered. It’s not simply judged by scenery. Purely by scenery, even a random spot in Xinmeng Chuan Qingzang could qualify as a 5A level."

Fan Lidada said, "In terms of natural scenery, Nanwan far surpasses our Pinghai. We’re naturally inferior, so we can only work harder on cultural landscapes."

When they arrived at the restaurant to inquire, there were no private rooms available, but they could temporarily set up a table in the main hall for them.

After all, they were there to eat local dishes and weren’t too particular about the setting.

Fan Lidada offered to treat them to the meal, but Fu Guomin said it wasn’t necessary, as they had travel expenses, and there was no need to be extravagant.

Upon reaching Taiming Lake, the local fish and shrimp were must-tries. Fan Lidada ordered a large bighead carp prepared in three different ways. The fish were kept in net cages, freshly caught and killed, and all were quite large. He also ordered farmhouse smoked ham, dried bamboo shoots with pork, farmhouse chicken, salted shrimp, spicy peanut sprouts, and clam soup.

Xu Chunliang watched the commotion from the side. Knowing that some local restaurants don’t follow rules and often run around, Fan Lidada used to travel fairly often and was aware of such practices. The bighead carp weighed in at twelve pounds. At a price of thirty-eight per pound, the fish alone cost over four hundred. Fan Lidada asked the staff to select a smaller one, as there were only a few people, and a six or seven-pound fish would be sufficient.

Unexpectedly, the store’s attitude was very rude, with the owner coldly telling Fan Lidada that they didn’t have smaller bighead carp, that he could take it or leave it, and if he didn’t like it, he could go elsewhere.

Being out and together with his superior, Fan Lidada did not want to cause a scene. As he was preparing to accept his misfortune, Xu Chunliang couldn’t stand it and questioned the store owner: "What’s with your attitude? Watch out or I’ll report you."

"This is my attitude; so what? Take it or leave it. If everyone was as picky as you, the fish couldn’t take it, and you’d be responsible if they died!"

Xu Chunliang still wanted to argue, but Fan Lidada pushed him away, "Alright, I’ll handle it. Keep it down, Director Fu is here." Fan Lidada believed that Xu Chunliang was still young and didn’t need to get worked up over such a trivial matter. Bigger is bigger, it’s reimbursable after all.

Fan Lidada asked with a smile if the store owner had deducted the weight of the plastic box, as he felt the fish didn’t weigh twelve pounds. To his surprise, this question completely angered the owner, who waved them off and said, "I’m not selling to you anymore. Go eat somewhere else. I’ve never met such hard-to-please customers."

Considering that Fu Guomin was still outside waiting for the meal, Fan Lidada didn’t want to ruin his superior’s mood over this matter, so he suppressed his anger and said, "Okay, twelve pounds it is. Please hurry up and prepare it for us."

The store owner, having earned some money and become arrogant, rolled his eyes and said, "Can’t you understand human language? I’m not selling to you anymore, and I won’t serve customers like you."

Fan Lidada, reaching the end of his patience, pointed at the store owner and said, "Just you wait."

"What? You wanna hit me?" The store owner shouted fiercely.

Fan Lidada, with a frustrated expression, came outside to see Fu Guomin and the three others still waiting for their meal. Xu Chunliang did listen to his advice and didn’t continue to make a fuss, so Fu Guomin and Xiaomeng had no idea what had just happened.

Xu Chunliang looked at his expression and knew that this guy was definitely upset. Who could he blame? He could only blame himself for being spineless. When faced with such injustice, one must firmly defend their rights. Most people bully the weak and fear the strong.

Fan Lidada hadn’t had a chance to explain to them when a waiter came over with a group of customers, hurrying them away.

Fu Guomin, confused, said, "What’s going on? We were here first."

Fan Lidada said, "Director Fu, they don’t have much food here. Why don’t we go somewhere else?"

Fu Guomin, being a sensible person, had already guessed what was happening from the waiter’s unfriendly attitude. He nodded, thinking it was best to avoid trouble since they weren’t in Dongzhou, and they were all respectable state officials who shouldn’t stoop to the level of a small restaurant in a tourist area.

Xu Chunliang wanted to blow up, but Fan Lidada discreetly pinched his arm. Xu Chunliang got his message: "Fine, let’s go somewhere else." Today, he would give Old Fan some face.

They stood up and went to the parking lot, finding their car blocked by a farm tricycle. Xiaomeng went to find the old man in charge of the parking lot, but the old man just rolled his eyes, saying he didn’t know, and they needed to move the car to find other customers to move theirs. He wasn’t responsible for helping, especially since they didn’t dine at the restaurant. Not charging them for parking was already considerate enough.

They all knew it was definitely the restaurant owner’s doing. Xiaomeng, angry, said, "Isn’t this intentionally picking a fight?"

Fan Lidada said, "I’m going to find their boss."

Fu Guomin said he needed to use the restroom.

Xu Chunliang volunteered to accompany him. As they passed by the fish pond, Xu Chunliang asked Fu Guomin, "Got a smoke?"

Fu Guomin took out a pack of cigarettes, and Xu Chunliang took one and lit it.

Fu Guomin remembered he didn’t smoke and curiously asked, "When did you start smoking?"

Xu Chunliang said, "You go to the restroom, I’ll wait for you."

Fu Guomin asked, "Aren’t you going?"

Xu Chunliang shook his head: "I’ll watch the fish for a bit."

Xu Chunliang watched with a smile as the restaurant owner bluffed the new customers. The owner, realizing someone was watching, turned his gaze to Xu Chunliang with a fierce look and an unfriendly expression.

Xu Chunliang sighed, took a drag from his cigarette, and blew it all out. He didn’t even smoke and didn’t intend to learn.

The restaurant owner pointed at him, saying, "Stay away from my fish pond if you’re smoking."

Xu Chunliang deliberately flicked the ash, and the wind blew most of it into the fish pond.

"I’m talking to you! Don’t get ash into my fish pond."

Xu Chunliang smiled, "I’m not the only one smoking here. Why single me out? Are your fish that delicate? Could smoking really kill them? Why not say they all drowned to death."

At this point, a big carp flipped belly-up to the surface. Xu Chunliang, as if discovering a new world, pointed at it, saying, "Belly-up! So you sell dead fish!"

"You’re talking nonsense, I sell live fish..." Before he finished, two more big carps flipped belly-up, one after another.

When Fu Guomin came out, the section of the pond the owner had roped off was densely packed with floating dead fish. Fu Guomin thought he was imagining things, blinked, confirmed it was real, and more fish were still emerging, not just the big carps; all kinds of aquatic creatures were not spared.

Many fish had died outside, and the guests inside heard about it too and came out to see the commotion. Seeing the scene left everyone terrified. They all came for live fish, and with so many dead fish in the pond, who could be sure the restaurant was serving fresh fish? Who would dare stay and eat?

Customers who hadn’t paid began to leave one by one, while those who had paid surrounded the restaurant owner, demanding refunds and compensation.

The restaurant owner had never seen such a scene. His earlier arrogance vanished, and he became as humble as a turtle grandson. Facing the finger-pointing crowd, he dared not stand his ground and repeatedly apologized with a grim face.

Fu Guomin asked Xu Chunliang what happened. Xu Chunliang shook his head, indicating he didn’t know, but guessed the owner had done too many bad deeds and was suffering divine retribution.

In Fu Guomin’s mind, he was glad they didn’t eat there. If they had eaten dead fish and gotten sick, it would have been troublesome.

The restaurant owner, gritting his teeth, decided to refund the customers. When he announced the decision, he didn’t forget to add, "Rest assured, everyone, there’s no problem with my fish. It must be the oxygen machine breaking down, and the fish lacked oxygen..."

"Forget it, I think your fish are poisoned. If something goes wrong after eating, I won’t let you off."

The restaurant owner looked at Xu Chunliang, who was gleefully reveling in his misery, and shouted, "Even if it’s poisoning, you’re the one who did it. You flicked ash into my fish pond, and my fish died from nicotine poisoning."

Xu Chunliang chuckled, "Bullshit, if you have evidence, go ahead and sue me."

May Day is here. Happy May Day to everyone. Old Octopus isn’t going anywhere, just typing at home in the past few days. Double monthly ticket period, asking for guaranteed monthly tickets. Please vote for ’A Doctor Without Borders’ as a Labor Day gift to Octopus.