America's Greatest Villain: I Defeat Magic with Magic

Looking at the densely packed signatures on the "Joint Complaint Letter," Chen Yuan felt a chill run down his spine.

Although I had anticipated that Olivia would launch a counterattack, I did not expect her to act so quickly and with such ruthless methods.

Instead of protesting in person, they launched a community complaint campaign to suppress Rongdingge Restaurant, which is indeed a clever and open strategy.

Because the complaints were reasonable, including issues such as oil fume pollution, noise pollution, sidewalk congestion, false advertising, and inducement to eat unhealthy foods... each of which precisely crossed the red lines of California's business law.

Chen Yuan made a quick decision and instructed Yang Qiu:

"Go tell Su Nian that we're not selling grilled squid today. If customers ask, just say that the seafood is out of stock from its place of origin."

Although the industrial-grade fume purification equipment that Chen Yuan ordered yesterday at a high price is already on its way, installation and debugging will take time.

Currently, this physical supply disruption is the only way to temporarily shut down the other party's pretext for attacking on the issue of cooking fumes.

Although Chen Yuan could also settle for second best and have Lao Cao prepare the grilled squid in the kitchen and then take it to the window to sell.

But the soul of grilled squid lies in the smoky aroma of it being stir-fried on the street. If it's not made fresh, it will definitely affect the taste. If customers feel that the taste is not right after eating it once or twice, they will not come back.

Rather than forcing supply and causing a collapse in reputation, it would be better to temporarily remove the grilled squid from the menu and take advantage of the situation to launch another round of scarcity marketing.

Then, he immediately called the range hood supplier and asked them to come and install and debug the equipment today.

While this will inevitably lead to a surge in labor costs, problems that can currently be solved with money are minor issues.

Fortunately, they managed to extort $20 from the lawyers and gangsters, and business has been good lately; otherwise, Rongding Pavilion might not have been able to survive this time.

The thought of Olivia's face, so full of superiority and hypocrisy, made Chen Yuan grit his teeth.

He only said a few words to her in public, did he have to be so ruthless?

When I get the chance to catch her red-handed, I'll make her pay tenfold, a hundredfold!

Before he could finish his iced Americano, Yang Qiu rushed in again:

"Boss! Two guys in uniform have come in. They say they're health and food safety inspectors."

Chen Yuan hurried to the front hall and immediately saw a male and female public servant in gray uniforms pointing at the food stalls outside.

Emily accompanied them, and fortunately, there weren't many customers at the moment, so their arrival hadn't affected the business much.

Perhaps because Emily was a native local, the two inspectors were quite polite. Upon Chen Yuan's arrival, the female inspector took the initiative to get straight to the point:

"I'm very sorry, sir, this is just a routine check following feedback from the community."

"We understand your work. Our store has always operated legally and compliantly, and we have never missed any hygiene standards or tax declarations."

Seeing that Chen Yuan's attitude was good, the female inspector nodded, and then said...

"We have received complaints about the emissions from cooking fumes. Although there doesn't seem to be a problem at the moment, over the next few days, there will be personnel conducting random carbon emission tests in the vicinity. If any exceedances are found, we will issue a notice to suspend operations for rectification."

Her tone was polite, but the fact that she mentioned the business being shut down for rectification still sent a chill down Emily's spine.

Chen Yuan, however, answered with a calm expression:

"Rest assured, we are preparing to install professional fume collection equipment to ensure that carbon emissions meet standards."

The other party made a note in their notebook, but then said:

"Then you must submit an assessment report to the community in advance to prove that the noise from the operation of large equipment will not affect the normal operation of neighboring shops."

The male inspector then looked at the snack window next to him. Although it was still early, there were already three or five regular customers queuing up.

"We've also received numerous complaints from nearby shops about your excessively long customer queues, which are causing serious disturbance to the public," he said slowly. "It not only affects the normal business of surrounding shops but also inconveniences pedestrians."

Before Chen Yuan could respond, the female inspector added:

"There are also certain safety hazards at the boundary between the snack area and the dining area, so physical barriers must be strictly used to separate them."

"Furthermore, you are selling unhealthy foods that are high in salt and fat, and you should display warning signs in prominent areas indicating that minors should limit their purchases..."

The two inspectors raised seven or eight suggestions for improvement and indicated that there would be ongoing inspections. They even subtly implied that if any one of the standards was not met, Rongdingge risked being shut down.

Although Chen Yuan cooperated fully, he was secretly full of complaints.

Every item found during the inspection was perfectly reasonable, and the relevant legal provisions were clearly written in black and white, but they all hit Rongdingge's Achilles' heel.

Ultimately, what business can operate without violating regulations? But some things are fine as long as they're not weighed, but once they are, they become incredibly serious.

This principle applies equally to people of all times and places.

Before leaving, the female inspector returned to her car first, but the male inspector following behind suddenly kicked the small blackboard at the entrance of the store.

With a muffled "bang," the entire blackboard collapsed to the ground.

"This blackboard only has a regular menu."

Chen Yuan frowned. He had already asked Hu Dan to erase the "$1 fried chicken" slogan yesterday, so the content on the blackboard was definitely compliant.

But the other party scoffed, "What I mean is, this blackboard is too close to the road; it's a serious safety hazard."

Clearly, because Chen Yuan had been very cooperative and was young, the male inspector mistook him for an inexperienced rich second-generation boss.

The female inspector had already left, so his intention in doing this suddenly became very clear.

However, Chen Yuan laughed.

[Target: Carl Smith, Los Angeles Department of Public Health Inspector.]

[Recent criminal activity: Yesterday, he privately accepted six Lakers basketball tickets from the owner of the Greenbit Light Meal Restaurant in exchange for a top-level inspection of Rongding Pavilion.]

Chen Yuan looked at the red information panel on the other person's forehead and suddenly spoke:

"Hey Karl! I heard you recently managed to snag a few Lakers tickets from another vendor?"

Upon hearing this, the male inspector was immediately stunned, and his arrogant expression instantly froze.

But he was a seasoned veteran, and quickly suppressed the panic in his eyes, baring his teeth and hissing:

"Mr. Chen, do you know what you're saying? This is baseless and malicious slander against a federal public official! If you can't provide evidence, I can have the LAPD arrest you on charges of 'obstructing official business' based solely on these few words!"

"Evidence?" Chen Yuan looked at the other party's forced composure and, instead of backing down, laughed out loud.

"Each ticket costs nearly $500, and you got six in total. That's no small sum. Guess what would happen if I told your colleagues about this, or even anonymously reported it to the city hall's internal affairs department?"

The inspector named Carl was sweating profusely. Since the other party could give the exact number of 6 tickets, they probably really had evidence.

He had no idea how the young boss in front of him knew so much about the deal. He even wondered if he had been filmed by a private investigator the whole time!

After all, Greenbit Light Food Restaurant and Rongding Pavilion are only separated by a street. When he collected the tickets yesterday, he only observed that there was no one around, but he did not expect that there were also eyes watching him from across the street!

Damn it, I should have been more careful!

If others find out about this, he will not only lose this lucrative job, but may even face imprisonment!

"Relax, Karl!" Chen Yuan smiled as he watched the other man's face gradually turn pale. "If I don't tell anyone, naturally no third person will know about this. After all, I'm just an honest businessman."

Inspector Carl immediately understood Chen Yuan's meaning. He swallowed hard and said decisively:

"I understand, Mr. Chen. Your store's rectification is excellent; it's practically a model of hygiene in the South District. Once it passes the air quality environmental assessment, there won't be any problems."

After saying that, he quickly picked up the small blackboard from the ground, then wiped away his cold sweat and fled back to the official car like a frightened groundhog.

[Ding! Detected that the host used despicable means to threaten a dedicated federal public servant. 10 Villain Points awarded.]