Lin Yi nodded, took Xu Wen, and left the hotel together. They didn’t even have breakfast and returned to the delivery station as quickly as possible.
More than half an hour later, they parked the car at the entrance.
The wrecked scene left Xu Wen at a loss for words.
The two glass doors were smashed, and the wall next to them was splashed with red paint.
The shelves inside the store were also knocked over, and although Sun Qiang and Li Xin were busy tidying up, the place was still a mess.
Meanwhile, a crowd had gathered around, pointing and chattering, and some were even taking photos and recording videos.
"What’s going on? Did you call the police? Did you check the footage?"
Back in the store, Xu Wen asked anxiously.
"We already called the police, but the surveillance wasn’t working, nothing was captured," Sun Qiang said:
"The police said they will continue to investigate, but it’s not easy."
Xu Wen’s face turned grim.
With the surveillance not working and no evidence, finding the troublemakers was likely impossible.
Lin Yi didn’t speak; he started helping to clean up the aftermath once inside.
Looking around at the ravaged delivery station and recalling recent incidents, he already had a vague idea of who the troublemakers might be. It was more or less what he expected.
Ring ring ring—
At that moment, Xu Wen’s phone rang.
"Shut down for rectification?!"
Xu Wen’s voice rose, "This has nothing to do with us, why!"
Hearing Xu Wen’s words, Lin Yi, Sun Qiang, and Li Xin all looked over at her.
Even though they didn’t yet know the specifics, they could guess from the fragments of conversation.
It seemed the store was being shut down.
All three of their expressions changed to varying degrees.
Everyone wanted to know the full story.
Sun Qiang and Li Xin were just ordinary people.
They needed to make a living, and if the store was shut down, they’d lose their income. This was catastrophic for them.
Lin Yi was better off since he didn’t lack money and wasn’t as sensitive to such matters.
But the problem was, if the store was shut down, he wouldn’t be able to carry out tasks.
Since the call was from the division, it was essentially a notification, not a discussion, so Xu Wen wasn’t given much chance to speak before the call ended.
Xu Wen sighed helplessly, slumped into a chair, and combed her hair back with resignation all over her face.
"Boss lady, what happened? Why is the store being shut down out of the blue?" Li Xin stepped forward to ask.
"They said our store was vandalized, causing a bad impact, so it needs to be shut for half a month for rectification and can reopen after everything is fine."
"Shut down for half a month?!"
Li Xin and Sun Qiang both sighed, knowing this meant they might only get basic wages this half-month.
For them, it was simply not enough to live on.
"I remember that similar incidents happened in other districts’ stores before, but they were only fined 2000 yuan and never shut down," Sun Qiang complained:
"Why is our store the one that gets shut down?"
"I’m puzzled too," Xu Wen said:
"The only explanation is that ours is a franchise store, while the other stores are directly managed, so they are treated differently."
"Even so, shutting us down for half a month is too long."
"There’s nothing I can do, they wouldn’t listen to my explanations."
Xu Wen angrily kicked a nearby chair and cursed:
"This is just bullying!"
Xu Wen’s face reflected the helplessness of an ordinary person.
Under current societal rules, ordinary people have no say and can only endure passively.
For the division, this small penalty means nothing.
The delivery will be handled by someone else, so it won’t affect the company’s business.
Customers will still receive their packages as usual.
The only one affected is Xu Wen.
"If we’re shut down for half a month, what happens to the area’s deliveries?" Lin Yi asked.
"People from other districts will handle the deliveries," Xu Wen replied.