Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe-Chapter 51: Someone Reported Your Business, Please Cooperate with the Investigation
"Cash only, huh?"
The two policemen nodded, their eyes gleaming.
Whether they can increase their bonus this month depends on this case!
In situations like this, if the relevant authorities really want to investigate, it’s similar to in Great Xia — they will definitely find something with just a check.
But doing such things frequently can damage one’s reputation, unless there are specific reports received. Usually, they would turn a blind eye.
The two policemen tightened their belts, filled their lungs with air, trying to make their chest muscles appear more pumped. With a determined stance, they walked over to Lin Chen’s side.
If the stall owner was a Westerner, they might not have been so eager to investigate. But hearing he was a Great Xia person, they eagerly came.
Great Xia people have money, especially those living abroad, known internationally for their wealth.
Lin Chen was busy boiling Mapo tofu in two iron pots, with the fire at full blast. The red-orange flames roared, and the aroma of spicy and numbing flavors wafted around, making queued-up diners sniff obsessively.
"Knock, knock, knock."
The car window was tapped, and everyone finally noticed that at some point, two burly white policemen had arrived.
"Hello, sir. We’ve received a report saying your hygiene standards here are not met, food safety is not guaranteed, and you only accept cash, which is suspected of tax evasion. Please cooperate with our investigation and show your business license first."
"Hmm?"
Upon hearing that the store had hygiene issues, several queued-up diners changed their expressions subtly and turned away without hesitation.
For foreigners, food hygiene is always of high importance; a little negligence can send them to the hospital. No one wants to gamble with their life and wallet.
The ones further back in the line were unaware, but those at the front, who had witnessed Lin Chen’s cooking process, didn’t think so.
Through the small window, one could clearly see the spotless tables and stove inside, and the stainless steel boxes used for storing ingredients were also polished bright.
Looking up, everything from the walls inside the food truck to the surrounding equipment was clean and organized, nothing to worry about.
"Officers, this is slander! Malicious business competition. We are legally operating through formal procedures."
Lucas looked grimly at the Kimchi Lady’s food truck across the street. From the policemen’s direction and recent business patterns, it was obvious who was making trouble.
"Regardless of whether it’s slander, checking the operational status of the food truck is our duty. Please cooperate with our work, or we will forcibly stop your business and impose a fine!"
"Alright, officer."
Lin Chen turned around without hesitation, took the business license off the wall, and handed it over, not forgetting to stir the tofu in the pot, showing no trace of nervousness or panic, instead displaying utmost composure.
The two glanced simply at the business license. If one can apply for this thing, it usually doesn’t have issues; the main thing is to check the business scope and then inspect accordingly.
"Pause for now; the two pots of tofu cannot be sold temporarily. We’ll make a decision after inspecting the hygiene situation."
Handing back the business license, they peered through the window and scanned the food truck interior simply without finding any obvious issues. The two decided to enter the truck to inspect the facilities inside.
Generally speaking, in places like restaurants’ back kitchens or the inside of food trucks, the fridge is usually the critical area, then the area around the trash cans and near the sink.
The two entered the truck, put on gloves, confidently opened the fridge door located beneath Lin Chen’s waist.
Inside were numerous tightly packed boxes full of small pieces of snow-white tofu, each box labeled with the processing time, accurate to the minute.
The fridge’s inner walls, shelf grids, bottom, top, and door — they inspected every possible spot and even used a flashlight to check, but still found no dirt.
It wasn’t over yet.
One of the policemen took an alcohol wipe from his pocket, wiping the fridge door seam.
White.
Then wiped the stove’s surrounding countertop and the truck body’s junction.
White.
Five minutes later.
The two policemen straightened up with very grim expressions.
"Hygiene standards are met; next, please provide your revenue and expenditure records."
They thought checking this would make this cunning Great Xia person nervous, but he still had a calm demeanor, said nothing directly, and opened the nearby paid device’s backend page.
From the first day of business to now, every expense and income was documented distinctly.
From 1 euro items to orders over a hundred euros, all meticulously recorded inside.
A rough glance was enough to know that fabricating such order records was almost impossible.
There were over a thousand records. Could a cook have the skill and time to fabricate them one by one?
Most importantly, fabricated records usually have noticeable differences from actual records, which the two, with years of experience, deemed easy to distinguish as true or false.
"Hmm, sorry for disturbing your business; thank you for cooperating with our work. Wish you prosperous business."
Empty-handed, the two sulkily jumped off the truck, faced with diners’ bizarre glances, both felt somewhat uncomfortable.
Let alone them, even those residents initially thought they would see the owner fined, but there wasn’t!
This further fueled their curiosity about the food Lin Chen prepared, showing this guy was clearly a professional chef!
Without professional restaurant training, one wouldn’t have such a degree of hygiene awareness.
"Hey, officers."
Lucas exhaled with relief and approached with a cold smile, pointing opposite.
"I suggest you check that food truck; she sold next to us before, and I saw her hygiene situation was worrying. That oil pot seemed like it hadn’t been cleaned in hundreds of years, guaranteeing a sure find with a check."
The two exchanged looks and nodded. Actually, when the woman talked to them earlier, they glanced a few times but didn’t put it to heart, focused on this big case.
"Damn, taking us for fools, let’s go check her!"
Foreign police are different from Great Xia’s People’s Police, possessing a sense of superiority over ordinary folks, even controlling lives and deaths anytime.
Faced with foreign police officers, especially from a certain country, people’s first reaction is usually to squat down with their hands over their heads, prioritizing their lives. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
The Kimchi Lady, eagerly waiting to watch the show, peered impatiently from inside the truck, seeming to want to check the situation over there but dared not look too conspicuously.
Seeing the two return, she revealed a happy expression, poking her head out from the truck, holding two chilled colas.
"Thank you for your hard work, officers. How much was fined?"
Without hesitation, the two snatched the colas from her hand, gulping a few sips, glaring at her fiercely.
"Stop asking nonsense; this is official duty. We now need to inspect your business license, hygiene situation, and revenue records. Please cooperate with our work, or we’ll temporarily confiscate your business license and fine you!"
