Chapter 8: Standoff
They came in a flurry. Several vehicles pulled to a stop, and the gray-uniformed urban management auxiliaries looked positively ferocious. The middle school students in the shop instinctively huddled together, watching what was happening outside with frightened, worried faces.
Liu Zheng felt rather pleased with himself. This shop near the government offices had no connections, but it was fairly large and respectable. Still, personally destroying something respectable could bring pleasure, along with the thrill of wielding power.
In 1998, urban management enforcement was still something new. Its personnel had been cobbled together from people gradually transferred out of various work units, and their quality varied widely. Their superiors also imposed strict requirements, so confrontations were extremely intense. Back then, three to five officers would take on a single street vendor, relying on sheer numbers. The term "violent enforcement" was only coined later. The country had not yet begun advocating professional standards and civilized enforcement for urban management officers, so violence was a commonly used method at the time.
Thus, when urban management enforcement first emerged, people likened its officers to bandits. Many officers did not dare go out enforcing regulations alone. Whenever they went out, they went in large groups, also out of fear of being surrounded and attacked by the public.
That was why Su Can frowned at the scene.
"Why are you confiscating our umbrellas? They aren't over the boundary, and they aren't blocking the sidewalk. They're still in the open space!" Zeng He hurried out, demanding an explanation.
"Your shop is the one here that isn't complying with the rules. There's nothing to discuss. Confiscate them! Stop arguing and don't obstruct our work! We have other things to do!" Liu Zheng waved one hand imperiously, as though cutting off Zeng He's protests, and the