The day after Li Ye returned to the capital, Shang Bin came back from an inspection trip.
Shang Bin had been conducting inspections very frequently lately, and they all had a distinctive pattern: every time, he brought along his capable assistant, Zhuo Minglan; every time, he would "selectively lose contact" during the inspection, making himself unreachable to anyone who wanted to contact him.
But while the group could not reach Shang Bin, Shang Bin knew everything that happened within Jingnan Group.
For instance, when workers in the southwest gathered to petition, Ma Zhaoxian could not reach Shang Bin no matter how he tried. Yet the moment Shang Bin returned, he convened a meeting to solemnly discuss this exceedingly important matter.
"Southwest Heavy Truck Company has been established for over thirty years. A mass incident this serious has never happened before—not even during those most chaotic years in the past.
"So we must reflect on ourselves. What kind of reasons could have made our hardworking, frugal, tireless worker brothers so furious?
"Everyone must not assume that because the workers' emotions have temporarily calmed down, all is well under heaven. If the root of the conflict has not been resolved, then it remains a hidden danger that could erupt again at any time.
"Every one of us here belongs to the leadership of Jingnan Group. Discovering problems and resolving them is our duty; handling conflicts among the masses is an obligation we cannot shirk."
As expected of someone accustomed to being the top man, Shang Bin spoke with a glib tongue and an endless torrent of words, flinging one oversized hat after another across the room and making everyone sound like a potential "chief culprit."
But Li Ye merely shot him a cold glance, the corners of his mouth curling into a