When Li Ye took over Southwest Heavy Truck Company, he had known that his twenty-five million could not possibly fill all the debts Dong Shan and the others had left behind.
Among those debts, the truck drivers who had paid but never received their vehicles were the most overlooked group—and the easiest to fob off.
Ever since Dong Shan's scandal erupted, driver customers had never stopped coming to demand repayment. But most could only hold out here for a week or two before going home in tears.
Ordinary people could never outlast professionals who specialized in wrangling and stalling.
But when several hundred driver customers, misled by Lai Jiayi and the others, came charging furiously to Li Ye's doorstep, he did not choose to wrangle with them. Instead, he sincerely discussed a solution with them.
Because these people had been among the earliest heavy-truck users in the mainland, and they had played a positive role in the development of mainland heavy trucks. Decades later, when the mainland occupied the first, second, third, and fourth spots on the global heavy-truck sales rankings, their early contributions would have been indispensable.
"None of you have eaten, right? Go eat at the cafeteria first. After you're done, we'll head to the meeting room and talk. How does that sound?"
"..."
The rough men blocking the office building all froze. After fighting for their rights in the southwest for so long, this was the first time a "debtor" had offered them a meal.
With food in their bellies, their hearts would not panic. Anyone who had owed money knew that if you wanted to dodge a debt, you absolutely could not feed your creditors—otherwise, they could stay in your home until the end of time.
So after Li Ye generously said he would feed them,