Kill the chicken to warn the monkey, and smart people, clever as monkeys, usually did not do anything unexpected.
So, as expected, over the next three days, all three construction sites in Balihe's jurisdiction settled their workers' wages. The commotion was considerable. The construction companies paid the contractors, who then gathered everyone at the sites. What was more, they specifically asked Balihe officers to be present and watch as the money was handed out.
They were all bastards. If you did not show them some force, every last one of those high-and-mighty people would refuse to treat ordinary folks as people.
The developers might genuinely have had little money in their accounts, but the construction companies were also withholding a great deal of money, and then the construction companies withheld money from suppliers. One link held down the next, all of them dragging their feet and refusing to pay.
But those matters were not Wang's concern. As long as the workers got their wages, everything was fine.
In truth, this sort of wage withholding ought to have been dealt with swiftly and decisively. Going to the labor bureau and such was too troublesome, too exhausting, and took too long. Migrant workers were comparatively better off because there were many of them. When there were many people, they could make trouble; when they made trouble, it had an impact; and when there was an impact, the problem had to be resolved.
If the police had enforcement authority, then whenever wages were withheld, once the facts were established, directly arresting the people responsible would seemingly have been better—more forceful, and more capable of protecting working people's rights.
There were still plenty of complications in actual implementation, but making an example out of one to warn a hundred—even hauling in the CEO of