Legal Aid

After landing at Shenzhen Bao'an Airport, the group did not pause for a moment and headed straight for the urban area of Shanmei.

It was a little past three in the afternoon.

The road in front of his house was scorched by the sun. Huang Xiuyuan checked on the situation at home without even putting down his suitcase; for the sake of work convenience, he had moved into the company headquarters to live.

Upon returning to the company headquarters, Lin Baijie had not been idle while Huang Xiuyuan was away in Bingcheng.

He had purchased another 23 acres of industrial land adjacent to the headquarters, and the fourth factory building was already under construction on the previously vacant lot.

As he entered the headquarters, he noticed that the number of security guards at the laboratory had increased significantly, and surveillance cameras were everywhere.

Inside the office.

Lin Baijie looked quite haggard, but his eyes were still filled with fighting spirit: "General Manager Huang, welcome back."

"You've worked hard."

"It is General Manager Huang who has worked hard, signing such a massive contract for the company." Lin Baijie was full of admiration; as a senior executive, he knew at least a little about the Norinco contract.

A patent licensing contract worth 60 million per year for twenty years, and a custom special film contract worth 200 million outright—contracts like these would surely be frequent in the future.

Although according to the memorandum of understanding between the two parties, Suiren Company was required to transfer the specific process for "Hexagonal Silicon Oxide-Graphene Film" to Norinco at a set price after ten years, the dividends over those 10 years would be substantial.

With this money arriving in succession, plus the funds Huang Xiuyuan transferred from Xiangjiang, the capital reserves of Suiren Company had reached 1.86 billion.

Currently, the subsidiaries in Shanmei had basically entered the stage of capital recovery.

The daily turnover of Hailu Gas Company was maintained between 150,000 and 180,000; Hailu Organic Fertilizer had also gradually opened up the market in surrounding areas, selling 30 to 100 tons of organic fertilizer per day, with an average price of about 970 yuan per ton.

Meanwhile, the head office's recycling industry at Guizhuling Industrial Park could recover large quantities of soda cans, glass bottles, waste paper, scrap iron, and waste plastic every day. These items could be sold to relevant enterprises, also generating tens of thousands in daily turnover.

After reading the business report, Huang Xiuyuan looked up and remembered something: "How is the situation with the Meilihua Hotel property?"

"It has been secured, including the debt, for a total cost of 160 million."

"Full equity?"

Lin Baijie explained: "Of course, full equity. This price is still a bit inflated, and the building's usage permit needs to be changed."

"That's fine. Have Shiguang Information move in; that will be the headquarters for Shiguang Information. Additionally, you can keep a portion of the rooms and the restaurant for official hospitality purposes."

Lin Baijie nodded.

Converting a hotel into an office building was much simpler in terms of procedures than converting an office building into a hotel; at the very least, safety assessments and the like were easy to pass.

Given the current scale of Suiren Company, applying for a change in building usage was not too difficult.

Not long after the two discussed this, Lu Xuedong and Jiang Miao walked in together.

"Xuedong, Sanshui, sit here."

"Jinhua and I went to the Xinlou River a few days ago. Blue Era is already implementing the farm project. This is the field test data for the Water Separation System." Lu Xuedong handed over a document.

Flipping through the document, the Water Separation System developed by the company was currently performing well. Whether used on sewage suction trucks or for waste liquid separation in factories, it had demonstrated tremendous effectiveness.

After all, Huang Xiuyuan did not start Suiren Company just to make money; he also wanted to change the domestic sewage situation, so naturally, he could not allow direct discharge of wastewater.

Lin Baijie, who was standing to the side, interjected: "General Manager Huang, perhaps we should consider the business of sewage treatment and seawater desalination."

"How to commercialize and monetize the technology developed by the Scientific Research Department is the job of your Industrial Department. Communicate and cooperate more with the Scientific Research Department."

"I understand."

"One more thing, is our Legal Affairs Group busy?"

Lin Baijie was confused by this question: "It's alright. They are handling some contracts and assisting the Patent Group with patent applications."

Huang Xiuyuan instructed: "That means they are quite free? How about this: pull out a portion of the legal staff to form a legal aid team. Many families have been harmed by the recent tainted milk incident; have the Legal Department provide legal aid to these people."

"Legal aid for the victims?"

"Let them get some practice, and let them understand the harshness of society." Huang Xiuyuan turned his head to Jiang Miao: "Have Shiguang Blog cooperate. Open a legal aid sub-program in the Boku section and run it as a normalized feature."

"Can do." The younger Jiang Miao still had some scholarly idealism and didn't have as many concerns as Lin Baijie.

Then he brought up the matter of using the Meilihua Hotel as an office building for Shiguang Information, and the four of them discussed work for over two hours.

Outside the window, the sun was setting behind the mountains.

The sweltering heat of July did not subside much just because the sun had gone down.

Under the same sky.

At the headquarters of Blue Era, on one side stood a newly constructed building with a very strange design: 20 thick reinforced concrete pillars, with the bottom five floors being a reinforced concrete structure and the top five floors being a steel structure.

This was the staff dormitory for sanitation workers. The bottom five floors were for sanitation workers with families, accommodating 120 households with three types of layouts: 80 square meters, 120 square meters, and 150 square meters.

This batch of housing was essentially low-rent housing, charging only 3 yuan per square meter per month, available for application by sanitation workers with large families.

The top five floors of the steel structure were single-room apartment types, each being 15 square meters, provided free of charge for individual sanitation workers.

Considering that some sanitation workers might apply for low-rent housing, the company would waive the rent for 15 square meters per person based on the number of family members who were employees.

Currently, the sanitation workers working in the urban area had all moved into the staff dormitory. This place featured an employee canteen, public restrooms, public independent bathrooms, a card room, a small library, and a small sports field.

Liu Jianshe and his family, who had just moved into the dormitory, lived in a small 80-square-meter room and felt a lingering sense of unreality.

The room was simply furnished, with cement floors and walls, and second-hand furniture that had been wiped clean, though there was no kitchen.

This is due to company regulations, which prohibit employees from using gas stoves in the dormitories in order to prevent fires.

After all, since everyone eats at the cafeteria, there is naturally no need to install kitchens; the cafeteria at the Blue Era operates at cost for the families of employees.

Liu Jianshe took out an envelope and handed it to his wife: "Caihua, I got paid today. Take this money and deposit it in the bank. Xiaobao starts school in September, so we should buy some new clothes, a schoolbag, and stationery."

"How much did the company pay?" His wife, Bai Caihua, took the envelope and counted the bills one by one.

Lying on the worn-out sofa, Liu Jianshe blew on an electric fan with his chest and belly exposed, lazily replying: "3,214 yuan. The overtime pay and high-temperature subsidies were quite high. How is your breeding farm doing now?"

"The company has already found a location and is currently building the farm. I won't officially start work until next month, so they only paid me 1,500 this month." Bai Caihua pulled 214 yuan out of the stack of money.

"Dear, you take this."

Liu Jianshe's lazy expression vanished; he took the 214 yuan and stuffed it straight into his pants pocket. This was his pocket money for the month, and it was rare for his wife to give him a little extra.

The whole family was immersed in their longing for the future; in truth, it wasn't that they didn't want to change, but that they had no way to change.