Legal Aid

After getting off the plane at Shenzhen Bao'an Airport, the group didn't pause for a moment before heading straight to downtown Shanmei.

A little after three that afternoon.

The road outside his home was scorching under the sun. Huang Xiuyuan took a look around, but didn't even set down his suitcase. For convenience, he had moved into the company headquarters to make work easier.

When he returned to the company headquarters, he found that Lin Baijie hadn't been idle while he was away in Bingcheng.

The company had also purchased a 23-mu plot of industrial land beside the headquarters. On the remaining vacant land, construction was underway on a fourth factory building.

As he entered the headquarters, he noticed that there were many more security guards in the laboratory and surveillance cameras everywhere.

In the office.

Lin Baijie looked considerably more haggard, but his eyes were still full of fighting spirit. "Welcome back, Mr. Huang."

"Thanks for all your hard work."

"You're the one who's worked hard, Mr. Huang. You signed such a huge contract for the company." Lin Baijie was deeply impressed. As a senior executive, he knew a thing or two about the contract with Norinco.

The patent licensing contract was worth 60 million yuan a year for twenty years. The custom special-film contract was worth 200 million yuan outright, and there would surely be plenty more contracts like it in the future.

Although the cooperation memorandum required Suiren Company to transfer the specific process for "Hexagonal Silicon Oxide–Graphene Film" to Norinco at an agreed price after ten years, the profits they would make over those ten years were substantial.

As the money from the contract came in, together with the funds Huang Xiuyuan had transferred from Xiangjiang, Suiren Company's cash reserves had reached 1.86 billion yuan.

At present, the subsidiaries in Shanmei had basically entered the stage of recouping their investment.

Hailu Gas Company's daily revenue remained between 150,000 and 180,000 yuan. Hailu Organic Fertilizer was gradually opening up markets in nearby areas, selling 30 to 100 tons of fertilizer a day at an average price of around 970 yuan per ton.

Meanwhile, in its recycling business at Guizhuling Industrial Park, the headquarters collected large quantities of cans, glass bottles, waste paper, scrap iron, and waste plastic every day. All of it could be sold to the relevant companies, bringing in tens of thousands of yuan in daily revenue as well.

After looking over the operating report, Huang Xiuyuan looked up, remembering something. "What happened with the Meilihua Hotel property?"

"We've acquired it, along with its debts. It cost 160 million yuan in total."

"All the shares?"

Lin Baijie explained, "Of course, all the shares. The price was a little high, and we still need to change the building's designated use."

"That's fine. Let Shiguang Information move in and use it as its headquarters. We can keep some rooms and the restaurant for hosting official guests."

Lin Baijie nodded.

Changing a hotel into an office building involved simpler procedures than turning an office building into a hotel. At least the safety assessment and the like would be easy to pass.

Given Suiren Company's current scale, applying to change the building's designated use wouldn't be too difficult.

The two had been discussing things for a short while when Lu Xuedong and Jiang Miao came in together.

"Xuedong, Three Waters, take a seat."

"Jinhua and I went to Xinlou River a few days ago. Blue Era has already started setting up the breeding farm. Here are the test results for the Water Separation System." Lu Xuedong handed over a document.

He flipped through it. The Water Separation System developed by the company was performing well. Whether installed in septic tank trucks or used to separate waste liquids at factories, it was proving highly effective.

After all, Huang Xiuyuan had started Suiren Company not just to make money, but also to improve the country's pollution situation. Naturally, he couldn't let wastewater be discharged untreated.

Lin Baijie chimed in from the side. "Mr. Huang, perhaps we could look into wastewater treatment and seawater desalination."

"Commercializing the technology developed by the Scientific Research Department is the Industrial Department's job. Work closely with the Scientific Research Department."

"Understood."

"One more thing. Is the Legal Affairs Group busy?"

Lin Baijie was puzzled by the question. "Not particularly. They're handling some contracts and helping the Patent Group file patent applications."

Huang Mingzhe gave an order. "So they're fairly idle? Then let's pull some people from Legal Affairs to form a legal aid team. The recent tainted milk scandal has hurt a lot of families. Have the Legal Department provide them with legal aid."

"Legal aid for the victims?"

"It'll give them experience and help them understand how harsh society can be." Huang Xiuyuan then turned to Jiang Miao. "Have Shiguang Blog help out. Add a legal aid mini-program to the Boku section and keep it running as a regular feature."

"Sure." Jiang Miao was younger and still had some of a scholar's idealism. He didn't have as many misgivings as Lin Baijie.

He then brought up moving Shiguang Information into the Meilihua Hotel to use as office space. The four of them discussed work for more than two hours.

Outside the window, the sun sank below the horizon.

The July heat did little to ease after sunset.

Under the same sky.

At Blue Era's headquarters stood a newly built building with a very unusual design. It had twenty massive reinforced-concrete pillars. The bottom five floors were built of reinforced concrete, while the top five were steel-framed.

It was the sanitation workers' dormitory. The bottom five floors were for workers with families and could house 120 households. There were three apartment sizes: 80, 120, and 150 square meters.

These apartments were essentially low-rent housing. Rent was just three yuan per square meter per month, and workers from larger households could apply for them.

The top five floors, built with steel frames, were all single-person apartments. Each consisted of one 15-square-meter room and was provided free of charge to sanitation workers who lived alone.

The company had also taken into account workers who applied for low-rent housing: for each employed family member, 15 square meters' worth of rent would be deducted.

All the sanitation workers employed in the urban district had now moved into the dormitory. It had a staff canteen, public toilets, separate communal shower rooms, a mahjong room, a small library, and a little sports field.

Liu Jianshe's family had just moved into an 80-square-meter apartment, but the place still felt unreal to them.

The furnishings were simple. The floor and walls were cement, and the secondhand furniture had been scrubbed spotless. There was no kitchen, though.

That was because company rules prohibited employees from using gas stoves in the dormitory, to prevent fires.

After all, everyone ate in the canteen, so there was no need for kitchens. The Blue Era canteen charged employees' family members only enough to cover its costs.

Liu Jianshe took out an envelope and handed it to his wife. "Caihua, payday was today. Take this to the bank and put it away. Xiaobao starts school in September, so we should buy him some new clothes, a schoolbag, and stationery."

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

Lying on the broken sofa with his shirt off, Liu Jianshe fanned himself and replied lazily, "3,214 yuan. The overtime pay and high-temperature allowance were pretty good. How are things at your breeding farm?"

"The company found a site and is building the farm now. I won't officially start until next month. They paid me 1,500 yuan for this month." Bai Caihua pulled 214 yuan from the stack of bills.

"Dear, take this."

Liu Jianshe's lazy expression vanished. He took the 214 yuan and stuffed it straight into his pocket. That was his pocket money for the month, and his wife had given him a little more than usual.

The whole family was immersed in hopes for the future. It wasn't that they didn't want to change their lives; they simply hadn't had the means to.