The Black Tower

Outside the Zhannan District Sanitation Management Bureau, managers and shareholders from the four companies gathered to smoke, chat, and shoot the breeze. Some sat in company cars eating the boxed meals handed out by the organizers; others spread protest banners on the ground and played cards in small groups.

All in all, this lawful effort to petition the higher-ups looked lively, but a closer look made it clear that this was a disorganized rabble.

Those who came were either managers with direct financial ties to the Su, Liu, Bai, and Kong Families' four companies or employees after the generous work-stoppage subsidies the four companies offered. Ultimately, profit was what brought everyone together.

Looking across the crowd, very few people actually studied the protest banners or truly understood the harm an industry monopoly inflicted on those at the bottom. That was the tragedy-and the irony. Life at the bottom was hard, and everyone was already worn out. They cared more about immediate benefits, which was more practical, too.

Lu Feng's minivan was parked at the corner of the street. He sat inside smoking, silently watching the crowd through narrowed eyes.

At the edge of the crowd, three men in police uniforms walked slowly over to the minivan. The leader wore sunglasses and waved at him through the window.

All three were from the Zhannan District Police Affairs Bureau, which had sent them that morning to maintain order.

The window rolled down, and Lu Feng greeted the lead officer with a smile. "Heh, Ermao. Come on, get in. Let's talk."

"Changqing Company's such a big operation. How'd four little companies manage to put you in check? What happened, Feng?" The sergeant didn't get in. He merely stood with his hands behind his back and asked with a smile.

"A bunch of peasants who believe anything they hear. Someone takes the lead, and they all jump in and make a fuss, heh." Lu Feng's reply dripped with contempt. "Sorry for the trouble."

"It's no trouble for us. If we weren't working here, we'd have to sit around at the bureau anyway."

"Come on, don't stand out there. Get in, guys. Let's talk." Lu Feng pulled open the minivan's door.

"You two head back first. I'll have a chat with Feng." The sergeant gave his colleagues the instruction, then ducked into the vehicle.

"Brother, making you come all the way out here to keep order for no good reason really isn't right." With his legs crossed, Lu Feng looked at the officer and said, "Eight tonight, I'm hosting dinner at the Gathering Fortune Restaurant to show my appreciation. Bring all your friends. We'll get together."

The sergeant smiled. "That's not why I came over."

"Hey, friendship is friendship, but proper courtesy is proper courtesy. I can't put you through all this trouble for nothing." Lu Feng waved a hand. "Make sure you come."

"Heh, sure." Satisfied, the sergeant accepted, then offered a timely warning. "Feng, I'll give you a heads-up, too. If the Management Council can't take the pressure and runs out of options, the Police Bureau and our bureau will have to step in and mediate. The higher-ups won't let a mob block officials on their way to and from work every day. You know what I mean?"

Lu Feng paused. "Don't worry. The company will settle this dispute soon. We won't trouble you for long."

"Good, then." The sergeant nodded.

While the two were talking, the crowd outside the Sanitation Management Bureau suddenly erupted. Several shareholders blocked officials from the Sanitation Management Council as they came out and shouted, "Changqing Company is illegally monopolizing the sanitation industry and exploiting small companies! We ask you to stand up for us!"

"Give us an answer!"

"...!"

Shouts rose one after another. Lu Feng looked up, pointed at the crowd with a smile, and asked the sergeant, "Do these peasants even know what they're shouting? They're just jumping on the bandwagon!"

"They don't know shit. Thirty bucks a day is enough to keep them happy," the sergeant replied casually.

Just then, the burly man Lu Feng had sent out earlier climbed into the passenger seat and nodded. "Feng, I've remembered them all."

"Good. Let these dumb fucks make their little scene. It won't be long now, heh." Lu Feng's words were steeped in contempt and disdain for the workers, an attitude that seemed strange upon reflection. After all, he himself had come from humble beginnings. His starting point hadn't been much higher than theirs. By rights, he should have felt some kinship with them, yet now he despised them to his core.

Changqing Company would rather spend a fortune cultivating connections with senior officials and the Management Council's leadership than give its own employees a single extra dollar. It was just like those self-made property tycoons before the era began, who would rather pay to make trouble disappear than settle the wages they owed migrant workers.

Perhaps discrimination within the same class was sometimes the saddest kind of all.

Inside the Su Family compound.

After lunch, Su Tianyu went to find Su Tiannan, who was about to head out. "Big Brother, there's something else I need to talk to you about."

"What is it?" Su Tiannan asked.

"Didn't you contact Wang Daolin at the municipal Police Bureau before?"

"Yeah. When I was trying to work things out for your second uncle's case, I asked him to pull some strings. It cost fifty thousand." Su Tiannan nodded.

"Wang Daolin is the director of the Criminal Investigation Division, right?" Su Tianyu asked, carefully confirming the details.

"How did you know?" Su Tiannan looked a little surprised.

"You mentioned him when you were talking. I asked Third Sister, then looked him up online, so I know a little about him." Su Tianyu answered softly, "Big Brother, if you have some free time over the next few days, invite him out for tea and get together more often. But whatever you do, don't mention Second Uncle's case."

"Why?"

"...If we want Second Uncle released, a compromise from Changqing Company alone won't do it. In the end, the Police Bureau still has to sign off." Su Tianyu laid out his reasoning clearly. "Building up some connections now can't hurt."

Su Tiannan fell into thought.

"Lay the groundwork now, and it'll be easier to talk when the time comes."

"All right, got it." Su Tiannan nodded firmly. "Where are you going?"

"To the yard," Su Tianyu answered honestly.

"Be careful. Lu Feng took a loss, and he won't let it go." Su Tiannan added, "Take more of our people with you."

"Okay, I will."

"Mm."

Their discussion finished, the brothers went their separate ways.

That afternoon, Su Tianyu made several rounds of his family's waste yard, wandering around to learn how the business operated. He discovered that there was virtually no barrier to entry. Aside from grueling labor, there was little technical expertise involved. From collecting rubbish to sorting it centrally and finally processing it, eighty percent of the work had to be done by hand. That made the fierce competition easy to understand. The market was essentially fixed, leaving no room for expansion except through takeovers and grabbing someone else's share. With such a low barrier to entry on top of that, vicious infighting was only natural.

A little after five that evening, the injured Su Tianbei brought a large group back, ready to eat at the yard.

This campaign not only had fixed hours for "clocking in and out," but also provided pay, meals, and even transportation both ways. This management model had set a new benchmark for the "service industry."

Inside the waste yard's office, Su Tianyu was just about to leave when his second brother, Tianbei, pushed open the door and came in. "Come on. Dinner's ready."

"Let's go. I'm hungry, too." Su Tianyu walked over and asked with a smile, "How'd today go?"

"We shouted all day and only saw a few low-ranking officials from the Sanitation Management Bureau. None of the big shots showed up." Su Tianbei answered quietly, "A few people from the Police Affairs Bureau came, too. They talked to the leaders of our companies several times. Fucking threats in every sentence."

"Heh." Su Tianyu smiled without saying anything.

"Tianyu, is doing this really going to work?" Su Tianbei asked in a low voice. "Every day, we're paying extra work-stoppage subsidies, feeding everyone, and driving them back and forth. It adds up to a lot. I'm just worried we'll drain all our money and still get nowhere. Then we'll end up losing everything."

"If you're anxious, those bastards on the other side and Changqing Company are even more anxious!" Su Tianyu replied with a grin. "Trust me. We'll see results within a few days. Come on, let's eat."

"All right, let's go!"

The two chatted as they left the main building and headed to the canteen downstairs. Looking at the tables packed both inside and outside, Su Tianyu smiled. "Quite a crowd."

"We don't usually feed this many people. There isn't even room for everyone in the canteen. Come on, we'll eat in the little room." Su Tianbei led his younger brother toward the side entrance to the canteen's small kitchen.

Thump!

Just as Su Tianyu stepped toward the doorway, he suddenly bounced right back.

At the kitchen entrance stood an exceptionally brawny young man over six feet three inches tall. In a simple, earnest voice, he stammered, "Who... who was that? Who bumped into my crotch?"

Su Tianyu staggered back two steps and looked up. The young man had dark skin, greasy hair, and filthy blue work clothes, giving him an extremely scruffy appearance. "Sorry, brother!"

"W-watch where... where you're going. I nearly dumped this whole basin of food on your head," the Black Iron Tower replied guilelessly.

"It's dark in there. I didn't see you. Here, you go first." Su Tianyu stepped aside.

"I'm delivering food." With a huge basin of food balanced on his shoulder, the Black Iron Tower continued outside.

Just then, Third Sister, who was organizing the food inside, called out, "Da Xiong, come eat in the little kitchen later! There are more dishes here."

"Hehe, sure thing, Third Sister!" The Black Iron Tower answered with a broad smile, striding briskly toward the workers outside who were getting ready to eat, the food still on his shoulder.

Finding the man's speech a little odd and his appearance far too striking to miss, Su Tianyu asked Tianbei, "Who's that?"

"Wu Shixiong. One of our workers."

"He seems... a little...?"

"Yeah, he was born with an intellectual disability. His mind isn't quite... sharp," Su Tianbei replied casually.

"...You're willing to hire someone like that? What if something happens?"

"What's going to happen? In this line of work, do you expect to hire college graduates? As long as he's got hands and feet and can work, that's enough."

Still chatting, the two entered the canteen's small kitchen.

That evening, after the Su Family finished serving dinner and most of the workers had left, Su Tianbei called out to those who remained, "Anyone willing to stay on night watch? Thirty bucks for the night."

The Black Iron Tower was the first to raise his hand. "I am!"

Two more days passed like that. The work stoppage continued, while Changqing Company and the Management Council's senior officials still offered neither a solution nor any sign that they intended to resolve the problem.

At the Kong Family home in Zhannan, a man in his thirties sat on a sofa and asked Kong Zhenghui, "Will this actually work?"

"Definitely!" Kong Zhenghui said with his hands behind his back. "Just keep contacting the media in the city."

"Why do you seem even more confident than the Su Family?"

"That kid who just came back to the Su Family is pretty interesting. One act of self-defense, and he's pulled all four of our companies together." Kong Zhenghui said mildly, "That's a good thing."

"I've been over to the Sanitation Management Council these past few days. I noticed the Su Family really looks after their workers. They feed them and drive them back and forth. Should we do that, too?" the man asked.

Kong Zhenghui frowned. "No need."

"All right!" The man nodded.

Around five on Saturday evening, the managers and shareholders gradually began to disperse. Su Tianbei had already taken his people back to the yard long before.

Screech!

Lu Feng's minivan stopped in an alley. He turned to five men in loud Floral Shirts and said, "Go on. Once it's done, I'll treat you to some panty-ripping at New World of Glamour."