At around nine thirty that evening, officers from the Zhannan District Police Affairs Bureau finished taking statements at People's Hospital and left. The two foremen whom Changqing Company had beaten into disability had just been wheeled out of the emergency room.
Kong Zhenghui had been waiting in the hospital parking lot for over an hour. With police officers and several people from the Sanitation Management Council upstairs, however, he had held off on going in.
Only after most of them had left did Kong Zhenghui enter the surgical building with several of his family members and head to the special-care ward on the third floor.
Quite a few people from the Bai and Kong families were gathered outside the rooms, all friends and brothers of the critically injured foremen. They immediately crowded around Kong Zhenghui when they saw him arrive.
"Zhenghui, Daming and Li are both hurt pretty bad. The doctor said they're definitely going to be disabled now. Whether they'll survive depends on how the treatment goes." An older middle-aged man spoke urgently. "We've been out there in all kinds of weather, backing up companies like yours. Now that they're hurt, the company can't just wash its hands of them!"
"Exactly! If they're disabled, what's going to happen to their families?"
"...!"
The company members present were all frightened, talking over one another as they spoke up for the two injured men.
Kong Zhenghui looked solemnly at them and declared firmly, "Don't panic, everyone. The company will absolutely take care of He and Li. I'll discuss it with Bai Hongbo and work out how the money will be paid. I'll promise you this right now: even if they never catch the attackers and we can't get compensation, the company will pay."
Everyone looked considerably more reassured after hearing that.
Kong Zhenghui waved a hand and continued, "It's getting late. You should all head home instead of crowding around here. Oh, and don't spread word of this yet. We don't want to upset everyone else and cause a panic. But rest assured, my contact at the Police Bureau just called. They've more or less identified the thugs who attacked them, and nothing like this will happen again. You need to trust the company's ability to handle emergencies."
Most of the managers came from poor backgrounds and had little access to information. With Kong Zhenghui sounding so certain, they asked no further questions and left together, still uneasy.
Once everyone had gone, Kong Zhenghui met with his employee He Daming's wife and his son, who had only just reached adulthood.
In the room for family caregivers, Kong Zhenghui closed the door and looked at He Daming's plainly dressed wife. "You can rest assured. The company will stand up for your husband, and we won't let the people who attacked him get away with it."
He Daming's wife had little education and had been crying ever since she arrived at the hospital. Looking at Kong Zhenghui with red-rimmed eyes, she said, "Zhenghui! We don't need the company to stand up for us anymore, and we don't want to find the attackers. They've really scared us. We can't fight those people from Changqing Company... He's been beaten like this, and we'll accept it... As long as the company pays to treat his injuries and keep him alive, that's all I want... Really!"
Kong Zhenghui frowned at her and said quietly, "We can't just let this go. He was a perfectly healthy man. What right did they have to cripple him? Listen to me. I've already pulled some strings at the Police Bureau, and people from two well-known media outlets will be here shortly. They'll interview you and expose this case. Once the public starts paying attention, someone will have to answer for it."
"What? Expose it? We can't, Zhenghui! Less than three days after we reported the situation to the higher-ups, they crippled him. If this really gets exposed, will any of the three of us survive? The people from Changqing Company said they'd kill us if we made any more trouble!" He Daming's wife cried out in terror.
"I've already arranged everything with the media. Once it's exposed, they won't dare cause any more trouble."
"No, Kong Zhenghui, listen to me. We're just ordinary people. We can't fight Changqing Company." He Daming's wife gripped his arm, her voice trembling. "I'm begging you. Please stop organizing these interviews."
Kong Zhenghui fell silent.
"Zhenghui, save him first!" He Daming's wife pleaded.
After a pause, Kong Zhenghui said, "If you don't cooperate with the company and word gets out tomorrow, everyone will panic and the company will fall apart. If the company goes under, how will we take care of your husband?"
He Daming's wife froze. "What... do you mean by that?"
"...We have to get through this together and give ourselves a chance to recover!"
"Zhenghui! He only took the company's key people to the Management Council to report Changqing Company's illegal monopoly because he was backing your family's company. Now something's happened, and you don't want to take care of him?" With tears still wet on her face, He Daming's wife demanded in a trembling voice, "You can't treat people like this, Zhenghui!"
"No, your husband wasn't doing it for the company. He reported the situation to the higher-ups first to protect his own livelihood, and second to protect his share dividends," Kong Zhenghui replied expressionlessly. "Besides, I paid him."
He Daming's wife stared at Kong Zhenghui, dumbfounded and speechless.
"On top of his regular wages, I paid him an allowance. Managers like him got an extra thousand a day from me, and that doesn't even include the contracted zone I promised to give him for free." Kong Zhenghui bent down slightly and said in a low voice, "That money wasn't for nothing!"
"Zhenghui, there's not a shred of humanity in what you're saying...!"
"It's not that I have no humanity. Reality doesn't give you the chance to consider things like that." Kong Zhenghui turned and pointed at the IV bottle beside the bed, asking with deliberate emphasis, "Tell me, if nobody pays today, will that lifesaving medicine go into his veins?"
The woman clenched her teeth without answering.
"I'll have the media people come over shortly. Tell them clearly about Changqing Company's monopoly and the suspected violent retaliation against the workers. Make it sound as tragic as possible," Kong Zhenghui said softly. "Once you've spoken and cooperated, I'll send someone over to pay the hospital bill. As for compensation, the company will pay you the maximum amount. I'll be clear: no less than twenty thousand. And your son can join the company afterward. Since your husband can't work anymore, I'll let your son take over the contracted zone. That's settled, then."
With that, Kong Zhenghui turned to leave. At the door, he remembered to add, "Don't spread too much negativity among the other people at the company."
The woman looked at her husband, whose legs had been shattered, and then at her newly adult son outside the door. Utterly helpless, she murmured, "Join the company... Wouldn't my son still just be a hired hand...?"
Yes, it was hard for a hired hand's son to become anything other than another hired hand...
Tears slid down, murky and clouded.
An hour and a half later.
After drinking at a well-known KTV in Zhannan District, Bai Hongbo drunkenly arrived at the hospital and went to the room of Li Gang, the Bai Family's foreman.
"Hongbo, look what they've done to your uncle. What are we going to do?" Li Gang's wife asked.
Bai Hongbo sat down in a chair and answered heartily, "The company's taking care of it! Medical bills, lost wages, pension, compensation-the company will pay for all of it."
"Hongbo, we don't dare go along to report things to the Management Council anymore. If we keep this up, we'll lose our lives," Li Gang's wife said tearfully.
Bai Hongbo belched, then stood and looked at her. "He's already in this state. How could we ask you to keep doing it? All right, Auntie. Just look after Uncle and help him recover. You don't have to worry about anything else."
"All right!" Li Gang's wife nodded.
Bai Hongbo took out his wallet and pulled out all the cash inside, a little over three thousand. He tossed it onto the bed. "I was treating some city people today to sort out my dad's situation, so I've spent most of my money. Take this for now to pay the bills and buy him something nourishing. This isn't part of what the company owes you."
"All right!"
"This fucking world is what it is. Try not to let it eat at you, Auntie!" Though Bai Hongbo was drunk, he didn't leave immediately after handing over the money. Instead, he stayed and talked with Li Gang's family for well over an hour before leaving.
Before he left, Li Gang's wife volunteered, "Hongbo, we won't go saying things around the company. You've got it hard too."
Bai Hongbo picked some crust from his eye and replied with a bitter smile, "Yeah. It's hard for everyone."
After eleven that night.
In the main building at the Su Family Garbage Dump, Su Tianyu sat in the living room, listening to the company employees chat.
With so much going on lately, and the Su Family leading the fight against Changqing Company, seven or eight men stayed at the yard every night to keep watch. Bored in the evenings, they gathered to smoke and swap dirty jokes.
Su Tianyu liked this atmosphere. He sat with them in the living room, watching them play cards and shoot the breeze.
In a corner of the room, Black Iron Tower Wu Shixiong, a dark-skinned tower of a man, sat on a small folding stool, fiddling with a half-finished wood carving.
Bored and a little curious, Su Tianyu asked, "Da Xiong, why are you on duty every night? Don't you go home?"
"Th... thirty a day. I can earn a little extra if I stay on duty," Da Xiong answered guilelessly.
"Heh, you really do love money!" Su Tianyu laughed.
"There are four brothers in my family. Only I... I... ain't right in the head... My dad said... he has no money to get me a wife. I have to earn it myself," Wu Shixiong replied with a broad grin.
Hearing such a plain, straightforward reason, Su Tianyu was a little surprised and took another look at Da Xiong.
Beside him, a worker smoking a cigarette grinned at Wu Shixiong. "Silly Xiong, have you ever done a woman? You're always going on about getting a wife."
"No," Wu Shixiong replied honestly.
"Then will you know how to do it when you get a wife?" the worker asked, purely to amuse himself.
"H-how do you do it?"
"I'll tell you. When you've got a night off and you're sleeping at home, if you hear noises coming from your parents' room, sneak outside their window and watch... Watch a few times and you'll learn. Hahaha!" the worker said, laughing.
Su Tianyu frowned slightly at that but said nothing.
Wu Shixiong glanced at the man, then lowered his head and went back to his carving without responding.
"Silly Xiong, have you ever heard noises coming from your parents' room?"
"...!" Wu Shixiong kept his head down and stayed silent.
"Fuck, how old is his dad now? What noises could he make? What a stupid question," another employee chimed in.
"Hahaha!"
The six or seven people in the room laughed idly at that.
Tap, tap!
Footsteps sounded as Third Sister came downstairs and snapped fiercely, "What's wrong with all of you? Picking on Da Xiong every damn day! Aren't you ashamed? Have you got nothing to do? Get out there and patrol. Stop smoking!"
Once they saw Third Sister downstairs, none of them dared talk back. They gathered in small groups and left the main building.
Wu Shixiong stole a glance at the fiery Third Sister, then turned away and slipped the wood carving into his pocket. "I... I'll go patrol too."
Tap, tap!
Footsteps sounded as Su Tiannan arrived at the yard in the early hours. He said to Tianyu, "Some people from the companies got attacked. Two are badly hurt."
There was no surprise on Su Tianyu's face. He rose slowly and replied, "Let's talk upstairs."
At the New World of Glamour in Zhannan District, Lu Feng sat in a private room with his phone in hand. "Let's see whether he pulls his people out tomorrow! If he does, I'll take down another company right away. That'll break the deadlock, and we can get everything sorted from top to bottom."
"Have you decided which company?" Li Hongze asked.
"Heh...!" Lu Feng grinned.
Before you continue