In the third-floor office of the main building at Su Family Garbage Dump, Su Tianyu leaned forward in his chair and asked quietly, "Big brother, how are the injured men doing?"
"One from the Bai Family and one from the Kong Family were seriously injured. Both were midlevel managers in their contracted areas. Both had their legs smashed and were stabbed." Su Tiannan answered with a slight frown, "They're badly hurt. They're still not completely out of danger."
"Has word spread?" Su Tianyu asked immediately.
"Plenty of people at all four companies must know by now. The thugs did it right next to the Sanitation Management Bureau, and a lot of people saw it." Su Tiannan continued, "But I called Bai Hongbo and Kong Zhenghui. They said they're doing their best to calm their management staff down."
Su Tianyu nodded at that.
"Little brother, thank goodness you warned us. We arranged for Tianbei to be driven everywhere and made sure everyone traveled together. Otherwise, they might've gone after our people first." Still shaken, Su Tiannan said, "But we're not in a good position now either. With Li Gang and He Daming hurt this badly, Bai Hongbo and Kong Zhenghui definitely won't be able to keep the news from getting out. Once the shareholders in our contracted areas, the lower-level managers, and the people overseeing things on the ground start feeling uncertain, finding people to go to the Sanitation Management Bureau tomorrow to raise our concerns won't be so easy."
"If it won't be easy, then don't do it," Su Tianyu replied quietly.
"What do you mean?" Su Tiannan didn't immediately understand his thinking.
"Not going tomorrow will solve two problems." Su Tianyu laid it out succinctly. "First, it'll make Changqing think their move worked-that we're scared and don't dare oppose them anymore. That'll let them keep making moves. Second, like you said, attacks on managers from two companies will definitely affect everyone below them. If you keep sending people to the Sanitation Management Bureau tomorrow, they'll resent it. If an argument breaks out, things could get ugly."
Su Tiannan instantly understood what his brother meant. "You mean...?"
"Call Bai Hongbo, Kong Zhenghui, and Liu the Second. Tell them not to organize anything tomorrow. Instead, they need to watch their own side, especially their homes." Su Tianyu walked over to his older brother and leaned in to speak into his ear. "Look at this from Changqing Company's perspective. Solving this problem really has nothing to do with how many people go to the Sanitation Management Bureau to complain, because our four companies are the ones actually putting up the money and manpower. So the root of the problem is that as long as the four of us still want to resist, this won't end. Understand?"
Hearing that, Su Tiannan immediately asked, "Then why did they attack those two?"
"Heh." Su Tianyu grinned.
Before his brother could answer, Su Tiannan figured it out himself. "The Sanitation Management Council is under too much pressure, so they have to get the officials out of their predicament. At the very least, they can't let all these people from the Sanitation Sector block the entrance every day with complaints. Right?"
"Right." Su Tianyu nodded slowly.
"All right, I get what you mean. I'll call Zhenghui now." Su Tiannan immediately took out his phone and dialed Kong Zhenghui's number.
Su Tianyu sat quietly in his chair, drinking tea.
About five minutes later, Su Tiannan hung up and gave Tianyu a puzzled look. "Guess what Kong Zhenghui said?"
"What?" Su Tianyu asked.
"He thinks the same way you do. He was already planning not to send anyone to complain tomorrow," Su Tiannan replied quietly.
Su Tianyu was surprised too. "What else did he say?"
"He said he's contacted some media outlets in the city. He wants us to keep quiet until he's finished on his end."
"...!" Su Tianyu blinked, then replied softly, "Kong Zhenghui sees things pretty clearly. So he's been waiting all along too. That's good. At least the other three companies aren't all dead weight."
Su Tiannan was steady and decent by nature. It wasn't that he was slow to understand certain things; his instincts simply didn't lead him to consider other angles. But now he understood that Su Tianyu's earlier efforts to bind the four companies together, his suggestion that they raise their concerns through lawful, reasonable channels, and his push to make enough noise to attract higher-level departments had all been mere groundwork.
"Big brother, keep in touch with Wang Daolin. Invite him out for tea and a chat whenever you have time," Su Tianyu added, looking up. "Since Kong Zhenghui sees it the same way we do, let's stick with this for now. We still won't resume work tomorrow, but we won't go complain either. Let the officials have a little rest too."
"All right."
"Be extra careful over the next couple of days," Su Tianyu warned.
"You're the one who needs to...!"
"I'll be fine. I'll stay at the plant. I don't need to go home." Su Tianyu waved a hand, cutting his older brother off.
The night passed uneventfully, and morning came.
At the Dragon City Sanitation Management General Council, Zheng Fu'an, who oversaw work in Zhannan District, arrived on time as usual. But as soon as he entered his office, his secretary came in and said, "Director Zheng, the Zhannan Management Bureau called. Nobody's blocking the entrance to protest today. There isn't a single person outside the gate."
"Really?" Holding his goji berry tea, Zheng Fu'an sat down happily and asked, "They've settled down?"
"Yes, they have." The secretary smiled and nodded.
"Heh, good." Zheng Fu'an nodded lightly. "Carry on with work as usual."
"Will do." The secretary turned and left.
With a smile lingering on his lips, Zheng Fu'an picked up his personal phone, walked to the window, and dialed Li Hongze, the owner of Changqing Company.
"Hello? Zheng."
"You dealt with that fast. Li Hongze, you really pulled me out of the fire." Zheng Fu'an slipped him a compliment.
"You just took office. Of course I couldn't let you have a hard time!" Li Hongze replied confidently. "Three days at most, and we'll have the whole thing settled."
"Very good. Take it steady. Don't cause any trouble," Zheng Fu'an cautioned without belaboring the point.
"Lu Feng said everything we do is about backing you up. Hahaha!" Li Hongze replied with a laugh.
"Lu Feng's pretty good too. If this goes smoothly, let him take over the four companies' operations."
"I'll think about it."
"All right, that's it. I have a meeting."
"Okay, talk later."
The two ended the call. Sitting in his executive chair, Li Hongze dialed Lu Feng's number. "Busy?"
"I treated some guests last night and donated another few hundred million. Heh, my back's killing me," Lu Feng answered lazily.
"The other side's quiet today, but Zheng still isn't entirely satisfied. He wants the remaining issues dealt with as soon as possible."
"These officials say one word, and those of us below them have to run our legs off," Lu Feng said in exasperation. "Fuck, they'd been organizing people to file complaints for less than four days before we solved it. How much faster does he want us to be?"
"He's just taken the job. It's normal for him to be a little anxious," Li Hongze replied mildly.
"I've already made the arrangements. We'll do it tonight."
"Keep it under control!"
"Don't worry. We know the drill."
"All right, that's it, then." Li Hongze hung up.
During the day, Kong Zhenghui busied himself working his media contacts, while Bai Hongbo, Liu the Second, and the others worked to reassure their people. All in all, the four companies' situation looked even more precarious.
Yet at this critical juncture, Su Tianyu continued wandering idly around the garbage yard. He even took his time looking over the eligibility requirements for the civil service exam.
Before long, it was past eight that evening. Outside, a silver moon hung high amid bright stars.
After showering in the main building's break room, Su Tianyu called Tianbei. "Where are you, second brother?"
Downstairs, Black Iron Tower, Wu Shixiong, looked excitedly at Third Sister and asked, "Y-you're not going home? Th-third... third...!"
"Oh, take your time," Third Sister replied in a clear voice. "I left something at the plant. I came back to get it."
Outside the plant, three ancient American vans slowly approached. The man sitting in the front passenger seat of the lead vehicle was the one in the floral shirt who had smashed four legs with a hammer.
The vicious thugs had arrived!
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