Volume 1 Chapter 43 Things Have Gotten Out of Hand

  Days without stored drafts are really tough.

  He Qing Society hastily dodged to the side, watching as a truck loaded with steel materials whizzed past his nose. He hoped that Shen Huai was just pretending to be tough. But his fantasy was shattered in the next moment, and he heard a loud crash, seeing the extra-wide tires of the semi-truck directly scraping against the black Mercedes-Benz's hood.

  A military green truck loaded with steel weighing fifty tons, Shen Hua drove the car and used the left front wheel to aim at the head of the Mercedes-Benz.

  The Mercedes-Benz's frame was hard, but it couldn't withstand the weight of nearly 50 tons of a fully loaded heavy truck. With a loud "crash", the sleek and luxurious black Mercedes was crushed into a large iron pancake right under everyone's noses.

  He Qing's face turned pale, Shen Huai had just taken office in Meixi Town and was at odds with Du Jian, not giving an inch. He knew Shen Huai had some connections in the city, otherwise he might have clashed with Ge Yongqiu, who was then the secretary-general of the municipal government. But he never expected that Shen Huai would be so bold as to crush the Mercedes-Benz of Wanhu Company into a pancake with his heavy truck after a disagreement.

  He Qing's mind was filled with one thought: This matter has blown up and can't be contained anymore...

  The truck passed by, and He Qing saw Lao Kai crossing the road to Du Jian's side. His face was as black as coal, and he also seemed at a loss for how to deal with the situation in front of him.

  The steel plant workers, although emotionally excited just now, were about to take action and smash the car, but when they really saw the new factory director arrive in a heavy truck, directly crushing the Mercedes-Benz into an iron pancake, they stood there in shock, suddenly feeling dizzy: What's going on?

  Standing beside, Zhao Dong hadn't had time to join in the excitement and was watching everything with a wry smile, thinking that Shen Hui, even if he's been sent to the countryside, still hasn't changed his style. It's not hard to imagine why he clashed with the town party secretary on his first day of work. Shen Hui is a dragon in the river, even as a deputy, where would he be willing to be suppressed by a local snake?

  Yang Haipeng however felt that things were not big enough, excitedly patted his thigh and shouted: "He should be crushed!"

  "You're just watching the excitement without minding your own business." Zhao Dong sighed with a bitter smile.

  "Escalating contradictions has its benefits. Instead of dragging on, it's better to get everything out in the open." said Yang Haipeng.

  "If I were to go and smash the car, I'd be better at it than him." Zhao Dong also knew that some conflicts had to be stirred up, but he didn't think Shen Hua should personally take the lead in charging forward to do such a thing, as it would easily give others leverage. He didn't argue with Yang Haipeng either, and instead squeezed his way to the front through the crowded steel factory workers and onlookers.

  Shen Huai crushed the black Mercedes into a pancake, apparently not enough, and then turned the steering wheel, aligning the right rear wheel with that blue Buick business car and reversing over it.

  The rear of the Buick commercial vehicle was high, and it pushed the right wheel of the heavy truck forward with a hiss until it reached a short cement bollard in front of the factory gate, where the right wheel of the heavy truck climbed up...

  At this time, the steel plant workers finally came to their senses, and suddenly a loud and earth-shaking cheer burst out from the crowd.

  They didn't care about the consequences, from the time when Wanhu Company sent a car to block the gate and steel materials couldn't be shipped out of the factory normally, their emotions were fiercely ignited.

  Ice moves three feet, not a cold day, the steel plant's operating conditions are getting worse and worse, with wages cut in half for three months. The working class, who can only earn one or two hundred yuan per month to support their families, from top to bottom, are all complaining about Wanhu Company's deliberate suppression of steel sales prices.

  Even if today's incident wasn't triggered by the gate-blocking, such accumulated grievances will eventually lead to an explosion. Especially among young workers, who fear nothing and have no qualms about taking action, each one of them is eager to make a big impact. It was the young workers in the workshop who took the lead in blocking the gate at Wanhu Company, scaring off the management team at the steel factory, who didn't dare show their faces to suppress the situation, and could only urgently notify Du Jian to come and control the scene.

  Du Jian still had some prestige in the steel plant, and he rushed over in time to forcibly calm down the emotionally agitated employees. He wanted to communicate with Gao Xiaohu, who was behind the Wanhu Company through Shen Huai, to temporarily resolve this matter.

  Du Jian did not expect that Shen Huai was even more fearless, without saying a word, he directly drove the heavy truck to crush the small car blocking the entrance of Wanhu Company under two iron plates.

  The workers, who had been suppressed and unable to vent their frustrations, felt an indescribable sense of relief and satisfaction when they saw the new factory director arrive in a heavy truck and crush the two small cars that were blocking the gate into a pile of scrap metal.

  Cheering and shouting, watching Shen Hua reverse the car to crush that blue Buick again, many young people rushed up to follow the car, wishing they could step on the blue Buick with two feet to vent their anger.

  Shen Hua stopped the car, opened the door, and got out with the support of the door frame, looking at the workers surrounding the truck.

  Although the workers were shouting wildly, Du Jian rushed up and scolded Shen Hua: "Do you know what this behavior is? Do you know that this is openly destroying private property, it's a criminal act? Is there still party discipline and national law on your body? You are instigating the workers to rebel!

  "As long as I am the director of this steel factory, anyone who dares to extort or harm the interests of the factory will end up like this!" Shen Hua pointed at the blue Buick that had been crushed under the truck's wheels, responding to Du Jian's stern accusations with a resolute tone.

  He Qing was surrounded by the crowd, thinking of going forward to say something, but ultimately held back and didn't go forward; other town leaders and steel plant officials who rushed over to control the situation were also caught off guard and at a loss for what to do, they had never encountered a deputy secretary like Shen Huai who dared to be so reckless and actually was.

  When Shen Hua pointed at the scrap iron under the wheels and denounced those who harmed the interests of the steel plant, their backs were all chilled.

  Du Jian's face turned iron-green, wanting to go up and pull Shen Huai down from the car, but unexpectedly a young worker came forward and grabbed his collar, suddenly pulling him down, loudly scolding him: "Du old tiger, Du old tiger, I think you're just a paper tiger. As the factory director, you don't dare to protect the interests of the steel plant, and instead you're eating inside and peeling outside..."

  "That's enough! No one is allowed to hit anyone!" Shen Huan sternly stopped the worker who was about to hit Du Jian, things couldn't get out of hand, losing control would be troublesome.

  Shen Hua jumped onto the car head, his severe gaze temporarily quieting down the surrounding workers who had gathered. He said loudly: "I am the newly appointed factory director, I didn't expect to meet everyone in this way, and of course, I don't want to meet everyone in this way either. Since things have happened, as I just said, I'll take care of it myself. It's still working hours now, please ask each workshop director and production team leader to immediately lead their workers back. This afternoon, all workshops will be fully shut down for production learning. That's all I have to say, if everyone is willing to trust me to handle the situation, please return to your workshops immediately, do not wander around until the end of work hours..."

  "Everyone go back, listen to the new factory director!"

  "Everyone go back, listen to the new factory director!"

  "With a new factory director in place, we're not afraid of any paper tigers or old tigers daring to suck the blood of our steel plant again!"

  The grassroots managers of the steel plant were also afraid that things would get out of control, and seeing that the situation was under control, they all came forward, calling out their subordinates from the crowd, and returning to their workshops one after another.

  In the blink of an eye, more than half of the noisy and crowded factory gate had dispersed, leaving only the surrounding onlookers, the steel plant leaders who dared to come out here, the heads of various departments, and the town officials.

  He Qing looked at the two pieces of scrap iron under the wheels and knew that this matter was going to be difficult to handle, but the emotional workers had already returned to the workshop, so the situation wouldn't deteriorate further. He walked forward and said to Du Jian: "Secretary Du, about the rolling mill, should we have the town government communicate with Wanhu Company...?"

  His point is that since the arm cannot twist the thigh, it's better to think of ways to turn big things into small ones. The benefits that Wanhu Company has sucked away from the steel factory are far more than just a Mercedes-Benz. If they still want to continue making money from the steel factory, they shouldn't leave any room for maneuvering.

  "What the hell does it have to do with me!" Du Jian couldn't hold back his anger, seeing He Qing still trying to help Shen Huai cover up this matter, he spat at him.

  Du Jian was grabbed by the steel factory workers and pulled down, almost getting punched twice. It was Shen Hua who stopped the impulsive workers in time, allowing him to avoid a beating, but he was still shaking with rage all over his body. Previously, he was the "sit-on-the-mountain tiger" of Meixi Town and the steel factory, but now these rabbits dared to jump out and rebel against him? This was something he couldn't tolerate, yet had to tolerate, how could he possibly agree to let the town government take care of this matter?

  "Whoever pulls the crap, whoever eats it," Du Jian's face turned green with rage as he glared at Shen Huai and said viciously, "You're now the head of the steel factory, so you're in charge of the factory's affairs. I won't interfere, but don't blame me for not warning you." He then bellowed at the town officials behind him, "Look at this mess! Does the government not need to work?"

  Shen Hua watched as Du Jian walked away with big strides, his body still shaking and trembling, seemingly having been infuriated. The other town officials followed behind Du Jian with their tails between their legs, not daring to glance this way even once.

  He Qing's spittle on Du Jian's face was nothing serious, but the situation in front of him made it difficult for him to handle.

  When Shen Huai was driving the heavy truck, he was both worried and excited. To be honest, he also believed that Meixi Town needed a strong and bold move like Shen Huai's to break through the situation, but things had gotten out of hand.

  Gao Xiaohu has been rampant in Donghua for many years. Can these small town party committee deputy secretaries and mayors afford to provoke him?

  He Qingci wanted to stand with Shen Huai, but was also afraid of the consequences that he couldn't bear.

  He is forty years old, and after much difficulty, he has finally climbed to the rank of zhengkeji. He has endured so much hardship and lost so much dignity. The thought that one day it could all be washed away, who wouldn't be afraid or terrified?

  He is different from Shen Hua, who is young and has a strong desire to learn. He comes from a good family background and has connections, so even if he can't make it in Donghua, he can still go out and explore the world. But he is already 40 years old, having spent over 20 years as a village cadre and township cadre. What else can he do besides being an official?

  Shen Huai could see the struggle in He Qing's heart, and it was already beyond his expectations that He Qing could make such a good show of himself now, even suggesting that Du Jian should take the lead from the town to cover up this matter.

  "Town head, there are still things in the town, you go back first," Shen Hua said calmly. "I am the director of the steel factory. No matter how big the thing is, I started it and I should take responsibility for it. We didn't finish drinking at noon, let's find a place to drink together tonight."

  He Qingsha gritted her teeth and turned away, but in her heart she felt an unshakeable sense of shame...