Chapter 4755

The female workers were all talking at once, scrambling to tell Zhao De about their respective hardships. But because it was too chaotic, Zhao De couldn't hear clearly and couldn't help but furrow his brows.

Seeing this, Zhu Liansheng wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "If you're all so chaotic, how can the leader understand? Everyone knows the situation in the factory; it's not that I don't want to pay you, it's that the factory really has no money to pay wages!" Zhu Liansheng didn't forget to absolve himself of responsibility.

Zhao De lit a cigarette and said, "Send a representative from among you to speak. That way, I can understand a bit better."

The female workers, who had just been scrambling to complain, were all afraid of being singled out as 'examples' once they heard about sending a representative, fearing that after the leader left, the factory would 'settle scores' with them. For a moment, they looked at each other, and no one was willing to be the first to step forward.

Just as the situation reached a stalemate, Ma Lianlian suddenly raised her hand and said, "I'll represent everyone and speak!" Perhaps because she could sit down and talk face-to-face with a district leader, Ma Lianlian stopped using the term 'old lady' to refer to herself.

Zhu Liansheng knew this Ma Lianlian was a troublemaker and, fearing she would say the wrong thing, hurriedly frowned and waved his hand, saying, "You can't. Let Zhao Hongxia speak!"

"Why can't I?" Ma Lianlian looked at Zhu Liansheng with dissatisfaction and retorted, "I'm not speaking a foreign language, and the leader isn't unable to understand!"

Ma Lianlian's words actually made everyone laugh, and even Zhao De was amused, laughing as he said, "Fine, you do it!"

Seeing Zhao De agree to let her represent everyone, Ma Lianlian couldn't help but show a hint of triumph on her face. She glanced contemptuously with the corner of her eye at the nervous, sweating Zhu Liansheng and said in a loud voice, "Leader, we aren't unreasonable people. We're just at our wits' end. We're all old employees of this textile factory, and we know the factory's efficiency is poor and it's losing money. But you can't just not pay the workers' wages, right? A month's delay is barely acceptable, but it's been several months. Everyone relies on these wages to support their families. You leaders have no worries about food and drink every day, but you can't let us workers drink the northwest wind, right? Don't you agree, leader?"

Zhao De didn't speak, just nodded with furrowed brows, took a hard drag on his cigarette, and asked Ma Lianlian, "So, what are your thoughts now?"

Ma Lianlian said without hesitation, "No other thoughts. Just have the factory pay everyone the wages for these past few months."

Hearing Ma Lianlian's request, Zhu Liansheng hurriedly looked at Zhao De awkwardly and said, "Sorry, leader, let me interject. It's not that the factory doesn't want to pay everyone, it's that the factory really has no money!"

"Director Zhu, stop crying poverty! That meal you had in the private room at noon was enough to pay wages for several workers, right?" Ma Lianlian tilted her head and looked at Zhu Liansheng, retorting.

Zhu Liansheng was left speechless, sweat pouring down his forehead. He was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, unable to sit or stand comfortably.

Zhao De thought for a moment and said, "How about this: I'll propose a solution. I will personally cover the wages for you dozen female workers today. But you must know that this is coming from me, Zhao De, personally. Although I am a district leader, I am just like everyone else—I earn a salary. I will personally advance the funds to help you dozen people. But there are so many people in the factory, and I can't solve the wages for the others for the time being. I have to wait until I go back to the district, hold a meeting, and discuss it with other leaders. It will take time. But I have one requirement: you must not tell other workers that I helped you solve the wage problem today. If others find out, I will be under a lot of personal pressure."

Hearing the solution Zhao De proposed, Zhu Liansheng and Kong Shenghui widened their eyes in astonishment. The dozen female workers were all beaming with joy upon hearing Zhao De's words, whispering and discussing among themselves.

Zhao De said to the stunned Zhu Liansheng, "Director Zhu, bring over the payroll for these people."

"District Head Zhao, is it really appropriate for you to pay out of your own pocket?" Zhu Liansheng looked at Zhao De with a troubled expression. Although it was a polite remark, the fact that Zhao De could personally pay to temporarily settle these dozen female workers made Zhu Liansheng feel much more relaxed.

Zhao De said nonchalantly, "What's inappropriate about it? We can't have the factory in such disorder right now. I know Director Zhu is also stressed about this matter. I can solve one problem at a time; isn't that what a leader is for? The district will soon hold a People's Congress. As a deputy, you should bring up the factory's situation at the meeting. As for me, if I am elected district head, the first thing I will do is solve the situation your factory is currently facing." Zhao De took this opportunity to subtly express his intentions to Zhu Liansheng.

Zhu Liansheng was naturally not stupid; he understood the meaning behind Zhao De's words and hurriedly nodded, saying, "Then thank you very much, District Head Zhao."

Kong Shenghui, standing to the side, felt a subtle sense of imbalance as he watched Zhu Liansheng and Zhao De begin to joke with each other. Zhao De handed his personal salary card to his accompanying staff member and asked him to go to the bank to withdraw money. The group sat in the conference room, drinking tea and smoking while chatting with the female workers. After Zhao De offered to help them solve the wage problem, the attitude of the female workers changed immediately; now, they were all talking and laughing.

Zhao De inadvertently glanced at Ma Lianlian. It had to be said, although this woman had a sharp tongue and a bit of a shrewish temperament, when she wasn't speaking, she had willow-leaf eyebrows, large eyes, and an oval face. Her skin was fair, and she wore a rhinestone necklace around her slender neck, making her collarbones stand out. Her hair at the temples was slightly curled, and looking at her from the side, she actually had a bit of the temperament of Lin Daiyu. However, compared to Lin Daiyu, she was clearly a more mature and alluring woman. Although she was wearing a factory uniform, her figure was very graceful—curvaceous in all the right places, especially the two mounds on her chest, which were firm and prominent, very eye-catching.

Just as Zhao De was smoking and squinting his eyes, staring at Ma Lianlian sitting across the conference table, Ma Lianlian inadvertently turned her head. Her bright, dark eyes collided with Zhao De's gaze, and a shy smile actually appeared at the corners of her mouth. Zhao De felt a jolt of nervousness and hurriedly shifted his gaze elsewhere.

Half an hour later, the accompanying staff member who had gone to the bank returned to the office in a hurry and placed a bulging shoulder bag in front of Zhao De. Zhao De took his salary card from him, opened the bag, and looked inside. There were ten neat stacks of hundred-yuan bills—exactly one hundred thousand yuan. This was almost three years of Zhao De's salary. As a bureau-level cadre, his salary wasn't actually very high, but Zhao De had barely used his salary in the past few years. This was the benefit of being a leader: there were receptions for cigarettes and alcohol at work, people sent gifts, and there were invitations to meals. The food in the canteen was not bad, and the price was very low, so his salary was basically all saved up.

Zhao De calculated in his heart that one hundred thousand yuan was enough for three months of wages for these dozen female workers. So, he took their payroll and, comparing it, had Zhu Liansheng help distribute the wages to them. Finally able to receive the hard-earned money that had been in arrears for three months, these women all showed expressions of relief. Those who received the money had joyful faces, and those still waiting in line were full of anticipation. In ten minutes, the wages were distributed. Zhao De reminded them again not to talk about this matter before sending them away.

These dozen women had always been a headache for Zhu Liansheng. Today, Zhao De finally stepped in to solve the problem, which made him feel he had to be grateful to Zhao De. He also knew that he must vote for him at the People's Congress. At the very least, he had elected a leader who could solve problems, and he wouldn't have to rack his brains every day to face these messy issues.

After a day of research, Zhao De was exhausted and went to bed early that night. Kong Shenghui had accompanied Zhao De for the day, and the events at the textile factory made Kong Shenghui realize that his chances of winning the election were getting smaller and smaller, forcing him to seek other strategies. Kong Shenghui's backer was Mayor Zhang Dewang. After the day's work was finished, Kong Shenghui drove privately to the city and personally visited the mayor's home in Building No. 3 of the Municipal Committee. After returning, he called District Committee Secretary Wu Min late at night.

When Wu Min's phone rang, she had just come out of the bathroom after a shower. Seeing the phone ringing, she walked over in confusion, picked it up, and saw it was a call from Executive Deputy District Head Kong Shenghui. She hesitated for a moment before answering.

"Hello, Secretary Wu, do you have time now? I have something I'd like to report to you," Kong Shenghui said over the phone.

Wu Min said with some confusion, "Old Kong, it's so late. What can't wait until tomorrow when we're at work?"

Kong Shenghui said vigilantly, "Secretary Wu, I think it's better to report this to you sooner."

Hearing Kong Shenghui's mysterious tone, Wu Min said, "Then go ahead, what is it?"

"Secretary Wu, today I accompanied Acting District Head Liu to the textile factory for work research. Some things happened, and I feel that Acting District Head Liu's approach might be somewhat inappropriate." Kong Shenghui deliberately acted mysterious and stopped halfway through.

"What was inappropriate?" Wu Min's appetite was whetted, and she pursued the question.

(Chapter 2575: What's Inappropriate)! ===== CHAPTER 4756 =====