Chapter 4769: The Petitioners

Upon hearing that it was the common people petitioning, Sun Xiaoqin immediately perked up. She had only ever seen a few scattered words in the newspapers about mass petitioning incidents, but had never actually witnessed one. She had heard people in her village say that ordinary people who petitioned were usually suffering from some kind of injustice. Seeing it for real today, she naturally wanted to get to the bottom of it.

The petitioning procession drew closer and closer to the District Committee. The two men walking at the very front held up a banner with black characters on a white background that read: "Give us back our life-saving money!"

"What life-saving money are they talking about?" Sun Xiaoqin asked Zhao Desan curiously.

"They are employees of a state-owned enterprise. The factory's performance is poor, and they haven't been paid for several months. Now, the district's finances are tight, and we can't allocate the funds," Zhao Desan explained with a sigh, appearing extremely helpless.

"Even state-owned enterprises can't pay wages? Is that really a thing?" Sun Xiaoqin arched her willow-leaf eyebrows, took Tongtong's camera, aimed it at the procession, and snapped two photos. "Come on," she said with great interest, "let's go up and ask what's going on."

"Don't go!" Zhao Desan hurriedly grabbed Sun Xiaoqin's arm and said anxiously, "Be careful. These matters are too sensitive. Don't get involved blindly; the district will naturally resolve it."

However, this petitioning group was much smaller in scale than the one on the day Mayor Zhang came; there were only about twenty or thirty people in total. Zhao Desan was naturally not too worried. From afar, he saw the petitioning group reach the gate of the District Committee, only to be blocked outside by several guards who had walked over. Immediately after, several lower-level leaders from the District Committee came out, appearing to be trying to persuade them of something.

"We want to see Secretary Wu and get our wages back! That is our hard-earned money!" The man leading them was in his thirties, with a burly build. Zhao Desan recognized him at a glance as Xu Jun. He hadn't expected this guy to be leading the trouble again. However, the farce from the other day had significantly diminished his influence; Liu Aifang was not seen in the group today, and the number of people was pitifully small.

"Xu Jun, hasn't the district already told you? The District Committee and the District Government are currently studying how to resolve the issues at your textile factory. The wage issue will be resolved very soon. You all should go back!" a chubby man who looked like a leader was persuading them. Zhao Desan looked closely and saw it was the Director of the District Committee Office, Hou Junshan.

"Director Hou, stop trying to fool us. The district has been saying they are 'studying' it, and they're still studying it now without having resolved anything. If you don't resolve the problem for us today, we aren't leaving!" Xu Jun struck a helpless pose and said.

"Right, right! If it's not resolved, we aren't leaving!" the twenty-some people behind Xu Jun shouted in support.

"Director Hou, please have some mercy and pity an old woman like me," an old woman of about sixty next to them said tremblingly. "I've worked in the textile factory my whole life, dedicating my entire life to the country. My monthly wage is so small, and now it's been in arrears for months. My health isn't good either. If you don't pay my wages, how is an old woman like me supposed to live? I beg you, let Secretary Wu pay us our wages. I'll kneel to you." After the old woman finished speaking, she actually bent her legs and knelt on the ground, which made Zhao Desan's heart tighten.

"Sister Zhao, kneeling won't help. The district's finances are very tight right now; there is no money to cover your textile factory," Hou Junshan said. Seeing that the situation was turning bad, he actually flicked his sleeves and walked into the District Committee gate, and several guards immediately hurried to close the gate.

"This is so infuriating! How can officials all be like this? I'm going to go reason with them!" Having grown up in the countryside, Sun Xiaoqin was born with a sense of sympathy for the common people. Seeing this, she was so angry her face turned red, and she lifted her leg to go forward.

"Come back!" In his anxiety, Zhao Desan hurriedly grabbed her and said with a stern face, "Who do you think you are? The Municipal Party Secretary or the Mayor? Even I, the acting District Head, can't solve this problem—you think you can?"

Looking at Zhao Desan's serious expression, Sun Xiaoqin pouted and whispered, "None of you officials are any good!"

Sun Xiaoqin muttered, then turned her head to look at the indifferent attitude of the officials inside the District Committee toward the common people, and her heart grew indignant again.

Over there, those people were banging on the tightly closed iron gate, shouting loudly: "We want to see Secretary Wu! Give us back our hard-earned money!"

"Shout! What are you shouting for? If you don't leave, I'll charge you with disturbing public order and arrest you all!" Following a rough roar, Zhao Desan saw six police officers in uniform rush into the crowd and pounce to the very front of the petitioners.

Zhao Desan saw that the leader was Ma Hu, the deputy director of the police station closest to the District Committee. Ma Hu rolled up his sleeves, brandished a baton in his hand, pointed at the leader Xu Jun, and shouted: "It's you causing trouble again! I'm telling you, Xu Jun, why aren't you at the factory fixing your machines instead of running here to cause trouble all day long?"

"Director Ma, I'm here to demand my hard-earned money!" Xu Jun did not show any weakness.

"Bullshit!" Ma Hu spat, the saliva landing squarely on Xu Jun's face. He cursed, "Look at what place this is! The District Committee compound! The place where Secretary Wu works! You stubborn peasant, get out of here right now!" While cursing, Ma Hu swung his baton at Xu Jun's head.

Originally, Ma Hu only wanted to scare Xu Jun. Who knew if Xu Jun was a bit dazed, but he didn't know how to dodge, and the baton landed solidly on his head. Fresh blood immediately began to flow out.

"The police are hitting people!" Someone in the crowd suddenly roared. The petitioning masses immediately pounced toward Ma Hu. The other police officers hurriedly raised their batons to intervene. The scene immediately descended into chaos. Zhao Desan found it extremely distressing to watch and couldn't think of any good solution for a moment. He wanted to go forward, but he knew that as the District Head, going up would only make things worse.

The police swung their batons in a frenzy. Two elderly people were knocked to the ground and began groaning loudly, pretending to be dead. Several stronger young men tried to dodge the batons in the police's hands, and the two sides became embroiled in a brawl.

The onlookers nearby saw the situation was bad and fled in fear. Only Zhao Desan and the two young beauties remained standing far away at the intersection. At this moment, Zhao Desan's mind was a tangled mess, and he didn't even notice Sun Xiaoqin taking pictures with her camera.