Chapter 92: Out to cause a death

Zheng Houcheng stared at the immense pressure, his lips trembling slightly, "Please believe me, I... I guarantee this will absolutely not happen."

"Is that so?" the instigator stepped forward, sneering, "I actually have a question for Factory Manager Zheng; I suspect many others are wondering about this too."

Zheng Houcheng took a deep breath, "Go ahead."

The other party shouted, "Not to mention those still on shift guarding the factory assembly line, among these several hundred workers here eating, a considerable portion must have been hired when the factory first recruited two months ago, right?"

Saying that, he looked around at the crowd.

Many nodded in agreement, "Exactly, exactly."

He continued, "May I ask, you've been working here for over two months—have you ever seen the factory's products taken out for sale? Have you ever seen anyone come here to purchase goods?"

The crowd nodded repeatedly.

They all said they only saw the factory continuously taking in raw materials to produce goods, and had never seen anything sold outward.

The assembly line produces so much every day, all of it piled up in the warehouse.

By now Zheng Houcheng was already drenched in cold sweat.

Fine sweat mixed with blood from his forehead trickled down as his cheeks twitched, but he had panicked and didn't even think to wipe it away.

"Then I, representing all the workers here, ask you," the instigator pressed step by step, shouting sternly, "Our factory's goods simply can't be sold—on what basis do you make money? If you're not making money, on what basis do you guarantee the factory's finances won't go wrong?"

"This... actually... actually isn't what you think," Zheng Houcheng stammered, "The goods are merely temporarily... temporarily not being sold externally; our superiors have their own arrangements, and the factory currently has sufficient funds to operate—please rest assured."

However, the instigator gave Zheng Houcheng no chance to steady the situation.

He shouted, "I've heard it's because our factory's products have no willing buyers, causing the backlog; now at this point, you, as factory manager, still want to deceive us?"

Zheng Houcheng froze instantly, "You..."

"Factory Manager Zheng, I ask you again: the factory's account clearly lacks sufficient funds—why are you still hiding it from us?" the other party continued pressing.

Zheng Houcheng's face turned deathly pale under the rapid-fire questioning, his mental pressure reaching the brink of collapse, his mind going blank.

Seeing his reaction, the workers who had still held hope for him instantly erupted in an uproar.

"Factory manager! Say something!"

"Could it really be like this?"

"Payday is in a few days—don't tell us we won't get our wages!"

"..."

Everyone had already begun to panic.

The instigator gave a glance to his accomplices in the crowd, and those few began shouting loudly, "We've all been deceived by Zheng Houcheng!"

"We're doomed—we won't even get our wages!"

"This is the hard-earned money we sweated for!"

A few careless incendiary remarks stirred more workers into fervor, and the huge cafeteria instantly became a din of voices.

Zheng Houcheng, unable to defend himself with a hundred mouths, only felt the world spin before his eyes, the surrounding clamor pressing so hard he could barely breathe.

"Factory manager, let us protect you as you leave!" the security chief said, supporting him.

Zheng Houcheng gritted his teeth and shook his head, "No, if I leave, things will only get worse; I must steady everyone's emotions."

Just then someone pushed through the crowd, ran to the factory manager's side, and gasped, "Something's wrong over in the production workshop..."

"What's happening?" Zheng Houcheng asked urgently.

The messenger, face full of panic, said, "I don't know where this rumor came from, saying... saying our factory can't pay wages, and then... then assembly-line workers started smashing equipment and looting things..."

Hearing this, Zheng Houcheng staggered, nearly fainting.

On this side of the cafeteria, the instigator's lips curled into a triumphant smile.

Exactly, those over there are also with him.

Both sides stirred trouble simultaneously, aiming to make the commotion grow uncontrollably, so that Zheng Houcheng and the factory management couldn't cope.

"Oh dear!" the instigator shouted, "If we can't pay wages, doesn't that mean we have to fend for ourselves? Don't just stand there—if we wait any longer, all the valuables will be snatched away by others!"

That single sentence directly incited all the several hundred workers in the cafeteria.

The crowd had no time to think; they all swarmed out of the cafeteria and rushed toward the factory building.

Even some cafeteria staff couldn't hold back, fearing they'd lose out, and joined the scramble.

"Factory manager, call the police!" the security chief urged, his face turning ashen.

Zheng Houcheng's back teeth were almost grinding to pieces as he declared firmly, "No! Causing such a big incident, once the police are alerted, it'll surely hit the news, and the factory we've painstakingly rebuilt will be ruined!"

"This matter, no matter what, I must settle it myself!"

"Quick! Immediately deploy all security, seal every factory entrance and exit! Remember, absolutely avoid clashes with the workers, don't hurt them!"

"First arrest those causing the most trouble, stabilize the situation, then hand them over to the police!"

In an extremely short time, Zheng Houcheng made a decision.

This approach poses no problem whatsoever for the factory's current situation.

He had realized that today's series of events didn't seem as simple as they appeared on the surface; probably some people were deliberately fanning the flames.

And the vast majority of employees were incited without understanding why.

As long as we control the extremely small minority causing the fiercest trouble, the situation will surely stabilize.

"Yes!" the security chief immediately grabbed his walkie-talkie from his waist and relayed the order to the control room.

Several hundred security personnel quickly all deployed.

Some were assigned to guard the factory's various entrances and exits, while another group went to the incident workshop to maintain order.

However, aside from the saboteurs planted among the workers by Ning Hai, the security team also had...

... even including a security team leader.

The ten security guards under that team leader's command were also in on it.

"The moment has come; now it's time for us to act." The security team leader with a razor‑sharp face told his subordinates, "Those people have already lit the fire; all we need to do is let the fire burn through the factory."

After we go to the workshop later, we must definitely provoke a conflict with the workers.

We're all martial artists; dealing with ordinary people is no problem. Strike hard, strike ruthlessly, but watch out—don't hit our own people, got it?

The ten security guards nodded in unison.

The scar-faced security team leader took out a cigarette, handed one to each of them, then earnestly warned, "Remember, we're out to cause a death."

Our boss said whoever kills a person will be rewarded one million and have their family taken care of.

Of course, the premise is that the secret must not be leaked from start to finish.

In this situation, if factory security loses control while maintaining order and accidentally kills a worker, it's not considered intentional murder—just a few years inside. But if we spill our plan, it becomes premeditated trouble and premeditated murder, which not only ruins our boss's plans but also drags us down.

Although I've emphasized this many times, this time we're really going to act, so I still need to repeat myself.

After the scar-faced security team leader said that, he swept a sharp gaze over the ten guards: "If anyone still hesitates now, you can sit out."

The ten guards took a few deep drags, then tossed the half‑smoked cigarette to the ground and stomped it out hard, their eyes flashing with a ruthless, reckless resolve.

Although they said nothing, their attitude was clearly made known.

"Very good," the security team leader nodded, "let's move out!"

The group quickly ran toward the workshop where the incident occurred.

——

At this very moment.

A red supercar was speeding along the expressway at Xinghan City Airport.

The driver was Shangguan Ying.

She got off the plane and personally got behind the wheel, heading straight for Ning Jinli's factory.

The scenery outside the window flew backward, and Shangguan Ying's mind filled with memories.

Many years ago, that person once told her an approximate time, saying it was a critical moment and she absolutely had to go to that factory.

Originally, to make sure she didn't miss this day, Shangguan Ying had already cleared all her work before and after.

But she hadn't expected a very important international meeting to come up that she couldn't miss.

So as soon as the meeting ended, she didn't even rest, immediately boarding a flight back home.

Thus we have this scene of her racing the car at full speed.

As for why she had to rush to the factory at that time, that person never said back then, only telling her she needed to help settle some things, and she'd find out once she got there.

That person played a huge role in Shangguan Ying's life.

He was both her lifesaver and someone she has always revered.

So, she will unconditionally obey any request from that person.

Since this time it's about settling some matters and it involves Ning Jinli's factory, Shangguan Ying, to be safe, has already sent a message to the troops stationed nearby, telling them to prepare in advance.

If needed then, a single phone call from her will have to bring troops over.

While Shangguan Ying was rushing to the factory, a production workshop inside had already descended into chaos.

Fortunately, Zheng Houcheng promptly deployed all the security, preventing other workshops from being affected.

But the overall situation is not optimistic.

Several thousand people up and down the factory are almost continuously streaming toward this workshop.

If it weren't for the several hundred security guards blocking the outside, even more workers would have rushed in.

But before those security guards arrived, the few troublemakers in the cafeteria went in first and met up with their accomplices responsible for causing trouble inside the workshop.

Aside from these dozen or so saboteurs planted by Ning Hai, the other two hundred plus in the workshop are just ordinary factory workers.

"How's the situation?" Zheng Houcheng panted as he rushed to the outside of the workshop where the incident occurred.

The security chief wore a complex expression: "The situation is roughly under control for now, but over two hundred people inside have shut the door and refuse to come out… sigh… those production line facilities worth tens of millions—just smashed to pieces—have these people gone mad?"

Zheng Houcheng caught his breath and said, "Give me the loudspeaker; I want to talk to them first."

The security chief handed over the loudspeaker.

In the nearby crowd, the scar-faced security guard with his ten subordinates was both putting on a show of maintaining outside order and watching the situation.

Zheng Houcheng raised the loudspeaker, cleared his throat, and said, "Friends inside, please stay calm; you can discuss anything properly—there's no need to make it like this. If you'd like, send out a representative to talk with me."

The two hundred plus workers inside the workshop looked at each other.

They were like this because just now someone seemed to have taken the lead, saying the factory was doomed, the boss wasn't going to pay wages, and so on; then someone stirred things up, emotions rose, and they all at once began smashing things and looting.

Now, hearing the factory chief shouting from outside, most people gradually calmed down and realized they had been too rash.

As for who started it and who stirred things up at the beginning, they also can't remember.

"Who will go talk?" someone asked.

"Talking bullshit," a voice from the crowd replied, "We're at this point—they'll surely try to coax us out first, then arrest us all."

As the crowd was about to see who was speaking, another voice from the other side said, "Exactly—if we give in, not only will we not get our wages, we'll also get sued by the factory, lose money, and go to jail—the whole package!"

The crowd turned their heads again toward the other side.

But not seeing clearly who was speaking, another person chimed in, "Right! Anyway, we've already come this far—if we don't keep raising hell, the factory chief will think we're all soft persimmons!"

As these voices rang out, more and more of the two hundred plus workers began voicing agreement.

"Right, just keep causing trouble!"

"We don't need to speak first; if we cause enough trouble that the factory chief can't stand it, he'll naturally offer us terms! That's to our advantage! In short, later we can't be held responsible!"

"Exactly! Not only should we not be held liable, we should also get paid mental‑compensation fees!"

Everyone chatted excitedly, seven tongues at once.

Someone among them muttered, "Wait… what were we originally trying to do? It seems we really heard the factory wouldn't pay wages, someone got angry and smashed equipment, then someone suggested looting to make up for our losses… since it's all about wages, why not just ask the factory chief directly?"

Even among these workers, quite a few still had a vague sense that something was off.

Upon hearing that, some people slowly began to realize what was going on.

But these people hadn't even had time to think it over when the person who had led the trouble in the cafeteria immediately said, "We've already smashed the factory into this state, turning tens of millions of yuan worth of production line equipment into a pile of scrap iron—is this still a matter of whether or not we get wages?"

"By now, we're all grasshoppers on the same rope."

"Either we go out and admit our mistake, take responsibility—just as someone just said—pay money and go to jail, or we stubbornly resist to the end until the factory director backs down, waiving our liability and giving us compensation and an apology."

"Only two options lie before us—do we really need to think about it?"

As his words fell, over ten of his accomplices all spoke up in agreement.

Once the mood was worked up, even if some employees had just sensed something was off, they no longer thought about it.

After all, those words made sense, and right now nobody wants to lose money and end up in jail.

Outside the factory.

Zheng Houcheng saw that his calls went unanswered and gradually grew anxious.

He thought it over repeatedly, realizing that the workers inside were surely afraid of taking responsibility, so he quickly consulted with a few factory management members nearby and decided to give a guarantee exempting everyone from liability.

In short, let's first calm this matter down and then talk.

Just then, the scar‑faced guard stepped forward and volunteered, "Factory director, I'll take my team and sneak in through the back door to find out what's really going on inside—just idling away like this won't do."

Zheng Houcheng furrowed his brow, "All right, you… stay safe, remember to speak properly, and above all avoid any further conflict."

"Yes!" the scar‑faced guard nodded.

Immediately, he waved his hand, led ten of his subordinates, and strode toward the factory…