Chapter 386

Perhaps it was a coincidence of fate, but just as Qian Huan closed the webpage, inside the General Manager's Office of Guangming Group, Lu Chenjia also gently relaxed his hand gripping the mouse.

He leaned back in the genuine leather chair, his gaze passing through the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the dense, ant-like crowds flowing ceaselessly below.

The city's lights flickered in his eyes like a galaxy of stars, and he stood above that galaxy, looking down on all living beings.

"That's enough. Public opinion has been heated to the right degree."

Lu Chenjia said indifferently, his tone carrying a trace of nonchalance, as if all this were merely a game of chess he idly toyed with.

The man dressed as a secretary standing to the side nodded, hesitated a moment, then asked:

"Right now online, the reputation of Second Prison and the support rate for Qian Huan have only just reached 53%. Public opinion hasn't completely reversed yet. Does Lu Zong not need to keep fanning the flames?"

Lu Chenjia did not answer immediately, still gazing out the window, his eyes deep and cold.

After a moment, he spoke softly:

"We don't need the masses to believe in anything, and we don't need the masses to oppose anything. Doing that costs too much."

The secretary frowned, seeming somewhat puzzled: "Then... what does Lu Zong mean?"

Lu Chenjia chuckled lightly, his tone carrying a hint of mockery:

"The masses' strength comes from their numbers, but their weakness is also their numbers. So, unifying them is hard, but dividing them is very simple."

He turned around, no longer looking at the ants below, and said softly:

"We don't need the ants to completely obey us. We only need the ants to fail to reach a consensus."

…………

At the same time.

Inside the Executive Government's round-table conference hall, beside the heavy rosewood table, a dozen Councilors sat upright with proper posture.

The crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling cast down cold white light, reflecting on every face, making the atmosphere exceptionally solemn.

A massive electronic screen hung in the center of the conference hall's main wall. Cold white light poured down like surgical lamps. On the screen, real-time scrolling data streams resembled an invisible giant net, enveloping hot keywords like #Second Prison Riot#, #Qian Huan Reform#, #Gong Lao Suicide Note#.

One red and one black bar, like two monstrous snakes, swallowed and aggregated all kinds of data.

In this solemn room, the ants' wills had all been most intuitively transformed into cold, hard digital graphs.

Red bar chart: 53%

Black bar chart: 47%

Below the Executive Government Building, the family members of the dead Prison Guards held black-and-white photos and banners. Crying and protesting voices faintly penetrated through the thick glass windows.

"Endless noise, truly hurts the ears."

The most senior Councilor, Zhang Deming, spoke first, his tone flat as if discussing the weather:

"It seems necessary this year to renovate the Executive Government Building again and add two layers of soundproof walls to the exterior."

"Agreed!"

"Agreed!"

"Agreed!"

"……"

The first agenda item of today's meeting thus passed unanimously.

Only then did the Chief Councilor slowly scan the room and speak in an unhurried manner:

"The Second Prison matter still has a very bad impact. It's been delayed for days, and everyone has been watching and waiting for days. Today is the time for everyone to show their stance."

The Councilors present exchanged a tacit glance.

They might not know all the inside details of the Second Prison incident, but the charts on the big screen had already made the situation clear at a glance.

The intertwined red and black bar charts coldly and precisely revealed the trend of public opinion and the traces of manipulation behind it.

These tricks might deceive the angry masses, but they absolutely cannot escape the piercing eyes of these veteran politicians.

In fact, before even stepping into the conference room this morning, each Councilor's team had already compiled detailed analyses and predictions for their respective Councilor.

Of course, these analyses had nothing to do with which way public opinion leaned or what the truth was — those were merely superficial, shallow questions.

The conclusions they dug out pointed straight to the core:

Guangming Group had entered the field, displaying an attitude of determination to obtain Second Prison.

The recommendations they compiled for their Councilors fell into two categories:

First, obstruction.

Taking advantage of Guangming Group not yet having full control of the situation, find a way to bite a piece of flesh off them — for example, demand Guangming Group concede on a key project, or directly demand a "kickback."

Second, agreement.

Get on good terms with Guangming Group, aiming to exchange for their support when seeking further advancement in the future. After all, Guangming Group's resources and connections are enough to let any Councilor advance another step at a critical juncture.

As for which specific one to choose, that depends on the Councilors' own attitude tendencies.

As for which strategy to ultimately choose, that depends on the Councilors' respective attitude tendencies.

And the weighing behind these tendencies is extremely complex:

Factional interest entanglements, strength of official positions, depth of relations with Guangming Group, personal likes and dislikes, even one's own age and seniority — every single one of these factors must be carefully weighed.

But one thing is obvious: the least important among these is the Prison System's attitude, the so-called truth of the incident, or those heart-rending cries downstairs.

Originally public opinion was something they had to consider, but now, this link also needs no scruples.

Then, the interesting part is, when these Councilors truly reached the stage of verbal sparring, every word they spoke, even every punctuation mark, without exception circled back to "public opinion," "truth," "the tragic fate of the dead," and "the Prison System's attitude."

"Second Prison suffered such a tragedy; Qian Huan cannot escape responsibility."

Zhang Deming coughed lightly and spoke steadily, his voice carrying a hint of heaviness:

"This incident fully proves that prisons still cannot be privatized and reformed. Using a capital enterprise's methods to run a prison is utterly conscience-less, the most cruel trampling on life and human rights. Our Executive Government absolutely cannot continue to sit by and do nothing."

"Human rights?"

Another, younger Councilor sneered and interrupted:

"What human rights do a bunch of scum in prison deserve? The Executive Government gives the Prison System so much money every year to support a bunch of prisoners—that is the most irresponsible thing toward the public. Privatization reform is a necessary measure to reduce the fiscal burden!"

As soon as these words were spoken, several murmurs immediately rose from one side of the conference table; some lowered their heads to look at the documents before them, while others frowned slightly, as if weighing their words.

A middle-aged Councilor who had not spoken all this time slowly raised his head, his tone deep:

"There is no problem with privatization reform; the key lies in who the Second Prison is handed over to for reform, nor is it necessary to choose Guangming Group alone. I think this matter is still open to discussion; actually, re-tendering is not a bad choice as a fairer option..."

Councilor Wang sat among them, coldly watching the performances of the various Councilors, watching them argue endlessly with all sorts of high-sounding reasons, a contemptuous arc curling at his mouth corner.

He suddenly spoke to the Chief Councilor:

"After all this talk, why not let someone from the Prison System come in and say a few words?"

End of Chapter