Chapter 2547

The events unfolding in the residential area for the employees of the Gas Plant in Qinghe Town were being mirrored in many other places. Some people, much like Liu Daqiang, were running around like headless chickens, pulling strings and seeking connections everywhere in a desperate attempt to have the arrest warrants rescinded—all while hoping to avoid paying back the money, of course.

A small minority, however, had simply given up and resigned themselves to their fate, declaring, "Go ahead and issue the warrant, see if I care. If you have the guts, come and arrest me. If you catch me, sentence me however you like—even a firing squad is fine." It seemed they were completely indifferent to being wanted by the police.

To put it bluntly, these people were just shameless scoundrels. If they were actually arrested, they wouldn't go down without a fight; they would certainly use the opportunity to cause trouble. Naturally, the Woolen Mill had no intention of indulging such people.

If they dared to cause a scene, Zhou Andong would not hesitate to have them arrested; he would show no mercy. State assets had to be recovered, the dignity of the law had to be upheld, and any attempt to embezzle state property or challenge the bottom line of the law had to be severely punished.

Of course, there were some truly clever people in this world. When they saw the arrest warrants posted on their own front doors, they immediately grasped the gravity of the situation. It was clear that refusing to return the money was a dead end. Since that was the case, why bother racking their brains to find connections or owe favors?

Buying a job and collecting a salary for work not performed—it wasn't a small matter, but it wasn't exactly a capital crime either. As long as they turned themselves in, honestly returned the money, and offered a sincere apology, the worst they would face was a reprimand or a few days of detention. Even in a more serious scenario, a suspended sentence would be the absolute limit.

They believed Zhou Andong was a smart man who wouldn't push things to the brink. After all, this was a public matter; if they returned the embezzled salary in full, and he still refused to let it go and insisted on exterminating them, it would turn into a blood feud. Therefore, as long as they weren't complete idiots, no one would choose to do something so thankless.

But then again, there were those who refused to return the embezzled money and even harbored delusions of finding someone to force Zhou Andong to bow his head and admit defeat. That was simply courting death, and they had no right to complain when Zhou Andong cleared the table and wiped them out.

As the saying goes, a new official brings a new broom. Zhou Andong's first act upon taking office was to fight corruption. Collecting a salary for work not performed not only harmed national interests but also undermined social fairness and justice.

Therefore, Zhou Andong's pursuit of the embezzled salaries to recover the massive losses of state assets was his second act. For Zhou Andong, these two acts were not just about establishing authority; they were tangible political achievements.

As long as he could recover these embezzled funds, they would serve as a solid ladder for his climb to the pinnacle of power. However, those who hid their illicit gains and attempted to suppress Zhou Andong were completely oblivious to this.

Not only did they refuse to return their illegal gains, but they also desperately tried to hold Zhou Andong's head down, hoping to force him to submit and stop his ascent. This was, without a doubt, a mortal enmity. In such a situation, if Zhou Andong didn't destroy them, was he supposed to keep them around for the New Year?

Thus, these clever people spent the night calculating exactly how much salary they had embezzled, then located their bankbooks, ready to withdraw the cash first thing in the morning. As for the discounted value of the holiday benefits they had received, they couldn't remember the exact figures, so they would just have to ask the Woolen Mill the next day.

Zhou Andong put down his pen, looked at the half-finished reform plan, tilted his head to stretch his sore neck, and then gave a long stretch.

"It's almost six o'clock already." Zhou Andong glanced at his watch, put his pen and manuscript into the drawer, and walked out, muttering to himself, "That's strange. Why hasn't Secretary Gu come to find me?"

"Factory Director!" Dong Wenjuan hurried out of her office.

"Hmm!" Zhou Andong didn't stop walking. "Work is over. There's nothing else to do, so you should head home too."

Dong Wenjuan agreed, turned back to her office to tidy up, checked Zhou Andong's office, and then left after locking the doors.

To Zhou Andong's surprise, Gu Bing hadn't gone to his office; he was downstairs, smoking and chatting with Tan Sheng.

"What are you two chatting about down here?"

Tan Sheng hurriedly replied, "We were talking about those hooligans. They're being very defiant in the warehouse, shouting and threatening us, demanding that we let them go."

Zhou Andong smiled, walked toward the parking lot, but stopped after a few steps and asked Tan Sheng, "Which warehouse are those hooligans being held in?"

"Warehouse Number Five." Tan Sheng came to Zhou Andong's side and asked, "Factory Director, are you going to go take a look?"

Zhou Andong nodded. "Let's go. I have nothing to do at home anyway, so I might as well go see our 'gods of wealth'."

Tan Sheng laughed. "We've already spread the word about the fines and notified the families of those scoundrels, telling them to bring money to pay the penalties."

Gu Bing chimed in, "Those scoundrels are still being stubborn, especially the two guys who wrote on the gate wall. They claim they were just there to collect a debt—that one of our employees, Zhao Youde, owes them 70,000 yuan."

"70,000 yuan?" Zhou Andong frowned, but he didn't say anything.

It took them about ten minutes to reach Warehouse Number Five. There were four security guards armed with firearms standing watch at the entrance. Seeing the Factory Director and the Secretary arrive, they snapped to attention, chests out, and saluted.

Zhou Andong nodded at them. One of the guards took out a key, opened the warehouse door, and stepped aside.

"Thank you!"

Zhou Andong's expression of gratitude startled the guard. He was about to say something, but seeing that the Factory Director had already walked into the warehouse, he swallowed his words.

Warehouse Number Five was a backup storage facility, but it still contained some woolen fabric. It looked quite decent, which puzzled Zhou Andong. "Director Tan, what's the story with this fabric?"

Tan Sheng hurriedly explained, "This fabric is defective. Because Warehouse Number Five is close to the dyeing workshop, sometimes fabric with flaws is stored here temporarily before logistics comes to haul it away."

Zhou Andong nodded and turned his gaze toward Pao Ge and his gang. These scoundrels were all tied up tightly. Just a moment ago, outside the warehouse, he had heard their cursing, but the moment the warehouse door opened and he stepped inside, they had all fallen silent.

Zhou Andong walked over, looked at the group, and smiled. "Which one of you is Pao Ge?"

"Me!" Pao Ge struggled to stand up, his hands bound. "Who are you?"

Zhou Andong raised an eyebrow. "You don't recognize me?"

Pao Ge cursed arrogantly, "Who the hell do you think you are? Why should I recognize you?"

Zhou Andong raised his hand and waved it forward. "Get two men to pin him to the ground."

Two guards didn't hesitate; they grabbed Pao Ge by the shoulders and slammed him onto the floor.