Chapter 2549

Hearing Zhou Andong's words, not only Tan Sheng and the remaining two security guards, but even the thugs couldn't help but laugh.

Er Guizi felt very aggrieved; he had a lot of grievances he wanted to voice but couldn't, and with his head full of red paint, he looked both pathetic and ridiculous.

"Tell me, who is the person behind your boss, that idiot Pao?"

"Idiot Pao?" Gu Bing added, then let out a "ha" laugh: "Don't say, that nickname is quite fitting. If he weren't an idiot, he wouldn't have been used as a tool by others to come and cause trouble at our Woolen Mill."

Er Guizi's mouth twitched violently; the grievances in his heart vanished into thin air at Zhou Andong's use of the term "idiot Pao."

"I don't know if there's anyone behind the boss. We really just came to the Woolen Mill to collect a debt."

"Collect a debt?" Zhou Andong narrowed his eyes, his tone turning cold: "Does our Woolen Mill owe you money?"

Seeing Zhou Andong's narrowed eyes and hearing his cold tone, Er Guizi's scalp went numb, and he vaguely felt his mouth hurting.

"No, no, no, it's a Woolen Mill worker named Huang Bingcang who owes us money."

Zhou Andong snorted: "Huang Bingcang owes you money, so go find him to collect it. Why come to the Woolen Mill to cause trouble?"

Er Guizi felt very aggrieved; it was clear this guy had no brains: "Huang Bingcang is a Woolen Mill worker. We can't find him, so we can only come to the Woolen Mill to ask for the money."

Zhou Andong asked: "Who told you to come to the Woolen Mill to ask for money?"

Er Guizi answered without a moment's hesitation: "Our boss. He told us that Huang Bingcang had run away, but since he's a Woolen Mill worker, we should go to the Woolen Mill to collect the money."

Hua Ge, the guy who had been writing on the factory gate wall, looked at Er Guizi with eyes full of despair. He wanted to stop Er Guizi from saying anything more, but thinking of the boss's miserable end, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. He didn't want to have his mouth smashed like the boss.

As for the other thugs, they looked at Er Guizi with a mix of sympathy, pity, and cold sneers. Er Guizi actually dared to spout nonsense; this kid was simply tired of living. After this, the boss would definitely not let him off.

Zhou Andong asked again: "How much money does Huang Bingcang owe you, and how did he come to owe it?"

Er Guizi answered honestly: "He owed it from gambling. A total of 65,000."

Zhou Andong understood immediately. This worker named Huang Bingcang must have been set up. Then, "idiot Pao" used this as an excuse to cause trouble at the Woolen Mill, to embarrass him and undermine his authority.

"Idiot Pao has a bit of brains, but definitely not much." Zhou Andong shook his head with a smile and turned to walk out: "Director Tan, with so many people eating, drinking, and defecating in the warehouse, pay attention to hygiene."

"I've already arranged it," Tan Sheng replied. "I bought ten chamber pots. After they use them, I'll have them come out and empty them themselves."

"I won't worry about that," Zhou Andong said as he walked. "The main thing is the fines. The people behind the scenes definitely won't be willing to pay up. Tell Deng Minghui to arrange for them to be interrogated, and do it with great fanfare. The bigger the scene, the better."

Tan Sheng nodded in understanding. Interrogating them with great fanfare and making a big scene was to put pressure on the masterminds, forcing them to honestly pay the fines, lest their dirty laundry really get aired out, making the situation impossible to manage.

The three of them arrived downstairs at the factory building. Tan Sheng said: "Factory Director, should I notify the motor pool to arrange a driver for you?"

"No need, I'll drive myself." Zhou Andong waved his hand, opened the car door, and got in. Gu Bing immediately opened the front passenger door and got in as well.

Zhou Andong started the car, rolled down the window, and said to Tan Sheng: "Have Deng Minghui investigate whether there is a worker named Huang Bingcang in our factory. This person is very important. Once found, ask him carefully how he came to owe the money. After you've clarified everything, make sure the person is well-protected."

Tan Sheng agreed. This Huang Bingcang was indeed very important and couldn't be taken lightly.

Just as Zhou Andong was driving home, Liu Daqiang, carrying a black bag, knocked on the door of Huang Youmin, the deputy director of the Qinghe Branch Bureau.

The person who opened the door was Huang Youmin's wife, Liu Qing. She didn't recognize Liu Daqiang: "Who are you?"

Liu Daqiang said with a face full of smiles: "I'm Liu Daqiang, Chang Kezhang of the Equipment Maintenance Section at the Gas Plant. I have something to discuss with Director Huang."

Liu Daqiang and Huang Youmin were at the same rank, but their power was worlds apart. Liu Daqiang was just a section chief at a gas plant, while Huang Youmin was a deputy director of a district branch bureau—a person with real, tangible power.

However, the two weren't exactly close, but they weren't strangers either. After all, Qinghe Town was only so big; sometimes they would run into each other at district meetings and chat for a bit.

"Who's here?" Huang Youmin's voice came from inside.

"Liu Daqiang, Chang Kezhang of the Equipment Maintenance Section at the Gas Plant," Liu Qing replied. She glanced at the black bag Liu Daqiang was carrying, and a smile appeared on her face: "Liu Ke, please come in."

Huang Youmin had also just arrived home and was about to eat. Hearing that Liu Daqiang had come, he guessed seven or eight-tenths of the reason. Because in the hour before he got off work, he had received over a dozen calls, all regarding the wanted notices for people eating empty salaries.

And these dozen or so people had all bought their worker spots at the Woolen Mill through his introduction. Now that there was a problem and they were wanted, whether in his role as a middleman or as the deputy director of the district branch, they would definitely come to him for a solution.

"Liu Ke!" Huang Youmin came out of the kitchen, still holding a plate of food: "What a rare guest."

Liu Daqiang placed the bag next to the coffee table and said somewhat embarrassedly: "Director Huang, sorry to disturb your meal."

"Hey!" Huang Youmin placed the dish on the table and said with a hearty tone: "Better to come early than to come by chance. Let's have a drink."

With his son wanted, Liu Daqiang was in no mood to drink. Moreover, Huang Youmin was likely just being polite. If he really sat down to eat, it would be a bit too tactless.

"Thank you, Director Huang!" Liu Daqiang thanked him first and then continued: "I've just finished eating, so I really can't eat anymore."

Huang Youmin took out a cigarette, handed one to Liu Daqiang, and then pointed to the sofa: "Liu Ke, don't stand. If you have something to say, sit down and talk."

Liu Daqiang hurriedly took a lighter out of his pocket, lit Huang Youmin's cigarette first, then lit his own, and slowly sat down.

Huang Youmin looked at Liu Daqiang and said straight to the point: "You came over, is it because of the wanted notices?"

Liu Daqiang hurriedly nodded: "Director Huang, we can return the money unconditionally; we just hope to have the wanted notices revoked."

Huang Youmin pondered for a moment and said: "To be honest, this is very difficult to handle. Because the wanted notices for the workers eating empty salaries were coordinated between the Woolen Mill and our director, and the wanted notices were issued by our director. It's very difficult for me to intervene in this matter."

It wasn't that Huang Youmin hadn't thought about stopping the issuance of the wanted notices, but then he thought about it again: there were over a thousand workers at the Woolen Mill eating empty salaries, and the amount of empty salaries consumed was as high as over 30 million. Zhou Andong wanted to recover this money. If he interfered and caused the money not to be recovered,

that would be equivalent to handing a loaded gun to Zhou Andong for him to point at him and fire. So, he dismissed the idea of stopping the issuance of the wanted notices. Otherwise, if this weakness were caught by Zhou Andong, he would definitely be squeezed until he peed his pants.