Chapter 247: You really pushed me into the fire pit

Li Jiaci has a rose in his heart and doesn't fancy outside wildflowers.

Looking at Zhou Wanting's cool outfit was like looking at a simpleton; it didn't cause any ripple.

"You work here, you have to follow my rules!"

"Usually dress more decently; don't always look like a nightclub hostess!"

"If you really don't have decent clothes, let Xiao Na take you to the goods yard to buy a few!"

"We've come to this point!"

"Come on, fasten your button for me!"

Li Jiaci then disparaged again.

Zhou Wanting, feeling annoyed, tugged at her collar and fastened her open jacket.

She has slain countless men with her superb figure.

Any man who sees her can't help but be infatuated.

I really don't know what's going on with this place.

Every man treats her like air.

Especially Li Jiaci.

Zhou Wanting gave him a dark, furtive stare.

She picked up her chopsticks and served herself a bowl of noodles.

Wang Yingna and Shanshan arrived late.

Walking up to Zhou Wanting's side, smiling, she said, "You owe me a favor; think about how to repay me!"

"What nonsense?"

Zhou Wanting turned her head and asked.

"If I hadn't helped you put out the fire last night, could you still be standing here eating these noodles?"

Wang Yingna glanced at Li Jiaci and reminded.

Last night…

Zhou Wanting let out a scoff.

"Helping me put out the fire is fake; satisfying yourself is the real truth!"

"I can't be bothered to talk about you two!"

"Can you be gentler when you're doing it?"

"I bet that sofa is about to fall apart from all the roughhousing!"

"After all, you guys are in the furniture business; you can replace it anytime if it breaks!"

"But you also can't completely disregard others!"

Last night, the two of them roughhoused all night again.

The dormitory is right next to the office.

Zhou Wanting felt anxious, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

She was forced to listen all night.

Wang Yingna felt a bit embarrassed mentioning this.

She shyly said, "I had planned to go back late at night, but Jiaci bro wouldn't let me leave, I really can't stand him!"

"Well, I'm off…"

"Who wants to hear your two's nonsense?"

"Who asked you?"

Zhou Wanting gave her a fierce look.

She carried the noodles back to the dormitory.

Not long after.

Someone came to notify a meeting.

Mu Cai Chang office.

Everyone had arrived.

Li Yihu handed out stools to everyone.

Liu Jiang distributed tea.

After everyone had seated.

Li Jiaci took a sip of his tea and said, "This is how it is: last night the Wood Sub-factory caught fire, which served as a warning for us; according to the Fire Brigade's opinion, they hope the Mu Cai Chang factory will cease operations for rectification, and I have already agreed to that!"

Upon saying that.

Hong Bo immediately asked, "Is it just the accident-affected sub-factory that should cease operations, or the entire Mu Cai Chang factory?"

All the factories under my name must cease operations for rectification!

Li Jiaci said calmly.

All the factories?

Does that mean the Furniture Factory also has to cease operations?

Hong Bo furrowed his brow, stroking his chin stubble.

This is a crucial juncture in their cooperation with the new Mayor.

Each factory's sales are so high they leave others in the dust.

The media constantly promotes their name.

How can we possibly cease operations at this critical juncture?

Hong Bo couldn't understand the more he thought about it, and he bluntly said: "The lumber mill can stop, but the furniture factory cannot!"

Anyway, the problem at the customs checkpoint isn't something that can be solved in a couple of days.

The lumber mill will have to wait for news either way; announcing a shutdown to the outside is just a matter of time.

But the furniture factory is running fine—how could you just say stop and stop?

However, Li Jiaci insisted: "Hong Bo, I've already decided—if we stop, we stop everything, and we'll cooperate with the fire brigade for rectification!"

Sighs rose and fell in the office.

The others, like Hong Bo, couldn't understand Li Jiaci's decision.

Zhang Chuqiang advised: "Brother, our peers are all imitating our furniture designs—shutting down now would be inappropriate!"

"Exactly, and Mayor Chang might not even agree!"

Zhao Chen chimed in from the side.

Hearing that, Li Jiaci shook his head.

"This fire is suspicious—listen to me and you won't go wrong!"

Wang Lan asked skeptically: "What do you mean? Not an accidental fire, but arson?"

Seeing Li Jiaci say nothing.

Everyone immediately understood what was going on.

Hong Bo was so angry he burst out cursing.

"Damn those bastard scumbags!"

"They confiscated our timber—bad enough—but now they're setting fire to our factory!"

"What exactly did we do to upset them?"

"Do they have to push us to the brink?"

The sound of lighting cigarettes rang out one after another.

Zhou Wanting listened to their discussion, her face grim, and said: "It's my fault for getting you into trouble."

"What?"

Hong Bo glanced at her.

Just as Zhou Wanting was about to explain.

Li Jiaci suddenly interjected: "It's just like this—follow my instructions and notify the staff of each branch factory to collect their vacation pay and go home to wait for news!"

"The factory shuts down but still gives them vacation pay?"

"Boss, are you running a charity or a business?"

Hong Bo had never encountered such a generous boss.

In the past he would have felt moved.

But as time went on, he had already become the team's core member, getting along with them like family.

The more generous Li Jiaci was, the more Hong Bo felt the pinch.

He felt it wasn't worth it for Li Jiaci.

Li Jiaci smiled and said: "I can bear this loss; I won't let the employees go hungry because of us."

"You're truly a living bodhisattva!"

Hong Bo retorted unhappily.

"Hehe."

"When handing out the vacation pay, by the way, give the employees a reminder!"

"This must absolutely not be leaked!"

"Just tell the outside that the factory is shutting down; they'll get the notice and go home to wait for news!"

Li Jiaci instructed.

Everyone took their assignments and got up to leave.

Although they were unhappy, this was ultimately the higher-ups' scheming—no one could do anything about it.

Soon, Shiqiang Mu Cai Chang and Shengqiang Furniture Factory jointly issued a notice of shutdown for rectification.

For a moment.

Over five thousand employees lost their jobs.

Unaware onlookers saw the mighty crowd leaving with their packs and couldn't help but let out sighs.

At the same time they felt especially puzzled and bewildered.

The factories bearing the name "Shiqiang" were places countless people struggled to get into.

How could they suddenly announce a shutdown?

The next day.

Li Jiaci came to the urban area and met Wang Zhen at a restaurant.

In the private room.

Wang Zhen took a sip of wine and asked in a low voice: "Does it have to be this way? Isn't there another option?"

"Brother, if there were a way I'd have acted already!"

"Now the higher-ups keep coming after me—they just want to drive me out of Pingzhou so I can't do anything!"

"I'm thinking of retreating to advance—let them think I've yielded, then find a chance to turn the tables!"

"Let the bullets fly for a while!"

Li Jiaci gave him some vegetables.

He said in a calm tone.

Hearing that, Wang Zhen sighed and asked: "Have you figured out how to explain this to Mayor Chang?"

"This matter will have to be handled by big brother!"

"You little..."

"You really shoved me into a fire pit!"