Chapter 418: A Doctor Cannot Cure Himself

They were merely confused for a moment and strayed off the path.

I'll go talk to Guo Tianyong right now; I'll solve this in an hour.

The saying "a doctor cannot cure himself" has been proven since ancient times to be a golden truth.

It's not that the doctor's skill is lacking, but that as a human being with seven emotions and six desires, he cannot abandon his personal biases.

Many intelligent people, when helping others analyze a problem, can cut straight to the heart of it and make precise judgments,

But when the same problem befalls them, they inevitably cling to luck, fantasizing that things will work out for the best—even in unrealistic ways.

For example, a stock trader, seeing someone else's stocks start to fall, immediately gives sound advice: "Sell fast, run fast."

But when his own stocks start to fall, his first thought is likely: "They'll rebound in a few days."

Likewise, an older unmarried youth always thinks: "If I lower my standards just a little, I'll be a hot commodity," but the little he lowers is hardly even sincere.

At this moment, Wang Qianshan clung to luck, lost in fantasies, believing that if he just lowered his stance a little, he could return to the past.

He first left his office and walked onto the playground, his face stern: "Everyone go back—no matter what, don't delay production. Also, after work, the leaders of each discipline group stay behind to discuss solutions."

Ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds passed—no one spoke, no one left; everyone stood on the playground, staring fixedly at Wang Qianshan.

"It's just a few days late on wages—what are you all trying to do?"

"Who incited and stirred you up to halt production and violate discipline?"

"Go back to the workshop right now—I'll overlook everything. If you disobey orders, your monthly bonus will be withheld."

By now, even the slowest-witted Wang Qianshan knew things were serious—someone must be secretly pushing this, otherwise how could it be so coincidental, so unified?

But even after using the threat of withholding bonuses, no one moved.

"Sssssss"

Suddenly, a fine autumn rain began to fall, covering the entire playground in a misty veil within moments.

Everyone's hair and clothes were quickly soaked through by the fine rain; the cold, damp chill gathered and flowed along their skin, finally seeping into the workers' shoes.

Yet even so, they stood as still and orderly as terracotta warriors, their only sign of life the occasional blink of their eyes.

Wang Qianshan suddenly felt intense fear—these workers, at this moment, were unleashing precisely the "power of unity" he had always emphasized.

But this power was now turned against him, the factory director.

"What do you want? Speak! Speak! SPEAK!!!"

No one answered.

In the cold, wet curtain of rain, only Wang Qianshan's frantic, angry voice echoed alone.

Li Ye received the specific news on the third day; Li Dayong and Pei Wenhui had attended the negotiations at Changbei Machinery Factory and obtained firsthand information.

"Brother, Wang Qianshan kept insisting he'd never interfere with the Hong Kong side's R&D or sales again, and he'd do anything—just beg them to reinvest capital so the factory won't shut down and can return to healthy operation,

but neither Guo Tianyong nor the authorities believed him, because you wouldn't believe the holes they dug during these months without us—millions of yuan."

"Zhu Caide ran off, taking nearly 300, 00 yuan in business funds, leaving behind only a stack of IOUs—can you guess whose signatures were on those IOUs?"

Li Ye found this intriguing—Wang Qianshan was not a qualified factory director, but he embodied a common trait among directors of this era: boldness, and a tendency to wish away responsibility by shrinking big problems into small ones.

As Li Ye strained to write the script for his war drama, he casually asked Li Dayong: "So what did Guo Tianyong do?"

Li Dayong nodded: "Guo Tianyong thought exactly as you did—we must seize this chance to take control of Changbei.

So at the negotiations, he proposed two conditions: Wang Qianshan's actions violated our cooperation agreement—either pay compensation as stipulated, or we withdraw our investment."

When Li Ye's Saisi Company invested with Changbei, it did not secure controlling equity, given the prevailing environment at the time,

but the cooperation agreement did include a clause: if one party breached the agreement and caused operational losses, the other had the right to withdraw shares.

Hong Kong capital had poured in real foreign currency—now, if they withdrew, not only had the foreign exchange already been converted by regulatory authorities, but even returning RMB would leave no one willing to shoulder the responsibility.

Li Ye finished a scene of the script and said calmly: "Don't rush this. If we don't achieve our goal, it's better to stay as we are. For someone to bow and apologize and expect us to pour out money—that's a dream they haven't woken from."

Li Dayong nodded: "I understand, brother. But what if they really agree to let us withdraw? Our research center is just hiring and expanding—if we lose the Changbei joint venture's prestige…"

"They won't," Li Ye said firmly. "Wang Qianshan isn't worth that much. Everyone can see clearly whether it's better to lose a few million or lose one man."

No one would take responsibility for withdrawal, but someone could shoulder the blame for breach of contract—and Wang Qianshan, neither too high nor too low, was just right.

Yet events unfolded far more slowly than Li Ye expected. After multiple rounds of negotiations between Guo Tianyong and the mainland side, Changbei Machinery Factory remained fully shut down for over half a month before finally achieving its intended goal.

Hong Kong's Saisi Company reinvested part of its capital, raising its stake from 49% to 66%, and control of Changbei Machinery Company finally passed to the Hong Kong side.

In Beijing, temperatures drop below zero every year around mid-to-late November on the Gregorian calendar.

Before the first snow of winter arrived, both matters Li Ye was following reached their conclusion.

The filming of the movie "Spring Comes Again" had entered its final stages, and Changbei Machinery Factory, having been idle for over half a month, had set a date to resume operations.

Coincidentally, the final shooting location for "Spring Comes Again" was in the countryside near Changbei Machinery Factory.

So when Li Dayong asked Li Ye whether he'd attend the reopening ceremony of Changbei Machinery Factory, Li Ye readily agreed.

On November 21st, Li Ye arrived at Changbei Machinery Factory and sat with Wu Yan and other technical staff.

Last time, after drinking, Wu Yan and the other tech guys had been thoroughly subdued by Li Ye; now, seeing him again, they were all warm and friendly.

"Brother, why haven't you come by in so long? We've all been waiting for you to return!"

"I haven't graduated yet! How can I compare to your freedom? But today I'm free—let's drink tonight."

"Yeah, let's drink—but only half a jin each. Since you came last time, our mentor set this rule: anyone who drinks more has their bonus docked."

"No way—dock bonuses? That's harsh!"

"Damn right—each time it's two or three hundred yuan. That's not drinking alcohol, that's drinking gold!"

"Hey, Wu Zuzhang, your monthly bonus's already two or three hundred?"

"Heh—heh—we work hard, so they're generous. Tonight I'm treating you—order whatever you want. I'll tell you, even though we eat in the canteen, the chef was brought in from Beijing—taste is top-notch."

As Li Ye chatted casually with Wu Yan and the others below, he kept glancing at Wang Qianshan up front.

Though no longer factory director, Wang Qianshan still held an important task—collecting outstanding debts.

Although Changnan Trading Company's accounts were pinned on the fugitive Zhu Huai De, all the forged signatures on those IOUs were tied to Wang Qianshan.

So Wang Qianshan couldn't follow the usual path and transfer to another unit as a leader—he had to stay at Changbei to chase debts.

This outcome was the result of multi-party coordination; otherwise, he wouldn't be sitting on a bench up front—he'd be eating steamed buns behind bars.

Still, Li Ye admired the straightness of Wang Qianshan's posture.

The investigation team probed him for half a month—he didn't embezzle a single cent.

So perhaps he felt… he had a clear conscience.

When the time came, Guo Tianyong took the stage and spoke; the crowd fell silent.

During those half-months of shutdown, Changbei had been in utter turmoil—no one knew if the days of prosperity would ever return.

But Guo Tianyong needed only two sentences to lift the mood:

"I won't talk about production—you wouldn't understand it anyway. Let me talk about wages and housing."

"Within one year, we guarantee a 20% raise in workers' wages."

"Within one year, we will build three dormitory buildings; newlyweds get priority. So friends who haven't gotten married yet—hurry up and propose to your girlfriends."

"Applause!"

Thunderous applause erupted; all workers stood, faces flushed with excitement, clapping vigorously.

But Wang Qianshan, sitting in the front row, suddenly slumped, unable to sit upright.

(End of Chapter)