Chapter 445

"Release them!" Liu Qimeng spat out the two words coldly, then got into his car and left with a dark face.

He didn't ask me to leave with him, leaving me behind on the spot. I immediately understood his intention: he was leaving me to clean up the mess.

"Release them!" I said listlessly, preparing to walk into the factory.

I had to figure out who was the mastermind behind such a huge disturbance. The restructuring of the Cement Products Factory had happened so long ago; why were problems surfacing at such a critical juncture? Could it really just be because the petition had no results?

Before I had even walked away, I heard arguing in my ears again.

Following the sound, I saw that the few people who had just been handcuffed were now actually unwilling to let the police take the cuffs off.

The Public Security Bureau Director came over with a livid face and cursed viciously, "Damn it, I've never seen people in my life who don't want their freedom."

I knew what he was cursing about; it was easy to put the handcuffs on, but now it was hard to take them off. The few people who had been cuffed acted as if they had suffered a great injustice, shouting loudly, "What law did we break? You cuff us when you want and release us when you want? Without an explanation, we'll wear these handcuffs to Beijing to demand one."

The Public Security Bureau Director asked me in a low, humble voice what to do, and I rolled my eyes at him and said, "Figure it out yourself."

He said with a mournful face, "If I had a way, would I dare to trouble you?"

"Where did that courage you had to disperse the crowd just now go?" I asked him back, smiling coldly.

The Public Security Bureau Director loudly protested, "The Office Director said you were under siege; could I just watch and do nothing? Besides, that formation just now, if that wasn't a rebellion, what was it?" He became more and more indignant as he spoke: "These unruly people shouldn't be treated softly. Look, one word from the Secretary and they act as if they've received an imperial decree. In my opinion, since they don't want to cooperate, just lock them up for a few days."

"You're afraid the world won't be in chaos!" I laughed. "You caused the trouble and ran off, so who's going to wipe your ass? It'll still be me."

The Bureau Director said with a grin, "Who told you to be the leader."

Seeing that this group of people who had been handcuffed were pressing their advantage, I had no choice but to step forward, greet them one by one, and deliver a stern, righteous speech. It was mostly about how the police were performing their duties, not wronging a single good person, nor letting a single bad person go. Releasing them from the handcuffs now didn't mean they were off the hook! Once the matter was investigated and clarified, whoever was responsible wouldn't be able to run away.

My words had a deterrent effect, and immediately someone reached out their hands, pitifully asking for the handcuffs to be opened.

I wasn't scaring them! The incident at the Cement Products Factory was a mass incident. For something like this, there was definitely an organizer behind it. Even if they weren't the organizer, as long as they had the slightest connection to the organization, let alone cuffing them, sentencing them to three or five years wouldn't be difficult.

Sure enough, as soon as I finished speaking, everyone unanimously requested to have their handcuffs removed. Anyone who wanted to be associated with this matter was a fool.

I signaled for the police to act, and the people whose handcuffs were removed ran away for their lives like birds escaping a cage.

The family member of the deceased was also among those who had been cuffed; after being released, he lingered and refused to leave. I asked him, "Is there anything else?"

He flushed red and said, "Leader, the funeral expenses you mentioned just now, where do I go to collect them?"

"Follow me," I said, calling the Public Security Bureau Director and two police officers, and walked straight toward the Cement Products Factory office building.

Originally, I had intended to take fifty thousand yuan from the county treasury first, but now that this had happened, it actually saved me the trouble.

The bald boss saw us enter and hurriedly told his little secretary to pour tea.

I said without the slightest politeness, "Don't worry about the tea yet; have someone bring out fifty thousand yuan."

The bald boss was stunned and asked hesitantly, "Wasn't it said that the county would pay first?"

"You caused the trouble, and you want the county to foot the bill?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what do you mean?" I stared at him aggressively, making him feel uneasy, his eyes unable to meet mine.

"Still not going!" the bald boss shouted at his little secretary, "Waiting to serve a meal?"

The bald boss's little secretary was quite pretty; judging by her figure and appearance, she was a rather flirtatious person.

Scolded by the bald boss, she seemed to panic, walked a few steps out the door, then turned back and said in a low voice, "Boss, the factory has stopped production, and the finance department isn't here."

The bald boss glared and said, "I don't care, I'll give you five minutes to get the money for me. If you can't find the money, don't come back to see me."

The little secretary sniffed, looking troubled and pitiful.

Seeing that everyone was at a stalemate, the family member of the deceased also sniffed and burst into tears.

The bald boss couldn't stand the crying and paced the room in irritation. After circling twice, he said with a fawning smile, "Leader, how about this: when the finance person comes, I'll have someone send it over."

"No!" I said decisively. The urgent task now was to send these people away. The beating by the riot police wouldn't calm the incident. Perhaps at this moment, they were brewing even bigger moves. If I handled him first, they would lack a pretext, and even if they wanted to stir up trouble, it would be to no avail.

"Leader, I really have no way right now."

"If you have no way, I have a way," I said coldly. "A death is a massive matter. How about this: if you can't come up with the money, go back with the police to cooperate with the investigation. You can come back when things are cleared up."

The bald boss was startled and waved his hands frantically, "This has nothing to do with me!"

"Then tell me, whose business is it? Did the person die at your place? Did they die because of a dispute?" I pressed him, giving a look to the Public Security Bureau Director.

The Public Security Bureau Director was a man who knew how to handle things and immediately shouted to the two police officers, "Cuff him and take him away."

The two police officers were rubbing their hands and preparing to go up when the little secretary rushed over, blocked the middle, and shouted, "On what grounds are you arresting people?"

The Public Security Bureau Director sneered, "Stand aside! Do you want to go along with him too?"

The little secretary's face turned pale; she looked at the bald boss and then at me, her legs trembling involuntarily.

"If we give the money, will you not arrest him?" she asked cautiously, looking at the bald boss.

"It's not about your money; it's about you taking an attitude," I said, sitting down in a chair.

"I'll go get it, I'll go get it," the little secretary said hurriedly, turning and entering the inner office.

The bald boss opened his mouth but ultimately didn't make a sound.

After a while, the little secretary came out holding several stacks of money, hesitating and not knowing who to give it to. I glanced at the bald boss and noticed the muscles on his face twitching involuntarily.

He was feeling the pain!

"You write a receipt," I instructed the family member of the deceased.

The family member of the deceased hurriedly asked for paper and a pen, leaned over the table to write it, and handed it to me.

I didn't take it, telling him to hand the receipt to the little secretary.

Once one had received the receipt and the other had taken the money, I said, "You all get back to work, and you go back and handle your family affairs first. Without the county's opinion, whoever stirs up trouble will be held responsible. Is that understood?"

The bald boss turned from worry to joy and hurriedly promised, "I will follow the leader's arrangements."

The family member of the deceased hesitated and said, "Is that it?"

"What else do you want?" the Public Security Bureau Director shouted at the right moment.

"I don't want anything else," the family member of the deceased said, holding the stacks of money in his arms and asking in a low voice, "Can I go now?"

"Go, go," I waved my hand and said, "Don't get involved in any more trouble! Otherwise, no one will be able to help you."

The family member of the deceased left, expressing his thousand thanks.

Once he was gone, I smiled at the bald boss and said, "Scared, weren't you?"

The bald boss wiped the fine sweat from his forehead and said with a bitter smile, "I know you were helping me, Leader."

"I'm not trying to help you; I'm helping anyone who needs help. No matter what, we are all people of Chunshan County; what can't we sit down and talk about?"

The bald boss suddenly became agitated and said with a bitter face, "It's not that I don't want to talk, but the problem is how can I talk? They said it was being restructured into a joint-stock company, but as soon as the restructuring was finished, people took their money and withdrew their shares. Now that I'm left alone, even if it's a pile of shit, I have to eat it."

I asked inexplicably, "Who took the money?"

"Who else? Town Mayor Deng."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized he had spoken too quickly and hurriedly covered his mouth with his hand.

I held back my laughter and asked, "What does Town Mayor Deng have to do with the restructuring?"

Seeing that he had already let the cat out of the bag, the bald boss simply spilled the beans, telling it all plainly.

The restructuring of the Cement Products Factory was completed during Deng Hanyu's tenure and was also promoted by him. At the time, they packaged the assets of the Cement Products Factory at ten million and required the bald boss to buy shares.

The bald boss brought out ten million, the money went into the treasury, and he discovered that Deng Hanyu held three percent of the shares on the share certificate. The bald boss didn't understand why and went to ask Deng Hanyu, who immediately told him that this three percent belonged to his human resource shares. Without his human resource shares, even if the bald boss had brought out another ten million, he wouldn't have been able to restructure the Cement Products Factory.

The bald boss was a smart man; he knew well that according to the assets of the Cement Products Factory, it was definitely worth more than ten million. Now that he had gotten it for ten million, it was clear that someone wanted to eat the dividends.

Besides, the factory was in the locality; having a local official hold shares would save a lot of trouble. For the bald boss who mixed in the business world, he calculated this account very clearly.

The bald boss trusted Deng Hanyu implicitly. After the restructuring was successful, he secretly had someone evaluate all the assets, and the result of the evaluation shocked him.

According to the report given by the evaluation company, the total value of the Cement Products Factory's assets should be around thirty million. This meant that he had spent ten million to buy thirty million worth of goods. This twenty million gained out of thin air was like a bomb that made him almost unable to sleep.

The bald boss was shrewd; as soon as the contract was signed, he fired all the original employees. The contract already stated that the new factory didn't need to worry about the employees' future, and he didn't need to spend an extra cent. Because the contract already stated that the issue of laid-off employees was the responsibility of the town.

Just when he thought he had solved his worries, Deng Hanyu came to his door and demanded to withdraw his shares.

Deng Hanyu's reason for withdrawing shares was very sufficient: he was a state civil servant and couldn't run a private enterprise. The key was that he had already been transferred to the city and couldn't manage the factory's affairs.

The bald boss didn't want to withdraw, so he dragged it out and refused to talk. Deng Hanyu got anxious, found an opportunity, borrowed one million from the factory, and hadn't paid back a cent to this day.

Some time ago, the bald boss had financial difficulties, so he urged Deng Hanyu to repay the loan, and according to the share contract, Deng Hanyu also had to provide a sum of money as working capital.

Deng Hanyu promised verbally to repay the money as soon as possible, but after waiting and waiting, they ended up with the laid-off employees coming to the factory to stir up trouble, and it even resulted in a homicide case.

After listening to the bald boss's words, I asked half-believingly, "Is it all true?"

"If I'm lying, I'll get hit by a car and die when I go out," the bald boss swore solemnly.

My mind cleared up. It turned out that all of this was a play directed by Deng Hanyu.

That son of a bitch Deng Hanyu really had the audacity to do this; selling state assets at a low price was a crime!

I thought viciously, Deng Hanyu, you are digging your own grave!

"The organization will investigate," I said, glancing at his little secretary. The little secretary had already recovered her composure and was actually quite beautiful.

The little secretary seemed to feel me looking at her; a blush rose to her face, and she said delicately, "Thank you, Leader."

I waved my hand and said, "You're welcome."

The bald boss smiled knowingly and ordered the little secretary to pour tea again.

I declined, saying I had to leave, and the bald boss said with difficulty, "Leader, with such a commotion, I have many things to deal with here. How about this, I'll have Xiao Chun'er take you."

The little secretary's name was Xiao Chun'er; it was a nice name.

"I'll take their car," I said, pointing to the Public Security Bureau Director.

"The Bureau Director is busy; let me take you instead," Xiao Chun'er picked up the keys from the table, opened the door, and prepared to leave.

I was still hesitating when the bald boss whispered in my ear, "Leader, give her a chance."

I looked at him strangely and asked, "What chance?"

"On your turf, we commoners have to know which way your door faces."

"If you have something to do, just come to the office; it has nothing to do with my home," I refused.

"I understand, I understand," the bald boss smiled fawningly, opened the door for me, and bowed as he saw me off.