Chapter 2798: I think it is inappropriate

At the mayoral office meeting, Xin Jing and Su Xinghui could indeed only be considered the junior generation. Xin Jing was better off, as she was already forty, but Su Xinghui was a bit too young; he could be considered two generations apart from most of the people at the meeting.

Precisely because of this, Su Xinghui and Xin Jing would always arrive at the meeting room earliest, which was a way to avoid giving others a reason to pick faults. Having already achieved such success at a young age, if they were to be arrogant as well, it would only invite resentment.

Su Xinghui asked in a low voice, "Mayor Xin, do you know why this mayoral office meeting was called so suddenly? Is it because of the laid-off workers outside the gate?"

Xin Jing nodded and also whispered, "It must be for this matter. It happens a few times every year; there are just too many laid-off workers in Baozhou."

Su Xinghui asked, "How was it resolved in previous years?"

Xin Jing said, "How was it resolved? Every time, they have to agree to some of the workers' demands and pay out some money, then let the factory cadres do the persuasion work. The workers might not listen to the city, but do they dare not listen to their own factory cadres?"

Su Xinghui nodded thoughtfully.

Xin Jing said, "Sigh, those laid-off workers are also pitiful. It's snowing so heavily, and they don't even have heating at home. Many families don't even have money to buy vegetables; I've heard they go to the vegetable market at dusk to pick up the vegetable leaves and stalks that others don't want to eat."

Xin Jing was sighing with emotion over the fate of those laid-off workers when other vice mayors began to arrive. She stopped talking and sat in her seat, spreading out her notebook.

Su Xinghui also sat in his seat, placing his pen and notebook in front of him.

Today, the expressions of these vice mayors were very solemn; basically, no one was laughing or talking loudly.

This made the atmosphere in the meeting room somewhat grave.

Before long, Wei Ziming arrived. He sat in his seat, surveyed the attendees in the meeting room, and then began, "I've called everyone here today for this temporary mayoral office meeting. I assume everyone already knows the reason, right?"

No one spoke; they each just nodded.

Wei Ziming said, "Outside the gate are the laid-off workers from the Rolling Plate Factory. The factory's situation has been poor these past few years, so many workers have been laid off. This problem isn't entirely caused by the municipal government; it's a general environment, a general trend, a necessary sacrifice. However, they just don't understand. No matter how we explain it, they won't listen. If this matter escalates and draws in laid-off workers from other enterprises, it will be troublesome."

"Therefore, I've called everyone here today to pool our wisdom and see if you have any good methods to persuade these laid-off workers to leave. It would be even better if we could thoroughly resolve this problem!"

After finishing, Wei Ziming looked at everyone with burning eyes.

However, to his disappointment, everyone was like an old monk in meditation, observing their nose with their mouth and their mouth with their heart; no one spoke.

Indeed, who would want to invite such trouble? Especially those vice mayors whose work had nothing to do with this—what benefit was there in meddling? It was better to play deaf and dumb and just muddle through.

Since no one was taking the initiative, Wei Ziming had to call names: "Old Cai, you are in charge of the enterprise sector. Do you have anything to say?"

Seeing he couldn't hide, Cai Jianguo had to clear his throat and said, "Just as Mayor Wei said, the problem of laid-off workers is mainly caused by the general environment and trend. This cannot be blamed on the municipal government's lack of effort. However, these laid-off workers have also raised many practical difficulties, and we should consider them."

"For instance, their homes still don't have heating, and there are many other practical difficulties. They have raised these demands, and if we don't satisfy even a portion of them, it will be very difficult to persuade them to leave. Therefore, I suggest allocating some funds to agree to some of their reasonable demands."

Just as Cai Jianguo finished speaking, Executive Vice Mayor Miao Leshan said, "Old Cai, we can't just agree to demands whenever they make a scene, can we? If we do that, what happens when all the laid-off workers come to make a scene? Does the treasury have that much money? Besides, the city's money didn't fall from the sky. The whole city is so large, and there are many places that need money."

Miao Leshan's tone was a bit aggressive, but he really had some opinions about Cai Jianguo. In his view, the fact that these enterprises had reached this point today was largely Cai Jianguo's fault, yet he kept saying it was caused by the general environment and trend—wasn't this just shirking responsibility?

He felt that in the few years Cai Jianguo had been in charge of the economy, Baozhou's economy had shown no improvement, and the growth in fiscal revenue had been minimal. The city's treasury was so tight, and now they had to spend money to appease these laid-off workers—wasn't this just cleaning up Cai Jianguo's mess?

Miao Leshan was the Executive Vice Mayor in charge of finance, so he directly raised his objection.

Although Cai Jianguo was a "Bodhisattva" (a figurehead), being directly rebuked by Miao Leshan like this made him lose face. He spread his hands and said, "Then, Old Miao, if you have any brilliant ideas, please feel free to share them. Mayor Wei, this isn't me stirring up trouble."

Wei Ziming also knew that Miao Leshan and Cai Jianguo had always been at odds. At this moment, he could only try his best to mediate: "Old Cai, Old Miao, let's discuss the matter as it stands and express our opinions. Don't stir up emotions. Old Miao, why don't you share your opinion?"

Miao Leshan said, "My opinion is very simple: call all the leaders of the Rolling Plate Factory here and have them persuade these people to leave. Set a time limit, and if they can't persuade them, hold them accountable. If these people remain stubborn, arrest them if necessary. How can things be allowed to go on like this? Making a scene at every turn—are we saying that the child who cries gets the milk?"

As Miao Leshan spoke, he waved his arms. When he mentioned making arrests, he brought his palm down forcefully, looking murderous, which made people shudder.

This appearance of Miao Leshan also made Su Xinghui look sideways; this Vice Mayor Miao had quite a murderous aura.

Wei Ziming let a few other vice mayors express their opinions; some supported Cai Jianguo, some supported Miao Leshan, and some suggested a two-pronged approach, using both soft and hard tactics.

When it was Xin Jing's turn, she said, "I think that to thoroughly resolve this problem, we must thoroughly resolve the difficulties of the laid-off workers. On such a cold day, they don't even have heating at home; life is not easy for them. After all, they have made contributions to Baozhou!"

Miao Leshan said, "Comrade Xin Jing, I think you don't know the cost of firewood and rice because you aren't the one running the household. 'Resolve the difficulties'—what a simple sentence. You say it lightly, but do you know how much money it would take to thoroughly resolve their difficulties? Can the city afford that money right now? I think you are still too young and your consideration of the problem is somewhat impractical!"

Having said this, Miao Leshan kept shaking his head, appearing to feel very sorry for Xin Jing.

This made Xin Jing's pretty face flush with anger. She could deeply feel Miao Leshan's contempt for her; this was simply too disrespectful.