Chapter 356: 357. Chapter 353: Cooperation

357. Chapter 353: Cooperation

"You must resolve these problems as soon as possible!"

"The Governor called me personally, and this is also not what you promised me."

"You have three days. If you cannot resolve this within three days, do I need to tell you what will happen?"

On the phone, the director who had been very appreciative and supportive of the manager and his decisions just two days ago had turned hostile, his tone filled with threats.

The manager held the phone with both hands, only able to explain as best he could, "It takes time to recruit people, and we have already recruited some..."

"I don't want to hear that. That is your business. I don't even need you to tell me when work can resume."

"You only have seventy-two hours!"

The phone clicked shut. The manager slowly put down the receiver, his face looking ugly as he sat in his chair.

Those damn bastards!

His angry cursing could be heard by those outside the office, and everyone had slightly different expressions.

Some were very worried; these were the manager's die-hard supporters, his confidants.

If the manager was in trouble, they would certainly be in trouble too.

Some looked very calm; these were the moderates. They did as much work as they were paid for and did not participate in internal company political struggles.

Others clearly showed a hint of a smile. Even though it was a very bad situation for the company, their eyes hid a sense of benefit.

In a small office of ten people, there were at least twelve different agendas.

"All of you, get in here!"

The manager's roar brought everyone outside back into the office. The manager's face was as dark as the bottom of a twenty-year-old soup pot.

"I know some of you are waiting to see my joke, thinking that if I get kicked out, some of you will have a chance."

"But I want to tell you, you are dreaming!"

"We are a team. Whether you admit it or not, we are a team."

"Right now, the Board of Directors isn't dissatisfied with just me; they are dissatisfied with me and you, my team!"

"I don't care how you explain it. In short, if I get kicked out, unless some of you can climb into a director's bed, you won't have a good end either!"

"The best result is being transferred from here to the outside to accept the torture of wind and sun with those lackeys."

"The worse result is packing up your personal things and getting out of the port just like me!"

"So, whether for me or for yourselves, we must unite at this time and overcome the difficulties together!"

He paused, giving them time to process this.

After waiting for about twenty seconds, "I don't care what methods you use, help me do a few things immediately."

"I won't assign specific tasks to specific people. I don't know what you can do, so pick what you can do."

"First, find people from the surrounding labor agencies as soon as possible. Illegal immigrants are fine; I can pay them twenty-two."

"Legal immigrants or locals will get thirty-five point five plus a two-dollar subsidy."

"For every person you find to work, as long as they stabilize in their position, I will give you two dollars!"

"Second, I don't care what methods you use, convince those influential worker representatives to stand on our side!"

"Vaughan is a son of a bitch; I don't count on him anymore!"

"If they are willing to take money, promise them money."

"If they want other things, as long as they don't mention raising wages for everyone, then we can talk."

At this moment, an employee suddenly asked, "Why don't we just meet their demands?"

"I heard they only want one point five!"

The manager grabbed a fountain pen and threw it at the man, who dodged it very nimbly.

He dodged the pen, but he couldn't dodge the manager's loud voice.

"One point five?"

"More than twenty thousand in extra expenses every month, almost three hundred thousand in extra expenses a year—you call that one point five?"

"And 'only'!"

"If you can do it, do it. If you can't, you can go pack your things now!"

The man's face flushed red and then white, but in the end, he just stood there, doing nothing.

He didn't pack his things, nor did he say any harsh words.

They were all adults. He knew the price of impulsive behavior. He wasn't one of the workers outside; he had his own family and his own bills. He couldn't lose this job!

After the manager shouted like that, he didn't have the heart to continue talking. "In short, that's it. I don't care who you find, and I don't care how you handle those worker representatives. Of course, if you can convince the workers to return to their posts, that's fine too!"

"In short, I hope to see the port restore work order within seventy-two hours!"

"Now, get out and work!"

People left the manager's office, but a few remained. These were the manager's confidants, his true confidants.

The manager didn't give them a good look either. He was about to be fired himself; he didn't need to give anyone a good look except the Board of Directors!

"Do you have other business?" he asked.

One of them said, "I have a suggestion."

The manager sat back in his chair and lit a cigarette. "Speak."

The simple word "Speak" already reflected his inner state.

"We can put a little more pressure on them..."

The manager looked at him, his eyes somewhat sinister. "I don't want to ask a question and have you answer one word at a time. Do you not understand the situation, or what?"

"This isn't a heuristic game in kindergarten. If I lose this job, you'll all be kicked out too, understand?"

The man's face turned pale at his words, and he didn't dare to squeeze out information like toothpaste anymore; he said it all at once.

"Those worker representatives aren't that easy to handle. If they could be bought, they wouldn't be worker representatives."

"We need to change our thinking: threaten them directly. If they won't return to the port to work, find people to hurt them or hurt their families."

"I know this idea is a bit despicable, but..."

The manager suddenly retorted, "What's despicable about it?"

"They aren't giving us a way to live, so why should we consider them?"

"So, what's despicable about it?"

Several people stared at the manager, as if seeing him for the first time.

The manager took a heavy drag on his cigarette. "I don't know anyone in the gangs, and I figure small gangs can't solve this either. Do you have any ideas?"

"After this incident, I will propose to the company to add a position of Deputy Manager or Manager Consultant. If you can help me get through this difficulty, you will be that person!"

Drawing a pie like this was too simple for the manager. He even dared to create a new job position without the Board of Directors; it was just a little more money every month, and no one in finance would care.

The man's face, which had just been pale, turned red instantly. "I know. There is a very powerful gang in the port area recently, the Wolf Gang!"

"They have unified the gangs in the port area and are a very powerful organization. If we can ask them to help us, I think there is a very high probability we can handle this."

The manager pursed his lips. "Asking them must cost a lot of money, right?"

The man said, "You can talk to them. Maybe they don't want money?"

The manager leaned back in his chair and thought for a while. If the other party wanted a lot of money, he could still bargain, or let the head office pay.

But if the other party didn't want money, it was actually harder to handle!

As a manager, he knew very well that the freer something is, the higher the price you actually have to pay!

There is no such thing as innocent love in this world. If they can give you something worth one dollar for free, they will inevitably take more than one dollar in profit from you. It's impossible to give it to you for nothing!

But there was no time to think about that anymore. He only had seventy-two hours left. If he couldn't handle this strike by Monday morning, he would be finished!

"Do you know their people?" "Help me contact them. I want to talk to them!"

The manager made a decision in a very short time, and making this decision wasn't difficult.

His confidant nodded repeatedly. "My... son is one of their people."

Listening to such a long chain of relationships, the manager only felt a headache. "Whoever it is, go implement it now. I'll wait for your news!"

Soon, this young man, who had gone through several turns, arrived outside the Professor's office. The Professor was responsible for all the big and small matters in the gang.

Often, it actually seemed like the Professor was the leader of the Wolf Gang, not Wolf.

"The manager of the Port Service Company?" When he heard this title, the Professor didn't react at first.

They were the Wolf Gang, a gang. All matters related to them were criminal activities. When did such "straight people" have contact with him?

However, he reacted quickly. "What does he want with me?"

This gang member explained it simply, and the Professor roughly understood.

He thought for a while, told the person to wait outside first, and then dialed a number. "The Port Management Company wants me to go and deal with those striking workers. Should I agree?"

The voice on the other end of the phone was clearly young—it was Owen.

Now that Owen was exercising the duties and powers of the municipal government, when he received this call, Owen only thought for a few seconds before giving him a positive response. "Agree to them."

"The port is very important. The impact of the strike hasn't fully spread yet. If they can't handle these people, it might have an impact on our plans."

Over the years, Owen had followed the Mayor, and what he had seen and heard gave him richer political experience than his peers.

He knew very well that the Mayor's way of settling things in one fell swoop had a flaw: the militia couldn't solve all problems at once!

If someone linked the strike to the militia, it might cause the matter to repeat itself!

When he said handle, he didn't mean handling the gangs, but completely crushing the final resistance of Councilor Williams.

Things like gangs can be supported at will to grow rapidly. How many are lost is unimportant to those in power; they can cultivate a large batch of new ones at any time.

What he cared about was the impact of the strike itself.

After the Professor got the answer, he hung up the phone. He called the person in. "Tell that manager of yours, whatever his name is, if he wants to talk, let him come here and talk to me!"

The news quickly returned to the manager of the Port Management Company. He brought the person who had proposed this suggestion and came to the Wolf Gang headquarters.

In the office, he met the Professor and relaxed.

The Professor's appearance was very deceptive.

Saying that actually wasn't entirely correct, because he was like that by nature. It could only be said that it was unlikely for people to understand and accept that a middle-aged man with a teacher's temperament was a gang leader.

So after his brief shock, he accepted the fact, which made him feel much more relaxed.

At least this person didn't have a scar on his face, didn't spout profanity every few words, and wasn't a fool who thought with his fists.

"They said you want to cooperate with us?" The Professor took the initiative to pour a glass of wine for the other party.

When the manager saw the wine, he licked his lips. He hadn't drunk wine for a while. It wasn't that he couldn't buy it, but the price was too high, and he couldn't bear to drink it.

He picked up the wine glass and took a small sip. The familiar taste entered his mouth, went down his throat into his stomach, and his whole body felt comfortable.

He sighed, feeling a bit melancholy, but suddenly thought of the port matter he was communicating with the Professor about, and quickly sat up straight. "Yes, some people are inciting workers to strike. They are trying to use the strike to force us to raise their wages. This is very stupid and unreasonable."

"It's not that I don't want to raise their wages, it's just that I don't think the reason for raising wages should be a threat centered on a strike..."

The Professor raised his hand. "I don't care about that. What I care about is, what can you give me?"

The manager thought for a while and turned his wrists. "Money?"

The Professor shook his head. "A bar can bring us at least a few thousand in net profit a night. We have seven or eight such bars."

"You can't move us with money."

Hearing the Professor say that bars were so profitable, the manager was a bit moved, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "So much?"

"Then doesn't the Workers' Club earn tens of thousands every day?"

The Professor's eyes lit up. "Tell me about the Workers' Club."

The manager then explained it again. When the Professor heard that the Workers' Club had been operated by Lanse, he couldn't help but laugh.

He didn't expect him to hide a super bar here!

The Professor made a decision. "I want the liquor business of this Workers' Club, and we need some safe warehouses and to establish long-term cooperation."

The port is very important to Jincheng. He knew this very well. If he could control the port, it meant they would have one more protective talisman!

The manager thought for a while and agreed directly, but he also explained the situation. "The Workers' Club is run by the Workers' Union, and it has nothing to do with us."

"But I can make the decision to take out a warehouse for you to operate a bar, and you can also use the name of the Workers' Club."

In his view, it didn't matter who was orthodox.

The Professor stood up, and he also stood up quickly, then reached out his hand. "Happy cooperation!"

"Happy cooperation!"

The two sat down again, and the Professor poured him a little more wine. "If you like drinking, after we solve all the problems, I can give you two cases every month."

The manager's throat began to roll, but he couldn't say words of refusal, and he couldn't refuse, so he could only say "Thank you."

The Professor waved his hand, indicating that these were small matters. "How do you plan for me to help you?"

The guy sitting next to the manager finally had a chance to speak. "This is what I think, sir."

"You can take people to find the homes of those workers who are causing trouble, and use your identity... sorry, I'm not..."

The Professor raised his hand, signaling him to continue. "No need to pay, we are a gang. This is our work and style."

The man breathed a sigh of relief. "Intimidate them, threaten them, use their families and their own lives."

"As long as these people with great influence withdraw from the strike first, our work will be very easy to do."

"If you run into hard cases, you can step in."

"After this stage of the matter is over, you might need to show your faces at the port. Although doing so might not be very good, this time they were the ones who started the chaos."

The Professor calculated while asking, "In other words, my job is actually to deal with some ordinary people who have no ability to resist?"

"This looks like a simple job!"

The manager's confidant quickly echoed, "Yes, it's not difficult at all."

Although the Professor was a bit disdainful of these two people, this was work. "Then who should I start with?"

He had sent the people from those small gangs to their deaths, but the core of the Wolf Gang was still there. These things could be handed over to them.

This way, others wouldn't have any opinions, as they were also working and striving for the development and growth of the gang!

The manager's confidant immediately took out a list that had been prepared long ago and handed it over. "These are the people, and the addresses where they live now are behind them."

"Boss, you'd better be fast. Settling the strike as soon as possible will bring more benefits to both of us, and to many parties."

Looking at the list in his hand, the Professor nodded slightly. "In a day or two, you will see results."

He said, taking a brown paper bag from the drawer and putting the wine bottle into it. "I have other things to do here, so I won't keep you."

"Go back and wait for my good news."

"This bottle of wine is a new category. You can just help us taste it."

The manager smiled and took the brown paper bag. "Then I'll leave the strike matter to you."

Coming out of the Wolf Gang headquarters, the manager no longer had his previous seriousness. He glanced at the subordinate beside him and handed the brown paper bag over. "The people you know are quite mixed. A deputy manager needs someone like you."

"Knowing social figures from all walks of life, I will recommend you to the Board of Directors."

"Take this bottle of wine back and taste it. Remember to tell the gentleman inside how it tastes..."