Chapter 460

463. Chapter 456: Means Outside the Rules and Banks

Ten minutes later, the manager of the pier management company drove over.

The pier was large; if one were to walk, it might take about twenty minutes to get over here.

A trace of embarrassment was on his face. After getting out of the car, he took the initiative to walk over and shake hands with the general manager, "I came over to see what exactly happened."

The general manager of the Liji Group looked behind him, his emotions clearly fluctuating as he raised his hands, "Where are the workers?"

"Our goods are waiting to be loaded onto the ship. Can we let them load these things onto the ship first, and then we discuss these?"

These orders also had breach of contract penalties. The compensation ratio for breach of contract wasn't large—many were fifty percent—but this kind of thing required paying money!

The embarrassment on the manager's face did not diminish, "I tried, but I failed."

The general manager's expression became even more wrong, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know how to say it!" The pier management company manager's gaze was a bit chaotic, constantly looking at things around him, "They said... they refuse to provide services for all of the Liji Group's business because you look down on them."

"They said that working for you felt like a personal insult, and they refuse to continue working for you, even if we deduct their wages."

"Fuck!" the general manager cursed, "I didn't look down on them, and you have to help me get these things settled. We signed a contract!"

Renting warehouses on the pier and using the workers of the pier management company—these all had formal contracts.

To be more accurate, after they rented the warehouses, the pier management company would provide corresponding labor to help them complete these tasks that required labor.

Listening to the offensive vocabulary coming out of the other party's mouth, the manager of the pier management company was not so polite either, "We did sign a contract, but it didn't say you could insult our workers!"

"If you think we breached the contract, you can go sue us!"

This was the Liji Group's most commonly used response method, and now it was being thrown back in their faces. The general manager took a deep breath and suppressed his temper.

The most important thing right now was to transport these goods out.

"Sorry, I was too nervous. Our goods have to be loaded onto the ship and shipped away before two o'clock this afternoon, but there is no one here who can provide us with help."

"I apologize for my inappropriate remarks just now. Can you see if there are any other ways to coordinate and resolve this?"

In his heart, he hated his own employees and the workers here to the point of grinding his teeth, yet he still had to pretend to be "it's my fault." He was so angry his lungs were about to explode!

"Can you find those workers and bring them over?"

"I will talk to them again. I can compensate them with something—financially or in other aspects."

The manager at the pier shook his head, "I accept your apology, but they said they won't see you."

Considering that the other party was a major client of the pier and would continue to cooperate in the future, he lowered his voice slightly and reminded him, "There are many casual laborers outside the pier. You can go hire them to work for you."

"Anyway, it's just for one day; daily settlement is fine. One or two dollars per person. Many of them are also very familiar with the work on the pier."

"One or two hundred dollars is enough for you to solve today's trouble."

"But don't tell anyone else that I told you this!"

These casual laborers were actually the pier workers who had lost their jobs earlier. Companies or individuals who rented warehouses on the pier or needed other services could use the labor provided for free by the port according to the contract.

That is, the pier workers currently wearing blue work clothes.

They could also find a group of workers to work themselves; this was allowed. However, even if they found workers to work themselves, there would be no reduction in fees for the use of equipment and so on.

These were a complete set of service plans; whether you used them or not, you had to pay.

The general manager nodded, said thank you, and then watched the other party leave.

He turned back and glanced sideways at the employees who already knew they had caused trouble, then drove to the gate outside the pier.

A casual labor market had existed outside the pier for a long time. In the past, the most people here were illegal immigrants; they would squat or stand together, listless.

When someone who looked like they wanted to hire workers passed by here, they would stand up.

Looking at these low-level casual laborers who clearly exuded a strange smell approaching, the general manager who had just gotten out of the car was almost scared into shrinking back!

The clear disdain in his eyes made those casual laborers know better than to get too close to him.

"I need some people who know how to do loading and unloading work in the pier warehouse. Today's work must be finished today. Two dollars."

He offered a bit more money. Actually, some would be willing to do it for one dollar, but for the sake of insurance, he gave an extra dollar.

Along with that, he added, "Must be strong, preferably someone who has done this work before."

In an instant, the crowd seemed to boil, and people kept raising their hands and squeezing toward this side!

He took two steps back and set his sights on a bearded man, "You, have you done this before?"

The bearded man nodded repeatedly, "I used to be a worker on the pier, and I was even a worker representative."

This left the general manager in a moment of bewilderment. He certainly knew what a worker representative meant, but he also couldn't understand how a worker representative could become a casual laborer.

However, he didn't have time to think about these things now. He pointed at the bearded man and said, "Help me recruit one hundred workers. I need you to go to work immediately."

The bearded man's face was full of joy. A considerable portion of the crowd surrounding him immediately sighed and began to leave voluntarily.

The bearded man was the representative of the local casual laborers. He had many friends. If he were allowed to choose, those immigrant casual laborers, illegal immigrant casual laborers, and refugee casual laborers looking for opportunities would have no chance at all.

Looking at those who dispersed, the general manager vaguely realized something, but he didn't care.

What he needed was someone to solve his troublesome matters, not to solve social contradictions.

Soon, a team of white people was selected. The bearded man's face was filled with a smile, but in his heart, he had a different feeling.

"Boss, the people have been selected. I guarantee they are all the best guys on the pier!"

The general manager's mouth twitched slightly. Why were the best guys outside the pier instead of inside the pier?

He didn't dwell on these things, just nodded and said, "Then go to work."

"After you finish working, my employees will settle the wages for you!"

"I still have some things to do. He will take you to the pier."

The commissioner was almost here; he had to go prepare.

After he let the staff take these people away, he went to the train station.

The Liji Group had many cooperative relationships with various federal railway companies. Large-scale agricultural products inevitably chose cargo ships for sea transport.

Then, on land, train transport became their only choice.

It wasn't that cars wouldn't work, it was just that looking at current technology, the carrying capacity of trucks was far worse than trains, and transport costs were also higher.

The federal railways and trains were all owned by private companies, and the Liji Group was their major client, so these railway companies provided the Liji Group with a kind of "symbol of honor"—

Exclusive passenger cars for staff rest, or even higher-level exclusive cars!

Just like the car the commissioner was currently riding in, it came from more than forty years ago. It was a very luxuriously decorated car; it didn't look like sitting on a train at all!

Exquisite furniture, decorations, and even offices and lounges to ensure that even on the train, distinguished guests could get a good rest and a space to work.

To own such an exclusive car, besides the three major agricultural product channel providers, there were only those resource companies.

They were also heavyweight clients of the railway companies.

When the train stopped steadily amidst a large burst of steam, a gentleman wearing formal attire and a wide-brimmed fedora who looked very refined stepped down from the car.

He looked to be in his thirties, about the same age as the general manager, but the other party was already a company commissioner.

"Commissioner, I am the person in charge here."

The commissioner nodded a bit arrogantly, "I have heard of you..."

Watching the general manager have a smile on his face, he then continued, "But not good things!"

"In one year, the company has had to appoint two commissioners to come here. Honestly, I hold a questioning attitude toward your ability. I hope the board of directors hasn't been blinded by anything."

He didn't give the general manager any face at all. This kind of person was very common in the company; they all belonged to the group of vested interests who "do things according to the rules."

More colloquially, they cared more about the system than anyone else, and they followed the system, and because they strictly followed it, they were chosen by the company and became middle management.

Even if their relatives made mistakes in company work, such as parents or immediate siblings, they would not hesitate to fire them or pursue accountability, completely with an attitude of putting righteousness before family!

This was their work guideline. Perhaps in life, they would have a little bit of human touch, but at work, they were more like a machine than a person!

The general manager's smile immediately froze on his face. Several staff members followed closely behind him from the car, "Where is the car?"

The commissioner asked, "Our time is very tight. Forget about socializing or anything; just tell me the matters that need to be handled."

The general manager took a deep breath. He thought of the previous commissioner and his fate.

Suddenly, he had a little bit of expectation—expectation that this commissioner would anger Lanse and then arrange an "accident" for him.

Soon they returned to the company. Out of a dark sense of humor, the general manager placed the "car accident toy" that someone had given him in the office temporarily prepared for the commissioner, and in a very conspicuous place.

The commissioner saw the model at a glance. He looked back at the general manager, then threw it into the trash can.

"Get out, I have work to do."

The general manager, who had closed the door, hadn't even returned to his own office when his secretary ran over, "Something happened on the pier again..."

The bearded man took the workers to the pier and started working. Jonny immediately called Lanse, "The bearded man is taking people to help them work. Should we intervene?"

The bearded man stood directly in opposition to Lanse during the strike. Later, he was directly fired by the management company. He had made a scene and had been beaten, eventually choosing to compromise with reality.

Some people went to the industrial zone to try their luck, but there were also some who were still looking for work opportunities on the pier.

Although the work of a temporary worker was unstable, it could barely maintain their lives.

The pier management company didn't kill them all, and whether to hire them was the client's own business; they wouldn't care either.

Lanse was a generous person in many cases, but at certain times, he wasn't that generous!

He was actually very good to these workers and had been helping them fight for their rights, but when they discovered there was a greater benefit ahead, and the price was abandoning or even harming Lanse's interests, this group of people threw Lanse away.

Lanse couldn't be generous to these people, let alone the fact that this also involved the conflict between him and the Liji Group.

"You don't need to worry about it. I will arrange for people to go."

He hung up the phone, "Let Allen come over."

Hiram, who was sitting on the sofa, walked to the door, "Allen, come over!"

Not long after, Allen arrived in the room.

He was very useful, obedient, and flexible. Most importantly, he was reliable.

Lanse sat behind the table, supporting his chin with his hands, "Liji's people found a group of casual laborers to load and unload for them, but I don't want to see them be able to load things onto the ship on time. Do you understand what I mean?"

Allen nodded, "I'll go handle it."

Lanse nodded slightly and also kindly reminded him to bring more people.

After Allen went out of the room, he came to the lounge. He pointed at several team leaders, "Take people and clubs and come with me. Bring weapons too."

These team leaders were overjoyed. They ran to the back one after another to call their own people, then followed Allen to collect weapons and set off toward the port.

Everyone actually knew very well that Allen had a high probability of being promoted to a cadre, so even though everyone was a team leader, they still listened to Allen very much.

Not only because he was popular, but also because his future was bright!

This time, a total of thirty or forty people came. These young people wore roughly the same uniform.

As the weather gradually turned cold, trench coats could be worn on the body again. The red armbands made them seem somewhat out of place with the dark, gloomy pier at this time.

Allen pinched a cigarette with his thumb and index finger and strode toward the warehouse. This was what he learned from Lanse; he thought it was cool!

Seeing that the warehouse had already appeared in front of him, some workers not wearing work clothes were loading and unloading goods. He took a baseball bat from his subordinate's hand and pointed at that group of people, "Hit them!"

He charged into the first position. If you want other young people to obey you, you can't shrink to the back. He understood this principle.

He saw a bearded man who looked a bit familiar in the crowd. Regardless of whether the other party was the target they were looking for, he swung the bat and hit him.

For a time, there were screams and curses near the warehouse. Although these casual laborers were actively resisting, compared to these more professional young people holding baseball bats, they seemed to lack something.

In less than ten minutes, quite a few casual laborers were lying on the ground beaten, and more casual laborers took advantage of the chaos to run far away, watching from a distance.

Allen handed the baseball bat in his hand to the person beside him. He carefully straightened his trench coat; this set of clothes was custom-made.

When he saw a clear bloodstain on the clothes, his heart ached!

He kicked the casual laborer who had fallen beside him again, "Son of a bitch, fuck!"

In the distance, the wailing of police cars was approaching from far to near. Many onlookers had already gathered around. A few minutes later, the police cars arrived here.

When the police officers who came to the scene saw the attire of these social personnel standing outside the warehouse, their originally cold and indifferent expressions became soft.

"What happened?"

Allen dropped the cigarette and crushed it with the tip of his brown leather shoe. As he walked over, he said, "There was a little conflict, officer."

The police at the port branch received "wages" from the Lanse family. They recognized Allen, but it wasn't very convenient to show that kind of familiarity right now.

"I have to take you and your people back for questioning."

Allen didn't resist; instead, he raised his hands, "Do I need handcuffs?"

The officer shook his head, "Before it is confirmed that you have indeed committed a crime, we will not handcuff you."

Allen smiled and nodded, "Alright, can I drive my own car?"

"Of course!" The officer still didn't make things difficult for him.

He expressed his gratitude. Then, when he turned around, he swept a cold glance at those guys lying on the ground and walked toward his car.

Soon, his group and the police left together. The police asked if they needed to call an ambulance for those who had been beaten—the cost had to be paid by themselves.

As a result, everyone refused the ambulance service. They had to crawl up from the ground themselves, then go to the branch to report and explain the situation.

Among them, the one beaten the worst was the bearded man; his face was covered in blood.

He watched the direction the police cars and those social vehicles left in, and a trace of regret finally appeared in his heart.

A moment later, Branch Chief Duke called Lanse, "Lanse, can you not do this kind of thing in front of so many people next time?"

"It's very hard for me to handle!"

Thirty-something people—should they be arrested or released?

If no one had seen it, they would arrest the victims, intimidate them, and then mediate, and the matter would be over.

But with so many people seeing it, it wasn't easy to operate. After all, there were too many witnesses, and there would always be some who had a sense of justice.

"Handle it however it should be handled. I will have people go pay the bail. Tell them, if they want to sue, let them sue; we accept it all."

In the Federation, fighting is a very vague "case," often needing to be resolved through litigation, and it also requires "witnesses."

If there are no witnesses, the judiciary can only handle it fifty-fifty. Perhaps in this process, the clearly harmful party will be detained, but Lanse's side will pay the bail, so in a sense, the bearded man and the others ended up getting beaten for nothing!

Even if the judge rules, this kind of minor injury is at most some restriction of movement or community service and compensation.

But do they dare ask Allen for compensation?

No, they don't dare!

With Lanse's authorization, the subsequent matters were much easier. In less than ten minutes, Lawyer Luo Ben paid the bail.

The people who did the beating went home immediately, while the people who were beaten had to accept investigation at the police station.

Perhaps, this is the most psychedelic scene of federal justice...