Chapter 10 Black Iron Tower
Outside the entrance of the Sanitation Management Department in the Zhanan district, a crowd of protesters irregularly stood on both sides of the road. Some gathered together to smoke and chat, while others sat inside company cars eating boxed meals provided by the organizers. Some protesters even threw their protest banners on the ground and gathered in small groups to play cards.
Overall, the strike appeared to be lively, but upon closer inspection, it was easy to see that these were just a group of people without a clear direction.
Of the more than 400 workers who showed up, either they were the leaders who had absolute interests with the four companies of Su, Liu, Bai, and Kong, or they were ordinary workers who came to earn the generous stoppage subsidies provided by the companies. Either way, the fundamental reason they came together was the same: for their own benefit.
Looking around, there were very few workers who could truly pay attention to the protest slogans or deeply understand how industry monopolies harm the underprivileged. This was the sad and ironic part of the situation. Life was already difficult for these workers, and they were exhausted, so they cared more about their immediate interests, which was more practical.
...
Lu Feng's business car stopped at the corner of the street. He sat inside smoking, squinting at the crowd of protesters quietly.
On the outside of the crowd, three men wearing police uniforms walked slowly to the side of the business car. The leader wore sunglasses and waved at Lu Feng through the car window.
These three men were from the Zhanan District Police Bureau and were sent over by the bureau to maintain order early in the morning.
The car window rolled down, and Lu Feng smiled and greeted the leader of the police: "Hey, Ermao, come on in, and let's talk."
"With the size of our Changqing company, how could we let the four small companies take over? What's going on, Brother Feng?" The leading police officer did not get into the car, but stood with his hands behind his back, asking with a smile.
"Just a bunch of peasants, smelly porters who jump on the bandwagon whenever there's a rumor. When someone leads, they blindly follow and stir up trouble, hehe." Lu Feng replied with disdain in his words. "I'm sorry for causing trouble for your Police Bureau."
"We're not troubled. Even if we're not working here, we still have to stay in the bureau."
"Come on, don't stand there. Come on in, and let's talk." Lu Feng opened the door of the business car.
"You two go back first, I'll talk to Brother Feng." The lead police officer instructed his colleagues behind him and bent down to get into the car.
"Brother, it's unfair to make you come all the way here just to maintain order." Lu Feng crossed his legs and looked at the police officer. "Tonight at eight o'clock, I'll have a table set up at the Jufu Restaurant with money and women. You bring your friends, and we'll have a gathering."
The police officer laughed when he heard this. "I didn't come to see you for that."
"Hey, friends are friends, and rules are rules. I can't just give you trouble for nothing." Lu Feng waved his hand. "You must come."
"Heh, okay." The police officer replied with satisfaction but also gave a reminder. "Brother Feng, let me give you a heads up. If the management can't handle the pressure, and there's no other way, then the police station and the chief of police will have to mediate. The higher-ups can't let them make trouble every day. You know what I mean?"
Lu Feng was taken aback for a moment. "Don't worry, the company will resolve this strike soon and won't trouble you for too long."
"Okay, then." The police officer nodded.
As the two were talking, the crowd outside the management office suddenly boiled up. Several leaders shouted at the top of their lungs, "Changqing Company illegally monopolizes the sanitation industry and exploits the working class. The management must give an explanation!"
"Give an explanation!"
"..."
The shouts echoed one after another. Lu Feng looked up and pointed to the crowd, asking the police officer, "Do you think these mud legs know what they're shouting about, or are they just following blindly?"
"They don't know anything, they're satisfied with earning thirty yuan a day." The police officer replied casually.
As he spoke, the burly man who had been sent down by Lu Feng earlier got into the passenger seat and nodded. "Brother Feng, I remember everything."
"Okay, let these fools make a scene. It won't be long now, heh." Lu Feng's words were full of contempt and disdain for the workers, which was strange when you considered that he himself was from humble origins. His starting point was not higher than these workers, so he should have resonated with them. But now, he looked down on them from the bottom of his heart.
Changqing Company would rather spend a lot of money to arrange judicial relations and management at the top, but would not be willing to give a single extra yuan to the workers at the bottom. This was reminiscent of the grassroots tycoons in the years before the New Era, who would rather pay to settle things than pay the wages owed to migrant workers.
So sometimes, discrimination among peers can be even more tragic.
Inside the Su family compound.
After finishing his lunch, Su Tianyu went to find Su Tiannan who was preparing to leave. "Brother, I have something to tell you," he said.
"What is it?" Su Tiannan asked.
"Didn't you meet with Wang Daolin from the Municipal Public Security Bureau before?" Su Tianyu asked.
"Yes, I gave him fifty thousand yuan to help with your second uncle's case," Su Tiannan nodded.
"Wang Daolin is the director of the Criminal Investigation Division, right?" Su Tianyu asked in detail.
"How did you know?" Su Tiannan was surprised.
"You mentioned him when you were chatting with him, and I asked Third Sister and looked up some information online," Su Tianyu replied softly. "Brother, if you have some free time these days, invite him out for a cup of tea, but don't mention Second Uncle's case."
"Why not?" Su Tiannan asked.
"...It won't be enough for Changqing Company to compromise if Second Uncle comes out. Eventually, we still need approval from the Public Security Bureau," Su Tianyu said with a clear mind. "It's always good to make more connections now."
Su Tiannan fell into deep thought.
"It's good to lay the groundwork now so that it will be easier to talk later," Su Tianyu suggested.
"Okay, I got it," Su Tiannan nodded heavily. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to the garbage dump," Su Tianyu replied truthfully.
"Be careful, Lu Feng suffered a loss and he won't give up easily." Su Tiannan reminded, "Bring some more family members with you."
"Okay, I got it."
"Mhm."
The two brothers finished their conversation and went their separate ways.
—---
In the afternoon, Su Tianyu walked around his own family's garbage dump, getting to know the operation process of the industry. He found that there was almost no threshold for this business, except for hard work, there was no other technical expertise required. From garbage collection to centralized sorting, and finally processing, eighty percent of the work relied on manual labor. It was not difficult to understand why the competition in this industry was so fierce, as the market size was fixed and there was no room for expansion except for mergers and acquisitions. Combined with the low threshold, the infighting within the industry was naturally severe.
In the evening, Su Tianbei, who was injured, returned with more than a hundred striking workers from the district, ready to have dinner inside the factory.
This strike not only had a fixed schedule, but also provided money and food, and even had cars picking up and dropping off workers. This management model could be considered a new benchmark for the "service industry".
In the office of the garbage dump, Su Tianyu was about to leave when his younger brother Tianbei pushed open the door and walked in, "Let's go, it's time for dinner."
"Okay, I'm hungry too." Su Tianyu greeted him with a smile and asked, "How was today?"
"We had more than four hundred people, shouted all day, and only saw a few small leaders from the Environmental Sanitation Bureau. We didn't even get to see the big shots." Su Tianbei replied softly, "More than ten people from the Public Security Bureau came and talked to us several times. Damn it, all their words were threats."
"Hehe." Su Tianyu smiled and remained silent.
"Little Yu, will our efforts really work?" Su Tianbei asked softly, "Not only do we have to give out more strike allowances, but we also have to provide food and arrange transportation. The daily expenses are quite high. I'm afraid our family's money will be drained, and in the end, we'll have achieved nothing but trouble."
"You're anxious, but the management, public security bureau, and Changqing Company are more anxious than you!" Su Tianyu replied with a smile, "Believe me, there will be results within a few days. Let's go, time for dinner."
"Okay, let's go!"
The two of them walked and chatted, leaving the main building and heading to the cafeteria downstairs. Su Tianyu looked at the full and crowded tables inside and outside the building, smiling and saying, "It's quite lively here."
"We don't usually have this many people eating together. There's no space to sit in the cafeteria. Let's go to the small kitchen in the cabin." Su Tianbei led his younger brother to enter the kitchen through a side door.
"Bang!"
Su Tianyu was about to step into the door when he was suddenly bounced back.
At the entrance to the small kitchen, a tall and muscular young man over 1.9 meters in height with a good-natured voice and stuttered speech said, "Who...who is it? Who hit my crotch?"
Su Tianyu took two steps back after being bumped, looking up to see the dark-skinned and oily-haired young man dressed in a dirty blue work uniform, looking very sloppy. "Sorry, bro!"
"You...you need to watch where you're going. I almost hit you on the head with this bowl of food." Black Iron Tower replied with a simple-minded expression.
"The lighting inside is dim, and I didn't see you. Come on, you go first." Su Tianyu stepped aside.
"I'm delivering food." Black Iron Tower carried a large bowl of food and continued walking outside.
At this moment, Sanjie, who was preparing food inside the house, suddenly shouted, "Daxiong, come to the small kitchen later and eat. We have a lot of food here."
"Hey hey, okay, Sanjie!" Black Iron Tower walked away with a smile on his face, carrying the food and heading towards the worker's area outside to prepare the meal.
Su Tianyu found this person's speech a bit strange and his appearance too eye-catching, and immediately asked Tianbei, "Who is he?"
"Wu Shixiong, a worker in our family."
"I think he's a bit...?"
"Yeah, he has innate intellectual disabilities, his mind is not very...bright." Su Tianbei casually replied.
"...How can we use someone like him? What if something goes wrong?"
"What could go wrong? In this line of work, you can't expect to hire college students, can you? As long as they have hands and feet to do the job, it's good enough."
The two of them chatted as they walked into the cafeteria's kitchen.
In the evening, after the Su family finished their meal, most of the workers dispersed. Su Tianbei shouted to the remaining workers, "Is anyone willing to stay overnight for thirty yuan?"
Black Iron Tower was the first to raise his hand and said, "I am willing!"
------
And so, two days passed, and the strike continued. However, the upper management of Changqing Company and the Management Committee still had not come up with a solution or a clear attitude toward the matter.
In the Kong family in Zhanan, a man in his thirties sat on the sofa and asked Kong Zhenghui, "Will Su's approach be effective?"
"It will definitely be!" Kong Zhenghui replied confidently, standing with his hands behind his back. "You just need to continue to contact the media in the city."
"Why do I feel that you are even more confident than the Su family?" the man asked.
"The new kid that Su family brought in is quite interesting. He stabbed Lu Feng with a knife, but he also brought our four families together," Kong Zhenghui said casually. "It's a good thing."
"I went to the protest site these past few days, and I found that Su family cares a lot about their workers. They not only provide food but also transportation. Should we do the same?" the man asked.
Kong Zhenghui frowned. "No need."
"Alright!" the man nodded.
------
On Saturday, around 5 pm in the evening, the workers protesting in front of the Management Committee had gradually dispersed, and Su Tianbei had already taken his workers back to the factory.
"Squeak!"
Lu Feng's commercial car stopped in an alley. He turned his head and looked at five men in floral shirts. "Go ahead. After you finish, I'll take you to the New World and treat you to a feast."
"What could go wrong? In this line of work, you can't expect to hire college students, can you? As long as they have hands and feet to do the job, it's good enough."
The two of them chatted as they walked into the cafeteria's kitchen.
In the evening, after the Su family finished their meal, most of the workers dispersed. Su Tianbei shouted to the remaining workers, "Is anyone willing to stay overnight for thirty yuan?"
Black Iron Tower was the first to raise his hand and said, "I am willing!"
------
And so, two days passed, and the strike continued. However, the upper management of Changqing Company and the Management Committee still had not come up with a solution or a clear attitude toward the matter.
In the Kong family in Zhanan, a man in his thirties sat on the sofa and asked Kong Zhenghui, "Will Su's approach be effective?"
"It will definitely be!" Kong Zhenghui replied confidently, standing with his hands behind his back. "You just need to continue to contact the media in the city."
"Why do I feel that you are even more confident than the Su family?" the man asked.
"The new kid that Su family brought in is quite interesting. He stabbed Lu Feng with a knife, but he also brought our four families together," Kong Zhenghui said casually. "It's a good thing."
"I went to the protest site these past few days, and I found that Su family cares a lot about their workers. They not only provide food but also transportation. Should we do the same?" the man asked.
Kong Zhenghui frowned. "No need."
"Alright!" the man nodded.
------
On Saturday, around 5 pm in the evening, the workers protesting in front of the Management Committee had gradually dispersed, and Su Tianbei had already taken his workers back to the factory.
"Squeak!"
Lu Feng's commercial car stopped in an alley. He turned his head and looked at five men in floral shirts. "Go ahead. After you finish, I'll take you to the City of Dreams and treat you to a feast."
Chapter 10 Black Iron Tower
Outside the entrance of the Sanitation Management Department in the Zhanan district, a crowd of protesters irregularly stood on both sides of the road. Some gathered together to smoke and chat, while others sat inside company cars eating boxed meals provided by the organizers. Some protesters even threw their protest banners on the ground and gathered in small groups to play cards.
Overall, the strike appeared to be lively, but upon closer inspection, it was easy to see that these were just a group of people without a clear direction.
Of the more than 400 workers who showed up, either they were the leaders who had absolute interests with the four companies of Su, Liu, Bai, and Kong, or they were ordinary workers who came to earn the generous stoppage subsidies provided by the companies. Either way, the fundamental reason they came together was the same: for their own benefit.
Looking around, there were very few workers who could truly pay attention to the protest slogans or deeply understand how industry monopolies harm the underprivileged. This was the sad and ironic part of the situation. Life was already difficult for these workers, and they were exhausted, so they cared more about their immediate interests, which was more practical.
...
Lu Feng's business car stopped at the corner of the street. He sat inside smoking, squinting at the crowd of protesters quietly.
On the outside of the crowd, three men wearing police uniforms walked slowly to the side of the business car. The leader wore sunglasses and waved at Lu Feng through the car window.
These three men were from the Zhanan District Police Bureau and were sent over by the bureau to maintain order early in the morning.
The car window rolled down, and Lu Feng smiled and greeted the leader of the police: "Hey, Ermao, come on in, and let's talk."
"With the size of our Changqing company, how could we let the four small companies take over? What's going on, Brother Feng?" The leading police officer did not get into the car, but stood with his hands behind his back, asking with a smile.
"Just a bunch of peasants, smelly porters who jump on the bandwagon whenever there's a rumor. When someone leads, they blindly follow and stir up trouble, hehe." Lu Feng replied with disdain in his words. "I'm sorry for causing trouble for your Police Bureau."
"We're not troubled. Even if we're not working here, we still have to stay in the bureau."
"Come on, don't stand there. Come on in, and let's talk." Lu Feng opened the door of the business car.
"You two go back first, I'll talk to Brother Feng." The lead police officer instructed his colleagues behind him and bent down to get into the car.
"Brother, it's unfair to make you come all the way here just to maintain order." Lu Feng crossed his legs and looked at the police officer. "Tonight at eight o'clock, I'll have a table set up at the Jufu Restaurant with money and women. You bring your friends, and we'll have a gathering."
The police officer laughed when he heard this. "I didn't come to see you for that."
"Hey, friends are friends, and rules are rules. I can't just give you trouble for nothing." Lu Feng waved his hand. "You must come."
"Heh, okay." The police officer replied with satisfaction but also gave a reminder. "Brother Feng, let me give you a heads up. If the management can't handle the pressure, and there's no other way, then the police station and the chief of police will have to mediate. The higher-ups can't let them make trouble every day. You know what I mean?"
Lu Feng was taken aback for a moment. "Don't worry, the company will resolve this strike soon and won't trouble you for too long."
"Okay, then." The police officer nodded.
As the two were talking, the crowd outside the management office suddenly boiled up. Several leaders shouted at the top of their lungs, "Changqing Company illegally monopolizes the sanitation industry and exploits the working class. The management must give an explanation!"
"Give an explanation!"
"..."
The shouts echoed one after another. Lu Feng looked up and pointed to the crowd, asking the police officer, "Do you think these mud legs know what they're shouting about, or are they just following blindly?"
"They don't know anything, they're satisfied with earning thirty yuan a day." The police officer replied casually.
As he spoke, the burly man who had been sent down by Lu Feng earlier got into the passenger seat and nodded. "Brother Feng, I remember everything."
"Okay, let these fools make a scene. It won't be long now, heh." Lu Feng's words were full of contempt and disdain for the workers, which was strange when you considered that he himself was from humble origins. His starting point was not higher than these workers, so he should have resonated with them. But now, he looked down on them from the bottom of his heart.
Changqing Company would rather spend a lot of money to arrange judicial relations and management at the top, but would not be willing to give a single extra yuan to the workers at the bottom. This was reminiscent of the grassroots tycoons in the years before the New Era, who would rather pay to settle things than pay the wages owed to migrant workers.
So sometimes, discrimination among peers can be even more tragic.
Inside the Su family compound.
After finishing his lunch, Su Tianyu went to find Su Tiannan who was preparing to leave. "Brother, I have something to tell you," he said.
"What is it?" Su Tiannan asked.
"Didn't you meet with Wang Daolin from the Municipal Public Security Bureau before?" Su Tianyu asked.
"Yes, I gave him fifty thousand yuan to help with your second uncle's case," Su Tiannan nodded.
"Wang Daolin is the director of the Criminal Investigation Division, right?" Su Tianyu asked in detail.
"How did you know?" Su Tiannan was surprised.
"You mentioned him when you were chatting with him, and I asked Third Sister and looked up some information online," Su Tianyu replied softly. "Brother, if you have some free time these days, invite him out for a cup of tea, but don't mention Second Uncle's case."
"Why not?" Su Tiannan asked.
"...It won't be enough for Changqing Company to compromise if Second Uncle comes out. Eventually, we still need approval from the Public Security Bureau," Su Tianyu said with a clear mind. "It's always good to make more connections now."
Su Tiannan fell into deep thought.
"It's good to lay the groundwork now so that it will be easier to talk later," Su Tianyu suggested.
"Okay, I got it," Su Tiannan nodded heavily. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to the garbage dump," Su Tianyu replied truthfully.
"Be careful, Lu Feng suffered a loss and he won't give up easily." Su Tiannan reminded, "Bring some more family members with you."
"Okay, I got it."
"Mhm."
The two brothers finished their conversation and went their separate ways.
—---
In the afternoon, Su Tianyu walked around his own family's garbage dump, getting to know the operation process of the industry. He found that there was almost no threshold for this business, except for hard work, there was no other technical expertise required. From garbage collection to centralized sorting, and finally processing, eighty percent of the work relied on manual labor. It was not difficult to understand why the competition in this industry was so fierce, as the market size was fixed and there was no room for expansion except for mergers and acquisitions. Combined with the low threshold, the infighting within the industry was naturally severe.
In the evening, Su Tianbei, who was injured, returned with more than a hundred striking workers from the district, ready to have dinner inside the factory.
This strike not only had a fixed schedule, but also provided money and food, and even had cars picking up and dropping off workers. This management model could be considered a new benchmark for the "service industry".
In the office of the garbage dump, Su Tianyu was about to leave when his younger brother Tianbei pushed open the door and walked in, "Let's go, it's time for dinner."
"Okay, I'm hungry too." Su Tianyu greeted him with a smile and asked, "How was today?"
"We had more than four hundred people, shouted all day, and only saw a few small leaders from the Environmental Sanitation Bureau. We didn't even get to see the big shots." Su Tianbei replied softly, "More than ten people from the Public Security Bureau came and talked to us several times. Damn it, all their words were threats."
"Hehe." Su Tianyu smiled and remained silent.
"Little Yu, will our efforts really work?" Su Tianbei asked softly, "Not only do we have to give out more strike allowances, but we also have to provide food and arrange transportation. The daily expenses are quite high. I'm afraid our family's money will be drained, and in the end, we'll have achieved nothing but trouble."
"You're anxious, but the management, public security bureau, and Changqing Company are more anxious than you!" Su Tianyu replied with a smile, "Believe me, there will be results within a few days. Let's go, time for dinner."
"Okay, let's go!"
The two of them walked and chatted, leaving the main building and heading to the cafeteria downstairs. Su Tianyu looked at the full and crowded tables inside and outside the building, smiling and saying, "It's quite lively here."
"We don't usually have this many people eating together. There's no space to sit in the cafeteria. Let's go to the small kitchen in the cabin." Su Tianbei led his younger brother to enter the kitchen through a side door.
"Bang!"
Su Tianyu was about to step into the door when he was suddenly bounced back.
At the entrance to the small kitchen, a tall and muscular young man over 1.9 meters in height with a good-natured voice and stuttered speech said, "Who...who is it? Who hit my crotch?"
Su Tianyu took two steps back after being bumped, looking up to see the dark-skinned and oily-haired young man dressed in a dirty blue work uniform, looking very sloppy. "Sorry, bro!"
"You...you need to watch where you're going. I almost hit you on the head with this bowl of food." Black Iron Tower replied with a simple-minded expression.
"The lighting inside is dim, and I didn't see you. Come on, you go first." Su Tianyu stepped aside.
"I'm delivering food." Black Iron Tower carried a large bowl of food and continued walking outside.
At this moment, Sanjie, who was preparing food inside the house, suddenly shouted, "Daxiong, come to the small kitchen later and eat. We have a lot of food here."
"Hey hey, okay, Sanjie!" Black Iron Tower walked away with a smile on his face, carrying the food and heading towards the worker's area outside to prepare the meal.
Su Tianyu found this person's speech a bit strange and his appearance too eye-catching, and immediately asked Tianbei, "Who is he?"
"Wu Shixiong, a worker in our family."
"I think he's a bit...?"
"Yeah, he has innate intellectual disabilities, his mind is not very...bright." Su Tianbei casually replied.
"...How can we use someone like him? What if something goes wrong?"
"What could go wrong? In this line of work, you can't expect to hire college students, can you? As long as they have hands and feet to do the job, it's good enough."
The two of them chatted as they walked into the cafeteria's kitchen.
In the evening, after the Su family finished their meal, most of the workers dispersed. Su Tianbei shouted to the remaining workers, "Is anyone willing to stay overnight for thirty yuan?"
Black Iron Tower was the first to raise his hand and said, "I am willing!"
------
And so, two days passed, and the strike continued. However, the upper management of Changqing Company and the Management Committee still had not come up with a solution or a clear attitude toward the matter.
In the Kong family in Zhanan, a man in his thirties sat on the sofa and asked Kong Zhenghui, "Will Su's approach be effective?"
"It will definitely be!" Kong Zhenghui replied confidently, standing with his hands behind his back. "You just need to continue to contact the media in the city."
"Why do I feel that you are even more confident than the Su family?" the man asked.
"The new kid that Su family brought in is quite interesting. He stabbed Lu Feng with a knife, but he also brought our four families together," Kong Zhenghui said casually. "It's a good thing."
"I went to the protest site these past few days, and I found that Su family cares a lot about their workers. They not only provide food but also transportation. Should we do the same?" the man asked.
Kong Zhenghui frowned. "No need."
"Alright!" the man nodded.
------
On Saturday, around 5 pm in the evening, the workers protesting in front of the Management Committee had gradually dispersed, and Su Tianbei had already taken his workers back to the factory.
"Squeak!"
Lu Feng's commercial car stopped in an alley. He turned his head and looked at five men in floral shirts. "Go ahead. After you finish, I'll take you to the New World and treat you to a feast."
"What could go wrong? In this line of work, you can't expect to hire college students, can you? As long as they have hands and feet to do the job, it's good enough."
The two of them chatted as they walked into the cafeteria's kitchen.
In the evening, after the Su family finished their meal, most of the workers dispersed. Su Tianbei shouted to the remaining workers, "Is anyone willing to stay overnight for thirty yuan?"
Black Iron Tower was the first to raise his hand and said, "I am willing!"
------
And so, two days passed, and the strike continued. However, the upper management of Changqing Company and the Management Committee still had not come up with a solution or a clear attitude toward the matter.
In the Kong family in Zhanan, a man in his thirties sat on the sofa and asked Kong Zhenghui, "Will Su's approach be effective?"
"It will definitely be!" Kong Zhenghui replied confidently, standing with his hands behind his back. "You just need to continue to contact the media in the city."
"Why do I feel that you are even more confident than the Su family?" the man asked.
"The new kid that Su family brought in is quite interesting. He stabbed Lu Feng with a knife, but he also brought our four families together," Kong Zhenghui said casually. "It's a good thing."
"I went to the protest site these past few days, and I found that Su family cares a lot about their workers. They not only provide food but also transportation. Should we do the same?" the man asked.
Kong Zhenghui frowned. "No need."
"Alright!" the man nodded.
------
On Saturday, around 5 pm in the evening, the workers protesting in front of the Management Committee had gradually dispersed, and Su Tianbei had already taken his workers back to the factory.
"Squeak!"
Lu Feng's commercial car stopped in an alley. He turned his head and looked at five men in floral shirts. "Go ahead. After you finish, I'll take you to the City of Dreams and treat you to a feast."
