Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Friend or Foe, Choose

2:00 PM.

The Third District Government Office, Public Affairs Hall.

The Public Affairs Hall was solemn and dignified. All the tables and chairs were crafted from high-quality mahogany, and the floor was covered with exquisite animal-hide rugs.

Directly above the high platform, the dragon flag of the Daqian Dynasty was firmly affixed to the wall.

On the flag, a crimson, five-clawed true dragon bared its fangs and brandished its claws, so lifelike its scarlet eyes seemed poised to spring to life.

Hai Tie entered the hall with a grim expression, his secretary close behind him.

Beside him were other factory directors, dressed in Sun Yat-sen suits, Tang suits, and various other forms of luxurious, ornate clothing.

These factory directors, much like Hai Tie, were also followed by numerous attendants, but every one of them wore a foul expression, as if their parents had just died.

Hai Tie and the crowd of factory directors took their seats.

They occupied the second and third rows. These two rows were almost completely full, holding eighteen people in total.

Then, the second group of factory directors entered.

This group was dressed more plainly, many of them in work clothes identical to their laborers’. They were also much more numerous, filling all of the next six rows—a vast assembly of nearly a hundred people.

"Greetings, Boss Hai!" A fidgety factory director beside Hai Tie muttered quietly. He glanced at the Ancient Relic List in his hand, then pulled out a small cloth to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead. "Um, when is this meeting going to start?"

"They said two-thirty! It should be soon..." Hai Tie replied. After a brief pause, he exchanged a few more stiff words with the factory director beside him, but it was more like awkward small talk.

Eventually, they both fell silent and continued to sit.

Hai Tie had never felt time pass so slowly, yet also so quickly...

Finally, he heard a series of rustles from the back rows as people stood up.

Hai Tie’s heart seized. He whipped his head around and saw him—the young man walking into the conference room shoulder-to-shoulder with the District Governor, a youth who looked not yet twenty, the last traces of boyhood still visible on his face.

"Mr. Zhu! Sun District Governor."

"Mr. Zhu, you look as distinguished as ever."

"Sun District Governor, hello! And Your Excellency, the General Director."

The factory directors in work clothes, occupying the rearmost rows, were mostly small-time operators. Many of them employed fewer than twenty people.

In truth, the total number of such micro-factory directors was far greater than those present; these particular individuals had simply been chosen and granted the right to attend.

And the reason these hundred-odd people had been selected was often because they knew Chu Bamboo personally—

Indeed, a large portion of them even came from the shantytown redevelopment districts!

Their small factories had been established within the last five years.

It could even be said that their factories owed their existence to the union’s reforms in the shantytown districts—the support policy for individual skilled workers, decreed by Chu Bamboo and implemented by Zhou Ze.

Therefore, they naturally held Chu Bamboo in high esteem.

Some, who were less politically astute, even greeted Chu Bamboo before acknowledging the District Governor.

Standing a little ways back, Li Kang watched this, silent for a long moment, before slapping a hand to his own forehead, unsure what kind of expression to wear.

He laughed bitterly to himself. ’Isn’t this a slap in the face to the District Governor?’

’No...’

’They’ve all become factory directors, even if they’re on the smaller side. Do they really lack this little bit of sense?’

Glancing at Sun Zheng, whose expression was as normal as ever as if he didn’t care in the slightest, Li Kang sighed inwardly. ’Looks like I’ll have to get drinks with Lao Sun today or tomorrow,’ he thought, ’and while I’m at it, I’ll have to casually bring up the connection between Ah Zhu and Governor Lu again...’

’I know Lao Sun too well! Just because he looks like that on the surface doesn’t mean it’s what he’s really thinking...’

"Hahaha, General Director! Please..." Sun Zheng said, beaming, as he gestured toward the center seat on the high platform. "Today, the stage is yours! We are merely here to coordinate as you handle matters. We couldn’t possibly take the seat of honor."

"Then I won’t refuse," Chu Bamboo said. He met Sun Zheng’s gaze for a long moment, then nodded. Without any further pleasantries, he went straight to the seat and sat down.

Sun Zheng smiled and took the seat to Chu Bamboo’s left.

From the high platform, one could look down upon the dense sea of factory directors below.

The major factory directors in their lavish clothes in the front two rows and the minor factory directors in their work clothes in the back formed two distinct, orderly blocs.

"Gentlemen! With the exception of the newcomers in the back, it seems this isn’t the first time we’ve met!" Chu Bamboo began directly, his voice calm and composed. "Well, of course..."

"...for us to hold a meeting like this, in such a large conference hall, under the official witness of the government... this does seem to be a first."

Hai Tie’s face darkened, but inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief.

’While seeing this Living Yama was certainly unpleasant, this time, with the government as a witness... surely the Living Yama can’t pull the same kinds of stunts he did five years ago?!’

"And now..." Chu Bamboo pulled out a speech from behind him, glanced at it, and chuckled. "A friend of mine prepared this for me, but..."

Chu Bamboo promptly tore it to shreds and scattered the pieces on the tabletop.

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Sun Zheng narrowed his eyes, though his expression remained a beaming smile.

Meanwhile, Ning Linglong, sitting in the last row, was reeling.

’Seriously? That was the product of my painstaking labor!’

’It took me a full two hours to write that two-thousand-word speech! I even skipped my lunch break for it!’

’And you just ripped it up like that?’

’In front of everyone, no less!’

’Unforgivable. Absolutely unforgivable!’

"Let’s be frank, gentlemen!" Chu Bamboo leaned back in his chair, crossed his hands, and swept his sharp gaze over the major factory directors in the front rows.

"For the micro-factories employing fewer than twenty people, I won’t be targeting you!"

The crowd in the back rows let out a collective sigh of relief. Of course, out of their admiration for Chu Bamboo, even if Mr. Zhu had really asked them to bleed... as long as it wasn’t beyond their means, they would have gritted their teeth and accepted it!

"As for those employing between twenty and one thousand people, if your annual worker mortality rate is two percent or higher, you will go back and issue an additional two months’ wages to your factory workers, designated as a bonus!"

A stir went through the factory directors in the middle rows. They whispered among themselves, clearly displeased.

However, Chu Bamboo ignored them completely.

"Those employing over one thousand people," Chu Bamboo paused, "you have two choices. Either establish a disability security compensation system, or go back and issue an extra six months’ salary as a bonus."

The hearts of the major factory directors in the front rows tightened. ’The bonus difference between us and the medium-sized factories is so huge... This means Chu Bamboo hasn’t given us any real choice at all—’

’He’s forcing us to pick the first option!’

"Agree or disagree. Make your choice!"

Chu Bamboo’s tone was very calm, but in the ears of the major factory directors, his words seemed to transform into—

"Friend or foe. Choose!"

This time, Chu Bamboo only planned to move against the major factory directors. It wasn’t that the medium-sized factories were strictly enforcing disability policies—the issue was that if all the major factory directors implemented the system, they would certainly pressure the medium-sized factories to do the same.

How could they possibly accept taking that loss all on their own?

In one aspect alone, Chu Bamboo had absolute faith in the major factory directors: their domineering nature.

Let the major factory directors handle the small and medium ones; he only needed to handle the major ones!

Sun Zheng almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

’Seriously, who does things this way?!’

Sun Zheng struggled with all his might to maintain his calm expression. He honestly wanted to start cursing—

’What you’re doing is blatant coercion!’

’It’ll be a cold day in hell before this lawless bunch of factory directors agrees to this.’