Chapter 555: Witness a Miracle!
Wherever the Volga sedan passed, all the workers instinctively stepped aside.
Although everyone wanted to drag Li Yi—the “culprit”—out of the car and beat him senseless, the sight of the young man with a gun by his side made them quietly abandon those thoughts.
Once Li Yi’s car entered the factory grounds, the organizers stood there, unsure of what to do.
After a long while, one of them couldn’t help but speak up: “What should we do now? Should we keep heading into the city, or go back to the factory and talk to that bastard?”
“What’s there to talk about? If that bastard had any real ability, he wouldn’t have ruined our factory into this mess!”
“But the problem is, if we don’t talk to him, taking this to the city authorities might not solve anything either!”
“That’s true. My brother-in-law works at the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Plant—they haven’t been paid in six months. The workers there go to the city to complain every other day, but it doesn’t help. I’m afraid we’re in the same boat…”
“So what the hell are we supposed to do? We can’t just stand here like idiots…”
Just then, a man in his forties spoke up loudly: “Our main goal is to get paid so we can eat. Since this Mr. Li says he’s here to resolve our wage issues, we might as well hear what he has to say!”
“If he tries to pull the wool over our eyes, we can always go to the city later. Don’t you agree?”
“Old Hong’s right. Let’s just hear what he has to say!”
“It’s already been dragging on for so long—waiting another day or two won’t hurt!”
“Right, let’s talk to this Mr. Li and see what he’s got to say…”
Most ordinary people tend to follow the crowd. Hearing everyone else say this, the others naturally had nothing more to add.
Soon after, the large group immediately turned around and headed back to the factory.
As for Li Yi, once he entered the factory grounds, he headed straight for the administrative office building.
When he arrived at the office building, he saw the entrance in shambles: the building’s massive wooden doors had collapsed, shattered glass littered the floor, and some shards were still stained with blood.
Although there wasn’t much, it was clear that a struggle had definitely taken place here.
Upon entering the building, he saw no one—not even the security personnel who should have been stationed on the first floor.
It wasn’t until he reached the second floor that Li Yi spotted several factory executives standing nervously at the stairwell entrance; clearly, they had seen him coming.
Li Yi looked at these factory executives, who were as skittish as startled birds, and was momentarily at a loss for words.
“Where’s Director Jiang?”
Deputy Director Zhou Xueping hurriedly replied, “Director Jiang was injured by those workers and has already been taken to the hospital!”
“Is he seriously injured?”
“Not very serious!”
Li Yi took a deep breath and said, “Deputy Director Zhou, barring any surprises, the workers will be back shortly. Take them to the auditorium and tell them I’ll be there in a moment!”
Upon hearing Li Yi’s order, Zhou Xueping’s throat involuntarily tightened.
Thinking of how the factory director had been beaten up, he was genuinely afraid that the workers might take their anger out on him too.
“What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go!”
“O-okay…”
After Deputy Plant Manager Zhou turned and left, Li Yi immediately addressed the remaining seven or eight plant executives: “The rest of you, follow me to the small conference room. We’ll have a quick meeting!”
“Yes…”
………
Yanjing Television Factory. Grand Auditorium!
As the venue for the factory’s group events, whenever the employees gathered here, it meant something big was happening.
Today was no exception!
When the factory workers returned to the plant, they were stopped at the entrance by Deputy Plant Manager Zhou, who told them that a certain Mr. Li, sent from higher-ups, had asked them to go to the Grand Auditorium.
So, hundreds of employees rushed over here all at once.
But after waiting here for nearly half an hour without seeing Li Yi, they began to grow restless.
Just as the workers were about to lose their patience, a thudding sound of footsteps echoed from outside the auditorium.
Everyone immediately looked toward the entrance and saw Li Yi leading the way, accompanied by several factory executives who hadn’t been beaten, striding in.
Seeing that they had actually entered through the main entrance, everyone was somewhat surprised.
After all, these executives usually entered through the back door to attend meetings, as that entrance led directly to the front of the podium.
Although the main entrance was large, it was intended for ordinary workers.
Contrary to everyone’s expectations, Li Yi did not walk up to the podium to take his seat. Instead, he and all the factory executives stood below the stage, facing the more than 900 employees of the entire factory.
Seeing the factory leaders lined up in a row below the stage was a novel sight for the workers. The noise in the auditorium gradually subsided until it fell completely silent.
Li Yi took a step forward and said loudly, “I just held a brief meeting with the factory leadership and have gained a preliminary understanding of our factory’s situation. I deeply apologize for the factory’s failure to pay your wages…”
Before he could finish, someone shouted, “What good is an apology? We want our wages—we need to eat!”
“That’s right, we want our wages! We need to eat!”
“We want our wages…”
Li Yi shouted, “Quiet, everyone! If you keep making all this noise, we won’t be able to have a discussion!”
His words had the desired effect, and the room quickly fell silent again.
“I told you I came here to resolve your issues. Now let me outline the solution: I’ll contact the district government as soon as possible to help settle part of your wage arrears. We should be able to issue one month’s wages to everyone as an emergency measure!”
Li Yi continued, “At the same time, I promise to settle the remaining two months’ wages by the end of October.”
“What if you can’t deliver?” someone shouted.
“If I fail to deliver, the authorities will deal with me—that’s not your concern!”
Li Yi then shifted his tone and added, “I will take care of the wage issue—that is my responsibility. As employees of the TV factory, you must also fulfill your own responsibilities.”
“Starting now, everyone is to return to their workstations immediately. Workshop supervisors must ensure production in their respective workshops. If any workshop fails to meet its quota, the supervisor and all team leaders will be fired.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than another voice piped up: “We already have tens of thousands of unsold TVs piling up at our factory. Why do we need to keep producing more?”
Li Yi replied in a stern voice, “I won’t explain this to you now, but you can go and ask around about the Second State-Owned Cotton Mill and the Third Municipal Candy Factory.”
“It took me two months to turn State Cotton Mill No. 2 from a loss into a profit, and three months to revive the Municipal Third Candy Factory. The Yanjing TV Factory is the third factory I’ve taken over. Next, I’ll spend one month leading you to witness a miracle. Dismissed!”
After speaking, Li Yi led Comrade “Bandit” straight out of the auditorium, once again leaving the nine hundred-plus employees staring at one another in disbelief.
However, the scene at the entrance this time was completely different.
Within just a few minutes, the workers in the auditorium erupted into a frenzy of commotion.
“Did I hear that right? Did that guy just mention the Second State-Owned Cotton Mill and the Third Candy Factory?”
“That Li guy said he saved the Second State Cotton Mill and the Candy Factory. Is that even possible?”
“If that’s true, our factory is going to hit the jackpot. My second cousin’s sister-in-law… works at the Second State-Owned Cotton Mill. I heard that on top of their regular wages, they earn an extra 20 yuan just in overtime pay every month…”
“Is that for real…”
If you had to name the most talked-about enterprises in the capital over the past year and a half, it would have to be the Second National Cotton Mill, followed by the rising star, the Third Candy Factory.
Just last year, both of these factories were barely hanging on.
But suddenly, they’ve come back to life as if injected with adrenaline, charging ahead at full speed and leaving countless people speechless.
This is especially true of State Cotton Mill No. 2. Not long ago, it looked like the factory was on the verge of collapse, but now it has been the district’s most profitable enterprise for several months in a row—bar none.
If Li Yi really is the one guiding these two factories from behind the scenes, then perhaps their Yanjing TV Factory could pull off a miracle as well.
For a moment, the factory workers’ spirits soared like a roller coaster, climbing all the way from rock bottom…
……..