The next morning!
Li Yi got up early in the morning and, accompanied by Zhang Ziqiang, Zhou Wen, Li Yunbao, Zhou Xinghua, and others, traveled from London to the industrial city of Sheffield.
Starting today, they would officially take over this steel company!
Although they hadn’t received a definitive answer from Sandy, revitalizing Sheffield Steel had become the most pressing matter at hand.
After all, to secure this company, Li Yi had not only poured in all the profits from this investment but had even invested most of his principal capital.
They arrived with 3.5 billion pounds, but now have just over 400 million left—a situation that is somewhat embarrassing.
If the company can bounce back, he’ll naturally make a fortune—after all, a major enterprise like this, regardless of who owns it, serves as a cornerstone of a family’s legacy.
But if it fails, the consequences would be severe.
It’s important to note that the investment in Sheffield Steel had nothing to do with Li Futao, He Dongying, or others—it was entirely Li Yi’s idea.
If they lose money, he’ll have to cover the losses out of his own pocket.
So, after Henry and his son left, Li Yi began discussing the revival of Sheffield Steel with his team.
After some deliberation, they decided to take over the company first; as for the rest, it wouldn’t hurt to address it later.
The distance from London to Sheffield is about 160 miles—that’s over 250 kilometers!
That distance isn’t exactly far, but it’s not exactly close either. They had assumed that with the infrastructure of a developed country, it wouldn’t take long to get there.
But in reality, it took them over seven hours to cover those 200-plus kilometers.
This result left Li Yi utterly speechless. After all, the 300-plus-kilometer journey from Beijing to his hometown of Nianzishan Village in Qingshan County took less than six hours.
That the infrastructure of the so-called “Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets” was so underdeveloped was downright mind-boggling.
But in any case, by a little past 3:00 p.m., they finally arrived at the main gate of the Sheffield Steelworks.
As soon as they arrived, they saw the company grounds swarming with grimy miners. Though they couldn’t count them all, at a glance there were easily a thousand or two—maybe even more.
Most of them were dressed in work uniforms, but their faces looked gaunt. They were holding either flags or banners, blocking the entrance with unclear intentions!
Seeing the miners’ demeanor, Li Yi knew they meant trouble.
It was highly likely that they had gathered at the entrance to intimidate him, and they might even have received instructions from certain individuals.
After all, the news of his visit today had not been made public; he had only confirmed his itinerary by phone with a few people left behind at the company.
Yet these miners had managed to block him at the entrance with such precision—the implications of this were rather intriguing.
Seeing this, Li Yi immediately opened the door to get out of the car, but was stopped by Zhang Ziqiang.
“Brother Yi, why don’t you stay in the car for a moment? Mr. Yunbao and I will go check out the situation first!”
As a bodyguard, he was responsible for Li Yi’s safety.
With so many people gathered at the entrance, Li Yi’s sensitive status, and the fact that they had already offended the local powerbrokers, the Sha Xuan family, Zhang Ziqiang was deeply concerned that someone might be hiding in the crowd to ambush him.
However, Li Yi replied calmly, “It’s fine. If they wanted to use extreme measures to silence me, they would have acted on the way here, not waited until now in front of so many people!”
“But…”
“There’s no ‘but’ about it. Whether it’s the Sassoon family or the local government, neither of them dares let me die here—the cost would be too high!”
With that, Li Yi smoothed out his clothes and strode down from the car.
Seeing this, the others also got out of the car and followed him.
Across the way, the miners saw a dozen or so Asian men getting out of the car and immediately realized the new boss had arrived.
Rumors of a change in ownership had been circulating for the past couple of days, and with the new boss reportedly being Asian, many found it hard to accept, while even more felt panic and anxiety.
What if the new boss was just as greedy as the previous one? Would they all be kicked out on the spot?
Stepping before the crowd, Li Yi spoke loudly: “First, let me introduce myself. My name is Li Yi, and I come from a beautiful and mysterious Eastern nation. As of the day before yesterday, I am your new boss!”
“If you’re all here specifically to welcome me, I’m delighted. If you’re here to discuss business, that’s fine too—but please select a representative. Otherwise, I can’t speak to this many people at once!”
A buzz went through the crowd!
At these words, a buzzing murmur instantly rose from the crowd, as if tens of thousands of ducks were quacking in unison.
After a long moment, four or five men and women stepped out of the crowd and approached Li Yi.
Then, a middle-aged miner in his forties spoke up: “Boss, my name is Daniel. I’m the workers’ representative. We’d like to talk to you about a pay raise!”
“Talking about wages is fine, but don’t you think this isn’t really the right time to discuss work?”
Li Yi then said with a smile, “I think we can go inside the company and talk in the conference room!”
“Boss, you’re not pulling our leg, are you? Are you really willing to negotiate with us?” Daniel said, sounding somewhat excited.
They had been fighting the company for a pay raise for nearly three months, but aside from a few people who spoke with them during the first few days, no one from the company had paid them any attention since.
In other words, their daily protests and even work stoppages hadn’t elicited a single official response from the company.
So the fact that Li Yi was offering them a chance to negotiate was already incredibly valuable.
“I’m not familiar with your situation, so it’s too early to say anything else. However, we share a common goal: to get the factory back up and running as soon as possible. As long as that’s the premise, I think we can sit down and talk, don’t you agree?”
In fact, Li Yi had already gained a general understanding of the situation before arriving. Ultimately, it was Sheffield Company that had acted unfairly.
Because steel prices were so depressed, steel companies were not only failing to turn a profit but were actually operating at a slight loss.
Consequently, while laying off staff, the company began finding ways to squeeze the workers—from extending working hours at the outset to later pay cuts. They tried every trick in the book, both overt and covert, in an attempt to force the workers to quit because they couldn’t take it anymore.
This pushed the miners, who were barely scraping by, to the breaking point. They organized and resorted to strikes and work stoppages, hoping Sheffield Company would improve their working conditions.
But to their surprise, the company’s top brass refused to budge. Not only did they refuse to negotiate, but they also cut off the workers’ already meager wages.
Meanwhile, prices here have been rising steadily, and these workers are on the brink of survival…
Just as Li Yi was speaking with the miners, in an office on the top floor of Sheffield Steel’s headquarters, two middle-aged men were watching the scene unfold with cold detachment.
After a long silence, one of the men suddenly spoke up: “Wood, do you think our new boss will be able to walk through the company’s front doors?”
“I doubt it. You know exactly what those workers want, and for them, today’s opportunity is incredibly rare. They probably won’t let those people in until they get what they want!” Wood said indifferently.
“Wood, what if he agrees to the workers’ demands?”
“That’s unlikely. The only people capable of defeating the Sassoon family are true business titans—none of them would make promises to these people without fully understanding the situation!”
“You’re right!”
But just then, the situation below at Banbanhaobang suddenly took a turn.
It was unclear how the two sides had communicated, but under the direction of the workers’ leaders, the miners at the company entrance actually stepped aside to clear a path, allowing the new boss and his entourage to enter.
Seeing this, the two men were taken aback!
Then Wood immediately said, “Ward, call Sandy right now and explain the situation. I’m going down to take a look!”
“Well, looks like we really underestimated this new boss!”
With that, the two went about their business!
Meanwhile, a harrowing incident unfolded on an international flight from London to New York…
……….