Xu Jinbo picked up his red wine glass, took a sip, and said, "When something goes wrong, you have to fix it. So many people have died. You can't possibly not want to compensate at all. Let's pay to avoid disaster."

"Sigh, Old Pang's accident has really messed me up." Yang Decheng was too lazy to talk about compensation anymore, and turned to him to ask, "Have you found out any news on your end? Do you know which side kidnapped him?"

"Haven't found out yet." Xu Jinbo shook his head. "Xiao Hu has already left the district and is investigating."

At this point, the two fell silent.

"Oh, right. I promised the Tongji Association that if they can settle the workers' side, you'll give them an extra two million as a red envelope, just to save face," Xu Jinbo instructed.

"They open fire and injure people in my company, and I still have to give them a red envelope? In your dreams!" Yang Decheng frowned and replied, "I won't give the association a single cent."

"Hehe." Xu Jinbo smiled. "Can you not make things difficult for me? If you're so tough, then you go talk to them. I don't want to deal with this matter anyway."

Hearing this, Yang Decheng picked up his wine glass, agitated. "Forty thousand per person, and that'll settle things, right?"

"More or less."

"Okay, I got it."

"Come on, have a drink." Xu Jinbo raised his glass. "Hey, it's just two million. Just keep two fewer young starlets, and you'll save it all, right?"

...

That night.

Su Tianyu and Su Tiannan met with Lu Feng's brother, Er Mao, in a car. They talked for a full two or three hours before dispersing.

The next day, a little after nine in the morning, the Tongji Association management held a meeting at the Yu family villa.

Su Tianyu sat on the sofa, interlocked his fingers, and said, "The amount of compensation Baolong Mining is willing to bear is very different from our expected amount. Since we can't reach an agreement, we have to make some noise."

Everyone nodded.

Su Tianyu turned to Zhou Tonghui and Da Bai, who had returned with him, and said, "You two contact the media and go to the homes of the deceased workers this afternoon to conduct interviews and truthfully record their living environment and poverty level. If we want to do this, we must further push the mine disaster into the public eye and cause a public opinion reaction."

"Okay!" Zhou Tonghui nodded.

Su Tianyu turned to Su Tiannan again. "Public opinion guidance is only part of the effort. The real thing that can affect the final result is our own strength. After lunch, you go find Er Mao and bring people together, according to last night's plan, to fight back."

"Alright!" Su Tiannan nodded.

After briefly explaining his thoughts, Su Tianyu looked down at his watch. "I have to report to the Coast Guard today, and Yuan Ge is going to the Environmental Sanitation Management Office to find old connections to prevent Baolong Company from using that angle to cause trouble for us afterward. So everyone, get to your positions and call to communicate if anything comes up."

Everyone stood up. Su Tianyu extended his palm and said concisely, "Our ultimate goal this time is to get compensation for the workers. But if things get going, we have even deeper demands. That is to take this opportunity to bring the Tongji Association into the public eye and complete our reputation accumulation. This fight won't produce results in a few days, but we must be united. In the end, whether Changqing Company can hold on or not, we have to fight to the end!"

"Let's do it!"

"Charge, dammit!"

"…!"

After a few people shouted like they were injected with chicken blood, they each left.

...

Around one thirty in the afternoon.

In the office compound of Changqing Company's Zhan Nan branch, a semi-trailer truck was parked, and a group of men dressed in black and wearing cloth shoes were pulling out knives, guns, and clubs from the truck bed.

"Move quickly. If they don't obey later, then we'll start fighting. We'll crush even the ants delivering the explosives in the mining area...!"

"Just take them down!"

"…!"

A group of rough men, holding knives, guns, and clubs, were full of vigor.

Er Mao, Lu Feng's right-hand man, walked out of the main building and shouted, "What are you doing?"

"Aren't we going to attack Baolong Mining?" the leader replied.

Er Mao went up and slapped him. "Attack my ass! We are a legal association, a legal company. We have to be civilized, reasonable, and express our demands reasonably. We can't just mess around."

"Oh!" The man touched his bald head that had been slapped.

"None of these things can be brought. No one can carry weapons," Er Mao shouted at the crowd in the yard. "Our purpose must be to help the deceased miners get compensation. This is a collective action of the union. Everyone must be civilized, polite, and not make noise when entering, and collect all the garbage when leaving!"

Everyone looked at Er Mao blankly. "Didn't you say yesterday that we were going to mess with Yang Decheng? Why are you changing your mind today?"

"The Tongji Association's brain is back, and he organized this," Er Mao said, yawning. "Listen to him. He's always been devious in these matters. Feng Ge also talked to the police department, saying that this kid is good at disgusting people..."

"You mean that Gou Liuzi from Zhan Nan?!"

"How are you talking? We're teammates now, so we have to call him Officer Su!"

"I'll be damned if I call him Officer Su. He was the one who slashed me twice in the head last time!" the young man said indignantly. "Okay, fine. Whatever you say."

...

In a business car in the Tufang Street slum.

Zhou Tonghui sat in the passenger seat and said to a man in a suit, "They're not pretending to be poor, they're really poor. Every household is very difficult...!"

"I know. Thirty thousand, and we can take this job," the man in the suit said with a smile.

Zhou Tonghui blinked. "We just need to truthfully record their living conditions. Also, I require it to go viral on all media platforms within three hours!"

"No problem, thirty thousand!" the man in the suit nodded in agreement. "You can pay a deposit of sixty thousand first!"

"Okay!" Zhou Tonghui responded and immediately called Kong Zhenghui: "Transfer the money!"

A little after three o'clock in the afternoon, seven or eight online media reporters, carrying equipment, entered the slum and interviewed the families of five deceased miners.

...

In the evening, at half past four.

More than a hundred people gathered at the headquarters of Baolong Group. Su Tiannan waved his hand and shouted, "Be sure not to make any noise, don't hit anyone, don't argue with them, and wait for them to make the first move!"

"Understood!"

Everyone nodded.

Five minutes later, Uncle Jiu's youngest daughter, carrying a portrait of her father when he was alive, led more than a hundred people into the group's lobby.

At the same time, Xu Jinbo, who was attending a banquet in a hotel, received a phone call: "Impossible!! I've already talked to the people from the Tongji Association. They promised to go back and discuss it with the miners' families!"

The Dockworkers' Association.

Gu Baishun sat in his chair and asked with some surprise, "The Tongji Association is really making a fuss?!"

"Yes! More than a hundred people went to the headquarters of Baolong Group, more than a hundred people went to the mining company, and sixty or seventy people went to the mining area!" a middle-aged man replied with a smile. "They're really going head-to-head with Baolong!"