Chapter 1 Deep Night

Late at night, the moonlight was bright, and the stars twinkled.

Su Tianyu came to his eldest brother's room and knocked on the door. "Are you asleep, Brother?"

"Coming." A voice responded from inside the room, and Su Tiannan opened the door in formal attire. "You're still not asleep?"

"I can't sleep, came over to chat with you." Su Tianyu replied with a smile.

"Haha, come in." Su Tiannan stepped aside.

Su Tianyu stepped into the room and turned his head to look around at the furnishings. He saw that it hadn't changed much from a few years ago—clean, tidy, with no extra furniture.

The light in the room was a little dim. There was still sandalwood on the desk in the living room. Su Tiannan closed the door, walked to the desk, and picked up the teapot. "Little brother, you've come back at a bad time. The family has indeed encountered some problems, and I can't accompany you for the time being. I'll have Miao Miao take you out to look around later."

Su Tianyu bent down and sat on the sofa, paused, and said, "Big brother, I didn't come to you for a heart-to-heart."

Su Tiannan walked over, placed a teacup in front of him, bent down, and asked, "What's wrong? Is there anything else?"

Su Tianyu thought for a moment and replied, "When you were talking just now, I listened to the general course of events and had some thoughts in my mind."

Su Tiannan looked at his brother with some surprise and took the initiative to ask, "Then tell me, what are your thoughts?"

"I personally think that the turning point in Second Uncle's case is not in the judicial department. Even if we spend money to grease the wheels, we may not be able to get a good result out of this case." Su Tianyu said bluntly, "Since Changqing Company can arrange things with the district police department and the municipal police bureau, they won't easily give you a chance to pry the case open. To put it bluntly, can our family compare with Changqing Company when it comes to throwing money around? So there is only one condition for a comeback in the judicial department, and that is power to check power. Unless we can find a relationship that can make the police bureau listen with just one word, otherwise it's useless to try to influence things."

Su Tiannan rested his left hand on his cheek, crossed his legs, and nodded slowly. "Continue."

"I have two points to summarize about this matter: First, it is very important to unite the workers. Eight people shouting may not be heard, but eight hundred people shouting will be very loud. Second, I heard you say that in Zhan Nan, in addition to our Su family being suppressed, there are three other families that have also been dealt with. Why can't we unite them?" Su Tianyu said with a slight frown, "We don't have the absolute power to stand up for us, so we have to find a way to let the absolute power see us."

Perhaps influenced by his father, Su Tianyu was very good at summarizing things when he encountered them. He was willing to summarize complex matters into the most refined points, so as to adjust his thinking.

In Su Tiannan's heart, he had always regarded Su Tianyu as a child, because the latter went to school at the age of eighteen and had not returned home for several years, so his impression of Tianyu was still relatively solidified. But at this moment, as he listened to Tianyu's words, he was unintentionally led by the other party, and he felt that what he said made some sense.

"After your second uncle went in, the workers' hearts were scattered. They felt that it would be difficult for our Su family to survive this crisis, so they were all avoiding trouble. Not only did these people not support the company, but a few foremen even wanted to take advantage of the Su family's difficulties and subcontract the territory to them." Su Tiannan frowned slightly and replied, "So it's quite difficult to unite them."

"I don't think it's difficult." Su Tianyu looked at his eldest brother with a smile, knowing him very well. "It's just that it might tear faces... and you're not willing to do that."

Su Tiannan was stunned again when he heard this.

"Big brother, the relationship between workers and the company is always based on interests to form cohesion." Su Tianyu softly advised, "It's normal to have exploitation in the middle of interests. If you are not willing to come forward to do this, then I will be the villain."

Su Tiannan fell into deep thought.

"Why don't you make an appointment with the workers, and we'll talk first. If we can solve the internal problems, we can find the other three companies to sit down and talk." Su Tianyu said again, "The nature of Second Uncle's case may be determined at any time. Once it is labeled as trafficking, it will be too late for us to find a solution."

Hearing this, Su Tiannan slowly got up and replied, "Okay, I'll make an appointment with the foremen tomorrow."

"I think it's still early, why not make an appointment today? The sooner we solve it, the less likely things will change." Su Tianyu actually urged him.

"Okay, then let's go to the freight yard now." Su Tiannan was completely persuaded.

...

At the headquarters of Changqing Company in Zhan Nan District, a fat man in his forties, wearing a black suit, sat on a spacious leather sofa, crossed his legs, and asked while smoking, "What did Su Tiannan say?"

"He asked us to give him five more days." Lu Feng lazily slumped on the sofa, touching his short hair and replying, "This kid is not giving up. He may still be thinking of getting his dad back from the police bureau."

The fat man in the black suit was the boss of Changqing Company, named Li Hongze. The so-called Changqing Company was also an organization with a long history. Before the Age of Order, it was called the Changqing Gang. The members of the organization were all Chinese living overseas, and this organization had branches all over the world, but its reputation had always been very bad.

"Then why did you agree to give him five days?" Li Hongze asked.

"There were more than a hundred people on the scene. If I didn't agree, we would have fought today. Fighting easily attracts attention, which is not good for us." Lu Feng's answer was also very concise. "Old Wang from the police bureau also wants to mediate, so we don't need to argue with Old Wang too much about something that is already in our grasp. After all, he is not one of us."

Li Hongze smiled when he heard the words. "Haha, the number one blade in Zhan Nan is now using his brain to do things. Not bad, the company is getting better and better."

"Brother, if we take down the four families of Su, Bai, Liu, and Kong, I want half of the pie, okay?" Lu Feng asked with a smile.

Li Hongze picked up a cigarette case, took out a cigarette from it and threw it to Lu Feng. "In five years, I'll make you the number one blade in Longcheng!"

"Alright."

...

About an hour and a half later, in the second-floor office building of the Su family's freight yard in Zhan Nan, more than thirty worker leaders had gathered in the small conference room.

The room was filled with smoke, and the sound of whispering kept ringing. Su Tiannan sat on a wooden chair with a solemn expression.

"Xiao Nan, we people have been working for the Su family for quite a while. There are no outsiders here, so let's speak frankly. If the Su family falls this time, then how are you going to arrange for us workers? Will retirement benefits and labor insurance be affected? Can the year-end bonus be issued on time?" A leading worker in his forties asked very bluntly.

"That's right, if the Su family hands over the territory to Changqing Company, then how will the employment status and files of these people be handled?" Someone immediately echoed, and the tone of his speech was relatively激进, with a bit of coercion.

Before Su Tiannan could even ask for the support of the working class, they took the lead in launching an attack. In times of difficulty, all personal feelings seemed insignificant.

"That's right, my little brother just graduated and came back. The family has entrusted him with the task of settling the workers." Su Tiannan pointed to Tianyu beside him and said softly, "I'm here listening, you talk to him."

Hearing this, everyone turned their heads to look at Su Tianyu. Seeing that he was young and well-mannered, they immediately became dissatisfied.

"He's just a child, and he hasn't managed a dirty gang's business before. What can we talk to him about?"

"That's right, he's just a kid, what does he know?"

"......!"

Su Tiannan looked at everyone. "I said, I'm just here listening and won't run away."

Everyone fell silent after hearing this.

After everyone was quiet, Su Tianyu reached out and adjusted his glasses, and said politely, "Then let me say a few words, okay?"

The worker leaders looked at Su Tianyu coldly, either whispering to each other or smoking without saying a word.

Su Tianyu took out the information he had organized in the car, and said expressionlessly, "My eldest brother went to the city yesterday and talked to the relations over at the police bureau, but the effect was not ideal. To put it simply, there is basically no room for maneuver in my second uncle's case. If you want to protect people, you have to pay money and hand over the territory of the Su family's company. Our family members also discussed it and felt that we couldn't afford to fight Changqing Company, so we can only hand over the land to protect people."

The workers did not seem surprised by this result, and did not respond.

"Before handing over the land, we have prepared termination contracts for everyone." Su Tianyu said with a frown, "The files and employment status will all be returned to the individual. The salary for the current month can be settled, but don't think about the year-end bonus. Because it's only the middle of the year, the management committee will not settle the year-end bonus. After the procedures are distributed, everyone can find their own way out."

Upon hearing this, there was an uproar.

"What do you mean? Termination, and you're not taking care of our year-end bonus. What's the basis for that?"

"That's right, you're terminating the contract, and you're returning the files and employment status to the individual. Doesn't that mean you're firing us?! Then our retirement benefits and labor insurance are not guaranteed?"

"Su Tiannan, what do you mean by this? We've been working for half a year, why is it that the year-end bonus is gone as soon as you say it is? You Su family caused the trouble, why should we workers pay for it?!"

"......!"

The workers were in an uproar when they heard that the Su family was not going to take care of them anymore.

Su Tiannan frowned and looked at everyone without replying, while Su Tianyu looked at everyone with no emotional fluctuation in his eyes, and continued softly, "When a tree falls, the monkeys scatter. The Su family can't even protect themselves, so there's no way to take care of everyone."

"You're talking nonsense! We've been working with the Su family for so long. Even if there's no affection, there must be some friendship, right? I'm telling you, if Su Lao Er hadn't gone in, he would never have handled things this way!" The leading middle-aged man in his forties almost shouted at Su Tianyu.

"Big brother, you were the one who talked about interests first, and now you're talking about friendship again. If you do this, it will be difficult for the Su family." Su Tianyu replied with a smile.

"You don't understand anything!" The middle-aged man in his forties stood up and said to Su Tiannan, "If you're going to handle things this way, then let's not talk about reason. Tomorrow, a few of us will take two hundred workers and set fire to your house."

Su Tiannan sighed, lowered his head, and still did not reply.

Su Tianyu adjusted his glasses and slowly stood up. "Are you threatening me?"

The worker leader looked at him. "Get out of here, this has nothing to do with you."

Su Tianyu smiled at the other party and reached into his bag to take out a small portion of the worker information. He said concisely, "The employment status and files are all in the company's hands. The company submits the materials to the management committee when you join and leave the company. Doesn't that mean... if I say you are a formal employee, you are, and if I say you are a temporary worker, you are?"

The worker leader was completely stunned when he heard this.

"You see, if you are shameless, capital can be even more shameless than you." Su Tianyu put down the information. "Big brother, do you want to talk about interests now, or do you want to talk about friendship?"

Everyone was silent.

Su Tianyu turned his head to look at everyone. "You think the Su family's downfall has nothing to do with you. As long as the sanitation management committee wants to operate normally, it can't do without workers. But is that really the case? The Su family handed over the territory, and you think you can still make a living in the dirty gang business? I'm telling you, that's just dreaming! Why did Changqing Company want to deal with the Su family? Our family, a total of only thirty-some people are doing the dirty gang's work. What good would it do them to take us down? Wake up, Changqing Company is aiming for the eight hundred dirty gang workers in the Su family's hands. The purpose of grabbing the territory is to allow their own people to have work to do, for the sake of monopoly, understand? Family members!"

The worker leaders listened to Su Tianyu's words and thought carefully before sitting back in their seats with gloomy faces.

"If you don't stick together, you will die." Su Tianyu pointed to the termination contract on the table and said, "You decide for yourselves whether to sign the contract or go through thick and thin with the Su family."

"What if we can't beat Changqing Company?" A fifty-year-old man asked concisely.

Su Tiannan, who had been silent all along, stood up decisively at this moment and pointed to the freight yard and said, "I, Su Tiannan, will never mistreat any of you. We can sign a contract. If the Su family goes bankrupt and hands over the business, the existing equipment will belong to the workers."

The interest demands of the bottom-level workers have always been simple, nothing more than the two words "livelihood." When these two words are guaranteed, the common people are always very docile and will desperately contribute to society. But if anyone dares to touch these two words, then it's going to be trouble. So now many business tycoons are shouting "pro-people" on the surface, but secretly shouting "cut the韭菜 quickly," and after cutting, they have to say, "Family members, we will always be together."

Throughout history, it has always been like this.

Su Tianyu never thought of confronting the workers. He just wanted to borrow their power.

After the negotiation, Su Tiannan sat in the empty conference room and sighed, "They are all old faces. It's really not good to make it like this."

In fact, the Su family's eldest brother understands all the principles, but there are some things he is unwilling to do.

Su Tianyu drank his tea and said softly, "Big brother, after uniting the workers, we need to talk to the other three families."

...

In the city area.

Su Tianbei sat in the car and said into the phone, "Can you get me two pieces?"

"Your dad is getting pieces, and you're getting pieces too? What's wrong, are you planning to have your whole family die violently?!"