Chapter 145 A Worker's Son

Around 9:30 PM, officers from the Zhanan District Police Department left the People's Hospital after taking statements. At the same time, the two foremen crippled by Changqing Company were just being wheeled out of the emergency room.

Kong ZhengHui had been in the hospital parking lot for over an hour, but he didn't go up immediately because of the police officers and sanitation management personnel upstairs.

Once most of them had left, Kong ZhengHui took a few of his brothers from home and entered the surgery building, heading to the third-floor special care ward.

Outside the ward, many workers from both the Bai and Kong families had gathered. They were friends and brothers of the injured foremen. When they saw Kong ZhengHui arrive, they immediately surrounded him.

"Little Kong, Da Ming and Lao Li are badly hurt. The doctor said they're definitely crippled now, and whether they can save their lives depends on the follow-up treatment," said an older middle-aged man anxiously. "We went on strike to support your companies, and now that people are hurt, the company can't just ignore us!"

"That's right, if a person is crippled, what will happen to their families in the future?!"

"…!"

The workers present were all afraid and spoke up for the two foremen.

Kong ZhengHui looked at the crowd with a solemn expression and said firmly, "Don't panic, everyone. The company will definitely take care of Lao He and Lao Li's affairs. I'll discuss it with Bai Hongbo later to see how the money should be given. I'll say this now, even if the criminals are not caught and we don't get compensation, the company will pay for it."

Hearing this, the workers' expressions eased a lot.

Kong ZhengHui waved his hand and continued, "It's getting late, everyone should leave and not stay here. Oh, right, don't spread the word about today's incident for now, so as not to affect the mood of other workers. But rest assured, the contacts at the police department called me and said that they have a rough idea of who the thugs are who committed the assault, and such things won't happen again."

The workers had little information. Seeing that Kong ZhengHui spoke with certainty, they didn't ask any more questions and left together uneasily.

After everyone had left, Kong ZhengHui met with the wife of his foreman, He Daming, and his newly adult son.

Inside the ward's accompanying room, Kong ZhengHui closed the door and looked at He Daming's wife, who was dressed very plainly, "Sister-in-law, don't worry, our company will definitely stand up for Brother He and won't spare those who committed the violence."

He Daming's wife didn't have much education. She had been crying since she arrived at the hospital. Looking at Kong ZhengHui now, she said with red eyes, "Little Kong! We don't need the company to stand up for us, and we're not looking for any murderers anymore. We're really scared. We can't beat those people from Changqing Company… We accept that Lao He was beaten like this… As long as the company pays to treat his injuries and save his life, I'll be satisfied… Really!"

Kong ZhengHui frowned and looked at her, saying in a low voice, "Sister-in-law, this matter definitely can't be let go. We were fine people, why should we let them cripple us?! Listen to me, I've already found contacts in the police department, and people from two well-known media outlets will be coming later. They will interview you and expose this case. When public attention increases, someone will definitely pay for this."

"What, exposure?! I can't, Little Kong! We just went on strike for less than three days, and this person was crippled. If we really expose it, can our family of three still save our lives? The people from Changqing Company said that if we make trouble again, they will really take lives!" He Daming's wife shouted in horror.

"Sister-in-law, I've arranged everything with the media. As long as it's exposed, they won't dare to cause trouble again."

"No, Little Kong, listen to me, we are just ordinary people and can't mess with Changqing Company." He Daming's wife grabbed Kong ZhengHui's arm with a trembling voice and said, "I beg you, don't lead the way to make trouble again, or do any interviews."

Kong ZhengHui was silent after hearing this.

"Little Kong, save people first!" He Daming's wife said with a slight plea.

Kong ZhengHui paused for a moment and said, "Sister-in-law, if you don't cooperate with the company, other workers won't dare to strike tomorrow if this spreads. If the company collapses, how can we take care of Brother He?"

He Daming's wife was stunned, "What… what do you mean by that?"

"…We have to overcome the difficulties together and get through this, Sister-in-law!"

"Little Kong! Lao He helped your company by leading the worker brothers below to go on strike. Now that something has happened, you don't want to take care of him?!" He Daming's wife's tears hadn't dried yet, and she asked in a trembling voice, "You can't do things like this, Little Kong!"

"You went on strike, and I gave you money, Sister-in-law," Kong ZhengHui replied expressionlessly.

He Daming's wife stared at Kong ZhengHui in disbelief, speechless.

"Ordinary workers get subsidies in addition to their normal wages for every day they strike, and foremen like Brother He get 1,000 yuan a day, not to mention the contracting area I promised to give Brother He for free." Kong ZhengHui bent down slightly and said in a low voice, "Sister-in-law, money is not taken for nothing!"

"Little Kong, your words have no human touch at all…!"

"It's not that I don't have a human touch, it's that reality doesn't give you a chance to consider human feelings." Kong ZhengHui turned his head and pointed to the dripping bottle next to the hospital bed, asking word by word, "I ask you, if you don't pay today, can the life-saving medicine be injected into the blood vessels? Sister-in-law!"

The woman bit her lip and didn't say a word.

"I'll arrange for the media to come over later, and you can explain clearly about Changqing Company's monopoly and suspected violent retaliation against the workers, the more miserable the better." Kong ZhengHui said softly, "After you're done, if you cooperate, I'll have someone come over to pay the hospital bills. As for the compensation, the company will give you the maximum amount. Let me be clear, at least no less than 20,000 yuan, and your son can also enter the company in the future. Brother He can't work anymore, so I'll give him the contracting area to manage, that's it, Sister-in-law."

After speaking, Kong ZhengHui turned around and left, not forgetting to say before reaching the door, "Don't instill too many negative emotions in other workers, Sister-in-law."

The woman looked at her husband, whose legs had been broken, on the bed, and her newly adult son outside the door, and murmured with extreme helplessness, "Enter the company… Then my son is still a worker…!"

Yes, it is difficult for a worker's son to not be a worker again…

Tears fell, turbid and incomparable.

…

An hour and a half later.

Bai Hongbo finished drinking at a well-known KTV in Zhanan District, came to the hospital drunk, and went to the ward of the Bai family's foreman, Li Gang.

"Da Bai, your uncle has been harmed like this, what do you think we should do?" Li Gang's wife asked.

Bai Hongbo sat on the chair and replied cheerfully, "The company will take care of it! Medical expenses, lost work expenses, retirement funds, and compensation will all be paid by the company."

"Da Bai, we don't dare to go on strike anymore, we'll lose our lives if we make trouble again," Li Gang's wife said crying.

Bai Hongbo hiccuped, stood up and looked at her, saying, "People are already like this, how can we let you make trouble? Okay, Auntie, take care of Uncle and let him recover, you don't need to worry about anything else."

"Okay!" Li Gang's wife nodded.

Bai Hongbo lowered his head, took out his wallet, took out all the three thousand yuan in cash inside, and threw it on the bed, saying, "I was entertaining people from the city today to deal with my dad's affairs, and the money is almost spent, you can take this to pay the fees first, buy some nutritional products, it's not counted in the money the company gives."

"Okay!"

"This is just the way of the world, you should take it easy, Auntie!" Although Bai Hongbo was drunk, he didn't leave immediately after giving the money, but stayed with Li Gang's family for a full hour before leaving.

Before leaving, Li Gang's wife took the initiative to say, "Da Bai, we won't talk nonsense with the workers below, it's not easy for you either."

Bai Hongbo rubbed his eye boogers and replied with a wry smile, "Yes, it's difficult for everyone."

…

Late at night, 11 PM.

Inside the main building of the Su family's garbage dump, Su Tianyu was sitting in the living room, listening to the workers chatting.

Because there had been many things happening recently, and the Su family was the one who took the lead in wrestling with Changqing Company, seven or eight workers were kept on duty every night in the yard. These people were bored at night, so they gathered together to smoke and chat about lewd jokes.

Su Tianyu liked this atmosphere very much, and also sat in the living room, watching everyone play cards and chat.

In the corner of the room, Black Tower Wu Shixiong was sitting on a small stool, playing with a half-carved wooden sculpture.

Su Tianyu was bored and asked curiously, "Da Xiong, why do you work the night shift every night, don't you go home?"

"O…one day is thirty yuan, I can earn a little more by working the night shift," Da Xiong replied with a simple and honest smile.

"Hehe, you're quite fond of money!" Su Tianyu laughed.

"My family has four brothers, and I'm… I'm… not smart… My dad said… he doesn't have money to marry me a wife, I'll earn it myself." Wu Shixiong grinned and replied.

Su Tianyu was slightly surprised to hear such a simple and unadorned reason, and re-examined Da Xiong.

Next to him, a worker smoking a cigarette grinned and asked Wu Shixiong, "Silly Xiong, have you ever been with a woman, that you're always clamoring to marry a wife?"

"No," Wu Shixiong replied honestly.

"Then will you know how to do it after you marry a wife?" The worker asked purely teasingly.

"How… how to do it?"

"I'll tell you, when you're not working the night shift one day, when you're staying at home at night, if you hear any movement in your parents' room, you can secretly watch outside the window… watch a few more times and you'll learn, haha!" The worker said with a laugh.

Su Tianyu frowned slightly after hearing this, but didn't say anything.

Wu Shixiong glanced at him, lowered his head and continued to play with the wooden sculpture, without answering.

"Silly Xiong, have you ever heard any movement in your parents' room?"

"…!" Wu Shixiong lowered his head and remained silent.

"Damn, how old is his dad, what kind of movement can he make? You're just asking nonsense." Another worker took over the conversation.

"Haha!"

Six or seven people in the room laughed boredly after hearing this.

"Tap tap!"

A series of footsteps sounded, and Third Sister came down from upstairs, scolding rudely, "Are you all sick, always making fun of Da Xiong?! Are you all useless, you! Are you all idle? Go out and patrol, stop smoking!"

When everyone saw Third Sister coming down, they didn't dare to argue, and gathered in groups of three or five and walked out of the main building.

Wu Shixiong secretly glanced at the aggressive Third Sister, turned his head and stuffed the wooden sculpture into his pocket, "I… I'm going to patrol too."

"Tap tap!"

A series of footsteps sounded, and Su Tiannan rushed to the freight yard at dawn, saying to Tianyu, "Something happened to the striking workers, two were seriously injured."

Su Tianyu didn't have any surprised expression on his face, and slowly got up and replied, "Let's talk upstairs."

…

Zhanan District, New World, Lu Feng was sitting in a private room with a phone in his hand, "I'll see if his workers withdraw tomorrow! If they withdraw, I'll immediately knock down another one, and this game will be solved, and I can arrange everything clearly, from top to bottom."

"Which one are you going to take down, have you thought about it?" Li Hongze asked.

"Hehe…!" Lu Feng grinned.