Era: Starting with the struggle to refuse being taken advantage of

Chapter 272 The Sugar Factory Scandal

"Here is some white sugar, a product of our factory's testing machine. Although it looks a bit rough and cloudy, and the size is not very uniform, it is absolutely clean."

Wang Fucheng said with a smile, "If everyone doesn't mind, let's share it together and have a taste of the sweetness of our sugar factory!"

In those days of relative scarcity, white sugar was a rare commodity.

Normally, villagers can only eat a little white sugar during festivals or when there are important happy events in their families.

At that moment, everyone's attention was immediately drawn to the white sugar that the staff brought out, their eyes filled with surprise and anticipation.

Everyone crowded around, taking spoonfuls of sugar one by one, carefully accepting it as if holding the most precious treasure in the world.

After everyone finished sharing, their joy was palpable.

The elderly people sucked on white sugar, their wrinkled faces beaming with smiles, praising the sweetness of the sugar.
The young men chewed on white sugar while excitedly discussing the future of the sugar factory;

The children ate until their mouths were covered in sugar, and they licked their fingers with relish, their laughter echoing through the crowd.

With the sharing of white sugar, the opening ceremony of the sugar factory was successfully completed.

Under the sunlight, the signboard of Dapeng Sugar Factory shines brightly, foreshadowing a new journey full of hope and vitality.

The villagers, filled with joy and anticipation for the future, gradually dispersed, their hearts brimming with confidence in the newly established sugar factory, and even beginning to dream of a bright future.

……

Although Wang Chengpeng stole the show at the opening ceremony of Dapeng Sugar Factory, for the villagers now, the most important thing is to make a good living.

So the matter was quickly resolved, and the focus of work in the entire Wangjia Village gradually shifted towards the sugar factory.

The villagers harvested the ripe sugar beets according to the plan devised by Wang Fucheng.

These harvested sugar beets will be sent to Dapeng Sugar Factory to be used as raw materials for making white sugar, where they will be transformed into bags of tempting white sugar in the hands of the workers.

Thanks to Wang Chengpeng's outstanding contributions, Wang Tieshan and Wang Tieshan's status at Dapeng Sugar Factory also rose accordingly.

Those workers who had initially been misled by Shen Wei and Wang Xia'an and looked down on them all changed their attitudes and began to enthusiastically praise them.

If it were just ordinary flattery, the couple would simply dismiss it with disdain.

But they kept praising Wang Chengpeng, and they were telling the absolute truth, so how could they not be overjoyed?

The only person likely affected by this incident is Wang Xia'an.

Because of his surprising remarks at the opening ceremony, he became quite famous in the Dapeng Sugar Factory.

"Hey, isn't this Wang Xia'an, the real talent and big shot in our workshop!"

"How's your skill in handling this machine?"

"Everyone knows you're skilled. How much sugar did you produce today? The yield depends on your expertise!"

These sarcastic remarks made Wang Xia'an blush. He didn't know whether to reply or not, so he could only hide in a corner and secretly tinker with the equipment to continue production.

This really shows how the wheel of fortune turns!
Back then, Wang Xia'an took advantage of Wang Tieshan and Liu Chunhua's honesty and targeted them at every turn.

On ordinary days, whenever someone gets close to the elderly couple, he makes sarcastic remarks and tries to incite others to isolate them.

Now it's his turn to reap what he sows and enjoy the feeling of being isolated.

However, despite being isolated, Wang Xia'an received completely different treatment than Wang Chengpeng's parents.

Wang Chengpeng's parents were a couple, and they were workers recruited through formal examinations. With Wang Chengpeng, who knew the situation, helping them, they were able to handle their work at the factory with ease.

But Wang Xia'an didn't have that ability; he had gotten into the sugar factory by taking advantage of the situation.

In the past, things were fine; whenever he encountered operational problems, he could seek help from other workers to solve them.

However, he is now isolated and cannot find anyone to help him.

That's why the machines he operated were incredibly inefficient.

What others can finish in an hour, he can't finish even after half a day, and the white sugar he produces is of poor quality.

The same machine produces white sugar from other workers. While not every grain is crystal clear and as white as snow, it is still pure and almost free of impurities.

The white sugar he produced, however, was a dull yellow color, looking like a wilted eggplant, and had no appeal whatsoever.

This not only wasted raw materials, but also lowered the overall production level of the workshop.

Once is fine, but if this happens too often, people will really get restless.

The workers in his group especially hated Wang Xia'an.

They were a group of workers, and their production was naturally counted together, which was in line with the general environment of the collective economy at that time.

This is where the problem arose. Everyone else was working very hard, but they were all dragged down by Wang Xia'an. Not only were they unable to complete their production tasks, but the yield rate was also dragged down to an extremely low level.

Under these circumstances, on the afternoon of the second day after the Dapeng Sugar Factory officially started operations, someone finally couldn't hold back any longer and started cursing at Wang Xia'an:
"Wang Xia'an, if you don't want to work properly, you should quit as soon as possible. Don't stay here and cause trouble for us."

“Look at the white sugar you produce, and then look at the white sugar produced by others. You can’t tell that they are the same thing at all.”

“During the training, I saw you daydreaming, being lazy and not taking things seriously. I thought you had learned how to cheat and be cunning. I didn’t expect that you would expose your stupidity as soon as production started.”

"It's okay if you're stupid, but it's unacceptable if you drag our entire team down."

The speaker was named Wang Yulan. She was closest to Wang Xia'an and the one who had the most notice of Wang Xia'an's laziness.

Her family was counting on her to earn more money after she started working at the factory, but she never expected to be dragged down by Wang Xia'an for no reason. How could she not be angry?

Before Wang Xia'an could refute Wang Yulan's words, the others began to voice their support for Wang Yulan:

"Yeah, what exactly is Wang Xia'an doing?"

"With such good machines, everyone else is producing high-quality white sugar, but this guy not only has low output, but the quality of his white sugar is also low. Isn't this a waste of food?"

“Our Dapeng Sugar Factory is a whole unit. The white sugar they produce is so rubbish that we either have to throw it away or sell it together with other products, which lowers the quality of our factory’s products.”

"If this continues, I'm afraid he'll bankrupt our sugar factory!"

Upon hearing that Wang Xia'an might have ruined the sugar factory, even the workers who had been observing the situation couldn't stand it anymore and began to criticize Wang Xia'an:

"If you can do it, do it well; if you can't, get out of here."

"This sugar factory is something the village worked hard to get started, a great thing that benefits the whole village. What are you up to by trying to ruin it?"

"Yes, his cousin Wang Chengpeng did a lot of work on the sugar factory issue." "They're both from the Wang family, how can there be such a big difference between them?"

"..."

Hearing the accusations from the crowd, especially the comparisons with Wang Chengpeng, Wang Xia'an broke down completely.

However, he couldn't refute what everyone said, because what they said was true; he was the good-for-nothing in everyone's eyes.

If we don't die in silence, we will erupt in silence!
Wang Xia'an didn't dare take his anger out on those who criticized him. Instead, he punched the equipment in front of him with a loud bang, venting his anger in this way.

This sugar-making machine looks huge, but it's actually very precious. How could it be smashed by Wang Xia'an like that? He immediately smashed a very obvious fist mark on the bright white machine body.

Wang Xia'an's actions immediately provoked public outrage. The workers simply couldn't believe that their precious iron pieces had been so wasted by Wang Xia'an, and they immediately shouted:

"Damn it, that good-for-nothing Wang Xia'an is taking his anger out on the factory equipment! He's practically a villain among the people!"

"I heard that these devices were purchased by Factory Director Wang at a high price from a senior engineer, and because of this, he still owes others an unknown amount of design fees."

"How on earth did Wang Xia'an dare to attack the machine?"

"Report to the security department! We must report to the security department! This Wang Xia'an is simply lawless!"

The chaos at the sugar factory quickly attracted the attention of the security department. Wang Hai followed the sound and shouted:

"Quiet, everyone, be quiet."

"The sugar factory has only just started operations, are you trying to rebel?"

"Start production immediately. Our Dapeng Sugar Factory's reputation is waiting for everyone to build it up with our excellent products."

Upon seeing Wang Hai approach, Wang Yulan immediately burst into tears:

"Captain Wang, you've finally arrived! If you hadn't come, our sugar factory would have been forced to close down."

"This Wang Xia'an is cunning and deceitful. Not only does he not produce properly, but he also attacks the factory's equipment."

"Look at the marks on this machine, it's probably going to be ruined!"

Looking at the crowd criticizing him, Wang Xia'an felt incredibly wronged. He plopped down on the ground and shouted:
"Don't talk nonsense, I'm not a bad person among the masses."

"I didn't intend to bankrupt the factory, I just... I just..."

However, Wang Xia'an only talked for a long time, but couldn't come up with a conclusion at all.

Is he going to tell everyone that he's just a useless person who can't do anything?
Wang Hai understood better than anyone else what the sugar factory meant to Wangjia Village, which was why he, as the militia captain, personally oversaw the sugar factory.

Seeing the fist mark on the device, his eyes widened in fury. He yanked Wang Xia'an up from the ground and immediately punched him.

"Wang Xia'an, I warned you before that you should behave yourself."

"When we were recruiting, Director Wang said that jobs in our factory aren't guaranteed. If someone doesn't work hard, then they shouldn't be here!"

"You're coming with me to the factory director's office. A bad element like you among the people must be fired immediately as a warning to others!"

After saying that, Wang Hai didn't bother to waste any more words with Wang Xia'an. He called over two militiamen to help him and dragged him toward Wang Yong's office.

Wang Xia'an, the person involved, was completely dumbfounded. He never imagined that he would be labeled with such a serious accusation, and even risk being fired.

He was just a little slow in his work, so the sugar he produced was of poor quality, a lot of grain was wasted, and he smashed the factory's precious machines. Other than that, he didn't do anything bad!

Feeling utterly wronged, Wang Xia'an couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears. However, no matter how much he cried, it couldn't change the fact that he had made a foolish mistake.

In the factory director's office.

When Wang Yong learned that the machine had been smashed by Wang Xia'an and was no longer functional and needed repair, he was absolutely furious.

Glaring at Wang Xia'an, who was still wailing, Wang Yong shouted:
"Cry, cry, all you do is cry. Do you really think you're still a child?"

"I don't want to say more about what you did. Just pack your things and leave. Our factory doesn't welcome bad elements like you who disrupt unity."

Upon hearing Wang Yong's words, Wang Xia'an was stunned, and even forgot to cry.

He recalled the scene from this morning, when his family had prepared breakfast for him, urging him to go to the factory and work hard to bring honor to the Wang family.

However, in just one day, he had to go back with the news that he had been fired from the sugar factory. For him and for the Wang family, this was like the sky falling down.

Especially since the Wang family had paid a huge price to get this job, he felt like dying.

Even if Wang Xia'an was lawless, he was afraid at this moment and began to argue loudly:

"Director Wang, please don't fire me. Let me explain. This isn't what you think."

However, Wang Yong clearly had no intention of giving Wang Xia'an a chance to explain, and said coldly:

"An explanation? Are you saying the factory workers are all accusing you?"

"Are you trying to explain that you didn't break the equipment in the factory, but that he broke it himself?"

"Wang Xia'an, you must take responsibility for your actions!"

At this point, Wang Yong glanced at Wang Hai and gave the following instructions:

"Throw him out. From today onwards, Wang Xia'an is no longer a worker at our Dapeng Sugar Factory."

"By the way, have someone draft a notice and post it directly on the village bulletin board."

"If we don't deal with some people, they'll really think what we said before was just empty words and doesn't count."

"Anyone who dares to slack off at work, no matter who they are, will be fired!"

After glancing at Wang Xia'an, who was still struggling, Wang Hai knew that the other party had run into trouble and was being used by Wang Yong as a scapegoat.

However, considering Wang Xia'an's actions, he couldn't feel any sympathy for this fool.

If this guy hadn't acted so inhumanely, how could he have provoked the anger of all the employees, and how could he have reached the point of being fired on the very first try?

Thinking this, Wang Hai nodded and instructed his subordinates:

"Do as Director Wang instructs, and throw Wang Xia'an out."

"He won't be working at our sugar factory anymore, so you all need to keep a close eye on him and make sure he doesn't sneak in."

At this point, Wang Yong added:
"After all, he is the first employee our sugar factory has ever fired. The notice should be written clearly, listing all of Wang Xia'an's actions so that everyone can see it and he can accept the consequences himself!"

(End of this chapter)