Rebirth: My college entrance exam score was stolen? I turned the tables and made a billion.

That afternoon.

In front of the large iron gate of the First Towel Factory, a huge crowd of people was packed together like a boiling pot of porridge.

The leader was Ma Deshui, the deputy director of the Second Cotton Mill.

His blue overalls were soaked with sweat, and he held up a somewhat rusty tin megaphone.

"Zhao Dagong! Don't use the supply and marketing cooperative as a shield!"

Ma Deshui shouted at the top of his lungs.

"If your towel factory can't pay wages, does that mean our cotton mill workers don't need to eat?"

"I'm telling you, if we don't see any money coming in today, we'll go inside and take everything ourselves! Machines, yarn, even desks—anything that can be sold, we'll take!"

Upon hearing this, the hundreds of cotton mill and dye factory workers behind him were immediately outraged.

The crowd surged forward, making the large iron gate clang loudly.

At the towel factory, the head of the security department led dozens of male employees, blocking the large iron gate.

They were holding shovel handles, wooden sticks, and some were even carrying heavy large wrenches.

"Mr. Ma! You dare to bring a group and try it!"

The head of the security department stared with bloodshot eyes, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

"This factory is the lifeblood of over a hundred people in our towel factory! Anyone who dares to touch the machines here, I'll fight them to the death today!"

The people on both sides pushed and shoved each other through the iron railings, spitting everywhere.

Zhao Dagong stood on the steps of the guardhouse, looking down at the group of brothers from the same workplace who used to call each other brothers, now wishing they could tear each other apart over a few thousand yuan in payment.

He felt aggrieved.

Suffocated!

But was he wrong?

He did nothing wrong!

If it weren't for the supply and marketing cooperative owing his towel factory money for goods that had been delayed for more than half a year, how could he not have the money to pay the cotton mill for cotton yarn and the dye factory for dye?

"Old Ma!"

After thinking it over, Zhao Dagong decided to speak up.

"Getting angry at me won't help! The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission has hundreds of thousands of towels stored in their warehouse—that's all money!"

"But they won't pay the bill, where am I supposed to conjure up the money to give you?"

Ma Deshui, of course, wouldn't listen to that.

He simply threw the tin megaphone in his hand.

"I don't care what you say! Brothers, break down the door!"

The crowd demanding repayment completely lost their minds.

People are struggling to make ends meet, so who cares about rules anymore?

Several burly workers carried a thick log from somewhere and were about to smash it against the large iron gate.

The head of the security department roared and led the workers from the towel factory to brace the iron gate with their shoulders.

"Factory manager, step back! As long as we're alive today, no one will touch a single thread of yarn in this factory!"

The two sides were already at each other's throats, and a bloody conflict was on the verge of breaking out.

Just at this critical moment, a shout suddenly came from the factory office building.

"Stop! Everyone stop! Don't move!"

Old Zhou, the finance manager, scrambled out of the office building.

"Factory manager! The money! The money's here!"

Grandpa Zhou was out of breath from running, and his reading glasses were askew, hanging down to the bridge of his nose.

Zhao Dagong quickly jumped down the steps and helped Grandpa Zhou up.

"Old Zhou, slow down, what's here?"

Grandpa Zhou shoved the bank receipt with the big red official seal in his hand into Zhao Dagong's face, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

"The money, the money's here!"

"money?"

"Yes, it's a special fund from the city... the Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission!"

"Three hundred thousand! A full three hundred thousand! Not a penny less, it's all gone into our factory's corporate account!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the area in front of the gate, which had been making a deafening racket, became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

The cotton mill workers, who were carrying logs and preparing to ram the door, were stunned.

The towel factory workers, who were bracing themselves against the iron gate, were also stunned.

Ma Deshui picked at his ears, thinking he was hallucinating.

"Zhao Dagong... what did he just say? Three hundred thousand?"

At the same time, Zhao Dagong snatched the receipt and looked at it.

The numbers above are clearly visible.

Three hundred thousand yuan.

Below it is the official financial seal of the Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, as well as a real-time bank confirmation stamp.

Zhao Dagong's hands began to tremble, and his eyes instantly reddened.

He suddenly turned around, raised the thin piece of paper in his hand, and roared at the hundreds of people outside the gate demanding repayment.

"The money has arrived!!!"

"The city has settled the bad debts owed to us by the supply and marketing cooperative! The money has arrived!"

After saying that, without waiting for everyone's reaction, Zhao Dagong wiped away his tears and immediately resumed his factory director demeanor.

"Old Zhou! Open the door right now! Call all the debt collectors from each factory to the accounting office!"

The large iron gate was pulled open with a loud bang.

This time, no one rushed in; everyone consciously made way.

Zhao Dagong strode ahead.

"Ma Deshui! You bastard, get up right now! Bring your factory's ledgers and get over here to settle your accounts!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Deshui scrambled to his feet, not even bothering to brush the dirt off his clothes.

"Here I am! Old Zhao, I knew you were a real man!"

In the finance office, the abacus beads were clicking loudly.

"Cotton mill, fifty-two thousand five hundred!"

"Dye factory, 28,000!"

"Cardboard box factory, three thousand four hundred!"

......

Wearing his reading glasses, Old Zhou checked each check one by one, his pen scribbling away on the checkbook.

The factory workers who received the checks were all extremely grateful.

Just moments ago, he seemed ready to fight to the death, but now he's completely gone, and as he leaves, he's holding Zhao Dagong's hand and apologizing profusely.

"Old Zhao, we acted impulsively at the door just now, please forgive us!"

"We were forced into this situation; we'll have to cooperate long-term from now on!"

Zhao Dagong waved his hand, sending away all these troublesome debt collectors.

After the people from other factories had all left, only a few key personnel from the towel factory remained in the finance office.

Zhang Tiezhu came over, rubbing his hands together and chuckling.

"Factory manager, the outsiders' accounts have been settled, so what about our own employees' wages..."

Zhao Dagong slammed his hand on the table, full of confidence.

"Send it! Send it right away!"

"After paying off the debts, we'll still have over 90,000 left!"

"However, we can't pay everyone the wages owed for the past three months right away. Let's pay for one month first!"

"Keep the rest of the money to buy new cotton yarn. Get all the machines running at full speed tomorrow!"

The workshop director and the head of security nodded excitedly and quickly ran out to inform everyone.

Immediately afterwards, the entire towel factory was as lively as if it were Chinese New Year.

Workers lined up in a long queue outside the finance office to collect their money.

Upon receiving the brand-new 100-yuan bills, some people even held them in their hands and kissed them twice.

"Great! Now I have the money to buy my mother's medicine!"

"I'm going to buy two pounds of pork tonight to make dumplings for my wife and kids!"

Standing in the corridor, Zhao Dagong looked at the long-lost smiles on the workers' faces, and the heavy weight that had been pressing on his heart for half a year finally lifted.

After everyone had left, Zhao Dagong sat alone behind his desk, holding the bank receipt in his hand.

He lit a Daqianmen cigarette and took a deep drag.

This money came from an incredibly strange source.

He knew all too well the character of those people at the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

He used to be so unfriendly when he went to collect debts, how come he's suddenly become so unusual today?

Not only did they settle the bill quickly and easily, but they also transferred the full amount in one go?

That's 300,000!

Didn't they say that the city's finances are dirt poor right now? Where did they get this spare money to settle their supply and marketing cooperative's historical bad debts?

Lost in thought, Zhao Dagong stubbed out his cigarette and grabbed the telephone receiver from the table.

Regardless, this money saved the lives of more than two thousand people in the towel factory, and he had to find out who his benefactor was.

He dialed the number for the office of the director of the Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

The phone rang twice and was answered.

"Hello, Director? This is Zhao Dagong from the First Towel Factory."

Zhao Dagong smiled broadly and spoke in an extremely polite tone.

"Yes, yes, I received the money. I called specifically to thank the city leaders."

"Director Wang, what exactly is this special fund for...?"