Official statement: Tongwei is dead! You chose Ruijin, didn't you?

"What do you want me to sign?" Li Dakang finally couldn't hold back any longer. He put down the red and blue pencils in his hand, stared intently at Sun Liancheng, and spoke with a hint of annoyance in his tone.

"We don't expect you to issue a royal decree to the bank to grant loans, and you can't issue such a decree anyway."

Sun Liancheng pulled himself out of his reverie, smiled slightly, and said calmly, "I only ask that the city bring those three departments that are passing the buck together. The special task force should clearly define the boundaries of investigation and control, the companies should provide the necessary funding sources, and the banks should provide their opinions according to regulations. If they can provide the money, they should do so readily; if they can't, they should clearly state which document and stamp are missing."

"It's all written so clearly, who would still want to sign it? Nobody wants to take responsibility now!" Li Dakang glared, his voice rising eight octaves.

"Wouldn't that be the perfect opportunity to find out which bastard is holding us hostage?"

Sun Liancheng shrugged, his tone remaining calm. "Don't you hate lazy and negligent governance the most? This is a good opportunity."

Li Dakang looked up and gave him a deep look.

He suddenly realized that Sun Liancheng, whom he had once scolded so harshly, possessed a composure that was difficult for ordinary people to match.

That nonchalant yet incisive attitude left him somewhat puzzled.

Sun Liancheng calmly took out another piece of paper from the document bag he was carrying and gently pushed it in front of Li Dakang.

It was a blank meeting record form, with the responsible units clearly listed: the special task force, the city investment company, the bank, the petition office, etc. There were many blank spaces next to it, just waiting for the big shots to fill in the gaps.

"You used to always complain that I was slow and inefficient, and you called me a clown sent by Sun Wukong."

Sun Liancheng sighed, a rare hint of emotion in his voice. "This time it probably won't be any soon either. But we can't let the people in one factory just wait for the whole case in Handong to be closed before they're left with nothing, can we?"

What's the point of a perfectly executed case if people starve to death? Human joys and sorrows are insignificant to the universe, but for those workers, a full meal is their entire universe.

Li Dakang was at a loss for words after listening to this somewhat philosophical fallacy.

He knew Sun Liancheng was right; Dafeng Factory was a powder keg. If the workers really started a riot, he, the municipal party secretary, would be in deep trouble.

He picked up his pen and quickly wrote down the requirements for the meeting. When he wrote the word "as soon as possible," he paused for a moment, as if weighing the weight of the words.

He turned to his secretary and asked about tomorrow's schedule.

"There's a key project briefing at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, and a meeting with foreign businessmen at eleven o'clock..." the secretary replied quickly, flipping through the schedule.

"Postpone it by half an hour! Hold this meeting first, I'll oversee it personally!"

Li Dakang slammed his fist on the table, reverting to his usual decisive manner. "Notify the heads of those departments to bring someone with brains, not just empty words to argue with me! Anyone who dares to play dumb in this meeting, I'll send them to sweep the streets tomorrow!"

Done and that's it.

Sun Liancheng nodded slightly, put away the materials, and stood up to take his leave. Everything was under control; although the process was somewhat tedious, the result was satisfactory.

As he reached the door, Li Dakang suddenly called out to him.

"Liancheng..."

Li Dakang's voice was unusually gentle. "What's the workers' reaction to Chen Yanshi's matter?"

Sun Liancheng stopped, thought for a moment, and replied without turning his head, "There are all sorts of reactions. Some people cry, some curse, and some are indifferent. But in the end, they're just ordinary people. What they're most concerned about is their wages. Who doesn't want to have enough to eat? As for those grand ideals and complex struggles, that's for you big shots to worry about. I'm only responsible for helping them get their money back for the rice."

After saying that, Sun Liancheng pushed open the door and left, leaving behind a dashing silhouette.

Li Dakang sat behind his large desk, staring at the closed door, and remained silent for a long time.

As night deepened, the wind howled through the factory.

The factory area was quiet, with only a few dim streetlights swaying in the wind.

Zheng Qian ultimately didn't dare to release that inflammatory video, and obediently saved it to his drafts.

He was working alongside the old accountant, checking the densely packed accounts under the lamplight.

Zhang Baobao stood beside them, using her sweet voice to gently and kindly return calls to customers who were urging for delivery, soothing their emotions.

Zheng Xipo walked in carrying a tray with three bowls of steaming hot clear soup noodles on it.

Seeing that his son was still grumbling about the complicated procedures and the government's low efficiency, Zheng Xipo, for the first time ever, did not scold him.

He walked over and gently pushed the bowl of noodles, which had been specially topped with two poached eggs, next to Zheng Qian.

"Alright, stop complaining. Let's settle the score right now."

Zheng Xipo pulled up a chair, picked up his chopsticks, looked at the deep night sky outside the window, and murmured, "Life and death are predestined. If God wants us to get through this, we have to fill our stomachs first, right? As long as we're still alive and the machines can still run, our Dafeng Factory won't collapse."

In the night sky, a few stars shone weakly through the gaps in the smog.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Sun Liancheng was standing on his balcony, fiddling with his beloved telescope, trying to find a sliver of pure light from the depths of the universe in this murky world.