Nominal: Hou Liangping blocking the door? He was slapped away!

The next morning, the military personnel withdrew from Dafeng Factory.

That same afternoon, notices from the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee were posted all over the walls of Dafeng Factory.

Zheng Xipo stood at the entrance of the factory canteen, holding the notice, and read it aloud to the hundreds of workers one by one.

"The resettlement compensation will be advanced by the municipal finance department, with each household receiving no less than 1.2 times the current standard..."

Someone shouted from below, "Chairman Zheng, are we really going to get the money?"

"It's all in black and white, stamped by the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee." Zheng Xipo held the announcement up high. "Moreover, the compensation for Dafeng Factory's equity is also included; Shanshui Group will compensate according to market value after reviewing the accounts."

"Is General Shen abandoning us?" a female worker in the back row shouted.

Zheng Xipo was taken aback. "The military control has been lifted, but General Shen blocked the forced demolition and secured this solution for us. Without him, we wouldn't even have the right to negotiate."

There was a few seconds of silence, then someone started clapping.

The applause was sparse, but it sounded especially real in this dilapidated cafeteria.

Wang Wenge stood at the very back of the crowd, his arms crossed over his chest. He neither applauded nor objected.

The factory security team acted according to his signals. If he didn't move, they wouldn't move either.

Zheng Xipo walked over and patted Wang Wenge on the shoulder. "Wenge, the resettlement compensation has been paid, and the shares have been secured. The workers have agreed to cooperate with the demolition. What do you think?"

Wang Wenge remained silent for more than ten seconds.

"Old Zheng, can you guarantee the money will arrive?"

"I guarantee it."

Wang Wenge nodded. "Okay. The factory security team will be disbanded tomorrow."

The news reached Sha Ruijin's ears that very evening.

He sat in his office and read the briefing his secretary handed him twice.

The military control over Dafeng Factory has been lifted. The workers agreed to the relocation. The resettlement expenses were paid in advance by the municipal government.

It was spotless, without a single scratch.

Sha Ruijin placed the briefing face down on the table.

The trap he set for Li Dakang was broken before he could even make a move.

I picked up the teacup and took a sip. It was cold.

Sha Ruijin picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Uncle Chen, I'm Xiao Jinzi. There's something I'd like to ask you for a favor."

Chen Yanshi is seventy-eight years old.

Before retiring, he was the chief inspector of the Handong Provincial Procuratorate. The year Dafeng Factory was restructured, he spearheaded the conversion of state-owned assets into employee stock ownership, giving hundreds of workers jobs.

The old workers at Dafeng Factory treated him like their own father.

Sha Ruijin's phone call lasted forty minutes.

No one else knows exactly what was said. But after the call ended, Chen Yanshi sat in the living room for a long time.

There was a photo on the coffee table; Chen Hai was wearing a prosecutor's uniform and smiling brightly.

Chen Hai. His only son.

He's currently being held in the military detention center on charges of allegedly trespassing with Hou Liangping into a restricted military area. Chen Yanshi knows whether this is true or not. Chen Hai is a simple-minded kid who was used as a pawn by Hou Liangping, but the case is in the military's hands, and Shen Zhong has said he won't release him.

Chen Yanshi approached Liu Changchun, Tian Guofu, and even asked someone to pass on a message to Gao Yuliang.

Useless.

Everyone told him the same thing—this is a matter for the military, and we can't get involved.

The military is heavy-handed.

Sha Ruijin didn't mention Chen Hai directly on the phone. He talked about Dafeng Factory, the workers' interests, and that the resettlement fees advanced by the municipal party committee might just be empty promises.

"Old Chen, you're a benefactor of Dafeng Factory, and those workers believe you. Li Dakang is saying nice things now, but when it comes to paying them, don't you know him? GDP is more important than anything else. If the money goes into the development project in Guangming District, will the workers even get their hands on it?"

Chen Yanshi did not agree at the time.

But Sha Ruijin added a sentence at the end.

"Mr. Chen, I have been following Chen Hai's case closely. Once the situation in Handong stabilizes, I will coordinate with the relevant parties and do my utmost to promote a lawful resolution."

He knew all too well that if Chen Hai remained detained in the military detention center, he wouldn't even have the chance to go through normal legal procedures. Only by transferring the case from the military to the local authorities would Chen Hai have a chance to survive.

The only person in the entire Handong province who can challenge the military is the provincial party secretary.

The morning of the third day.

Dafeng Factory Canteen.

Zheng Xipo was organizing the demolition and relocation cooperation documents when his phone rang.

"Xipo, that is me, Chen Yanshi."

Zheng Xipo's hand trembled. "Old Chen? What's wrong—"

"I'm going to the factory this afternoon to gather the workers together; I have something to say."

"Mr. Chen, the demolition agreement has been finalized, according to the municipal party committee's announcement—"

"An announcement?" Chen Yanshi's voice suddenly hardened. "Xipo, you've been fooled."

Zheng Xipo gripped his phone, a chill running down his spine.

Chen Yanshi arrived at 2 PM.

He was wearing a faded Zhongshan suit, his hair was completely white, and he was hunched over, but he walked with a brisk pace. Several old workers' eyes immediately welled up with tears when they saw him.

"Old Chen!"

"Old Chen is here!"

More and more people gathered. The canteen was too crowded, so they moved to an open space in the factory area. More than three hundred people formed a circle, surrounding Chen Yanshi in the middle.

Wang Wenge also came. The factory security team had just disbanded yesterday, but they were called back today—not by him, but by the workers themselves. Old Chen was coming to a meeting; who dared not to go?

Chen Yanshi stood on an overturned iron barrel, his voice not loud, but every word pierced the hearts of the workers.

"Fellow villagers, back then, I, Chen Yanshi, spearheaded the restructuring of Dafeng Factory, carving out a piece of state-owned assets to distribute to you. Why? So that you would have food to eat and a home to live in."

There was complete silence below.

"And now? The municipal party committee posted a notice saying that resettlement fees will be paid in advance, and that the shares will be compensated at market value." Chen Yanshi shook his head. "Who believes that? Don't you know who Li Dakang is? GDP is more important than the lives of ordinary people! He promised so readily, but once the money goes into the development project, you'll never get a penny back in your lives!"

Zheng Xipo stood at the edge of the crowd, his face pale.

He wanted to argue back, but the workers below had already started to stir.

"Old Chen is right! People like Li Dakang are unreliable!"

"I knew it! There's no such thing as a free lunch!"

"The factory protection team must not disband! They must not disband!"

Wang Wenge clenched his fists. He looked at Zheng Xipo, then at Chen Yanshi on the iron bucket.

He believed Zheng Xipo's guarantee, but he believed Old Chen's words even more.

This old man held the same weight at Dafeng Factory as Shen Zhong did in the military region—he could overturn everyone's stance with a single sentence.

Chen Yanshi got off the iron bucket and grabbed Wang Wenge's hand.

"Cultural Revolution, you're a real man. The factory protection team must not disband; this factory is your lifeline. Anyone who tries to forcibly demolish it will have to step over my body, Chen Yanshi!"

Wang Wenge's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

"Mr. Chen, should the factory security team... regroup?"

Chen Yanshi nodded.

Wang Wenge turned around and faced the more than 300 workers.

"Brothers—the factory security team has been reorganized! Starting today, we will take turns guarding the factory, 24 hours a day!"

The cheers made the factory's corrugated iron roof vibrate.

Zheng Xipo stood in the corner, the color slowly fading from his face. He knew what this would mean.

Three days have passed since Li Dakang promised a seven-day deadline.

Dafeng Factory, however, became a powder keg.

When the news spread from the factory area, Shen Zhong was flipping through an internal reference document in the military region office.

Zhou Weiguo pushed the door open and came in.

"Sir, something has happened at Dafeng Factory."

Shen Zhong's hands never stopped flipping through the internal reference materials.

"Did Chen Yanshi go?"

Zhou Weiguo was taken aback. "You knew?"

"Sha Ruijin is more unscrupulous than I thought."