94: From Technological Warfare to Space Empire

Lin Yu put down his pen, looked at the bruises on Xiao Zhao's face and the dried blood at the corner of his mouth, and remained silent for a long time.

This young driver is not old, only about 23 or 24 years old. In my previous life, that would have been the age of not even finishing graduate school, but now he has been working for seven or eight years and is the pillar of his family.

The air in the office was somewhat still, and a silent atmosphere permeated the room.

Sun Qingnian stood at the door, unsure whether to go in or back.

Several workers crowded outside the door, but no one spoke.

After a while, Lin Yu put down his pen, stood up, walked around the desk, and went to Xiao Zhao.

"look up."

Xiao Zhao raised his head, his eyes darting away.

Lin Yu carefully examined the injuries on his face, then turned around and rummaged through the cabinet to find a first-aid kit, iodine, and cotton swabs, which he handed over.

"Take care of it first."

Xiao Zhao was stunned and didn't answer.

Lin Yu shoved the first-aid kit into his arms and then looked at the group of workers at the door.

"What about you? Has anyone else had a family emergency?"

After a few seconds of silence, an old lathe operator sighed and spoke:

"My door was splashed with paint, and there were words written in red paint. My wife was so scared that she couldn't sleep all night."

"My son is only six years old. He saw a dead cat at the door when he was leaving for school this morning, and he cried all morning."

Another worker stepped forward:

"My family had the same experience. Someone smashed the windows in the middle of the night, and there was a piece of paper wrapped around a brick. The paper said, 'If you keep doing this, I'll burn the house down.'"

Lin Yu listened to each of their questions, his anger visibly growing. He knew he needed to calm down and reassure the workers, but how innocent they were!

When the factory was on the verge of bankruptcy, no one came to its rescue. Now that the factory is about to be revived, and the workers' back wages have not yet been paid in full, it has been targeted by vultures again.

He is not a capitalist; he is a student.

For capitalists, agreeing to fire a worker who is still owed wages is the most profitable option, but for students, it is the greatest insult.

All that reading has gone to waste!

He doesn't need to intimidate his subordinates with calm rationality and ruthless weighing of pros and cons; he wants to stand with the workers on the front lines, sharing their sorrow and anger.

The workers are the force, and he is the network that connects that force.

After everyone had finished speaking, he nodded.

"Okay, I understand."

He then turned to Xiao Zhao, his voice resolute:

"You just said you wanted to quit your job? No way!"

Xiao Zhao bit his lip. He didn't want to quit his job. He had earned more money in the past two days than in the previous month, but he was really afraid that his family would be harmed, so he wanted to say something.

But Lin Yu patted him on the shoulder:

Will quitting solve the problem? Will they stop bothering you if you quit?

Xiao Zhao was stunned; that was indeed what he thought.

"They approached you not just because you drive for the Red Star factory."

Lin Yu's voice was unhurried, yet it contained something bright within it.

They bully you because you're poor, easy to bully, and have no one backing you.

"You think you can escape this by quitting your job and going home?"

"You chickened out today, but they won't let you off the hook."

"Today they can throw feces and smash windows, tomorrow they can block your way home from get off work, and the day after tomorrow they can cause trouble for your family."

"They'll ask you for pocket money every single day."

Hearing this, Xiao Zhao's hands began to tremble, but Lin Yu looked at him with a firm gaze and said:

"But they've bullied the wrong person!"

"You came today, stood before me, and told me about this!"

"That's enough!"

"This isn't just about you being bullied! This is a matter between thugs and our steel mill!"

"I won't let this go as they think!"

"Go back and tell those thugs! This place is under my management, Lin Yu's!"

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!"

He turned and walked back to his desk, took a piece of paper from the drawer, spread it out, and began to write.

"You have elderly people at home, right? Pick them up first, and I'll have someone arrange a place for them to stay for a few days."

"The same goes for everyone else; they have elderly and young families to support, so they should be moved first."

"I'll pay for the house if it's vandalized. I'll fix the tires if they're punctured."

"I'll cover the medical expenses for the injured."

"Those who miss work will still be paid their full wages!"

He finished speaking in one breath, then looked up at the workers:

"But there's one condition—I will not accept resignation due to intimidation!!"

"If you trust me and follow me, I must ensure your safety!"

"Of course, if you don't believe me and have other reasons for resigning, you can leave now, I won't stop you."

Silence fell in the office once again.

Xiao Zhao almost dropped the first aid kit in his hands. He hurriedly grabbed it, and when he looked up, his eyes immediately turned red.

"Director Lin, I..."

Lin Yu waved his hand to interrupt him:

"Stop talking nonsense, treat the wound first."

"Once you're done, go to the logistics department, give them your home address, and have them pick up your grandmother before tonight."

Xiao Zhao nodded vigorously, his Adam's apple bobbing several times, but he couldn't say a word. He frantically looked up to hide his tears.

The other workers looked at each other, and the fear and anxiety on their faces gradually eased.

Lin Yu didn't say anything more. He stamped the note he had written and told the workers to go to the finance department to get the money.

The workers left one after another, and the last one to leave closed the door behind him.

As soon as the door closed, Zhang Guoqiang appeared from the side and lowered his voice:

"Comrade Lin, what's wrong with you...?"

"To reassure them."

Lin Yu didn't even look up.

"What the workers fear most now is not being smashed or splashed, but that no one cares."

"They may have gotten used to being left unattended, but that will never continue."

"If they know that the factory will take care of them and help them, they won't be afraid."

Zhang Guoqiang nodded thoughtfully, then asked:

"So what do we do next? These people dared to harm the workers, so they're coming for us."

"I know."

Lin Yu finally raised his head, his eyes gleaming with malice.

"Wu Xiangrong, right?"

"He thought he was playing a low-level game, and I couldn't play it."

"I'll show him what real lowlife tactics are today."

He handed the sheet of paper filled with writing to Zhang Guoqiang:

"Help me look into a few things."

The paper contained a long list of materials, ranging from steel to gasoline, and a whole host of chemicals.

"Go and buy everything listed here!"

"I want to see if Wu Xiangrong has anything to hide!"

Zhang Guoqiang nodded, took the supplies list, and left.

He acted quickly, and before long, a series of products arrived at Lin Yu's factory experimental platform.

When Lin Yu was summoned, the first thing he smelled was a sweet fragrance in the air.

It smells a bit pungent and is sickeningly sweet.

This smell evoked a long, long memory for Lin Yu—the smell of gasoline that he could only smell when he was a child.

"What's this smell?"

Zhang Guoqiang leaned closer and smelled it, but didn't find anything strange about it; he was very familiar with these smells.

But when he saw that the bottle Lin Yu was pointing to contained Wu Xiangrong's gasoline, he said directly.

"This is Wu Xiangrong's ethyl gasoline. It smells similar to gasoline on the market. What's wrong?"

Upon hearing the term "ethyl gasoline," Lin Yu's vision went black, and he quickly pulled Zhang Guoqiang back.

Damn! He remembered! He remembered! The report from his previous life about the abnormal increase in lead content in global geological formations during the global geological sequencing.

What ethyl gasoline?!

That stuff is called tetraethyl lead!!! What is ethyl gasoline? That's ethyl lead gasoline!

Even a tiny amount can cause poisoning, continuously affecting a person's nervous system and development.

Is this stuff all over the market now?!