rpbooks Chapter 130 Hou Liangping, you can't handle this bowl of noodles from Dafeng Factory.
Chapter 130 Hou Liangping, you can't handle this bowl of noodles from Dafeng Factory.
The morning in Jingzhou was damp and chilly, and before the sun had fully risen, the bumpy cement road in front of Dafeng Factory was already soaked with dew.
A black Passat sedan with a Beijing license plate (京A) sputtered and chugged through the puddles on the road like a beetle that hadn't woken up yet, finally stopping in front of the rusty iron gate.
The car door opened, and a shiny leather shoe stepped into the muddy water.
Hou Liangping climbed out of the carriage and straightened his not-so-expensive but well-tailored dark blue executive jacket. He took a deep breath of the coal-smelling air and glanced at the dilapidated factory area in the eye of the storm.
According to the intelligence he received in Beijing, this place should now be an active volcano about to erupt.
Equity disputes, worker layoffs, forced demolitions... all these tangled fires could explode at the slightest spark.
He had even mentally rehearsed countless scenarios: angry crowds holding banners blocking the door, Molotov cocktails arcing through the air, or riot police forming a shield wall to confront the workers.
He came down this time with the Supreme People's Procuratorate's "imperial sword" in order to cut the fuse with the sharp blade of law before the powder keg exploded.
He felt that he was both the firefighter and the judge who could sort out right and wrong in the chaos.
But the scene before him made his opening remarks, which he had already rehearsed eight hundred times in his mind, get stuck in his throat.
The factory was eerily quiet.
No, it's not stillness, it's order.
There were no banners, no Molotov cocktails, and no tense standoff.
In the distance, on the open ground of the factory, two excavators were swinging their giant arms to clear away the rubble, emitting a deep roar.
The workers sat in twos and threes around a long table in front of the makeshift shed, holding steaming enamel mugs in their hands, eating their breakfast.
The aroma of steamed buns and porridge mingled with the smell of engine oil, and you could even hear a few rough jokes.
This doesn't look like a powder keg ready to erupt at any moment; it's clearly a model construction site undergoing infrastructure development.
"Director Hou, is this...is the intelligence wrong?" The young officer Xiao Lin, who was following behind, pushed up his glasses, looking completely bewildered.
Hou Liangping didn't reply, his brow furrowing into a deep frown. His keen sense of crisis told him that beneath this unusual calm often lay even greater control.
"Let's go in and take a look."
Hou Liangping stepped inside. There were no security guards stopping him at the entrance; the large iron gate was wide open, as if mocking his excessive nervousness.
He walked straight to the most conspicuous gathering point of the crowd.
Sitting in the middle of the long table was an old man wearing faded old work clothes. He was holding half a steamed bun in his hand and talking animatedly to the person next to him about "poetry and distant places".
Hou Liangping had seen this person in the records. He was Zheng Xipo, the backbone of the workers at Dafeng Factory, and also the captain of the so-called "factory protection team".
"Old Zheng?" Hou Liangping walked to the table, a signature, friendly smile on his face. "I'm Hou Liangping from the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Supreme People's Procuratorate. I'm here specifically for matters concerning our Dafeng Factory."
He emphasized the words "Supreme People's Procuratorate" and showed his work ID with the national emblem on it.
Based on past experience, this "show of force" tactic usually works very well. When ordinary people see this level of credentials, they either feel awe or pour out their grievances and cry out for justice.
But Zheng Xipo only glanced at him briefly, without stopping the action of kneading the steamed bun in his hand.
"The Supreme People's Procuratorate?" Zheng Xipo stuffed the half-eaten steamed bun into his mouth and mumbled indistinctly, "Never heard of it. Director Qi is in charge of things here. Were you sent by Director Qi?"
Hou Liangping's smile froze for a moment.
"Old Zheng, I'm conducting this independent investigation on behalf of the national judicial authorities," Hou Liangping explained patiently, his tone tinged with seriousness.
"I will give you a legal explanation regarding the equity dispute over Dafeng Factory and the unfair treatment you have suffered."
"What's the explanation?" A dark-faced man next to him slammed his chopsticks on the table. "Can you give us money or build us a new factory? If you can't do either, then don't block our work."
Director Qi said that if this area of rubble isn't cleared by this morning, the equipment won't be able to get in this afternoon.
"Exactly, stop with the empty formalities," another worker chimed in. "We've never seen high-ranking officials like you come here before. Now that Director Qi has just fed us, you're checking this and that. Are you trying to take our jobs away?"
Hou Liangping was stunned.
Looking at the impatient workers, he suddenly felt that the work permit in his hand, which represented the supreme dignity of the law, was as light as a piece of waste paper.
The logic here is completely different from what he deduced in his Beijing office.
Here, legal provisions are not as appealing as steamed buns, and procedural justice is not as tangible as readily paid wages.
"Make way, make way! What are you all doing standing around like that? Don't you have any work to do?"
Just as Hou Liangping was in a dilemma, a series of urgent police sirens pierced the morning tranquility as they approached.
The three Mengshi off-road vehicles, like three steel behemoths, barbarically charged into the factory area with an undeniable domineering presence, and suddenly braked less than five meters away from Hou Liangping.
The car door opened, and the first thing to step out was a pair of legs wearing black tactical boots.
Immediately afterwards, Zhao Donglai's burly figure emerged. Without even glancing at Hou Liangping, he went straight to the back seat of the middle car and respectfully opened the door.
Qi Tongwei came down.
He wasn't wearing his police uniform today, but a black stand-up collar trench coat over a dark gray turtleneck sweater, which made him look tall and slender, yet exuded a suffocating sense of oppression.
A woman got off the bus right after him.
In that instant, the once gray and white factory seemed to have been suddenly splashed with a bucket of thick oil paint.
Ye Cunxin casually tied her long, waterfall-like black hair into a high ponytail, revealing her smooth, full forehead and her exquisitely beautiful face, almost bewitching.
Instead of those elaborate dresses, she wore an extremely fitted black leather jacket, the sheen of which resembled a flowing liquid, tightly wrapping around the breathtaking curves of her upper body.
She deliberately only zipped up her leather jacket halfway, and the tight white tank top underneath was stretched almost to bursting by her impressive bust. As she moved, the snow-white skin against the black leather jacket was dazzling.
Her lower body was covered in a pair of incredibly tight dark blue jeans. They were so tight that every inch of fabric was doing its best to cling to her long, straight thighs. From the top of her thighs to her rounded calves, the lines were so smooth that they looked as if they had been drawn with a paintbrush.
The curves of her hips were accentuated by the denim fabric, making them appear full and perky, and her walk had a lazy yet dangerous rhythm.
She was chewing gum, wearing oversized sunglasses, and fiddling with a tactical folding knife no longer than a finger, the blade dancing between her fingers.
She casually followed Qi Tongwei, her arrogant demeanor as if no one else was around, making it seem as if this wasn't a scene of conflict, but rather her private playground.
"Director Qi!"
Zheng Xipo, who had just been ignoring Hou Liangping, suddenly stood up as if he had springs under his buttocks, and went to greet him with a big smile.
"Everyone, sit down and keep eating." Qi Tongwei waved his hand, his tone as natural as if he were in his own backyard. "Old Zheng, are there enough meat buns today? If not, have Donglai send over another five hundred."
"Enough! That's more than enough!" Zheng Xipo laughed so hard his face was covered in wrinkles.
Seeing this scene, Hou Liangping couldn't suppress the anger in his heart.
This isn't a law enforcement scene; it's clearly a warlord inspecting his territory!
"Qi Tongwei!" Hou Liangping strode forward and blocked Qi Tongwei's path.
Their eyes met briefly in mid-air.
"Old classmate, you're here pretty early." Qi Tongwei stopped, put his hands in his trench coat pockets, and looked at Hou Liangping with a half-smile. "Have you had breakfast? The steamed buns here are pretty good, thin skin and lots of filling."
"I'm not in the mood for jokes." Hou Liangping said coldly, his righteous and imposing aura making him instinctively straighten his back.
"I'm asking you, the Dafeng Factory case is now under the supervision of the Supreme People's Procuratorate. As the director of the Provincial Public Security Department, why are you overstepping your authority and interfering? Do you know that this is not in accordance with judicial procedures?"
"And there's more!" Hou Liangping pointed to the excavators that were working on the site. "The equity disputes here haven't been resolved yet, and all assets should be frozen."
Not only have you lifted the lockdown, but you're also carrying out construction. Where did this money come from? Are you taking government funds to clean up the mess left by the Shanshui Group?
This hat is very large and heavy.
If it were someone else, they would probably have panicked by now.
Qi Tongwei merely tilted his head, as if he had heard a funny joke. Ye Cunxin, standing beside him, burst out laughing, popping a pink bubble, and looked at Hou Liangping as if he were an idiot.
"Program?" Qi Tongwei repeated the word, his smile widening. "Liangping, you're still that good student who loved memorizing in college."
He took a thick, worn-out black ledger from Zhao Donglai and slapped it directly onto Hou Liangping's chest.
"Take a look. This is the resettlement fee, back wages, and start-up capital details for the first phase of the new factory for the 1,362 workers at Dafeng Factory."
Hou Liangping instinctively caught the ledger and turned to the first page.
The tables were filled with detailed records of where every penny went, down to the cent. But in the "source of funds" column, four large characters were prominently displayed: "Shanshui Special Fund".
"This…" Hou Liangping looked up abruptly, "You used the assets of Shanshui Group that were seized? Qi Tongwei, are you crazy? This is illegal disposal of assets involved in a case! Without a court judgment, what right do you have to move this money?"
"This money is what they owe the workers!" Qi Tongwei's voice suddenly turned cold, and the murderous aura he had honed over the years on the brink of life and death forced Hou Liangping to subconsciously take a half step back.
"Liangping, is your so-called procedural justice just about making over a thousand people go hungry while waiting for your verdict that will never be delivered?"
Qi Tongwei took a step forward, pointing at the ledger: "I simply used special means to return the dirty money that Zhao Ruilong spat out to its original owner ahead of schedule."
Every penny of this money was held in a dual-supervisory account of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Provincial Public Security Department, with expedited procedures and complete formalities.
"But equity..." Hou Liangping wanted to argue.
"To hell with the equity!" Qi Tongwei interrupted him rudely. The fact that this swear word came out of his mouth ignited the passions of the surrounding workers.
"Ask Lao Zheng, ask these workers, do they care more about the empty shell of shares that Zhao Ruilong has shorted, or about the cash they have and this new factory that's under construction?"
Zheng Xipo shouted from the side, "Director Hou, we only acknowledge Director Qi! Can equity really put food on the table? Director Qi helped us get our back wages and even built a new factory for us. That's the greatest justice!"
"Yes! We recognize Director Qi!" The workers shouted in unison.
Looking at those excited faces, Hou Liangping felt a wave of helplessness wash over him.
He thought he held the sword of law, capable of cutting through any tangled mess. But faced with Qi Tongwei's almost tyrannical pragmatism, his sword struck cotton.
Qi Tongwei's move was called "drawing the firewood from under the cauldron".
He didn't bother with the complicated legal provisions at all; he simply used money—the enemy's money—to resolve the core conflict.
When the victims no longer see themselves as victims, and even begin to support the "violator," Hou Liangping's investigation loses its foothold.
"See that?" Qi Tongwei pointed to the bustling construction site behind him. "This is the human heart. The law is a weapon, but not the only one. In this area of Handong, simply reciting legal provisions won't save people."
Ye Cunxin walked to Qi Tongwei's side and extended a slender, fair hand—a hand that had been in constant gun handling yet remained remarkably well-maintained.
She casually adjusted Qi Tongwei's trench coat collar, then turned and raised an eyebrow at Hou Liangping, her voice languid and tinged with mockery:
"Hey, Your Excellency, did you understand? This is what it means to settle a matter. Your old tricks are only suitable for fooling children in textbooks."
Hou Liangping held the heavy ledger, his knuckles turning white.
He didn't want to admit it, but the facts were undeniable—Qi Tongwei had won, and won beautifully, leaving him speechless.
Qi Tongwei looked at Hou Liangping's face, which was alternating between pale and flushed, and the coldness in his eyes subsided slightly.
He reached out and patted Hou Liangping's shoulder hard, so hard that Hou Liangping staggered.
"Alright, stop obsessing over this." Qi Tongwei leaned closer to Hou Liangping, lowering his voice, which carried a seductive charm.
"Ryoping, your sword isn't even sharpened yet. Don't keep focusing on these trivial matters."
Qi Tongwei's gaze passed over Hou Liangping's shoulder and landed on the provincial party committee building hidden in the morning mist in the distance, a playful smile curving his lips.
"I have a really big case here. The procedure is absolutely just, the evidence is absolutely conclusive, and even the suspect is already in my cage. The opponent is a bit strong; they might cause a huge upheaval."
"So, Director Hou, do you dare to accept?"