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Chapter 309: Chapter 309: Trap
For two consecutive days, the village chief and the others could see the intent of those coming from the Old Food Factory.
However, they didn’t dare provoke another conflict; after all, people detained yesterday had not been released yet. If more were to be taken today?
At this rate of detaining people, in just a few days, even if the people from Old Food Factory didn’t cause trouble, the lack of workers would still affect production.
Lin Chuxia scanned the people present. While some workers lived inside the Xiyang Food Factory, there were still quite a few who were blocked at the factory gates.
The village chief was anxious about this, "How about I have Guo Dong lead the villagers to drive them away? Even if they get detained, they’re villagers from Qin Family Village. It wouldn’t affect the factory’s production."
"Don’t do it yet."
Lin Chuxia stopped him. Once a fight broke out, they would not be able to control the consequences.
If a bloody incident happened and it caused Xiyang to shut down for restructuring, they would fall right into their trap.
"We have some workers in the factory now; if they work overtime, the orders should not be affected."
"But this can’t go on," the village chief slapped his thigh. "You guys stay here and keep watch, I’ll go find the town leader."
Their Qin Family Village’s industries were registered with the town, and now that there was trouble, they needed leaders to solve it.
Lin Chuxia wasn’t as optimistic.
Though City Gate Police Station was part of Chengguan Town, since Chengguan Town was the central town of Ancheng County, the town leader didn’t hold much power in this small county area.
The village chief took the accountant with him, each on a bicycle, and headed straight for the town government.
The town government was not far from their village, and as they cycled fast, they arrived in a quarter of an hour.
The town leader’s office was in the last row of the courtyard. Village Chief Qin knocked on the door and entered upon hearing a voice inside.
Guo Zhenyi put down his pen as soon as he saw Village Chief Qin, "Mr. Qin, what brings you here today? Have a seat, and I’ll pour you some water. What’s with all the sweat?"
Village Chief Qin wiped his sweat, barely sat on the edge of the chair, and without catching his breath, "Mayor Guo, I have an urgent matter and need you to take charge."
"Oh? What’s the matter?"
Guo Zhenyi poured a glass of water for both him and the accountant.
The village chief hadn’t ridden a bike that fast in years. Taking a sip of water, he didn’t beat around the bush and relayed the events of the past two days in Qin Family Village to Guo Zhenyi.
He didn’t exaggerate, but he did subtly report Shi Wei and his group’s actions.
"There’s been such an incident?"
Guo Zhenyi had been out in the countryside these past few days. He had just happened to be in town today and this was the first he had heard of it.
"What’s the situation at the factory now? And have the other industries of Qin Family Village—like the chicken farm and the pig farm—been affected?"
"The chicken farm and pig farm haven’t had issues for the time being. They are only targeting Xiyang Food Factory, claiming Xiyang Food snatched their livelihoods. They say if they can’t eat, they won’t let Xiyang’s workers have peace either. They’re surrounding the factory, preventing workers from entering to work. Right now, Lin and Xiao Su are holding the line. We retained some workers in the factory yesterday, but if this continues, the factory’s production will surely be affected."
Guo Zhenyi nodded, "Alright, I got it. You go back first, I’ll deal with this matter immediately."
Village Chief Qin felt a weight lifted from his heart; he knew the leaders still highly valued the industry of Qin Family Village.
After thanking Mayor Guo, he took the accountant and returned to Qin Family Village.
On the other hand, after sending off Village Chief Qin, Guo Zhenyi picked up the phone on the desk to call the police station.
He had dialed a few digits when he put the phone back down.
There was an implicit message in Village Chief Qin’s words; perhaps he should go directly to the police station.
Making up his mind, he called over Xiao Liu, an assistant, to help him pack his things, and headed to the police station with Xiao Liu.
Upon learning that Guo Zhenyi had arrived, the head of the station, Zhou Zong, personally greeted him.
Guo Zhenyi did not let Xiao Liu accompany him into the office. It was better for just the two of them to talk.
Zhou Zong poured him a cup of water and joked, looking at the wall clock, "Lao Guo, you have quite the timing. A moment later and we would be off work. How about we grab a drink later?"
Guo Zhenyi and Zhou Zong had frequent work interactions and were acquainted with each other.
"Let’s talk about drinking later; I’m here for a reason. There are a few workers from Xiyang Food Factory in Qin Family Village still detained here, right? What’s the problem?"
Zhou Zong had guessed he had come for this reason and nodded, "It’s not a big deal. Just a fight. We’ll keep them for a few days to cool off and release them. This little issue is worth a visit from you, Lao Guo? Why not just give a call to inquire?"
"Since it was a fight, it involves both parties. How come I heard that only the workers from Xiyang Food Factory were arrested, and not a single person from the Old Food Factory?"
This was the crux of the issue, and Guo Zhenyi did not believe it was that simple.
Zhou Zong replied with a smile, "How would I know? It was that kid Shi Wei who took the team over there. Maybe at the time, there were more people from Xiyang Food Factory and they were caught first. Those from the Old Food Factory saw our people coming and all ran away. We couldn’t catch up even if we wanted to."
"Well then, do me a favor and release them," Guo Zhenyi primarily came to get people released, "There was no major incident, and also, I heard that the employees from the Old Food Factory are still surrounding Xiyang Food Factory? This can’t go on; even if there is a problem, they should report it to the leadership. These people surround the factory every day, causing public disorder, right? Have them make another trip, to disperse the crowd, whether you arrest anyone or not."
Guo Zhenyi had heard some about the problems with the Old Food Factory and Xiyang Food Factory.
Initially, the Old Food Factory used the quota of three regular employees to buy a secret recipe from Xiyang. They all had heard and discussed this privately. Of course, they also knew that Xiyang Food Factory and the Old Food Factory were bound to clash sooner or later.
But he didn’t expect this kind of confrontation.
What was this?
Plain hooliganism.
Zhou Zong handed him a cigarette with a chuckle and sighed deeply.
"It’s not that I don’t want to help you with this matter."
He pulled out a match, lit the cigarette for Guo Zhenyi first, then lit his own, shaking the match to extinguish the flame.
"I know you want to develop township enterprises; I remember Qin Family Village also has chicken and pig farms, which is quite good, but Xiyang Food Factory..."
He didn’t finish, just shook his head.
Guo Zhenyi frowned slightly, "What do you mean by that? The chicken and pig farms in Qin Family Village are certainly good, but Xiyang Food Factory is even better. I have had contact with the person in charge of Xiyang Food Factory, a woman who managed to develop Qin’s Steamed Bun Shop into Xiyang Food Company, a very remarkable and capable person."
"But don’t you think Xiyang Food Factory is overreaching? They targeted the Old Food Factory right from the start. What does that mean? We can’t let the Old Food Factory close just because of one private enterprise, right?"
Zhou Zong circled his fingers and tapped the table.
"Think about it. The Old Food Factory isn’t just about the workers; it also involves the retired employees. It supports over a thousand people, top to bottom. Are you going to leave them all to the mercy of the Northwest wind? Once a factory closes, these people enter society, have you thought about the negative impact this will create?"
