Wei Jie

Chapter 479 Fierce Argument

Chapter 1 A Difference of Opinion

Inside a barrack at the Chi Army base, Su Tianyu, Da Bai, Zhou Tonghui, and Yu Mingyuan sat down. Kong Zhenghui closed the door and hunched over in a corner seat near the entrance.

"What's up, Zhenghui? What's this about?" Yu Mingyuan asked first.

Kong Zhenghui looked serious, wringing his hands in his lap, seemingly hesitant to speak.

After a moment, Bai Hongbo urged him, "Spit it out! What's wrong?"

Kong Zhenghui slowly raised his head to look at everyone, his eyes gradually hardening. "There are things I've wanted to say for a while now, but I haven't found the right opportunity. There are no outsiders here today, so let's just say what's on our minds."

Everyone was a little confused by this, as Kong Zhenghui was clearly very serious, and he rarely spoke to them in this tone.

"Go on," Yu Mingyuan said, crossing his legs and pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

Kong Zhenghui looked around at everyone. "I think the union is moving too fast, and we shouldn't be involved in this."

The room fell silent. Even Yu Mingyuan, who was about to light a cigarette, looked surprised.

"The previous arms deal, we poured in capital, pulled strings, almost risked our lives several times, and put in a tremendous amount of effort to get it done. But before we even saw any benefits, the mine disaster happened, putting us in direct opposition to the Bao Long Corporation and the capital behind it." Kong Zhenghui looked at everyone calmly. "Of course, the mine disaster wasn't our fault. The union was forced to retaliate. But the fact is, we were already exhausted after that. We should have focused all our energy on preparing for the official operation of the arms business and spent a few years building up our strength, instead of fighting on all fronts, offending everyone, and keeping everyone in the union on edge all the time."

Everyone was silent, not responding.

Kong Zhenghui loosened his collar and continued, "The Dockworkers' Association, the Bao Long Corporation, the Regulatory Commission, the You family in the Navy, the Xue family outside the district... have you counted how many people we've offended, even though we've acquired some resources? How many people want us dead?! Now, the human trafficking case has turned into another bottomless pit. I just don't understand why we're working with a team like Fei Pingsheng's and continuing down this path. Can't we just stop while we're ahead?"

"Zhenghui, let me say a few words." Yu Mingyuan paused for a moment, then slowly put down his pack of cigarettes and said, "This human trafficking case is indeed quite complicated, and it's not what we expected. But there are many reasons why our union is pursuing it. First, Zhang Hao was arrested. He's one of us, our brother. We can't just abandon him. Second, Tianyu is in the Coast Guard, and he's in charge of this case. The higher-ups have also put pressure on him to solve it. Third, one of our strongest political connections, Lao Li, is also interested in this case and wants us to investigate it. Fourth, these human traffickers really are...!"

"Lao Li told us to investigate, that's right, but we have the power to decide whether to continue or not," Kong Zhenghui immediately retorted. "Take this case, for example. We could have chosen not to trust Fei Pingsheng, or we could have avoided Ailan and reported directly to Lao Li, saying the trail went cold. What could he have done? If we had done that, so many people wouldn't have been injured, and we wouldn't have a bunch of messes to clean up."

Yu Mingyuan looked at Kong Zhenghui, about to try to persuade him, but Su Tianyu knew that many of the things Zhenghui said today were filled with dissatisfaction and doubts about him, so he quickly waved his hand and spoke first: "Zhenghui, from a broad perspective, if the union wants to develop, it must have a strong political backing, right? I'm not doing this to please Lao Li, but only if we help him gain a foothold in Dragon City will we have huge political rewards in the future, and be able to take one step and plan three steps ahead..."

"I agree with you that the union's development must have strong political backing, but everything should be done within our capabilities, right?" Kong Zhenghui spread his hands and frowned. "We should do our best with things we can do, but we shouldn't force things we can't do, right?! Since the establishment of the union, how many life-or-death lawsuits have we been involved in with various forces? It's fine now that Lao Li is in power, but what if he falls one day? Have you considered the consequences?"

"Zhenghui, resources are limited, but competitors are infinite!" Su Tianyu pointed out the window. "There are eight large supermarkets on Earth House Street. Adding one more won't make anyone more money, and losing one isn't possible. If you want to do this business in this place, it means you have to squeeze out one, you have to fight tooth and nail, you have to fight to the death! Whoever loses will lose money and withdraw. Whether the union grows big or small, as long as you exist, you will definitely offend people, because we are encroaching on resources. There's no way around that! As for whether Lao Li falls or not, that's not within our scope of consideration, understand? Because our size doesn't affect the personnel appointments at the top. If we put aside personal feelings and talk purely about interests, then we only need to consider a few points. One, is Lao Li easy to use? Two, does he care about you when the union is in trouble? Three, can his power protect the association? As long as these points are met, why should we consider so much? If you follow other political connections, is there no possibility of them falling? How powerful was the Regulatory Commission a year ago, but isn't it leaking everywhere now? Bao Long Mining was defeated by us, and they couldn't do anything about it, could they?! Not taking a political stance means no future; taking a stance means there will definitely be risks. That's the rule!"

Kong Zhenghui waved his hand. "No, let me say it again, I'm not saying we shouldn't get on Lao Li's ship, and I'm not saying we shouldn't listen to him! I'm saying that everything should be done within our capabilities! Even a fool can see that the water is too deep in this human trafficking case. I don't think we can get involved. So, what I mean is, you should tell Lao Li directly that the trail has gone cold, and we should stop here and focus our energy on the arms business. We need to slow down."

"Slow down how?!" Su Tianyu frowned and questioned. "My cousin is still involved, Uncle You is dead, do you know what those human traffickers...!"

"It would have been better if you hadn't brought this up! The more I think about it, the angrier I get!" Kong Zhenghui suddenly stood up. "Whose responsibility is it that Zhang Hao was arrested? Whose responsibility is it that Uncle You died? It's your brother Su Tiannan's! The union belongs to everyone. Why didn't he give us a heads-up before bringing the suspect into the association?! Now we have no choice at all, we're completely stuck with it!"

Su Tianyu was speechless.

Bai Hongbo, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly looked up and shouted, "Zhenghui, that's going too far!"