Chapter 1 The Beginning

　　Outside the gate of the Zhanan District Sanitation Management Division, the striking protesters stood irregularly on both sides of the road. Some gathered together to smoke, chat, and bullshit; some sat in company cars, eating boxed lunches distributed by the organizers; and others spread protest banners on the ground, playing cards in groups of three or five.

　　In short, the overall atmosphere of this strike looked lively, but upon closer inspection, it was not difficult to see that it was a motley crew.

　　The reason why these four hundred workers came was either because the leading organizers had absolute vested interests with the Su, Liu, Bai, and Kong companies, or because ordinary workers wanted to earn the generous work stoppage subsidies given by the four companies. Anyway, everyone got together, the fundamental reason being profit.

　　Looking around, very few of the four hundred workers could seriously read the protest slogans, or truly understand the harm that industry monopolies brought to the bottom. And that was the sad and ironic part. Life was difficult for those at the bottom, and the workers were already exhausted. They cared more about immediate interests, which was also more practical.

　　……

　　Lu Feng's business car was parked on the corner of the street. He sat in the car smoking, squinting at the striking crowd, very quietly.

　　Outside the crowd, three men in police uniforms walked slowly to the side of the business car. The leader, wearing sunglasses, waved at the car.

　　These three were from the Zhanan District Police Division, and they had been sent by the division in the morning to maintain order.

　　The car window lowered, and Lu Feng smiled and greeted the leading officer, "Hehe, Er Mao, come on, get in and chat."

　　"Our Changqing Company has such a big business, how can it be checkmated by four small companies? What's going on, Feng-ge?" The leading police chief didn't get in the car, but just asked with his hands behind his back and a smile.

　　"A bunch of mud-legged, stinky coolies, believing everything they hear. Someone takes the lead, and they just follow the blind fuss, hehe." Lu Feng replied with disdain, "I'm sorry to trouble your police division."

　　"We're not troubled, if we're not working here, we'd have to stay in the division."

　　"Come on, don't stand there, brothers, get in the car and chat." Lu Feng pulled open the business car door.

　　"You two go back first, I'll go up and chat with Feng-ge." The leading police chief instructed his colleagues behind him, bent down, and got into the car.

　　"Brother, it's really unreasonable to have you run here to maintain order for no reason." Lu Feng crossed his legs and said to the police officer, "Tonight at eight o'clock, I'll set up a table at Jufu Restaurant, with money and women, call all your friends, let's get together."

　　The police chief smiled when he heard this, "I didn't come to you for this."

　　"Hey, friends are friends, rules are rules, we can't trouble you for nothing." Lu Feng waved his hand and said, "Be sure to come."

　　"Hehe, okay." The police chief replied contentedly, and also reminded him appropriately, "Feng-ge, I'll also give you a heads up. If the Management Committee can't withstand the pressure, and there's no other way, then the police department and the police division can only take the lead in mediating this matter. The higher-ups can't let them make trouble like this every day, you know what I mean, right?"

　　Lu Feng was stunned for a moment, "Don't worry, the company will quickly resolve this strike dispute, and won't trouble you for too long."

　　"Hey, that's good." The police chief nodded.

　　While the two were chatting, the crowd at the gate of the Management Division suddenly boiled, and several leaders shouted, "Changqing Company illegally monopolizes the sanitation industry, exploiting the workers at the bottom, the Management Committee must give an explanation!"

　　"Give an explanation!!"

　　"……!"

　　The shouts rose one after another. Lu Feng looked up, smiled, and pointed to the crowd, asking the police chief, "Do you think these mud-legged people know what they're shouting about? They're just blindly following the crowd?!"

　　"They don't know shit, they're content with earning thirty yuan a day." The police chief replied casually.

　　As soon as he finished speaking, the strong man who had been sent off the car by Lu Feng earlier got into the passenger seat and nodded, saying, "Feng-ge, I've remembered everything."

　　"Okay, let these stupid Bs make trouble, it's coming soon, hehe." Lu Feng's words were full of contempt and disdain for the workers, and this emotion was also very strange upon careful consideration. Because Lu Feng himself came from a humble background, his starting point was not much higher than these workers. Logically speaking, he should have felt a sense of resonance when he saw these people, but now he looked down on them from the bottom of his heart.

　　Changqing Company would rather spend a lot of money to arrange judicial relations and the upper echelons of the Management Committee, but was unwilling to give the workers at the bottom even one more yuan. This was very similar to the real estate tycoons before the Age of Discovery, who would rather spend money to settle things than pay the wages owed to migrant workers.

　　So sometimes, this intra-class discrimination may be even more tragic.

　　……

　　Inside the Su family compound.

　　After eating lunch, Su Tianyu walked over to Su Tiannan, who was about to go out, "Big brother, I have something else to tell you."

　　"What is it?" Su Tiannan asked.

　　"Didn't you look for Wang Daolin from the Municipal Police Department before?"

　　"Yeah, I gave him fifty thousand yuan before to operate your second uncle's case." Su Tiannan nodded.

　　"Wang Daolin is the director of the Criminal Investigation Division, right?" Su Tianyu asked in detail.

　　"How do you know?" Su Tiannan was a little surprised.

　　"You mentioned him when you were chatting, I asked Third Sister, and I also checked online, and I know some information about him." Su Tianyu replied softly, "Big brother, if you have nothing to do these days, invite him out for tea more often, get together, but don't mention the case of the second uncle."

　　"Why?"

　　"……If the second uncle wants to come out, it is useless for Changqing Company to compromise alone. In the end, the police department has to nod." Su Tianyu said clearly, "It's never bad to make more friends now."

　　Su Tiannan fell into thought.

　　"Lay the groundwork now, so it will be easier to talk about it when the time comes."

　　"Okay, I got it." Su Tiannan nodded heavily, "What are you going to do?"

　　"I'm going to the freight yard." Su Tianyu replied truthfully.

　　"Be careful, Lu Feng has suffered a loss, and he won't let it go." Su Tiannan instructed, "Call more family members to go with you."

　　"Okay, I got it."

　　"Yeah."

　　After the two brothers finished talking, they left separately.

　　……

　　In the afternoon, Su Tianyu wandered around his own garbage dump for a few circles, learning about the operation process of this industry. But he found that this business basically has no threshold, except for being hard and tiring, there is no other technical thing. From garbage collection, to centralized sorting, to the final processing, 80% of the work depends on manual labor, which is not difficult to understand why this business is so competitive. Because the market is very fixed, there is no room for expansion except for mergers and acquisitions. In addition, the threshold is low, so the infighting in the industry is naturally very serious.

　　Around 5:00 p.m., Su Tianbei, who was injured, led more than a hundred striking workers back from the district, preparing to cook and eat in the factory.

　　This strike not only had fixed times for "work" but also provided money and food, and even provided car pick-up and drop-off services. This management model can be regarded as setting a new benchmark for the "service industry".

　　In the garbage dump's office, Su Tianyu was about to step out when his second brother Tianbei pushed the door open and walked in, "Let's go, dinner's ready."

　　"Let's go, I'm hungry too." Su Tianyu greeted him, and asked with a smile, "How was today?"

　　"More than four hundred of us went, shouted for a day, and only saw a few small leaders from the Sanitation Management Division, the big shots didn't see us at all." Su Tianbei replied softly, "The police division also sent a dozen people, and talked to the leading figures of our companies several times. Damn it, their words were full of threats."

　　"Hehe." Su Tianyu smiled and didn't say anything.

　　"Xiaoyu, will this really work?" Su Tianbei said in a low voice, "Not only do we have to pay more work stoppage subsidies every day, but we also have to provide food, car pick-up and drop-off. It costs a lot every day. I'm afraid that our family's money will be emptied in the end, and the matter will not be resolved. In the end, everything will be a complete disaster."

　　"You're anxious, but the Management Committee, the Police Department, and Changqing Company are even more anxious than you!" Su Tianyu replied with a smile, "Believe me, there will be results within a few days. Let's go, let's go eat."

　　"Okay, let's go!"

　　The two walked and talked, leaving the main building and going to the cafeteria downstairs. Su Tianyu looked at the crowded tables inside and outside the house, and said with a smile, "It's quite lively."

　　"There are not so many people eating at ordinary times, and the cafeteria is not even big enough to hold everyone. Let's go, let's go eat in the small room." Su Tianbei was about to take his younger brother into the cafeteria's small kitchen from the side door.

　　"Bang!"

　　Su Tianyu was just about to step into the door when he was suddenly bounced back.

　　At the door of the small kitchen, a young man who was more than 1.9 meters tall and extremely strong, said in a simple and stuttering voice, "Who...who is it? Who bumped into my crotch?"

　　Su Tianyu was bumped back two steps, looked up, and saw that the young man had dark skin, greasy hair, and was wearing dirty blue work clothes, looking very sloppy, "I'm sorry, brother!"

　　"You...you look...look where you're walking, I almost dumped the vegetable pot on your head." The black iron tower replied in a simple and honest manner.

　　"The light is dim inside, I didn't see you. Come on, you go first." Su Tianyu stepped aside.

　　"I'm delivering vegetables." The black iron tower carried a large vegetable pot on his shoulder and continued to walk out.

　　At this time, the third sister who was preparing food in the house suddenly shouted, "Da Xiong, come to the small kitchen to eat later, there are more dishes here."

　　"Hehe, okay, Third Sister!" The black iron tower strode away, replying with a smile on his face, carrying the vegetables to the worker area outside that was preparing to eat.

　　Seeing that this person spoke a little strangely, and his image was too eye-catching, Su Tianyu asked Tianbei, "Who is this?"

　　"Wu Shixiong, a worker in our family."

　　"I think he...is a little...?"

　　"Yeah, he has congenital mental weakness, his brain is not very...bright." Su Tianbei replied casually.

　　"……You dare to use such a person? What if something happens?!"

　　"What can happen? Doing this job, you still expect to hire college students? As long as they have hands and feet and can work."

　　The two chatted idly and walked into the cafeteria's small kitchen.

　　In the evening, after the Su family finished eating, most of the workers dispersed, and Su Tianbei shouted to the remaining people, "Is there anyone willing to keep watch at night? Thirty yuan a night."

　　The black iron tower was the first to raise his hand when he heard this, "I'm willing!"

　　……

　　In this way, two days passed, and the strike continued, but Changqing Company and the upper echelons of the Management Committee still did not come up with a way to solve the problem or an attitude.

　　In Zhanan's Kong family, a man in his thirties sat on the sofa and asked Kong Zhengui, "Will it work if the Su family takes the lead like this?"

　　"It definitely will!" Kong Zhengui said with his hands behind his back, "You continue to contact the media in the city."

　　"Why do I think you have more confidence than the Su family?"

　　"The new kid who came back to the Su family is quite interesting. He stabbed Lu Feng, but brought the four of us together." Kong Zhengui said lightly, "That's great."

　　"I went to the protest site these days, and I found that the Su family is very concerned about the workers. Not only do they provide food, but they also provide car pick-up and drop-off services. Should we do the same?" The man asked.

　　Kong Zhengui frowned, "No need."

　　"Okay!" The man nodded.

　　……

　　On Saturday, around 5:00 p.m., the striking workers in front of the Management Committee had gradually dispersed, and Su Tianbei had already taken his workers back to the factory.

　　"Creak!"

　　Lu Feng's business car stopped in an alley, turned his head to look at the five men in floral shirts and said, "Go ahead, after you're done, I'll take you to New World to tear some panties."