A bombshell piece of news was furiously circulating within all automobile companies and large engineering machinery manufacturers.
The engine supply cut-off incident with He Dao this time was actually caused by a young factory director, Wang Yu, from a small automobile plant in Jiangyang County, Gujiang Province, who had stolen a large amount of technology from He Dao. This was why the people from He Dao had, in a fit of anger, cut off engine supplies.
Of course, this was all that people had managed to glean from the mouths of a few He Dao engine company employees.
Their official explanation to the public was that they were affected by earthquake damage.
But that was like a deaf person's ear – merely for show. Pretty much everyone knew it was just an excuse to fool people.
It was uncertain if a magnitude 2 earthquake could even kill a dog, but it could certainly be used to stun everyone's intelligence!
Regarding their neighbor to the east, for hundreds and thousands of years, everyone knew they were a bit erratic, and any kind of crazy action was entirely possible from them.
Then, as the news was gradually pieced together, all information about Wang Yu was laid bare before everyone.
He had been an unknown youngster before, and then suddenly he made a name for himself, rescuing the originally failing Jiangyang County Automobile Plant and making it flourish with vigor and spirit.
He had even risen rapidly and become the leading enterprise in Jiangyang County.
From the information gathered from various sources, this Wang Yu was truly not simple! Not only had he ventured into cross-industry research and developed many models of various new small home appliances, but he had also emerged victorious in multiple confrontations with overseas technical experts.
He had even previously forced He Dao's First Steel Group, Tianyi Steel Company, to concede defeat. That had also caused a minor stir in the news at the time.
However, because most people were buried in their work, they hadn't paid attention to this information.
Even more exaggerated was what followed. The local populace of Jiangyang County were willing to offer high prices for benefits and referral fees just to join the automobile plant as ordinary workers.
Especially since Wang Yu was very generous, providing incredibly good treatment to his workers, with very high wages and overtime pay, and finding excuses to give out bonuses every now and then!
As a result, whenever their automobile plant paid out wages, it would directly drive up local prices.
This also led to Wang Yu having very high prestige locally!
"Hmph, a bunch of unsophisticated bumpkins, getting so grateful for a little bit of petty gain. They have no backbone at all!"
Upon seeing this information, people from the major manufacturers all wore expressions of disdain and scorn. They were state-owned, even centrally-managed, large factories with stable jobs and complete benefits; how could they possibly be jealous of him? Impossible!
That's right, they absolutely wouldn't feel a pang of envy and then start thinking about how to make their own bosses accidentally see this news...
However, as they delved deeper, the vast majority of people came to agree with He Dao's explanation. Perhaps Wang Yu really had stolen He Dao's technology?
Otherwise, how could they explain the small home appliances and daily necessities he produced through cross-industry ventures?
How could these things be produced by an automobile plant?
And how could Wang Yu, a mere failed student, repeatedly defeat those overseas experts?
If all of this was based on him stealing others' achievements, then it would make sense!
No wonder those people from He Dao were acting like madmen! These guys with holes in their heads clearly valued their sense of honor very highly!
At this moment, after a series of mental elaborations, many people had tacitly accepted the reason for He Dao's sudden, erratic engine supply cut-off.
However, the reason had been found, but how to solve the problem was the real issue!
He Dao insisted that production had stopped solely due to the earthquake. These cunning fellows, while this excuse was flimsy, it could be used to perfectly deflect responsibility.
Because He Dao experienced very frequent volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, it was possible that a major disaster could strike at any day. Therefore, all of He Dao's supply contracts had special clauses stating that if production was reduced or halted due to sudden disasters like earthquakes or volcanoes, He Dao had the right to unilaterally refuse any accountability...
So, they were using the contract to their advantage, and no one could do anything about it!
Since they couldn't do anything about He Dao, they could certainly put pressure on Wang Yu! This was the thought among many of the big shots in the various manufacturers.
Find a way to deal with this young fellow Wang Yu, and then hand him over to He Dao to appease their anger. Wouldn't that be the perfect solution?
Immediately, everyone deployed their unique abilities, and all sorts of channels and personal connections were brought into play. Countless phone calls poured into Gujiang Province, directly overwhelming the Jiangyang County government building!
Not only was Secretary Yang's phone line jammed, but even the few paltry phone lines in other departments were incessantly bombarded without exception!
Many calls that couldn't reach Secretary Yang were rerouted to other departments, demanding that he be the one to answer.
"Hello? Secretary Yang is currently on the phone!"
"Hello, hello, hello! We know, we know you're looking for Secretary Yang, and Secretary Yang is busy right now!"
"Stop calling, everyone is calling! What? You're from the Governor's Office of Baijiang Province? That's useless! The Governor's Offices of over a dozen provinces, including Shuanglong Province and Mingguang Province, are already on standby!"
"Don't make it difficult for us, we can't get through either!"
"..."
Amidst the ceaseless ringing of telephones, there were countless answering voices within the government building.
Because everyone had to answer calls simultaneously, the voices mingled, making it impossible to hear anything clearly. They could only helplessly raise their voices, and shouts like those in a quarrel echoed throughout the government office building.
In the Secretary's office, Secretary Yang's dedicated work landline was picked up and placed to the side. It was no wonder people couldn't get through from the outside; he had hung up after receiving two calls and sensing trouble.
No matter how they called, they would only hear a continuous busy signal!
"I say, Secretary Yang, isn't this a bit inappropriate?"
A young man beside him said to Secretary Yang with a wry smile.
"What do you understand? Whether to answer such a call or not is not a good thing."
Secretary Yang smiled and shook his head.
"The major automobile companies and industrial machinery manufacturers in our country now see Wang Yu as a thorn in their side, a nail in their flesh, and wish they could just get rid of him.
But if they deal with Wang Yu, who will solve the problems of livelihood and employment for our county? Who will contribute to GDP and tax revenue?
And this matter is not simple..."