Chapter 10: Black Iron Tower

Outside the Zha'nan District Sanitation Management Department, the striking protesters stood irregularly on both sides of the road - some gathered smoking and chatting idly; some sat in company vehicles eating boxed lunches distributed by the organizers; while others spread protest banners on the ground and played cards in groups of three to five.

Overall, while the strike's atmosphere appeared lively, careful observation revealed this was just a mob of scattered individuals.

These four hundred-plus workers came either because the leading organizers had absolute profit relationships with the four companies - Su, Liu, Bai, and Kong - or because ordinary workers wanted to earn the generous work stoppage compensation offered by the four companies. In any case, everyone gathered for the fundamental reason of profit.

Looking around, among the four hundred-plus workers, very few actually read the protest slogans seriously or truly understood how industry monopolization harmed the bottom class. This was the tragic and ironic part. Life was hard at the bottom, and workers were already very tired - they cared more about immediate benefits, which was also more practical.

......

Lu Feng's business van stopped at a corner of the street. He sat inside smoking, squinting at the striking crowd, very quiet.

On the crowd's outer edge, three men in police uniforms walked slowly to the business van, with the leader wearing sunglasses and waving to those inside.

These three were from the Zha'nan District Police Department, sent by the department in the morning to maintain order.

The window lowered, and Lu Feng smiled and greeted the lead officer: "Hehe, Ermao, come, get in and chat."

"With Changqing Company's big territory, how did you let four small companies outmaneuver you? What happened, Brother Feng?" The lead police chief didn't get in, just asked with his hands behind his back.

"Just a bunch of mud-legs and stinking porters, jumping at shadows. Someone takes the lead, they just blindly follow along, hehe," Lu Feng replied, his words full of contempt. "Sorry for troubling your Police Department."

"It's no trouble for us, if we weren't working here, we'd just be sitting in the department."

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

"You two head back first, I'll go up and chat with Brother Feng," the lead police chief instructed his colleagues before bending down to get in the car.

"Brother, having you come here to maintain order for no reason really isn't right," Lu Feng said with crossed legs, looking at the officer. "Tonight at eight, I'm setting up a table at Jufu Restaurant - there'll be money and women. Bring your friends, let's gather."

The police chief smiled hearing this: "I didn't come find you for this."

"Hey, friendship is friendship, rules are rules, can't trouble you for nothing," Lu Feng waved his hand saying: "You must come."

"Hehe, alright," the police chief replied contentedly, and appropriately reminded him: "Brother Feng, let me give you some information - if the Management Council can't handle the pressure and has no choice in the end, then the Police Bureau and Police Department will have to step in to mediate this matter. The upper levels can't let them keep making trouble like this every day, you understand my meaning?"

Lu Feng paused: "Don't worry, the company will resolve this strike dispute quickly, won't trouble you for long."

"Ah, that's good then," the police chief nodded.

As the two were chatting, the crowd at the Management Department entrance suddenly became agitated, with several leaders shouting: "Changqing Company illegally monopolizes the sanitation industry and exploits bottom-level workers, the Management Council must give us an explanation!"

"Give us an explanation!!"

"...!"

The shouts rose in waves, and Lu Feng looked up, smiling as he pointed at the crowd and asked the police chief: "Do you think these mud-legs even know what they're shouting about? Just blindly making noise!"

"What do they know, they're satisfied with earning thirty yuan a day," the police chief replied casually.

As he finished speaking, the burly man Lu Feng had sent down earlier got into the passenger seat and nodded saying: "Brother Feng, I've remembered them all."

"Fine, let these idiots make trouble, it won't be long now, hehe," Lu Feng's words were full of contempt and disdain for the workers, and this emotion was strange upon careful consideration. Because Lu Feng himself came from grassroots origins, his starting point wasn't much higher than these workers, so logically he should have felt resonance seeing these people, but now he looked down on them from his bones.

Changqing Company would rather spend big money to arrange judicial relationships and Management Council upper levels, but was unwilling to give bottom-level workers one more yuan - this was extremely similar to those grassroots real estate tycoons before the New Era who would rather spend money to settle matters than pay the wages they owed to migrant workers.

So sometimes, discrimination within the same class might be even more tragic.

......

In the Su family compound.

After lunch, Su Tianyu went to find Su Tiannan who was preparing to go out: "Big Brother, I have one more thing to discuss with you."

"What is it?" Su Tiannan asked.

"Didn't you previously meet with Wang Daolin from the City Police Bureau?"

"Yes, I even gave him fifty thousand yuan earlier to work on your Second Uncle's case," Su Tiannan nodded.

"Wang Daolin is the director of the Criminal Investigation Department, right?" Su Tianyu asked very specifically.

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

"You mentioned him when talking, so I asked Third Sister and also looked him up online to learn some information," Su Tianyu replied softly. "Big Brother, if you're not busy these few days, invite him out more often for tea and gatherings, but definitely don't mention Second Uncle's case."

"Why?"

"...For Second Uncle to get out, Changqing Company's compromise alone won't work, ultimately the Police Bureau still needs to approve," Su Tianyu said with clear logic. "Building relationships now can't hurt."

Su Tiannan fell into thought.

"Laying groundwork now will make it easier to talk later."

"Alright, I understand," Su Tiannan nodded heavily. "Where are you planning to go?"

"I'm going to the storage yard," Su Tianyu replied honestly.

"Be careful, Lu Feng won't let this go after being humiliated," Su Tiannan advised. "Take more family members with you."

"Alright, I understand."

"Mm."

After discussing, the brothers went their separate ways.

......

In the afternoon, Su Tianyu walked several rounds in his family's garbage yard, wandering around to understand the industry's operational processes. But he found this business basically had no threshold - besides being hard and tiring work, there were no other technical aspects. From garbage collection to centralized sorting to final processing, eighty percent of the work had to be done by manpower, which made it easy to understand why competition in this business was so fierce. Because the market territory was very fixed, there was no room for expansion except through mergers and seizures. Combined with the low threshold, internal fighting in the industry was naturally very serious.

Around five in the evening, Su Tianbei, who was injured, brought back over a hundred striking protest workers from the district, preparing to cook and eat at the yard.

This strike protest not only had fixed "work hours," but also provided money and meals, and even transportation - this management model could be considered setting a new benchmark for the "service industry."

In the garbage yard office, just as Su Tianyu was about to step out, Second Brother Tianbei pushed open the door and came in: "Let's go, time to eat."

"Let's go, I'm hungry too," Su Tianyu went to meet him, smiling as he asked: "How was today?"

"We brought over four hundred people, shouted all day, but only saw a few minor leaders from the Sanitation Management Department, didn't see any big shots," Su Tianbei replied softly. "The Police Department also sent over a dozen people, talked with our leaders several times. Damn it, their words were all threats."

"Hehe," Su Tianyu smiled without saying anything.

"Little Yu, will doing this really have any effect?" Su Tianbei said in a low voice. "Not only do we have to pay extra work stoppage allowances every day, but we also have to provide meals and transportation - the daily expenses are quite high. I'm worried that in the end our family's money will be drained, the matter won't be resolved, and everything will fall apart."

"You're anxious, but the Management Council, Police Bureau, and Changqing Company are even more anxious!" Su Tianyu replied with a smile. "Trust me, there will be results in a few days. Come on, let's go eat."

"Alright then, let's go!"

The two chatted as they walked, leaving the main building to go to the cafeteria downstairs. Su Tianyu looked at the packed tables inside and outside the room and smiled saying: "Quite lively."

"Usually there aren't so many people eating, the cafeteria can't even fit everyone. Come on, let's go eat in the small room," Su Tianbei was leading his brother through the side door into the cafeteria's small kitchen.

"Bang!"

Just as Su Tianyu was about to step inside, his whole body suddenly bounced back.

At the small kitchen doorway, a youth over 1.90 meters tall with an extremely muscular build said in a simple voice, stuttering: "Who... who is it? Who bumped into my crotch?"

Su Tianyu was bumped back two steps, looked up to see this youth had dark skin, oily hair, and wore dirty blue work clothes, looking very unkempt: "Sorry, brother!"

"You... you should watch where... where you're going, I almost dumped this food basin on your head," the black iron tower replied simple-mindedly.

"The room is dark inside, I didn't see you. Here, you go first," Su Tianyu moved aside.

"I'm delivering food," the black iron tower carried a huge food basin on his shoulder, continuing to walk out.

Just then Third Sister, who was preparing food inside, suddenly called out: "Daxiong, come eat in the small kitchen later, there's more food here."

"Hehe, alright, Third Sister!" The black iron tower strode like flying, face full of smiles as he replied, carrying the food toward the worker area outside preparing to eat.

Seeing this person spoke strangely and his appearance was too eye-catching, Su Tianyu immediately asked Tianbei: "Who is that?"

"Wu Shixiong, one of our workers."

"I see he's a bit...?"

"Mm, he has congenital mental deficiency, his mind isn't very... bright," Su Tianbei replied casually.

"...You dare employ someone like that? What if something happens?!"

"What could happen? In this line of work, you expect to hire college graduates? As long as they have hands and feet and can work, it's fine."

The two chatted casually as they walked into the small kitchen.

In the evening, after the Su family finished eating and most workers had dispersed, Su Tianbei shouted to those remaining: "Anyone willing to stay for night watch duty? Thirty yuan per night."

The black iron tower was the first to raise his hand hearing this: "I'm willing!"

......

Two days passed like this, with the strike continuing, while Changqing Company and the Management Council upper levels still hadn't produced any solutions or attitudes toward resolving the problem.

At the Kong family home in Zha'nan, a man in his thirties sat on the sofa asking Kong Zhenghui: "Will it be effective with the Su family taking the lead like this?"

"It definitely will!" Kong Zhenghui said with his hands behind his back. "You just keep contacting the city district media."

"Why do I feel you're even more confident than the Su family?"

"That kid who just returned to the Su family is quite interesting - stabbed Lu Feng but squeezed our four families together," Kong Zhenghui said calmly. "This is quite good."

"These past few days I went to the protest site and found the Su family really takes care of the workers - not only providing meals but also transportation. Should we do the same?" the man asked.

Kong Zhenghui frowned slightly: "No need."

"Alright!" the man nodded.

......

Saturday, around five in the evening, the striking protest workers in front of the Management Council had gradually dispersed, and Su Tianbei had already taken their family's workers back to the yard.

"Screech!"

Lu Feng's business van stopped in an alley, and he turned to look at five men wearing floral shirts saying: "Go on, after you finish the job, I'll treat you to some panty-ripping at New Paradise."