Chapter 34: Tang Wenhai’s Diligence

Du Qiu was still pondering over the implications of Tang Wenhai’s words.

Tang Wenhai had already pushed open the car door and said, “Director Shao of the industrial park can’t hold on anymore. I’ll go help him out of the siege first. You get out of the car too and get to know him. I’ll explain the details to you later.”

Dressed in his police uniform, Tang Wenhai got out of the car. Although he was of average height, his serious expression still conveyed a sense of authority.

“What are you doing here? If there’s an issue, discuss it, but no fighting, okay?”

Hearing the voice of Tang Wenhai, a short and fat middle-aged man took the opportunity to squeeze out of the crowd and ran over to Tang Wenhai.

He grabbed both of Tang Wenhai’s hands and said, “Police Chief Tang, you’re finally here. These people are so unreasonable. You must stand up for justice.”

By that time, Du Qiu had also gotten out of the car and stood cautiously beside Tang Wenhai.

Du Qiu was tall and muscular, giving him a somewhat formidable presence.

Standing next to Tang Wenhai, he gave off the vibe of an undercover bodyguard, causing the group that had surrounded the short fat man to back away.

As they retreated, two other individuals who had been trapped in the center of the crowd also took advantage of the situation and moved to the side of the short fat man.

Du Qiu glanced curiously; one was a man in his 30s with a round face and small eyes that were darting around, seemingly deep in thought.

The other was a man in his 20s who looked like the attendant of the aforementioned man, cautiously watching the crowd with a protective stance.

“Officer, we haven’t laid our hands on anyone. That fat Shao is detestable. Our boss never planned to close down and stop business, but today he came with his people to take over the premises. You can’t just let him smash our rice bowls like this.”

“That’s right. We still have three years left on our factory lease agreement!”

“If you smash our livelihood today, don’t blame us for not being polite!”

“Hmph, Xiao Yu was willing to kill for his wages, if we get desperate, we’ll let you taste what it’s like!”

…

“Police Chief Tang, listen to them. They’re outright threatening us!” the short fat man immediately pointed at the crowd and shouted loudly.

Tang Wenhai scanned the crowd and pointed out someone, saying, “I remember what you just said. If anything happens to Director Shao, you’ll be the first one we come looking for!”

The man, struck by Tang Wenhai’s sharp gaze, instantly faltered, bowing his head and muttering resentfully, “I was just trying to scare that fat Shao…”

Tang Wenhai did not look at him again but instead asked the crowd, “Is your boss here today?”

“Not here. If you have something, talking to us will do,” a middle-aged man stepped forward and said.

“If your boss isn’t here, then there’s no point in gathering around. Whether this factory keeps operating is up to your boss to decide, and it has nothing to do with you. Everyone should go home and wait for the notification.”

Tang Wenhai had no intention of engaging further with the employees and made sure to clarify that the employees could not influence the continued operation of the factory.

The middle-aged man looked displeased, but soon he said, “We won’t leave unless Director Shao and these two leave as well.”

Tang Wenhai’s gaze moved across the two individuals beside Director Shao and said indifferently, “Director Shao, if you are busy, I’ll head back first.”

Director Shao was taken aback for a moment, then grinned and said, “Police Chief Tang, I’m not busy, not busy at all…”

That’s when the man in his 30s suddenly said to Director Shao, “Director Shao, since it’s inconvenient here today, let’s talk another day. You go ahead with your work.”

After saying this, he headed towards a parked Mercedes-Benz along with his younger attendant.

“President Huang, I’m really sorry. We’ll find another time to discuss…” Director Shao chased after President Huang, expressing his apologies.

Once Tang Wenhai saw that President Huang and his attendant had left, he turned to the middle-aged man and said, “Though the seal here has been lifted, if you don’t have urgent matters, don’t gather around here, just go home.”

People looked at each other, and finally, someone took the lead to leave. Once one person left, the momentum was unstoppable.

The middle-aged man looked at Tang Wenhai and Director Shao, glanced at the place where he had worked for many years, sighed, and turned to leave.

“Police Chief Tang, your capabilities are commendable. As soon as you arrived, you managed to resolve the situation perfectly.” Director Shao saw the crowd dispersing and couldn’t help but deliver a compliment.

“Director Shao, you’re too impatient. If things had really gotten out of hand today, your responsibility wouldn’t be small,” Tang Wenhai said with a look of concern. “Since that boss has decided to give up the auto repair shop, you should have allowed her to dismiss the employees before finding someone to take over the premises.”

“Yes, yes, what Police Chief Tang said is right,” Director Shao agreed while nodding and then continued to complain, “You don’t know how tough it is. The auto repair shop originally had three more years of lease. If I can’t find someone to take over the rent immediately, it will affect my performance for the year.”

“That President Huang came here to open a KTV?” Tang Wenhai asked again.

“Yes, the industrial park now has a badminton hall, a gym, and bringing a KTV will create a decent entertainment atmosphere. That way, the park’s assets can be fully revitalised in the future.”

Tang Wenhai didn’t speak and started walking towards the back of the building with his hands behind his back; Du Qiu quickly followed, with Director Shao right behind.

The large street-front building turned out to be part of a factory, with about one-third of the factory converted into a four-story office area.

The ground floor included a reception hall for customers, as well as several car wash bays.

Inside the factory, the remaining two-thirds, around 2000 square meters, comprised the vast workshop, with the original overhead crane still intact.

Behind and on one side of the entire workshop was a large open area, where the auto repair shop had erected an open-style canopy that connected to the workshop walls and doors.

The canopy was used for parking vehicles that were waiting to be repaired or had been fixed.

Inside the factory fence, and outside of the canopy, there was more open space filled with many scrapped vehicles.

“Director Shao, the boss lady should have given you the keys, right? Open it up and let’s take a look,” Tang Wenhai pointed to the large door connecting the canopy and the workshop.

Director Shao indeed took out the keys and opened the door, and both Tang Wenhai and Du Qiu walked in.

Du Qiu saw numerous repair and machining equipment inside the workshop, but overall, it still looked quite spacious.

Such a factory seemed like a bit of a waste for just auto repairs.

A thought suddenly crossed Du Qiu’s mind; wasn’t he about to start a business? This place would be perfect. He just didn’t know how much the rent was; if it was too expensive, he wouldn’t be able to afford it.

Tang Wenhai stood inside the workshop looking towards the office area, where each floor was connected by corridors leading to various offices or meeting rooms and more.

He looked around for a bit and then shook his head.

Director Shao, not understanding, asked, “Police Chief Tang, what are you…”

“Director Shao, this place isn’t suitable for conversion into a KTV. The fire department won’t approve it,” Tang Wenhai said, and then turned to walk out.

Director Shao stood dumbstruck for a few seconds then chased after him quickly when he caught on.

“Police Chief Tang, you really must help me with this situation!”

Tang Wenhai stopped and asked, “Do you have a personal relationship with that President Huang or is there something special between you?”

Director Shao hurriedly shook his head, saying, “On my honor, I have absolutely no relationship with him. He was introduced by a classmate from the party school I attended, apparently the CFO of a large state-owned enterprise.”

“Did you sign an agreement with him?”

“Of course not! Of course I didn’t! Didn’t you see? I had just brought them to see the place when we were besieged. If it weren’t for your arrival, things could have turned ugly today.”

Tang Wenhai spoke comfortably, “That settles it then. Since you can’t open a KTV, you don’t owe him any compensation, nor do you lose face.”

“But where am I going to find someone to take over the lease on such short notice?”

“This factory had a murder. Rents would definitely be cheaper than other places. You shouldn’t worry about not finding someone to lease it.”

Director Shao nodded and said, “Police Chief Tang, you’re right. I’ve discussed it with my superiors and have already reduced the rent to 200,000 a month to be paid every six months. But after all, a murder just occurred; it’s unlucky. President Huang didn’t mind, and I was delighted that he wanted to lease here. But you say a KTV can’t open here; you’re really making it difficult for me.”

A smile crossed Tang Wenhai’s lips as he pulled Du Qiu over to introduce him, “Director Shao, my visit today was to introduce you to Dr. Du. He is a PhD from our Huahai University’s School of Engineering and is preparing to start his own business. He plans to engage in high-tech manufacturing, which is absolutely eco-friendly. Perhaps, your industrial park might even transform into a high-tech industrial park in the future. Leasing this factory to him would be the right choice.”