Black Gold 1983

Tian Sui'er's face instantly turned ugly. She was not one of those naive young ladies. She understood what Xu Dongsheng meant by those words, so she subconsciously wanted to speak up and refute them, clarifying those rumors. However, Ren Ye gently pulled her arm.

She turned her head and saw Renye smiling and shaking his head, so she swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

Renye stood to the side, his hands in his cotton-padded jacket pockets, with an expression that said, "Let's see how long you can keep up this act."

As Xu Dongsheng spoke, he walked straight up to Ren Ye.

The atmosphere instantly became tense. Even Li Yue'e, who was standing to the side, subconsciously frowned, fearing that the two young people would start fighting on the spot. After all, they were in the wrong first, and Xiao Ye would definitely suffer the consequences.

Just as he was about to step forward, Tian Sui'er gently stopped him.

"Ah Ye," Xu Dongsheng said softly, "What happened a few days ago must have been a misunderstanding, right? I believe that nothing inappropriate happened between you and Sui'er, right?"

When Xu Dongsheng asked that question, his fist clenched tightly under his wool coat, because he couldn't tell whether Ren Ye's next words would make him lose control, since he had never lost control in front of others before.

For a moment, everyone's eyes were on Renye, wanting to see how he would answer whether he had slept with the other man's fiancée that day, after all, this matter needed to be resolved.

Renye smiled, his expression frank: "You don't need to test me, and you don't need to feel awkward. Nothing happened between Sui'er and me, it's all innocent."

Renye wouldn't use vulgar and obscene methods to provoke Xu Dongsheng just because he also likes Sui'er.

He had absolute respect for Tian Sui'er.

She is not a bargaining chip to compete with anyone, nor is she a tool to annoy others.

Who she chooses is her business.

All he could do was stand beside her and wait for her to make a choice.

Besides, after drinking so much alcohol, my manhood was practically wilted, so it would be a miracle if I did anything outrageous!

As Tian Sui'er watched Ren Ye's retreating figure, her eyes suddenly lit up. The embarrassment and unease in her eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a clear and warm expression.

Renye's words were firm and clear, without the slightest ambiguity, and everyone present heard them clearly. The once quiet corridor was suddenly filled with hushed discussions.

Upon hearing this, Xu Dongsheng's expression visibly relaxed.

He let out a long breath, as if a stone that had been weighing on his chest for days had finally been removed, and patted Renye on the shoulder with a smile: "I knew you wouldn't do anything outrageous!"

His tone carried a sense of relief and a certain "I knew it" confidence, as if he had never doubted Renye, as if the rumors had never reached his ears.

Ren Ye neither dodged nor responded. He simply looked at Xu Dongsheng and suddenly smiled.

"Brother Dongsheng."

"Um?"

"I certainly won't do anything outrageous." He paused, his smile widening. "But you will."

Xu Dongsheng's expression froze on his face.

In the dim light, Renye's gaze sent a chill down his spine, as if he were looking at someone he had known for a long time, or at a complete stranger.

"Ah Ye, what do you mean by that?"

"Wasn't this all orchestrated by you?"

Xu Dongsheng frowned, his tone carrying just the right amount of confusion: "I arranged this? Why would I arrange it this way? Uncle Mancang is Sui'er's father, why would I do this?"

"Renye, don't talk nonsense. Dongsheng was just trying to help, and he doesn't even mind that you ruined his engagement party. What are you doing making sarcastic remarks?"

"Exactly, what do you know about things at the mine, you little punk who never even goes to work?"

Several workers spoke up, their tone filled with dissatisfaction and impatience. They were already resentful of Renye because of what had happened a few days ago, and now he was jumping in to contradict them—wasn't that just making things worse?

Renye smiled.

"I didn't say what it was about, why are you so nervous?"

Xu Dongsheng's expression froze for a moment, and not only him, but everyone was stunned.

"If I remember correctly, in last year's 'labor competition' at the mine, Zhao Dehai's fourth team ranked last in all indicators, right?"

The so-called "labor competition" is an annual evaluation activity held by the mine. The assessment indicators include raw coal production, tunneling footage, engineering quality, safety production, equipment integrity rate, etc. It is a complex scoring system. The ranking is summarized at the end of the year and is directly linked to bonuses, awards for advanced workers, and even jobs.

"Uncle Mancang's third team, while not the top coal mining team in the mine, has consistently performed exceptionally well in terms of engineering quality and safety. In contrast, the fourth team has been constantly rushing to meet production targets, engaging in illegal and unethical operations, resulting in numerous accidents of all sizes. If the mine were to really downsize, it should be the fourth team, not Uncle Mancang's third team, right?"

Renye looked at Xu Dongsheng: "The Labor and Personnel Section where Section Chief Xu works is the first line of defense for personnel layoffs and job appointments at the mine. How could you not understand this? So I don't need to say who is secretly causing trouble and deliberately creating conflict between the two teams."

As soon as Renye finished speaking, the corridor fell into dead silence.

The workers who had just been criticizing Renye looked at each other, their expressions gradually changing from initial impatience to hesitation and unease.

Renye was telling the truth. Everyone in the mine knew the results of last year's labor competition. The mess that Team Four was in was already notorious. They were far worse than Team Three in every way, with violations of regulations and frequent accidents.

"That...that makes some sense. The accidents that happened in Team Four last year caused quite a stir. According to the rules, they should be the first to be laid off."

"Yeah, I also feel something's not right. Why are our teams, Team 3 and Team 4, put on the same list of teams to be laid off? Although our team's output isn't the highest, we've never had a major safety accident, and our project quality has always passed inspection!"

Xu Dongsheng glanced at the wind direction around him, his composure vanished, and he argued, "The adjustments to each team are just normal personnel changes, and mechanized production is the future trend, so manual coal mining teams will definitely be eliminated."

"Ah Ye, you're not just making baseless accusations against our family because you're upset that Sui'er is going to marry me, are you?"

Renye chuckled, as if he had heard the most absurd joke.

"Sui'er, will you marry me?"

"Dongsheng, you certainly know how to daydream."

He took a step forward, his face full of undisguised mockery: "Ask Sui'er if she agreed?"

All eyes turned to Tian Sui'er.

Tian Sui'er didn't speak. But she moved closer to Ren Ye, her shoulder almost touching his arm. That distance was more convincing than any words.

Xu Dongsheng's expression finally changed, and his voice turned somber: "Don't forget, only I can help Team Three get through this crisis right now."

These words were spoken to Tian Sui'er, but also to everyone present.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense because of those words.

Renye scoffed, "Looks like Brother Dongsheng is used to using connections. We're a socialist collective unit; we believe in fairness and rules. How can we engage in favoritism, cheating, or fraud?"