My Dongguan Love Story

The motorcycle sped away from the bustling city center, heading towards the industrial park in the suburbs, and finally stopped in front of a factory.

The factory gate looked particularly old and dilapidated, with exposed iron sheets on the walls covered in mottled rust. The old, rusted nameplate had long been pried off and replaced by a brand-new "Dingsheng No. 2 Factory" sign, the contrast between the old and new was particularly glaring.

The motorcycle came to a steady stop in front of the old, dilapidated factory. The driver turned his head to look at Lin Guilian on the back seat, his tone blunt:

"Miss, outsiders aren't allowed in this factory, so we'll have to park here. The fare is twenty, please settle the bill first."

He drove Lin Guilian as they chased after Dazhuang, secretly hoping to see what kind of commotion the couple would cause once they caught up. But Dazhuang drove straight into the factory, and he couldn't get in, so he couldn't witness what happened next, leaving him feeling somewhat disappointed.

"Oh." Lin Guilian listened to his words, got off the motorcycle, took out two old ten-yuan bills from her bag, and handed them to him.

After glancing at "Dingsheng Second Factory," she seemed to ponder, "Why is Dazhuang here?"

She wanted to go in, but the security guard stopped her, saying that outsiders were not allowed to enter. After thinking for a moment, she walked to a tea stall across the street, ordered a cup of black tea, and waited for Dazhuang to come out.

This is an industrial area with many factories, workers, and vendors, making it very lively.

I rode my motorcycle into the factory, parked it in the shed, and walked towards a simple office.

This Dingsheng No. 2 Factory was formerly Hongyun Garment Factory. After Hongyun Garment Factory went bankrupt, it was bought by General Manager Zhao. Apart from the land being slightly valuable, it has no other value.

Most of the old, rusty, and dilapidated factory buildings have been demolished, leaving only two single-story tile-roofed houses standing forlornly in the original location. In the remaining two still usable factory buildings, machines are roaring, and workers are working day and night, overtime to rush production.

According to the plan, the demolished old factory buildings will be rebuilt, and once completed, they will expand production capacity and create a large-scale, high-efficiency production workshop.

When they acquired Hongyun Garment Factory, it still had more than 30 employees and was transforming into a production line for Dingsheng.

At present, the Dingsheng No. 2 Factory is actually managed entirely by the deputy factory director Huang Jingyi, who is actually one of Kawada Ichiro's own people.

The factory has a mixed bag of people with complicated relationships. If someone were to be parachuted in to take over without understanding the situation, they could easily lose power. The people below would only go through the motions, pretending to comply but secretly disobeying, and would not be willing to work hard to produce goods properly.

However, President Zhao has signed a strict performance-based agreement. If he fails to meet the set targets this year, he will completely lose control of Dingsheng Group.

Kawada Ichiro and his cronies will undoubtedly use Huang Jingyi's relationship to sabotage and hinder the factory's production at every turn, deliberately slowing down its progress.

So I decided to come in as a security guard first to find out the personnel situation in the new factory. After I figure out all the tangled relationships in the factory and all the people that Kawada Ichiro had planted, I will definitely get rid of them all, leaving no one alive.

Only after these hidden dangers are completely eliminated can the new factory area be fully in our own hands, free from the constraints of others, and operate smoothly and normally, without being controlled by those petty people.

I stepped into one of the tile-roofed houses. It was dimly lit, and a young security guard with dark skin stood there. I walked up to him and asked, "Handsome, I'm here to apply for a security guard job. Who should I report to?"

The dark-skinned security guard looked up at me and pointed to the room inside: "The security captain is inside."

"Oh." I looked up at the door he was pointing to and went inside.

A man with dyed blond hair was leaning lazily back in his chair, his feet casually propped up on the desk, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, an old cell phone between his fingers, and he was engrossed in playing Snake.

Several other security guards nearby were either slumped in chairs reading storybooks with great interest, or lying on the table with their heads buried in their arms, snoring loudly as they slept soundly.

I frowned when I saw this.

According to Dingsheng's rules, the security guards on duty should be patrolling the factory premises. These people are all slacking off in their offices, enjoying the fans.

A security guard caught a glimpse of me pushing the door open and only glanced at me casually, barely raising his eyelids before lowering his head again to continue flipping through the storybook in his hand.

I knocked on the door: "I'm here to report for duty as security."

The man with dyed blond hair, playing Snake without even lifting his eyelids, continued playing until the game died. Only then did he slowly raise his head and look at me: "Give me your acceptance letter."

I stepped forward and handed it over. The blond security guard casually took it, glanced at it, and nodded indifferently: "Okay, then you can start work now. I'm Zhou Zhengtao, the security captain. You'll be working for me from now on."

As he spoke, he reached for the cigarette pack on the table, only to find it empty. He smiled at me and said, "Your name is Dazhuang, right? Could you go to the convenience store and buy me a pack of Furongwang cigarettes? I'll give you one later too."

The two security guards who were reading the story magazine looked up at each other and smiled when they heard Zhou Zhengtao's words.

"Oh." I nodded and walked out of the house. In my opinion, buying him a pack of cigarettes was no big deal, especially since I could also share a pack of Furongwang cigarettes with him.

But when I got to the door, the dark-skinned security guard hesitated for a moment before looking at me and saying, "Don't buy it for him."

"Oh? Why?" I looked at him in confusion. But the dark-skinned security guard stammered and didn't continue talking to me.

A hint of doubt flashed in my eyes as I glanced at him. Seeing this, the other security guards inside began to urge me on, but I didn't say anything more and turned to leave the house.

The convenience store at Dingsheng No. 2 Factory wasn't far from the security office; it took me less than five minutes to walk there.

I pushed open the door and went inside. The store didn't have many items; most of what was displayed were cigarettes, alcohol, drinks, and instant noodles.

I walked to the counter, picked up a pack of Furongwang cigarettes, and casually asked the price when I paid. I was shocked to find that it cost 240 yuan here, which was 40 yuan more expensive than outside.

"So expensive?" I couldn't help but ask the long-haired girl behind the counter in surprise.

She looked up at me and said, "This is the price. Buy it or not? If not, leave."

I thought about it, and since Zhou Zhengtao paid for it anyway, what did it matter to me whether it was expensive or not? As the security captain, he certainly knew the prices inside the factory.

Thinking of this, I took out my money to pay her, took the cigarettes, and walked out.

Thinking about how the security guard wouldn't let me buy it earlier, I guess he thought it was too expensive here?

I went into the room and handed the cigarettes to Zhou Zhengtao, who smiled and accepted them. I immediately opened four packs and tossed four to the two people reading a story magazine. I also tossed two more packs to the person sleeping on the table.

They threw another bag at me, and I reached out and caught it.

Then he put the rest of the cigarettes in the drawer, took one out, and started smoking.

I stood there waiting for him to reimburse me, and seeing him leisurely smoking, I patiently waited for a while. But he didn't mention the money once, even after he finished his cigarette. I couldn't help but speak up and remind him:

"Captain, that Furongwang cigarette cost two hundred and forty."

"Hmm." Zhou Zhengtao responded casually, then picked up another cigarette and continued smoking.

I watched him nonchalantly smoking, completely ignoring me and showing no intention of paying. I couldn't help but frown, my tone hardening: "Captain, two hundred and forty, give me the money."

"for you?"

Zhou Zhengtao slowly raised his eyelids, glanced at me, chuckled, revealing a set of yellowed teeth: "Why should I give it to you? You bought this pack of cigarettes as a gift to me, why are you talking about money?"

My face darkened instantly upon hearing this, and I immediately understood. So he had deliberately tricked me into buying cigarettes, with no intention of paying at all; he was clearly trying to steal a whole pack of Furongwang cigarettes from me.