America: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 268 Calming the Situation

Parker pulled up in his Rolls-Royce Cullinan at the factory entrance. Security personnel immediately came over to stop him, but Parker and his supervisor, Reco, rolled down their windows and greeted them, saying, "They're one of us."

When the security personnel saw that it was an acquaintance, their expressions softened, and they greeted him, "Boss."

He immediately waved for someone to open the barbed wire gate to let them through, and Zhang Ailun drove into the yard.

Outside, workers were lying in tents playing on their phones or eating. When they saw the luxury car drive into the factory area, they immediately shouted, jumped up, and a group of people with baseball bats and golf clubs ran over, completely surrounding the entrance.

Geneva! Pay up!!

"That damned, heartless boss! Give me back my hard-earned money! What right do you have to withhold my wages?!"

"Fxxkyou! Pike! I really want to shove my cell phone baseball bat down your ass! If you don't pay us and get our wages, I definitely will!"

"Give me my money back! Give me my money back! Give me my money back!!"

A group of people surrounded the gate, frantically banging on the barbed wire and shouting. They looked like they were about to rush in, which terrified the security personnel.

I hesitated, wondering whether to wait until things got out of control and then turn around and run away, joining the other side to fight against the heartless boss! After all, they're only making $200 a day, why are they risking their lives!

Zhang Ailun looked at the workers gathered outside the fence gate. There were many young mothers holding their young children, as well as middle-aged white men and elderly men. They were all low-level laborers.

However, the ones leading the group, armed with melee weapons, were several physically strong white men dressed neatly. They didn't look like ordinary workers; they seemed more like street thugs.

"Those people leading the group, they must have been sent by the Los Angeles union, right?" Zhang Ailun asked.

Reco nodded, saying helplessly, "These people have all paid their dues. When something like this happens, the union will immediately send people to collect the debt. If you don't pay, they might even go to your apartment complex and dump trash outside, trying every possible way to force you to pay. But they also take 30% or even half of the money we ultimately pay the workers!"

"We do want to protect the workers' interests, but we really don't have the money to pay their wages, and they won't listen. We'd rather have the union members lead the protests than wait a couple more days," Reco said.

"If others work for you, you have to pay them. How much money can you owe for 35 workers?" Zhang Ailun asked.

"The company owes them a month and a half's wages, 15 people, which is about $7000. The company has no money left to pay for the project." Reco took out the ledger for Zhang Ailun to review.

"I will pay them the $15, not a penny less! Tell them to stop causing trouble here, it's having a bad influence."

Zhang Ailun glanced at the payroll details in the ledger, then put it away and asked, "Have the salaries of your department's senior executives been settled?"

"It's precisely because they settled our wages in advance that we don't have the money to pay them," Reco said awkwardly.

"..." Zhang Ailun gave him a forced smile.

The owner of Parker Company got out of the car with a dark face, feeling utterly humiliated. He shouted, "Calm down! Please calm down, everyone. I don't know which of you are guild members leading this disturbance, but I can tell you very clearly that I've sold Parker Company to a very powerful new owner. He will be responsible for paying all of your salaries. Not a single cent less!"

"We need to see money now!" the leading union member immediately shouted.

"You want money? I'll give you money, but please don't cause trouble on my turf. Otherwise, I'll call 911 and the police will remove and arrest you."

Zhang Ailun got out of the car, looked at the group of people gathered outside, and said with a softened expression, "I am the new boss of Parker Recycling Company. I can guarantee that I will not delay any of your wages, and I can even pay you in cash right now. But I need to confirm beforehand who wants to continue working here?"

The crowd fell silent.

The union leader continued to stir up trouble with sarcastic remarks, "You rich people are always making empty promises to your employees! Why don't you just give us the money? If you give us the money, we'll leave, won't we?"

"Shut up! You're pretending to stand up for the workers, but aren't you just doing it for your own benefit? I can give them money, even 1.5 times the compensation, but can you promise not to take any fees from them?" Zhang Ailun reprimanded him sternly.

The union members immediately fell silent.

Zhang Ailun nodded slightly, looking at the silent workers. "No one wants to continue working at Parker Company? Very well. Actually, for a company like this that likes to delay paying its employees' wages, no matter what the reason, if it were me, I wouldn't want to continue working here either. What's more, the company's boss is burdened with debt, selling off assets, and only thinking about running away with his buckets. The executives even settled their own wages in advance, without considering the lives of the lower-level employees."

"Mr. Kim..." Parker and Reco were both a little embarrassed.

Zhang Ailun waved his hand, not even glancing at him. Capitalists are all bad people, including the Grand Master, who often thinks only of himself. That's human nature; it's survival of the fittest, nothing to say about it.

He opened the trunk and pulled out a handbag. When he unzipped it, he found stacks of US dollar bills, so much of it that it fell to the ground.

The working class had never seen so much cash before, and they were instantly stunned, holding their breath as they stared at the cash in the money bag.

Zhang Ailun calmly pulled out a short-barreled shotgun and placed it on the trunk, which finally calmed everyone down. After all, those who know the caliber are the heroes!

"Guys, look at this Rolls-Royce behind me, and look at this bag of cash. I can tell you with absolute certainty! I'm very rich! I'm a billionaire!! This little bit of money is nothing to me, and I can guarantee that I won't owe any of you your wages."

Zhang Ailun called out and handed the money directly to Lei Ke next to him, instructing him to register and distribute the wages to the people. "With this money, you can choose to continue working here, or voluntarily terminate your employment contracts and receive 1.5 times your wages as compensation. Our employment relationship ends here. You don't need to pay the union's large cut; this money is my payment to you, not the union's. If you have any problems, you can call the Hamburger Foundation. The foundation will arrange for a lawyer to handle your case. Take the money and leave quickly."

Many people considered it for a moment and then chose to receive 1.5 times their wages as compensation. They signed the termination of employment contract and then promptly packed up their tents and left.

Watching many people collect their money and leave, Zhang Ailun didn't forget to remind them, "Don't throw trash at the factory gate; keep it clean."

"Don't worry, sir, we'll definitely clean it up for you." The workers, having received their money, were quite easy to talk to. Without Zhang Ailun needing to remind them much, they started cleaning up the area, quickly making it neat and efficient, even smoothing out the excrement and urine on the roadside.

However, a few long-term employees did not choose to be greedy for the 1.5 times salary, terminated their labor contracts, and were willing to continue working here.

"Ma'am, why didn't you choose to leave Parker Corporation?" Zhang Ailun looked at the young mother holding her child and asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Elena. As you can see, sir, I am a single mother with children to support, and my living expenses are high. I cannot live without this job. In fact, I have looked for many jobs before this, whether it was a fast food restaurant server or a convenience store cashier, but none of them paid as much as Parker Company, and the benefits were better. I was just a temporary worker at the company. The company only owes me $2200 in wages."

The young single mother, Elena, looked to be under twenty years old, about the same age as Eileen.

With blonde hair and blue eyes, she was strikingly beautiful and had a great figure. She was holding a one-year-old child in her arms, which means she became a mother when she was sixteen or seventeen.

What a sin.

But the leader was used to it, after all, there were plenty of girls here who got pregnant and gave birth at the age of 14 or 16.

"Very good, Elena, you are now a full-time employee of Parker Corporation. As a reward, I've decided to put you in charge of personnel management for this venue. Your salary will be increased to $4000-$5000 per month," Zhang Ailun said, nodding.

"Really? Sir? But I don't even have a high school diploma, I've never studied management..." Elena covered her mouth in disbelief. "Any skill is learned; no one is born knowing everything. I have high hopes for you." Zhang Ailun smiled, encouraging her. "Besides, this job doesn't have any strict educational requirements. You just need to know how to operate the machines and work diligently."

"Thank you so much, sir. I really don't know how to repay you." Elena's eyes reddened with emotion as she hugged the Grand Master.

Zhang Ailun patted her shoulder, smelled a milky fragrance, and pinched the child's cute little face. "What's this child's name?"

"His name is Allen, sir," Elena replied.

"...Really? That's a nice name." Zhang Ailun's lips twitched, and he reached out to tease him. "Hey, little Ailun, how are you?"

The one-year-old child didn't understand anything. He turned his head and snuggled into his mother's arms, wanting to nurse. Elena could only hold him and walk to the side to nurse little Allen.

This child is so fair-skinned... no. This mother is so lovely.

Zhang Ailun then went to assign work to the next employee, asking them why they chose to stay. Without exception, the answer was that Parker Company's benefits were quite good.

This relieved the owner of Parker, who had almost been hung from a street lamp, who really thought he was some kind of unscrupulous capitalist.

After finishing these matters, Zhang Ailun went into the factory to inspect the waste sorting equipment. The factory covered a large area, and these professional production lines could replace the work of hundreds of people. Moreover, the equipment was only purchased by the owner of Parker last year. Apart from the monthly maintenance and repair costs that need to be paid outsourced, it should last for seventeen or eighteen years without any problems.

After touring the infrastructure, not long after, members of the Beggars' Sect arrived with their entourage.

Zhang Ailun went outside and saw the dozen or so people who had arrived. He immediately called over Reco and Elena and introduced them, saying, "This is Supervisor Reco, and Elena is the person in charge of the venue. You can learn from them and familiarize yourselves with the work processes. If anyone in the team is willing to work here later, we can select the best candidates. The monthly salary will not be less than $4000, plus bonuses and full attendance bonuses."

"Hello." Reco quickly introduced himself, adopting a humble attitude, after all, these were all Mr. Jin's street gang members.

"Don't worry, boss, we'll definitely get things done." The Beggar Clan disciple readily agreed.

After finishing his business, Mr. Parker said goodbye to the head of the company and then left.

Zhang Ailun also handed over the matter here to Lei Ke and drove away from the suburbs.

On the way back to the city, I received an anonymous call, but under the Terminator 2.0 tag, the signal source was an overseas island.

Zhang Ailun glanced at the map location and thought, "What a coincidence! Isn't this the private island of collector Madison?"

Choose to connect at will.

"Hello, is this Mr. Jin?" A magnetic female voice came from the other end of the phone.

"It's me. And who are you?" Zhang Ailun asked, puzzled.

"Hello, Mr. King, I am Mr. Madison's personal butler and life assistant. You must have heard of Mr. Madison's name. We heard that you recently auctioned a Spanish pirate horn coin at the whale auction in Los Angeles, right?" the female assistant said in a sweet, cloying voice.

This sugar content is enough to make you feel a tingling sensation all over your body.

No wonder it's the top choice for the wealthy.

"That's right," Zhang Ailun replied.

"Sir, coincidentally, Mr. Madison himself is also very interested in this collection. I wonder if you are interested in selling it?" The female assistant stated her purpose directly.

Zhang Ailun never expected that before he could even make contact with the other party and was still figuring out how to promote his collection, the other party would take the initiative to come to his door and express their intention to buy.

"I'd like to ask, where did you get my contact information?" Zhang Ailun asked.

"It's very simple. We've been in contact with the chairmen of several auction houses in Los Angeles for a long time and are quite familiar with them. It was from them that we learned that the Whale Auction had sold a horn coin. We also got your registered private phone number. We're really sorry to bother you like this," the female assistant said politely.

They also learned about the identity and background of the Grand Master from the chairman of the Whale Auction. He was a bona fide billionaire who was not short of money. In fact, they were not very confident that they could buy the coin, and could only try to communicate with him.

"So that's how it is."

Zhang Ailun hesitated for a moment, then pretended to be hesitant: "This Spanish coin isn't worth much, but I really like it. It suits my taste perfectly."

"Mr. King, Mr. Madison has collected all 12 horn coins, and is only missing a few Spanish coins. He doesn't have many hobbies in his life, except for antiques and collectibles, which are his lifelong pursuit. If you are willing to make a purchase, Mr. Madison is willing to pay a high price to buy them," the female assistant said.

"Forget the high price. I also greatly admire Mr. Madison. If you really want it, I can consider selling this horn coin to Mr. Madison at the original price, just to make friends," Zhang Ailun replied.

"That's wonderful, Mr. King, thank you so much for your generosity! Mr. Madison is currently receiving one-on-one treatment and diagnosis from his private doctor, so it's inconvenient for him to communicate with you directly. Please forgive the inconvenience, but he has clearly stated that he would like to invite you to his private island. When would you have time?" the female assistant said happily.

"I have a lot of personal matters to attend to today, let's exchange contact information. I'll let you know when I have time."

Zhang Ailun said, "Please give my regards to Mr. Madison and wish him good health."

Although the other person is already an old man in his sixties or seventies, he has been trying to extend his lifespan in private, and it is estimated that he can live to be a hundred years old without any problem.

"I will, goodbye, sir." After hanging up the phone, the female assistant also sent a text message. Zhang Ailun added her contact information on social media.

Soon the other party sent another very formal greeting, which Zhang Ailun basically glanced at and didn't read.

But to my surprise, the female assistant sent another private ID right afterward.

Zhang Ailun tried clicking on it and wow, it was full of revealing photos!

Female assistant: Sir, this is my personal ID. :)

It was clear that she also had a strong desire to have in-depth exchanges with the Grand Master, and she made no attempt to hide it.

The Grand Master has to criticize you a bit. You're abusing your power for personal gain, aren't you?

Having a big boss like Madison isn't enough; they're also thinking of developing new customers offline?

I promptly gave her a thumbs up for her bonus photos.

(End of this chapter)