Flip the table and divide the family property! Take his wife and daughter into the mountains and eat

Liang Tiejun pushed open the thick wooden door to the office and stepped aside to let Zhao Shanhe enter first.

The room was heated, and the old-fashioned iron stove in the corner made a soft humming sound.

Liang Tiejun took off his woolen overcoat and hung it on the coat rack. He exhaled a long breath of white air, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his body in an instant.

He picked up the thermos, filled the enamel mug with hot water, and pushed it to the opposite side of the desk.

"Comrade Shanhe, please sit down. I'm sorry you had to witness this today."

Holding the hot teacup, Liang Tiejun shook his head with a wry smile and joked:

"But speaking of which, I haven't settled accounts with you yet. A while ago, you were buying up squirrel pelts in Kaoshantun, five and a half yuan a piece in cash. All the workers in my factory's workshops one and two didn't even write leave slips; they all climbed over the wall and ran into the old forest to catch squirrels for you. You almost drained my Red Star Factory of its resources."

Zhao Shanhe pulled out a chair and sat down, casually took out a match, lit a cigarette, and exhaled a puff of white smoke.

"Director Liang, the workers need to eat; they have to find a way to make a living."

Upon hearing this, Liang Tiejun's smile slowly faded.

He didn't sit down, but turned around and looked out at the lifeless factory area through the window.

"Yes, we need to eat."

Liang Tiejun's voice was a little hoarse, and his fingers gripped the warm teacup tightly.

"Comrade Zhao Shanhe, I won't say much else, let me first state my position."

Liang Tiejun stared at the rising steam, his tone unusually calm.

"I wholeheartedly support Director Li's decision to send you here. As long as you can save this factory, I'll support you in whatever you do. Whether it's personnel matters or any rules, if anyone dares to object, just tell me, and this old man will handle it for you!"

Zhao Shanhe paused slightly, his fingers holding the cigarette between his fingers.

He had thought that the old factory director would at least give him a few official reprimands in the face of this parachuted-in person, but he didn't expect that the other party would not leave him any way out and would directly reveal all his cards on the table.

Seeing Zhao Shanhe's stunned reaction with a cigarette between his fingers, Liang Tiejun twitched the corners of his mouth, a smile appearing at the corners of his wrinkled eyes.

"What? You're used to dealing with wild animals in the mountains, and now you think I'm just making empty promises and setting traps for you when I, an old man, speak from the heart?"

Zhao Shanhe exhaled a puff of smoke and, unusually, let out a short laugh, ignoring the teasing remark.

Liang Tiejun smiled along, then slowly wiped the smile from his face, his expression gradually becoming solemn.

He turned around and looked out at the lifeless factory area through the glass.

"Comrade Zhao Shanhe, I didn't set you up, I'm sincere."

Liang Tiejun's eyes were a little red, and his voice was as deep as cast iron.

"I started as an apprentice at Hongxing Factory when I was eighteen. I could figure out every screw on that old Soviet machine tool in Workshop No. 2 with my eyes closed. I got married and had children here, and my hair turned white here. For me, and for the old buddies who have worked here all their lives, Hongxing Factory is not just a place where we get paid. It is our lifeline, our home."

Liang Tiejun turned around, his eyes reddening, and stared intently at Zhao Shanhe.

"Many workers are facing difficulties at home, and I, Lao Liang, have let them down. I haven't managed this factory well, and I don't have the ability to help everyone. So we need someone capable to take over. Your taking over is not only the idea from above, but also my own suggestion. I've seen you work, and I think you're someone who can find a way to make a living."

Zhao Shanhe flicked his cigarette ash, looked at the slightly hunched old factory director in front of him, and his guard was suddenly tugged.

"Director Liang, you've put it this way, what else can I say? I'll definitely do everything in my power to keep this business going. But what happened with Deputy Director Zhang at the main gate today..."

Liang Tiejun picked up his teacup, blew on the steam, waved his hand, and pulled out a chair to sit down.

"Dafa and I have been friends for decades. He's quick-witted and capable, but he also has his flaws. He's been greedy for small gains, like arranging for some relatives from his hometown to work as temporary workers in the factory. He has indeed done things like that."

Liang Tiejun sighed, his tone revealing the tolerance and protection of a veteran cadre.

"But he's a veteran of the factory, and he has an emotional attachment to Hongxing Factory. Your arrival, parachuting him in to directly take over the core special zone workshop, is essentially stripping him of his power. It's normal for him to feel a sense of loss, some dissatisfaction, and a bit of emotional outburst. The incident at the gate was probably an attempt to protect his remaining authority. I believe he can distinguish right from wrong; no matter how much he misbehaves, he wouldn't do something so outrageous as to ruin his own business..."

"Are you throwing a tantrum?"

Zhao Shanhe interrupted Liang Tiejun directly.

He leaned forward and placed his hands on his knees, crossed over each other.

"Director Liang, hunters in the mountains only follow one principle when it comes to live prey. A dog will only bite recklessly if someone gets close to where it buries its bones. Zhang Dafa isn't protecting his authority at the gate today; he's protecting his food."

Zhao Shanhe stared into Liang Tiejun's eyes and revealed the details he had seen through at the gate, bit by bit.

"You only saw him throwing a tantrum at the gate, but didn't you see his men? The dozen or so security guards who stopped me today were all wearing brand-new suede boots in the dead of winter, and they had cigarettes with filters in their pockets. You just said the factory can't even pay wages on time, and the workers' families are having difficulties. Where did these guards get the money to buy leather shoes and good cigarettes?"

Liang Tiejun was stunned, his hand holding the teacup frozen in mid-air.

"Is this what you call being greedy for small gains?"

Zhao Shanhe stood up and took a few steps around the office.

"The Red Star Factory is out of money, but Zhang Dafa is far from poor. He not only has money, but the source of that money is absolutely shady. Today, I've brought men and guns to take over the special economic zone workshop. What he's afraid of isn't that I'm taking away his power, but that after I take over, I'll expose all those shady, dirty debts he's kept hidden in the shadows."

Zhao Shanhe stopped in front of his desk and tapped the ledger on the table twice with his fingers.

"He's determined to torment me today to buy time. He's definitely hiding something, and it's a big one that could kill him."

Liang Tiejun's brows furrowed deeply. He placed the teacup on the table and rubbed his temples in frustration.

"Shanhe, I understand your suspicion that he's dishonest. But you're new here and don't know the situation. In 1976, the factory almost had to shut down due to a steel shortage. It was Dafa who went to the provincial capital and drank himself into a hemorrhage before they finally got approval for two train cars of steel. He may have his own selfish motives, but he wouldn't drive Hongxing Factory to its death..."

Before he could finish speaking...

"Bang bang bang!"

The office door was suddenly smashed with a deafening roar, and even the old dust on the door frame fluttered down.

"Director Liang! Director Liang, are you inside?"

A distorted, terrified roar came from outside the door from the security officer.

"Oh no! The old warehouse in the backyard is on fire! It's completely engulfed in flames!"

Liang Tiejun knocked over the teacup in his hand, and the scalding tea spilled directly onto the back of his hand, dripping down the edge of the table.

He seemed to have been struck on the head with a blunt object; he froze in his chair, his face turning deathly pale, and even his breathing stopped.

Old warehouse.

That's where the first batch of imported machinery that Director Li and Boss Jin just brought back is stored!