89: Chapter 88 Practical Lessons

The ginkgo leaves at the Provincial Party School turned yellow and fell.

After a month of fully enclosed, full-time training, the Provincial Party School entered the practical course phase.

Monday morning, Spark Class classroom.

Instructor Gao Jianguo stood on the podium, holding a stack of newly printed official documents.

"Comrades. Our current training phase, the theoretical study stage, has come to an end."

"According to the requirements of the Provincial Organization Department, the Spark Class doesn't just look at pen-pushers; we must also look at the ground beneath our feet. Starting this week, we enter the field research phase."

"Each person will be assigned a provincial or municipal enterprise. Go deep into the front lines, identify problems, and submit a research report by Friday."

"This report will serve as the core indicator for your graduation grade and will be placed directly into your personnel files."

The documents were passed back by the students in the front row.

Cao Rui received the list and scanned it quickly.

He had been assigned to "Tianhai Optoelectronics," a star enterprise in the Provincial High-tech Development Zone.

Zhou Xu was assigned to the Provincial Water Investment Group.

He continued reading down the list.

When his gaze landed on the last line of the list, Cao Rui's brow furrowed.

"Zhu Wenhao, research unit: Jiangnan Red Star Machinery Factory."

Jiangnan Red Star Machinery Factory.

That was a legacy enterprise from an old provincial industrial base that had long since ceased production. The factory had been sold off, but the workers hadn't received their severance pay, making petitioning and disturbances a common occurrence.

The factory grounds were a mixed bag of people, having become an extraterritorial zone occupied by thugs and all sorts of idlers.

Assigning Zhu Wenhao to such a place—if he got entangled with thugs at the machinery factory and a physical altercation occurred, let alone submitting the report on time, receiving a disciplinary sanction would be the least of his worries.

Cao Rui stood up.

"Instructor Gao Jianguo. The Red Star Machinery Factory is currently in a state of suspended production and semi-paralysis, and the factory security is extremely poor. Sending Secretary Zhu alone for research means his personal safety cannot be guaranteed, and research data cannot be obtained. This assignment is unreasonable."

Instructor Gao Jianguo pulled a long face. "Comrade Cao Rui, what kind of awareness is that? As cadres of our Party, we must charge forward the most into the most difficult places."

"Zhu Wenhao is a Party branch secretary; he has strong abilities and a high standard. Good steel should be used on the blade."

"The Provincial Party School handing him this hardest nut to crack is precisely the organization's trust and test for him."

"Zhu Wenhao. Do you think there is a problem with this arrangement?"

Lei Zhenzi and Class Monitor sitting in the back row exchanged a glance.

Zhu Wenhao sat in his chair, not rising.

"Instructor Gao Jianguo has arranged this very thoughtfully. I accept the issue of the Red Star Machinery Factory."

Instructor Gao Jianguo was choked up by his lukewarm attitude.

He had expected Zhu Wenhao to protest on the spot, giving him the perfect opportunity to slap him with the label of "disobeying organizational assignment."

"Fine. The list is settled. Everyone go back and prepare; tomorrow morning, head directly to the grassroots."

Instructor Gao Jianguo packed up his lecture notes and announced the end of the meeting.

Inside the restroom, the sound of running water masked their conversation.

Lei Zhenzi leaned against the sink, washing his hands slowly and deliberately.

"Class Monitor, this old dog Instructor Gao Jianguo hasn't lost his touch for biting, even after being exiled to the Provincial Party School."

Class Monitor pulled a tissue to wipe his hands.

"He is showing his loyalty to those above. Minister Liao has gone in, but Deputy Secretary Yang has passed words to him. Using a borrowed knife to kill—he has certainly earned some credit in the Academic Affairs Office."

Lei Zhenzi snorted coldly. "Red Star Machinery Factory. This has run right into my line of fire."

Class Monitor turned his head to look at him.

"Several of my father's contacts have had their eyes on that land for a long time."

"The ringleaders of the thugs in the factory grounds are all under my relative Lei Dong. Over the past few years, they've been the ones stirring things up inside, emptying the factory and selling off assets at dirt-cheap prices."

"I'll call Lei Dong in a moment."

"As long as that man surnamed Zhu dares to step into the gates of the Red Star Machinery Factory, I'll show him what it means when the King of Hell is easy to meet, but his little devils are hard to deal with."

Noon, dormitory.

Zhu Wenhao sat at his desk, the computer screen displaying the industrial and commercial change information for the Red Star Machinery Factory.

"Red Star Machinery Factory, sold to Jiangnan Province Shengyuan Holdings."

Shengyuan Holdings.

The legal representative of this enterprise is surnamed Lei.

Zhu Wenhao picked up his phone and dialed Su Qinghan's number.

"Qinghan."

"I'm here. What do you need to check in the middle of the day?" Su Qinghan was in the Third Office of the Discipline Inspection Commission, without unnecessary pleasantries.

"Jiangnan Red Star Machinery Factory. Parent company, Shengyuan Holdings." Zhu Wenhao stated. "Retrieve all financial transactions between Shengyuan Holdings and the Red Star Machinery Factory over the past three years. Especially the flow of funds after the equipment depreciation and sale."

"Shengyuan Holdings is an enterprise in Jingjiang City; the Linjiang Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission has limited access rights for retrieval," Su Qinghan provided objective feedback.

"Use the permissions you have at hand to intercept whatever you can find."

"Understood. I'll send it to your email before I get off work," Su Qinghan said succinctly.

The call ended.

Zhu Wenhao thought to himself that although Secretary Lao had used the establishment of the Anti-Gang Office to wedge Director Qi Shan into the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, Secretary Lei Zhen had operated in the political and legal system for many years; like a centipede, it dies but doesn't stiffen.

Secretary Lao was worried about not finding a legitimate reason to thoroughly purge the faction of Secretary Lei Zhen.

"Instructor Gao Jianguo, I accept this big gift you've sent."

The next morning.

In front of the gate of the Jiangnan Red Star Machinery Factory.

The rusty iron gate was half-open, and a few panes of glass in the guardroom were shattered.

Weeds were overgrown within the factory grounds, and the outer walls of the abandoned factory buildings were covered in white "Demolish" characters and blood-red slogans demanding back pay.

Zhu Wenhao, wearing a dark jacket without any identification, pushed open the iron gate and stepped inside.

Before he had walked ten meters.

From the abandoned guardroom by the road, five or six burly men strolled out, swaying.

The bald man leading them was wearing a tight black vest, holding a rusty steel pipe, and eyeing Zhu Wenhao askance.

"What are you doing here? This is a restricted factory zone; no idlers allowed."

The bald man tapped the nearby tin trash can with the steel pipe, making a harsh, grating sound.

The others quickly dispersed, forming a vague semi-enclosure, cutting off Zhu Wenhao's retreat.

Zhu Wenhao stopped.

"I am here for field research," Zhu Wenhao said, looking the bald man straight in the eye.

The bald man spat.

"Research? That so-called researcher who came last month was thrown into a sewer by us and is still lying in the hospital."

The bald man approached two steps, brandishing the steel pipe.

"Lei Zhenzi has given the word: you are to stay in this area for three full days and properly 'experience' the hardships of the workers. Kid, if you're smart, find a corner and crouch there. If you're not, this pipe of mine doesn't recognize anyone."

Lei Zhenzi.

Zhu Wenhao glanced at the surrounding abandoned factory buildings; there was no surveillance.

"How much does Lei Zhenzi pay you?" Zhu Wenhao's tone was as calm as if he were making small talk.

The bald man paused.

"Fifty thousand? One hundred thousand?" Zhu Wenhao continued. "Doing life-risking work for the Lei family for this pittance. The more than twenty million in residual equipment value on the books of the Red Star Machinery Factory has been transferred and cashed out by Shengyuan Holdings. You pack of guard dogs acting as scapegoats in the front, you won't even get a fraction of it."

The bald man gripped the steel pipe tighter.

"Stop spouting nonsense! Brothers, give him a lesson!"

Several thugs waved their weapons and surrounded him.

"A foolish general doesn't know his soldiers; foolish soldiers don't know their general."

Zhu Wenhao stood still.

"Lei Dong has already balanced the accounts. This land of the Red Star Machinery Factory will be forcibly reclaimed by the Provincial Department of Land and Resources next month."

"Once the land is reclaimed and the factory is leveled, Shengyuan Holdings will take the money and leave. You thugs left behind are just the scapegoats pushed out by the Lei family to appease public anger."

"Intentional injury, provoking trouble, obstructing officials from performing public duties. With concurrent punishment for multiple crimes, the Lei family has people in the Political and Legal Affairs Commission to protect themselves, but you lot, prepare to rot in prison."

The bald man's hand holding the steel pipe stopped.

The wind had been tight around the Red Star Machinery Factory recently, and the pacification funds allocated from above were slow to arrive. They only knew the Lei family was powerful and influential, but they had never thought the Lei family would burn bridges after crossing them.

"What do you know! Boss Lei promised us that after it's done, he'd arrange a proper job for each of us!" The bald man tried to bolster his confidence.

"Verbal promises are worthless."

Zhu Wenhao reached out, took a printed document from his pocket, and threw it directly at the bald man's feet.

"This is a copy of the bankruptcy cancellation application that Shengyuan Holdings just submitted to the Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce yesterday."

"The company is cancelled, the legal representative is changed. Once the shell company collapses, the Boss Lei you speak of will vanish completely. Who are you going to go to for your proper jobs?"

The bald man looked down at the document on the ground; he couldn't understand the complex legal clauses, but the four large characters "Bankruptcy Cancellation" were printed clearly.

The circle of thugs around him unconsciously loosened.

Zhu Wenhao stepped forward and walked straight past the bald man.

"Go back and tell your brothers. If you want to live, go find those workers who are owed wages and hand over the license plate numbers of the vehicles and the warehouse addresses where Shengyuan Holdings transferred the equipment overnight."

He didn't look back, leaving only a cold ultimatum.

"This is your only chance to make amends."

The bald man stood there, the steel pipe in his hand as heavy as a thousand pounds, not daring to block him in the slightest.