100: Chapter 100 The Flood Approaches, and the Cattle and Horses Gallop Wildly with Buckets

Shanxi Province.

It was almost dark, and the wind was rattling the corrugated iron of the worker shed, making a clanging sound.

Old Sun squatted beside the scale at the scrap yard, holding half a cigarette in his hand.

A bundle of rusted rebar lay on the scale.

"Sixty-two jin." The scrap yard owner kicked the rebar. "I'll give you seventy yuan. Take the money and get lost."

Old Sun stood up and crushed the cigarette butt against the sole of his shoe.

He tucked the seventy yuan into his inner pocket.

"The contractor ran away. I dug this iron out of the mud myself," Old Sun said, his voice raspy.

"None of my business." The owner counted the money. "Do you want it or not?"

"I do."

Old Sun turned and walked toward the train station, leaving his bedding behind.

Ticket window.

"To Jiangcheng." Old Sun slapped the seventy yuan onto the glass.

"Only standing tickets. You'll arrive tomorrow morning." The clerk didn't even look up.

"Standing ticket."

Old Sun grabbed the ticket.

He glanced at his phone; the screen was cracked in three places, showing a video.

A box of braised pork, a key.

Old Sun put the phone back in his pocket and walked toward the waiting room, his footsteps heavy.

Hunan Province.

At seven in the evening, Wang Yan stood at the workshop entrance, carrying her Mother on her back.

Her Mother's legs couldn't move, so she was tied to Wang Yan's back with a wide strip of cloth.

The team leader threw a piece of paper in Wang Yan's face.

"You're bringing a half-dead person to the night shift? Do you think the factory is a charity?"

The team leader pointed at the gate. "Get your pay and get out."

The paper fell to the ground—it was a termination letter.

Wang Yan didn't pick it up; she reached back and tightened the cloth strip.

"My wages for last month." Wang Yan stared at the team leader.

"Deducted. Your Mother shit in the workshop, that's an eight-hundred-yuan fine." The team leader sneered.

Wang Yan didn't speak. She turned and walked to her workstation.

She picked up a pair of industrial shears used for trimming threads.

"What are you doing!" The team leader stepped back.

Wang Yan slammed the shears down beside the team leader's feet; the tip of the shears pierced the plastic floor mat.

"That eight hundred yuan—that's for your coffin."

Wang Yan turned and walked out.

Outside the factory gate was a borrowed wooden cart.

Wang Yan untied her Mother, laid her flat on the cart, and covered her tightly with an old quilt.

"Yanzi... Mother is a burden to you." Her Mother cried inside the quilt.

"Mother, don't cry." Wang Yan pulled the cart's rope and looped it over her shoulder. "We're going to Jiangcheng, to Chenguang Electronics. There's a hospital there, and it's free."

The wooden cart wheels creaked as they rolled over the asphalt road.

Eight in the evening.

At the exit of the Jiangcheng train station, the turnstiles at the ticket gates had all been pushed over.

People poured out, a sea of heads.

No one was dragging suitcases; they all had dusty snake-skin bags and red plastic buckets filled with old quilts, chipped porcelain bowls, and dried noodles.

Taxi driver Old Liu leaned against his car door, smoking.

Old Liu stopped a young man.

"Brother, where to?"

The young man spoke with an out-of-town accent: "Driver, take me to the Chengbei High-Tech Zone, to Chenguang Electronics Factory!"

"Not going!" Old Liu waved his hand. "It's completely jammed over there. Not going."

The young man turned and left. A dozen more people swarmed up behind him.

"To Chenguang Electronics!"

"To Chenguang Electronics Factory!"

"I'll pay whatever you want! To Chenguang Electronics!"

Old Liu was stunned.

He looked at the people filling the square—thousands, tens of thousands.

Everyone was carrying buckets, everyone was carrying bags.

Electric tricycles, motorized rickshaws, and tractors passing by were all being flagged down.

"To Chenguang Electronics!"

The voices merged together, making the streetlights in the station square hum.

Old Liu opened the car door.

"Get in! Get in! To Chenguang Electronics!" Old Liu shouted.

Four people squeezed into the taxi.

"Driver, hurry up." The man in the back seat urged. "If we're late, we won't be able to sign the contract."

"What contract?" Old Liu stepped on the gas.

"The employment contract, ten thousand base salary." The man clenched his fist. "I stood for over ten hours coming from Shanxi Province."

Nine in the evening. The elevated highway leading to the north of the city.

It was completely blocked.

Red taillights formed a dragon of fire that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Director Li Jianguo stood at the ramp of the elevated highway.

He was wearing a reflective vest and holding a walkie-talkie.

"Attention all squads, set up cordon lines, direct traffic, let the buses into the city first." Director Li Jianguo shouted.

"Director Li, we can't get in!" A shout came over the walkie-talkie. "The roads to the Chengbei High-Tech Zone are all blocked by large trucks! Dump trucks, construction material trucks, and now so many buses have arrived—it's a deadlock!"

"Then make them get off the buses! Park the vehicles on the outer ring road!" Director Li Jianguo roared.

"The people have gotten off! They're all walking on the road!" The voice on the walkie-talkie sounded like it was about to cry.

Director Li Jianguo stared at the Chengbei construction site in the distance.

Searchlight beams cut through the night sky.

"Lu Chen..." Director Li Jianguo gritted his teeth.

This kid, just how big of a thing is he trying to do?

"Director Li." The squad leader pointed below the elevated highway.

Director Li Jianguo looked down.

The frontage road beneath the highway.

It was packed with people.

The buses couldn't get in, so everyone had gotten off.

Carrying buckets, carrying bags.

Relying on their own two legs, they walked toward the north of the city.

No one spoke loudly; there was only the sound of footsteps.

Stepping on the water-logged road.

Patter, patter.

Director Li Jianguo watched that moving sea of people.

He took out his phone and dialed Lu Chen's number.

Chenguang Industrial Park, west gate.

Lu Chen leaned against the red brick wall.

His phone vibrated.

He answered the call.

"Lu Chen." Director Li Jianguo's voice was deep.

"Director Li." Lu Chen watched the crowd queuing up to sign contracts.

"You've blocked Jiangcheng completely," Director Li Jianguo said.

"There are too many people, there's no other way."

"How many people?"

"Thirty thousand have signed so far, and it's still increasing."

Director Li Jianguo was silent for two seconds on the other end of the line.

"Can you handle them?" Director Li Jianguo asked.

"I can handle them," Lu Chen replied. "As long as they dare to come, I dare to hire them."

"There is pressure from the city." Director Li Jianguo lowered his voice. "The commotion is too big. Someone is investigating the source of your funds. The traffic police just received notice that several roads used for transporting construction materials have been closed by the road administration."

Lu Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Road closure?"

"They say it's for road maintenance." Director Li Jianguo sneered. "You've provoked someone you shouldn't have. Someone is strangling your supply chain for materials in Jiangcheng."

Lu Chen threw the cigarette butt into the muddy water.

"Director Li, you just handle the traffic." Lu Chen's voice was calm. "I'll solve the material issue."

The call ended, and Lu Chen put the phone in his pocket.

Da Biao ran over.

"Boss, we've run out of contracts, there are still people behind."

"Keep printing," Lu Chen said.

Da Biao nodded and turned to leave.

"Wait." Lu Chen called him back. "Where is Wu Dong?"

"At the Chengbei construction site, coordinating excavators with Zhao Tiezhu."

"Call him back." Lu Chen looked into the darkness in the distance. "Bring the security token."

Wu Dong rode his electric scooter, covered in mud, and rushed back to the gate.

"Boss!" Wu Dong jumped off the scooter.

Lu Chen looked at him.

"How much money is in the account right now?"

Wu Dong took out his phone and glanced at it.

"Thirty thousand new signings today. There is currently... four hundred million on the account, in the current account."

Lu Chen nodded.

"Who is the biggest material supplier in Jiangcheng?"

Wu Dong was stunned for a moment, then quickly replied.

"In terms of construction materials, it's Hongfa Group. The boss is President Ma Jianping. Eighty percent of the sand, cement, and steel bars in Jiangcheng are in his hands."