78: Chapter 78 Who Rules This Place?

The workers all around shrank their necks and backed away.

At the supply distribution point on the other side, several tables had also been occupied by a few tattooed thugs, with brand-new double happiness basins, bedsheets, and soap piled on them.

A withered little old man clutching the basin he had just received was blocked by two of the men.

"Ten yuan for the foot basin, twenty for the bedsheet, cash only." The man reached out and tapped the tin bottom of the basin.

The old man's hands shook uncontrollably as he pulled a plastic bag out of his greasy crotch pocket.

Using fingers covered in cracks, he pried open the bag, peeled out two crumpled ten-yuan bills, and handed them over. The man snatched the money away and kicked the old man in the thigh.

"Get lost, you're blocking the way."

The hallway of Unit 1, Building 2.

Sister Liu clutched her chest tightly with one hand, holding a room card marked "101" in her palm.

Her other hand held a little girl wearing an old pink sweater. The girl huddled behind Sister Liu's pant leg, her face buried in the fabric, revealing only half an eye, remaining motionless.

Sister Liu walked up to the security door of 101. Baldy Zhao was shaking one of his legs, blocking the sensor lock. He had a cigarette between his fingers, and ash fell onto Sister Liu's cloth shoes.

"Little sister, didn't you hear the rules I mentioned just now?" Baldy Zhao puffed on his cigarette, looking Sister Liu up and down. "You know my temper from when we were in the packaging workshop. Give me the card, go find an empty bunk on the sixth floor. I'm taking this big room with the balcony."

Sister Liu trembled all over, her nails digging into her palms, leaving white marks on her flesh.

"Director Zhao." Sister Liu's voice trembled violently, her eyes rimmed with red. "This isn't according to the rules... These are the strict rules set by the boss of Chenguang Electronics himself. When they were hiring, it was made clear that as a single parent with a child, I get priority for an independent room on the first floor."

"The boss of Chenguang Electronics?" Baldy Zhao laughed, revealing his yellow, stained teeth.

The group of men around them burst into laughter.

"Rules? Lu Chen pays the wages for over ten thousand people, so he's a big shot. But he sits in the office blowing air conditioning every day, is he going to come to the staff dormitory every day to manage you people taking a dump or farting?"

Baldy Zhao lowered his head, staring into Sister Liu's eyes, his voice suddenly dropping. "A magistrate is not as effective as the person currently in charge. As long as I'm still leading the shift in the workshop, I am the rule in this staff dormitory!"

Baldy Zhao extended two thick, dark fingers to snatch the room card from Sister Liu's hand. Sister Liu pulled her hand back with all her might, refusing to let go of the card.

"Let go!" Sister Liu shrieked, her voice cracking.

The little girl was so scared that she burst into tears, wrapping both hands around Sister Liu's lower leg, her mouth wide open, her gasps trembling.

Baldy Zhao's eyelids twitched, and he raised his other hand and slapped Sister Liu across the face.

Slap! Sister Liu stumbled and hit the concrete floor hard.

Her hand loosened, the room card fell to the ground, and the little girl threw herself onto Sister Liu, crying until she was out of breath.

Baldy Zhao bent down to pick up the room card, holding it between two fingers and blowing the dust off it.

"Don't blame your brother for being heavy-handed." Baldy Zhao stuffed the card into his pants pocket. "Fifty yuan for the bunk fee. If you don't pay up by tomorrow morning, I'll break your legs."

"Stop!"

A hoarse roar came from outside the crowd.

Old Zhou stretched his neck, leading fifteen sweat-drenched security guards, and forcibly pushed a path through the onlookers.

One of Old Zhou's leather shoes had been stepped off on the way in.

Wearing gray socks, he stepped on the cigarette butts and sunflower seed shells littering the ground. He rushed to the entrance of the hallway, took one look at Sister Liu lying on the ground and the crying child.

Old Zhou's chest heaved, his jaw clenched so hard his bones creaked. He turned his head and stared at Baldy Zhao.

"Give the card back to her." Old Zhou pointed at Baldy Zhao's nose, his voice cracking completely.

Baldy Zhao stopped, his hand still in mid-air. He looked back at Old Zhou, shoved his hands into his pockets, tilted his bald head, and exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Who are you?" Disdain showed in Baldy Zhao's eyes as he stared at Old Zhou's torn suit.

"Administrative Supervisor of Chenguang Electronics Factory, Zhou Jianjun." Old Zhou took a big step forward. "Chenguang Electronics has no bunk fees, no protection fees. All accommodation is based on the card."

Old Zhou stared into Baldy Zhao's eyes.

"Take out the room card now, give it back to her, and take your people to the back of the line to get a room according to the rules. As for hitting someone just now, I'll deduct half a month's base salary, and I'll consider this matter handled."

Baldy Zhao sneered, threw the pack of Ruan Baisha cigarettes in his hand to Old Zhou's feet, and ground it under his toe.

"Supervisor Zhou." Baldy Zhao crossed his arms. "Our brothers number over ten thousand. We're new here and don't understand your customs. I see you guys are short-handed and can't manage everything, so I'm helping Supervisor Zhou establish some rules and share the burden."

Baldy Zhao whistled.

With a sudden rush.

In the hallways, by the flower beds, and under the big trees, two or three hundred men with cigarettes in their mouths and shirts unbuttoned dropped what they were doing and slowly drifted over.

They formed a semicircle, cornering Old Zhou and the fifteen security guards against the wall. A dozen iron pipes and wrenches tapped against these men's thighs.

Baldy Zhao rubbed his bald head and leaned in close to Old Zhou, the distance between them less than half a meter.

"Supervisor Zhou." Baldy Zhao lowered his voice. "There are hundreds of us brothers, and we like living on the first floor. Do you really have to be so stubborn about this?"

Baldy Zhao rolled his eyes, looking at the honest workers huddled on both sides who didn't dare to make a sound.

"If things really kick off, you dozen or so security guards will be finished in a minute or two. But if it causes a mass riot and none of these ten thousand people go into the workshop to start the machines tomorrow morning, when Factory Director Lu asks, can you, an admin guy, bear the responsibility for a strike of hundreds of people?"

Old Zhou gritted his back teeth, the taste of blood seeping from his gums.

The tens of thousands of honest, hardworking workers around were all watching this side nervously.

They had just escaped the exploitation of Tengfei Electronics and had thought that Chenguang Electronics, with its wages and housing, would be a clean place.

But now, seeing Baldy Zhao and his group still acting like tyrants, and even the factory supervisor surrounded and unable to move, many people lowered their heads and slowly reached into their pockets, searching for a fifty-yuan bill.

It was the same as it used to be at Tengfei Electronics.

Old Zhou watched the movements of the workers around him, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins, his hands clenching little by little.

The hard plastic casing of the walkie-talkie pressed deep red marks into his palm.

He knew very well that if he backed down today, the ironclad rules set by Chenguang Electronics would become worthless, and the goodwill that Factory Director Lu had spent billions in cash to buy would be instantly rotted through by this malignant tumor.

The rubber batons in the hands of the fifteen security guards were shaking. They swallowed hard, facing hundreds of thugs; once a fight started, they would definitely be trampled underfoot in an instant.

Baldy Zhao looked at Old Zhou's white knuckles and curled the corners of his mouth upward.

He took the 101 room card out of his pocket, turned around, walked to the security door, and pressed the plastic-coated card against the sensor area.

Beep.

The door lock made a crisp sound of the spring popping open. Baldy Zhao reached out, grabbed the door handle, and pressed down hard.

Old Zhou slowly closed his eyes, placed his finger on the red full-frequency call button of the walkie-talkie, and pressed down hard with his thumb.