79: Chapter 79 Touching the Rascal's Sore Spot, Lu Chen Uncovers the Bullying Scene

The red light on the walkie-talkie flashed wildly, and the buzzing sound echoed in the corridor.

Old Zhou's thumb pressed on the red full-frequency call button, his knuckles cracking as he squeezed.

Baldy Zhao spat the Soft Baisha cigarette from his mouth onto the ground and ground it twice with the sole of his shoe.

"Are you done pressing it?" Baldy Zhao pointed at Old Zhou's nose, laughter squeezing out from his nasal cavity.

"Calling for backup, huh? Fine, brother isn't leaving today. I'll just stand right here at the entrance of 101 and see how many stray dogs your crappy walkie-talkie can summon.

I'd like to see what use those dozen or so security guards of yours with their crappy rubber batons are."

The yellow-haired thug standing next to him chimed in, "Supervisor Zhou, is your brain underdeveloped? We've got hundreds of brothers here, plus the ten thousand or so people waiting outside. A single spit from each of us could drown you."

The fifteen security guards were cornered against the wall, cold sweat dripping down their temples.

"The rules of Chenguang Electronics cannot be broken by anyone."

Old Zhou's voice wasn't loud, but every word was squeezed out from his molars, blood seeping from his gums.

"Rules? My words are the rules!"

Baldy Zhao didn't even look at Old Zhou, turning and walking toward Sister Liu, who was huddled against the wall.

Sister Liu held the little girl tightly, her face pale, her whole body trembling like a sieve.

Baldy Zhao lifted his foot, clad in a mud-caked rubber shoe, and kicked directly at the woven bag Sister Liu had placed on the ground.

Rip.

The old woven bag was already fragile, and this kick tore it right open.

A few faded children's clothes, a half-opened bag of laundry detergent, and two broken enamel bowls rolled out, scattering onto the floor tiles covered in muddy water and cigarette butts.

Sister Liu lunged forward, not caring about the dirty water on the ground, her hands desperately gathering the scattered clothes.

The little girl knelt beside her, so scared that she stifled her cries in her throat, her shoulders shivering uncontrollably.

"What 'single mother priority'? That's bullshit!"

Baldy Zhao pointed at the stairwell.

"I have rheumatism. I want this sunny room. Take your brat and get lost to the top floor!"

Sister Liu looked up, her face covered in tears.

"Director Zhao, this is a rule personally set by Factory Director Lu."

Sister Liu's voice was broken. "My daughter has asthma, she really can't live on the top floor..."

"Screw you!"

Baldy Zhao raised his right hand high.

Security guard Xiao Li, standing in the corner, had red eyes and raised his rubber baton, ready to charge forward.

Several thick arms immediately reached out, pinning Xiao Li's shoulders tightly and shoving him hard back against the wall.

Seven or eight thugs from Tengfei Electronics blocked the security guards, their steel pipes rhythmically tapping against their palms.

Just as the slap was about to land on Sister Liu's face, a sharp soprano voice suddenly came from the edge of the crowd.

"Stop right there!"

A stout older sister wearing an old blue Chenguang Electronics uniform, carrying two red thermos flasks, forced her way through the watching Tengfei Electronics workers with her shoulders, panting as she squeezed into the circle.

It was Zhang Xiufang, a veteran employee of Chenguang Electronics' Line 3.

Zhang Xiufang's eyes turned red the instant she saw the clothes scattered on the ground and Sister Liu, who was covering her head and flinching.

She slammed the two thermos flasks onto the concrete floor.

Clang.

Hot water splashed out and soaked her pant legs, but she didn't care at all. She strode forward, shoved Baldy Zhao away, and stood in front of Sister Liu.

Baldy Zhao was pushed back half a step and frowned, staring at the fat woman in front of him.

"This is Chenguang Electronics!" Zhang Xiufang pointed at Baldy Zhao's nose and cursed loudly.

"It's not that filthy den of yours at Tengfei Electronics! You bring hundreds of people here to bully a widow with a child—do you even have a shred of humanity?"

Baldy Zhao curled his lip, looking up and down at Zhang Xiufang's old, pilled factory uniform.

"I wondered who it was; turns out it's just an old dog from Chenguang Electronics coming out to protect its food."

Baldy Zhao tilted his neck. "Old hag, who do you think you are? Is it your turn to speak here?"

Zhang Xiufang turned around, pulled Sister Liu up from the ground, and shielded the little girl by her leg.

"Who do I think I am? I am a regular employee of Chenguang Electronics' Line 3!"

Zhang Xiufang panted heavily, pointing at the red brick building behind her.

"Our Factory Director Lu spent real money to build these houses for everyone, and we move in with cards. You snatching someone's card is smashing our Factory Director Lu's reputation!"

A dozen or so Tengfei Electronics thugs gathered around immediately.

The thug with dyed yellow hair walked to the front and shoved Zhang Xiufang's shoulder hard.

Zhang Xiufang was stout and sturdy; she planted her feet firmly on the ground and didn't retreat half a step.

"So what if we smash his reputation?" the yellow-haired thug shouted arrogantly.

"Who does this crappy factory rely on for a living now? Doesn't it all depend on us ten thousand skilled workers who came over from Tengfei Electronics? Without us, what is he going to ship out tomorrow?"

Another Long-haired Thug chimed in, tapping the iron door with the wrench in his hand.

"Believe it or not, we ten thousand people will go on strike!" the Long-haired Thug yelled at the top of his lungs.

"This crappy factory of that Lu guy will have to shut down tomorrow! When that happens, forget about these houses—Lu Chen will have to kneel and beg our Brother Zhao to lead us in restarting work!"

These hundreds of troublemakers were used to being arrogant and domineering at Tengfei Electronics.

Seeing that the people at Chenguang Electronics were all honest folks who followed the rules, they felt even more that they had them by the throat.

The ten thousand or so ordinary workers who had just been transferred over all shrank their necks and kept their heads down; no one dared to stand up and say a word.

Zhang Xiufang was trembling with rage, pointing at the yellow-haired thug's nose and cursing.

"You are heartless! Factory Director Lu paid off your unpaid wages from Tengfei Electronics, gave you free bedding, and assigned you furnished housing for free. You don't appreciate it, and the moment you enter the factory, you want to act like bandits?"

Baldy Zhao stepped forward and slapped Zhang Xiufang's hand away.

"Stop calling him Factory Director Lu every other breath. He's just pretending to be a philanthropist to buy people's hearts; he just has too much money to burn."

Baldy Zhao flicked his cigarette butt directly at Zhang Xiufang's feet.

"In this factory, the rules have always been set by us workshop directors. I'm taking this 101 today—who dares to say a word against it?"

Old Zhou stood in the corner, his teeth grinding with a clicking sound. He pointed at Baldy Zhao and roared.

"Sister Zhang, don't get involved! If they dare to touch you, I'll risk my life to fight them to the end today!"

Baldy Zhao turned his head to look at Old Zhou, his mouth full of mockery.

"So what if I touch her?"

Baldy Zhao rolled up the sleeves of his plaid shirt, strode in front of Zhang Xiufang, and suddenly raised his right hand.

That rough palm, carrying the sound of wind, swung directly toward Zhang Xiufang's face.

In order to establish his rule as the local despot on this new turf, he had to trample the veteran employees of Chenguang Electronics completely underfoot in front of those ten thousand people.

Just when the palm was less than half a foot away from Zhang Xiufang's face.

The sound of tires screeching tore through the night sky of the factory area.

Boom.

The large exhaust pipe emitted a roar, and the mud-covered car, trailing a pungent smell of burnt rubber, crashed directly into two old tin trash cans by the side of the road, forcing its way into the dense crowd.

The watching workers screamed and scattered to both sides, immediately clearing a wide path.

Screech!

The car slammed on the brakes, its right front wheel stopping less than a meter from Baldy Zhao's heels.

The mud splashed up by the wheels even splattered onto Baldy Zhao's light-colored pant legs.

The whole scene fell into instant silence.

Baldy Zhao's hand stopped in mid-air, and the hundreds of thugs who had been making a racket were all stunned.

Everyone turned their heads to look at the beat-up car, which had its right headlight shattered, leaving only the reflector bowl remaining.

Bang!

The driver's side door was kicked open. Da Biao, wearing a black tank top and holding a sixty-centimeter-long solid steel pipe, stepped out with a dark face.