20: Problem solved

Walking out of Jiang Chen's office, Ji Jun, with a poker face, called his secretary and told him to notify the head of the Group's internal audit department to arrange for people to immediately join him and head to Xinghe Real Estate.

The moment he hung up, Cheng Feiyu, General Manager of Xinghe Real Estate, called.

On the other end of the line, Cheng Feiyu's voice was breathless and anxious, "President Ji, I'm already at Xinghe Bay. Has Chairman Jiang found out yet...?"

"What do you think?" Ji Jun said expressionlessly, "Now I'm relaying Chairman Jiang's notice to you."

Cheng Feiyu immediately straightened his expression and said, "President Ji, please speak."

"First, immediately calm down the workers on site. Under no circumstances can there be any accidents. Second, once you arrive at the scene, immediately settle the workers' wages. We'll discuss further after that's handled."

As Ji Jun finished speaking, he heard a cacophony of noise from Cheng Feiyu's end of the phone, vaguely making out a few slogans about Xinghe Real Estate defaulting on wages.

Cheng Feiyu, while on the phone with Jiang Chen, quickly walked to the scene. He was drenched in sweat and shouted into his phone, "President Ji, I've arrived at the scene. I guarantee I will complete the task according to the Group, according to Chairman Jiang's orders."

"Alright, go quickly."

Ji Jun, having hung up, also walked downstairs. As soon as he exited the elevator, he saw his secretary, Wang Yan, and Audit Department Head Hao Jian, waiting for him at the entrance with over a dozen people.

"President Ji, the car is ready. We can leave anytime."

Ji Jun nodded and led the way through the turnstiles, with over a dozen people following grandly behind him.

—

Meanwhile, at the main gate of Xinghe Bay, Cheng Feiyu, drenched in sweat, looked at the gathered workers. They had completely blocked the gate, holding up long banners, and a few people were even standing outside the railing of the sky garden nearby.

Firefighters had already set up an air cushion below, and police officers were shouting through megaphones.

Seeing this, Cheng Feiyu felt a brain hemorrhage coming on. Already sweating profusely, his obese body swayed precariously.

He forced himself to gather his spirits, took a megaphone from a nearby Group security guard, and shouted loudly, "Everyone, please be quiet! I am Cheng Feiyu, General Manager of Xinghe Real Estate."

Upon hearing someone claim to be the General Manager of Xinghe Real Estate, the workers immediately surged forward in anger, surrounding Cheng Feiyu and his Group.

"Go quickly, that fat man said he's the General Manager of Xinghe Real Estate!"

"Pay up! Pay up!"

"You Xinghe Real Estate have owed us wages for a year and haven't paid! If you don't pay today, I'll die here!"

"My family is waiting for this money to save lives! Boss, please, pay the money!"

"My family can't even afford food anymore, and my child hasn't paid tuition for two months..."

The crowd, all talking at once, surrounded Cheng Feiyu and his Group. The security guards desperately tried to block them, but there were too many workers. Cheng Feiyu saw that some people had already been pushed down.

This sight made his eyes split with fury. If a stampede were to occur, he would truly be to blame for ten thousand deaths. He anxiously raised the megaphone in his hand and shouted:

"Everyone, don't push!"

"Be quiet! Stop, everyone stop! I'm here to pay you wages!"

"Listen to me!!!"

"I'm here to settle your wages!!!"

Cheng Feiyu's loud shouts, amplified by the megaphone, made the crowd hear the words "pay wages," and the previously noisy commotion slowly quieted down.

Cheng Feiyu's action was effective, and a glimmer of hope flashed across his face. He quickly shouted, "Everyone, make way! Quickly help up those who have fallen!"

Cheng Feiyu shouted and pointed towards the area where he saw people had fallen.

At this point, the workers finally noticed that some had fallen, and a few workers nearby immediately helped up those who were on the ground.

Cheng Feiyu had security guards lead him through the crowd to the area where the person had fallen. After checking, he found that the person was not seriously injured. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Then Cheng Feiyu stood among the crowd and shouted through the megaphone:

"Folks, don't worry. Everyone, please spread out. It's not good to surround me like this.

Send a representative forward. Today, your overdue wages will absolutely be settled.

I'm sure you know who I am. I'm here by order of Chairman Jiang Chen of Xinghe Group to settle your wages."

Fearing they might not understand the significance of Xinghe Group, he added, "Do you know Xinghe Group? Xinghe Real Estate is just one company under Xinghe Group. I'm here by order of the big boss to handle your overdue wages. Send a representative forward, and all your previous wages will be settled today."

The crowd didn't know about Xinghe Group, but upon hearing that he was sent by their big boss, they immediately started whispering among themselves.

One person who understood Xinghe Group shouted, "Alright, we believe you. Everyone, let's spread out first."

In a short while, the crowd gradually dispersed, and they sent three representatives to speak with Cheng Feiyu.

The three were clearly led by a burly middle-aged man, who stepped forward and asked directly, "Leader, can our wages really be settled today?"

Cheng Feiyu thumped his chest and guaranteed, "They will absolutely be settled today. You should now have them prepare their bank cards and proof of how much wages are owed."

"Finance is already on its way. Once they arrive, we'll immediately arrange on-site payments."

The leading middle-aged man immediately became tearfully excited, and without a word, he grabbed Cheng Feiyu's hand, "Leader, thank you! I thank you on behalf of everyone. If it weren't for you, all of us..."

Cheng Feiyu felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this. These workers were merely getting back the wages that were rightfully theirs, yet they were thanking him profusely. The subsequent matters were handled very simply. After the finance personnel arrived at the scene, Cheng Feiyu uniformly settled the overdue wages of all the workers present.

Although the workers' wages were settled, the wage-claiming incident still caused a huge uproar online.

"No way, even the hundred-billion Xinghe Group defaults on workers' wages?"

"Upstairs, don't talk about hundreds of billions. Even a trillion-dollar Group is still the same as a capitalist. Look at those workers in the video, they're being forced to jump off a building."

"Whose father is this again, whose son is this again..."

"Look at the appointment and removal notice on their Group website. Old Mr. Xu Shizhong is no longer serving as Chairman."

"Holy crap, I went and checked, it's true. They really did change Chairmen. I was wondering how Xinghe Group could possibly have an incident like defaulting on wages."

"Look quickly, image.jpg, the new Chairman of Xinghe is only thirty years old. No wonder something like this happened."

Xinghe Group was thoroughly pushed into the spotlight because of this worker wage-claiming incident. And because some observant netizens discovered that Xinghe Group had a new Chairman, the fire burned even brighter.

—

Late at night, Ji Jun sat wearily in the Xinghe Real Estate conference room. He pinched the bridge of his nose as Cheng Feiyu reported nervously from the side.

"President Ji, the situation is clear..."

As Cheng Feiyu reported, Ji Jun also understood. It turned out that Qu Wei, the younger brother of Qu Jiangping, the Deputy General Manager of Xinghe Real Estate, had embezzled the funds intended for workers' wages because he couldn't repay his gambling debts.

Qu Wei originally thought he could temporarily embezzle the money and then replace it later, but he kept losing more and more, unable to fill the void. It wasn't until the workers' wage claims erupted that the matter surfaced.

"Where are they? Have they been brought under control?"

Ji Jun asked.

"I have already arranged for people to control Qu Jiangping and Qu Wei. They are currently in the company conference room."

A hint of ruthlessness flashed in Cheng Feiyu's eyes. After handling the workers' wages on site, he rushed back to the Group and quickly traced the matter to Qu Wei, so he immediately arranged for the security department to control them.

"Contact the police directly and submit the evidence."

Ji Jun nodded slightly, giving instructions as Jiang Chen had ordered. Finally, he looked at Cheng Feiyu and said words that made him feel dizzy:

"Feiyu, this matter is due to your inadequate supervision. You bear primary responsibility. You are temporarily suspended, and we will decide on further action after I report to Chairman Jiang."

Cheng Feiyu nodded bitterly, "I understand, President Ji..."

He knew that President Ji suspending him was already a show of mercy. He had been unaware of Qu Wei's embezzlement of these funds for so long. To put it bluntly, if his responsibility were to be pursued, Cheng Feiyu could not escape.

Ji Jun watched Cheng Feiyu's dejected figure leave the conference room and sighed. Cheng Feiyu had worked under him for over ten years, and he knew his character inside and out.

It was undeniable that in the few years Xinghe Real Estate had been entrusted to Cheng Feiyu, he had, with his ability and acumen, propelled Xinghe Real Estate to rapid development beyond its original foundation.

But with such a damaging incident affecting the Group's image, nothing he said mattered. As the head of Xinghe Real Estate, with such a serious incident occurring under his watch, he bore inescapable responsibility.

"I can only report it and see how Chairman Jiang handles it..."

Ji Jun stood up, gazing out at the myriad lights of the city from the floor-to-ceiling window, and murmured.

With the submission of evidence, economic investigation officers directly took away Qu Jiangping, Qu Wei, and over twenty other implicated individuals. Only the severe punishment of the law awaited them.

—

The next day, inside Xinghe Group, Jiang Chen, with a beaming smile, received two men in police uniforms and chatted amiably with them.

"This time, I've really troubled Chief Chen, and it's even more troublesome that you came in person."

Jiang Chen thanked Chen Yuanfang, Chief of the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau.

Chen Yuanfang laughed heartily, speaking in officialese, "Chairman Jiang, you are too kind. As police officers, aren't we here to serve the people?"

"Especially for public-spirited entrepreneurs like you, we must serve even better."

He changed the subject, "Actually, my main purpose for coming today was to see you. Previously, Mr. Xu and I were practically sworn brothers..."

At this point, his words abruptly stopped.

Some relationships cannot be openly discussed, but Chen Yuanfang had already spoken to this extent, and Jiang Chen immediately understood.

"So that's it. I didn't expect Old Brother Chen and I to be family, hahahahaha."

Jiang Chen followed Chen Yuanfang's lead, changing his address for him.

Chen Yuanfang's face also broke into a smile. "Family, family."

His main purpose for coming today was simply to see Jiang Chen, also following Xu Shizhong's words. With his objective achieved, he immediately took his leave.