Who goes to work if they're a decent person?

Chapter 15 This is my factory

"Boss Su, don't play dumb. What I mean is, we're not leaving this factory!"

"unless......"

"Someone can settle the wages owed to us."

After a long silence, the man spoke, seemingly expressing a determination.

Su Ming nodded: "I agree!"

"They even owe the workers' wages, they're inhuman." Su Ming said sincerely.

"That's right!" The man's eyes lit up for a moment, surprised that Su Ming was so agreeable. "Boss Su, what do you mean?"

"What I mean is, I totally agree with what you're saying!"

"If someone owes money for so long and doesn't pay it back, are they even human?"

"They're worse than animals!!"

The man opposite him beamed with delight: "Boss Su is a wise man, you're right, then you..."

"Let me think about it. You've lived here for five years, which means you owe me five years' rent. Shouldn't you pay it to me?"

Su Ming held out his hand, signaling the other party to transfer the money!

The other person's expression froze instantly, and for a moment they didn't know what to say.

Although the previous factory owner did owe them money, it had nothing to do with Mr. Su.

Moreover, the factory and land belong to Boss Su, so we should indeed pay rent.

But where do they get the money now?

Seeing that the other party remained silent, Su Ming smiled and withdrew his hand.

After all, his purpose wasn't to collect rent; collecting rent from these poor people wouldn't make much sense.

"Okay, tell me what happened in the factory. I'm very curious about what's going on here."

Upon hearing Su Ming's words, the other party knew that this was their last chance.

"My name is Li Youliang, and I used to be the factory manager of this garment factory," the man said in a deep voice.

"This factory has been around for a long time. I've worked here for seven or eight years, and if you include these last five years, it's been more than ten years."

As Li Youliang spoke, he took out a pack of cigarettes and handed it to Su Ming, but Su Ming did not take it, so he put it aside.

"Go ahead and smoke, it's fine." Su Ming waved his hand.

Li Youliang then took out a cigarette.

Li Youliang lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled the smoke, as if he had breathed a sigh of relief.

He continued, "The factory used to do well, but then it went downhill."

The factory owner is named Zhu Bin, and the sales staff and accountant are all his relatives.

That spring, Zhu Bin approached me and said that the factory had started to lose money, and asked me to talk to everyone.

The factory provides meals and accommodation, but wages will be delayed until the factory's cash flow improves and the owed wages will be paid out at the end of the year.

Zhu Bin promised that not only would he make up for the lost wages, but he would also provide an additional bonus.

"The people in the factory are honest and simple. Most of them are locals. They genuinely care about the factory and just want it to get through the difficulties."

But that's not actually the case at all. I was also fooled by Zhu Bin back then; the factory wasn't actually losing money at all.

Li Youliang took a final, hard drag on his cigarette, threw the butt on the ground, and stubbed it out with the sole of his shoe.

Su Ming then asked, "As the factory manager, aren't you aware of the factory's actual operating situation?"

Li Youliang looked embarrassed. "I was too trusting back then. The purchasing, finance and sales staff were all Zhu Bin's people. I was only responsible for managing the factory's production, so I really didn't know much about this aspect."

"Later, a customer called me for some reason and discussed the goods and payment issues with me. That's when I realized something was wrong."

The accounts don't add up at all. According to Zhu Bin and the company's internal accounting, the current books show a loss, and many outstanding payments have not been collected.

But when I inquired later, I found out that many customers had already settled their final payments.

"Zhu Bin absconded with all the money. Not only that, he also mortgaged the factory's equipment to borrow six million from the bank."

By the time I discovered all this, it was far too late. Zhu Bin had already disappeared, which is why the client was able to call me.

The person is gone, but the debt remains. So many workers are still owed wages—over three million yuan for more than a hundred people.

"Then the bank people came and wanted to take the factory equipment to pay off the debt, but we naturally refused."

"These are our livelihoods, the last valuable things in the factory. If the equipment is taken away, the factory will really have nothing left, and we'll have no hope of getting our wages."

"The bank wouldn't let us touch these devices, fearing we'd secretly sell them and run away. This stalemate continued for five years, with both sides on guard against each other."

They've reported it to the police, and government officials have come several times to mediate, but it's no use. The person can't be found, the money can't be recovered, and the matter just drags on like this.

"Since we had nowhere else to go, we simply stayed at the factory and found some flexible work outside, while waiting for the government to give us an answer and holding onto this hope."

"But so many years have passed, and we still haven't found him. He's probably gone abroad by now."

After listening quietly, Su Ming thought of the system's task.

The factory equipment is still there, and the workers are still there, so doesn't that mean... the factory can start operating at any time?

"Are all the equipment still in the workshop?" Su Ming asked.

"Yes." Li Youliang nodded, his eyes filled with a complex emotion.

"The bank is frozen, we're watching it, and nobody can touch it. But it's been five years... some of the machines are probably not working properly anymore."

"Do you still have the IOUs, contracts, pay slips, etc." Su Ming asked again.

"Keep them, keep them all! I've kept them all in a tin box, and they're all well-preserved."

He spoke these words very quickly, as if afraid that Su Ming wouldn't believe him if he spoke too slowly. "Every IOU has Zhu Bin's signature and fingerprint on it. There are pay slips every month, and attendance records are also kept."

Su Ming nodded, said nothing, and stood up.

"Take me to the workshop," Su Ming said.

Li Youliang quickly got up and was about to push open the door and walk out.

Soon, the two arrived at the workshop, and many workers followed them in.

The machines in the workshop were sealed with court documents, black and white paper with a red stamp.

Su Ming observed that the equipment was well preserved and felt that it should start up normally without any problems.

"Director Li," Su Ming suddenly spoke up, "the unpaid wages you're talking about are owed by Zhu Bin, not me. Legally speaking, it has nothing to do with me."

"I understand," Factory Director Li replied.

"This place is mine, and it doesn't make sense for you to occupy it."

"so......"

Upon hearing Su Ming's words, Li Youliang and the workers' eyes darkened.

"Director Li, you just said you've been in charge of production for over ten years, are your technical skills still relevant?"

Su Ming looked at Li Youliang with bright, piercing eyes.

Li Youliang was taken aback for a moment, then hurriedly replied, "Yes! Boss Su, I'm not bragging, but the craftsmanship of this factory was famous throughout the country back in the day, and several of the master craftsmen are still here."

He pointed behind him: "Old Chen, the pattern maker, has been doing this his whole life! Little Zhao, the top machinist, has won awards in national skills competitions! And..."

"Alright, alright," Su Ming interrupted him. "If I reopen this factory, will any of you still be able to work?"

After he finished speaking, everyone was silent for a few seconds, then Li Youliang answered decisively:

"Dry!"

The others echoed, "Let's do it!"