Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Mr. Zhu
Within half an hour, these deputies had swiftly called meetings with the staff of their respective offices.
An hour later, the news had spread via dispersing union members throughout the redevelopment zone where the Union Headquarters was located. The zone around the headquarters went into lockdown.
Two hours later, nearly all the redevelopment zones scattered throughout Jinghai City had received the news and began to implement lockdowns.
Two and a half hours later, workers who had already left for the factories began to get the news and started walking out on strike.
...
The Third District industrial zone. Inside the office of the Factory Director at Textile Machinery Manufacturing, Ltd.
"Are you telling me that of the three thousand two hundred workers in this factory, over two thousand have walked out?" Factory Director Hai Tie’s face was livid. He had a portly figure, his exquisite Tang suit straining to contain his plump frame. His round belly heaved with his fury. "This is mutiny! Mutiny! They’ve completely lost their minds!"
"Who’s organizing this? This is sabotage! I’m taking this to the Third District Government Office..."
"Mr. Hai, please, watch your words." His secretary quickly intervened, his tone cautious and slightly timid. "They say... they say it’s... it’s an order from the Director of the redevelopment zones!"
"Hmm... Zhou Ze?" Hai Tie cooled down instantly. "If it’s him... damn it. What is that redevelopment zone union plotting this time?"
"Never mind. Schedule a meeting for me with Vice Director Li today..."
"It’s not him!" The secretary wiped the cold sweat from his brow and added, "I think... I think it was that Mr. Zhu!"
At that, Hai Tie fell silent.
His face drained of all color, and his body began to tremble.
Seeing that he hadn’t spoken for a long time, the secretary asked tentatively, "So, uh... are we still going to the District Government Office to file a complaint...?"
"Wait! Don’t rush me!" Hai Tie was losing his composure. He slammed his palm on the desk, making the heavy wood tremble. Then, noticing the shocked look on his secretary’s face, he realized he’d lost his cool. Forcing himself to take a moment, he said, "Let me think... I need to think this through!"
Hai Tie paced back and forth in his office, muttering to himself, "’The Living Yama! Didn’t the Living Yama retire? How did he get dragged into this...? Damn it all! If you’re retired, then stay retired! Why start trouble again...’"
"No, I can’t stay here!" Hai Tie stopped dead in his tracks and took a deep breath. "Let’s go! To the District Government Office! Right now. Immediately. This place isn’t safe anymore..."
...
「Outside the Third District Police Chief Bureau.」
Li Kang stood with his arms crossed, his expression complex as he stared at the steam cars driving one after another into the Government Office compound. Mixed in among them were a couple of electric cars of a peculiar design—
their appearances, so different from modern automobiles, marked them as Ancient Relics.
"What? Another report?" Wall Announcements hung up the phone, his face a stiff, numb mask. "Keep stalling. Tell them we’re swamped with maintaining basic order in the wealthy districts, around the Government Office, and in the city center!"
For the past hour, the station’s emergency line had been ringing off the hook.
You had to understand that anyone who owned a cell phone was, at the very least, a member of the wealthy class. There weren’t many people like that in all of Jinghai City; they were a tiny fraction of the population—
yet you needed a phone to get through to his line. That fact alone spoke volumes.
On a normal day, he might not get two calls from morning till night. But now, the phone never stopped...
Almost immediately, the phone in Wall Announcements’ hand rang again. A flicker of despair crossed his eyes as he shot a pleading look at Ning Linglong and Guan Fei. ’Seniors, save me!’
Neither of them so much as glanced his way.
’The new guy has no rights!’
Wall Announcements nursed his wounded pride as he answered the phone again.
"...Wh-wh-what... What in the world is happening?!" Ning Linglong was still trying to process everything, her face a mask of confusion.
She still hadn’t managed to piece together what was going on...
After all, she’d only just woken up at six. She’d gotten ready and was about to have breakfast before work when Li Kang’s call came through on her cell.
She had rushed to the Police Chief Bureau, and before she could even get a proper briefing on the situation, she was met with this incredible scene—
it was as if the entire city’s tension level had jumped a hundred points overnight.
’Are we going to war?’ The thing was, she hadn’t heard a whisper of unrest before going to bed last night...
Guan Fei, on the other hand, was quite calm. Or perhaps it was because he’d already learned a few things before leaving home. He muttered, "This isn’t a repeat of what happened five years ago, is it? This..."
"I’m afraid it’s going to be much worse than that." Li Kang lit a cigarette but didn’t bring it to his lips, just stared at it quietly.
He wasn’t a smoker, but he would light one up when the pressure got to be too much.
"You know something?" Ning Linglong’s gaze snapped toward him.
"Only two people have the power to cause a commotion this big in the redevelopment zones," Guan Fei interjected, his expression noncommittal. "One is Mr. Zhu, and the other is Director Zhou."
"Considering Mr. Zhu is still in the underground base, it must be the Director..."
"It was Chu Bamboo... and he’s not in the underground base anymore." Li Kang cut Guan Fei off, his face etched with a deep weariness. "Zhou Ze is dead. And... from what I’ve heard, it wasn’t a pleasant way to go."
At that, a dead silence fell over the group.
Guan Fei froze. Wall Announcements’ eyes went wide. He didn’t know Zhou Ze, and his knowledge of Chu Bamboo was limited to the fact that he was connected to everyone here and apparently had a lot of influence in the redevelopment zones...
But seeing the current commotion, he was beginning to think he might have slightly underestimated Chu Bamboo’s status in the redevelopment zones.
And also...
Wall Announcements blinked, his gaze drifting uncontrollably to the side. ’Why is Guan Fei standing there like a statue, not moving an inch?’
Before he could roast him any further in his head, the phone rang again.
The corner of Wall Announcements’ eye twitched. Donning his mask of suffering once more, he mechanically answered the phone and recited the lines he’d repeated countless times.
"I’m very sorry, the Police Chief Bureau’s manpower is currently dedicated to..."
Suddenly, Li Kang’s phone rang. His expression changed instantly.
Li Kang’s call was an entirely different matter from the ones Wall Announcements was fielding. After all, Wall Announcements was answering the Police Chief Bureau’s internal landline. To put it bluntly, while anyone who owned a cell phone or a landline in Jinghai City was considered wealthy and most likely lived in the affluent districts, in the eyes of the government, they were ultimately just citizens.
But for someone to be able to call Li Kang’s personal phone, they had to be either a close acquaintance or his superior—
and in the current climate, the identity of the caller was obvious.
"Li Kang speaking!" he answered. "Yes, yes, I am absolutely certain! He did, in fact, report it to me. I then filed a report with the Third District’s administration based on our conversation... Yes, that must be how the report reached you, up the chain of command!"
