The waiting time was long and anxious.

The speed over there wasn't slow either; about thirty minutes had passed.

The phone call just came through.

The moment the call connected, the first words on the other end sent Sun Hongbo's heart sinking to the bottom.

“Uncle Hong, your son needs some reform. I’ve asked him; he won’t die, but he’ll definitely suffer a lot. If you can get his forgiveness, we can talk about it, but if we follow the normal procedures, he’ll never get out of here for the rest of his life. That’s the result after I gave the instructions. I’ve done my best.”

Sun Hongbo's lips trembled slightly, and he couldn't speak for a moment. He knew he would never be able to get out of this situation. This was too much of a blow for him.

"Uncle Hong?"

"Old leader, I understand, thank you, thank you." His voice was choked with emotion.

"Well, I'll go over there and see what can be done. If they don't mind, I might be able to get out in ten or twenty years."

"Okay, thank you, old leader." Hearing this, Sun Hongbo knew that perhaps he still had hope. A decade or so wasn't unbearable, but the child's future…

On the other side, Zhao Hua remained very calm, as if nothing had happened.

But for some reason, an ominous premonition spread through his mind.

Wang Shouren followed Qin Jingru home.

Back home, Lou Xiao'e was already waiting. They had rushed over after hearing about the accident at Wang Shouren's factory, only to find that the two men had already gone off to cause trouble. So, they had no choice but to go home and wait.

Back home, Lou Xiao'e asked, "What happened? Were there guns at the factory?"

"It's nothing. There's just some hothead trying to establish his authority by using us. Someone is using our factory as a pawn."

He hadn't finished speaking yet.

The phone rang.

"Hello." Wang Shouren answered the phone.

"Yes, um, it must be someone stirring things up behind the scenes. Okay, thank you for your help. Alright, that's all."

He hung up the phone after a few words, intending to go back and explain to his wife.

Before I could finish speaking, the phone rang again.

Next, Qin Huairu and Xu Weiwei, who are far away in the south.

The Xu family, the Feng family, the Ma family... all the families in Beijing who had relatively close ties with Wang Shouren called to inquire about his affairs.

Finally, all the enlightenment issues were resolved.

Qin Jingru and Lou Xiao'e had already finished whispering to each other.

Lou Xiao'e crossed her arms and said seriously, "If you ask me, your industrial park is still not up to par. At least in terms of security, the body searches for entering and leaving the factory are too perfunctory. Moreover, some of the more important areas still need to be checked again."

In fact, by that time, most factories would conduct body searches upon entry and exit, but these were extremely perfunctory. This was mainly because the factories were in the wrong; many factories had their wages stuck at a certain level—not high enough to starve, but not enough to survive. Moreover, wage arrears were frequent. This trend was already starting to emerge in 1985. However, Wang Shouren's factory didn't have these problems.

It's just that someone conspired with his logistics department to cause trouble. Most workers, as long as they are paid on time, won't cause any trouble.

"Also, how do you plan to handle this matter?" Lou Xiao'e asked.

"What do you mean, how should we handle this? Haven't all the people who should be arrested been arrested? They should be sentenced." Qin Jingru said naively.

Lou Xiao'e chuckled and couldn't resist reaching out to rub the silly girl's cheek; "Good girl, go play with your old friends."

"Oh..." Qin Jingru nodded. She remembered that she had made an appointment with Lao Zhao a few days ago to go and look at a bottle. Her business has now expanded beyond jade, because her two wives in the family are always eyeing her jade, and she can't keep up with it.

Watching her skip and hop away, Lou Xiao'e couldn't help but cover her face: "You raised her like this?"

"Isn't it good to be carefree?" Wang Shouren shrugged.

"She's almost 40," Lou Xiao'e emphasized.

"So what?" Wang Shouren shrugged again. "It's not like we can't afford to support her. Let her do whatever she wants."

"How enviable!" Lou Xiao'e took a deep breath. "I wish I knew nothing at all."

"You don't have to know anything."

Lou Xiao'e rolled her eyes: "That's called playing dumb, it's meaningless."

"So it's only interesting if you're genuinely stupid?" Wang Shouren retorted.

Lou Xiao'e slapped him lightly, annoyed. "Seriously, what are you planning to do? If this isn't handled well, it'll probably cause a lot of trouble."

This matter is not as simple as it seems on the surface.

On the surface, it seems like Sun Hongbo's brat wanted to make money and was eyeing his factory. But going deeper, it suggests that Sun Hongbo's competitors were inciting this brat to cause trouble for Wang Shouren. The goal was to provoke Wang Shouren and ultimately remove Sun Hongbo from his position.

If that's all there is to it, then so be it. Punish those who should be punished, sentence those who should be sentenced, and once this is all over, that's the end of it.

What I fear most is that there might be a third layer.

There's an unseen force at play underneath.

What gave Zhao Hua, Sun Hongbo's rival, the audacity to directly attack Wang Shouren?

You must understand that to use someone else to do your dirty work, the person using that person must also have a certain level of strength; otherwise, they could be killed by the knife in no time.

Zhao Hua didn't have the ability, but he still did it anyway. What gave him the courage to do it?

Is there something else behind this? Is there something targeting Wang Shouren? What is the purpose of this move?

These are all things that require careful consideration.

Wang Shouren's outburst was just the beginning of this whole affair; what followed was the real trouble.

"Let's go see Datou again tomorrow and see what his plans are," Wang Shouren said calmly.

"Is it appropriate to entrust him with such an important decision?" Lou Xiao'e asked. "This is not the time to talk about brotherhood. It could lead to utter ruin."

“Not at all.” Wang Shouren shook his head: “Both advancing and retreating are double-edged swords. Just like you might say Qin Jingru is foolish, you could also say she’s adorable. It all depends on personal preference.”

Just then, a head poked in from outside the door, looking at Wang Shouren with displeasure: "I heard that."

"Aren't you going out yet!" Wang Shouren was exasperated. "If it gets too late and we can't collect the goods, don't come back crying."

"Hehehe." Qin Jingru made a face and skipped off to the yard to get her motorcycle.

"She's becoming more and more charming and naive," Lou Xiao'e said leisurely.