Qing City is considered a fairly large city in Harbin Prefecture.

It is rich in mineral resources, with coal and oil production renowned throughout the country, and its economy was the best in the last century.

However, such cities have a drawback: when resources are depleted, development fails to keep pace with the times, there are no good policies, and timely transformation is not achieved, essentially turning them into resource-depleted cities.

This situation is not the fault of the people; it is all because the politicians who come and go do nothing of substance, but instead make a quick buck and leave.

The bold ones would scramble for scraps, while the timid ones would take advantage of the chaos. Coupled with the lack of policies similar to those in the south, it was basically a case of taking a cut from every passing goose. After a few years, the city would be ruined!

This is the situation in Qing City, and it's even worse than I imagined.

When Lin Yu led Feng Jiu into the city, he immediately sensed this: the people were impoverished, and all industries were struggling.

The only bright spot is the decent urban development, with numerous high-rise buildings. This is thanks to Fengfu's rapid development in the last century, as urbanization began relatively early.

But what's the point?

A city isn't just about having skyscrapers!

Lin Yu couldn't help but sigh. He had traveled all over Europe, where the mountains and rivers were green, the people were simple and honest, and the people were leisurely and knew how to enjoy life. This was true wealth.

What does it matter how glamorous things seem on the surface, when you're just toiling away in a world of steel and concrete every day? Rich people living in poor houses are no different from rich people living in poverty!

The difference between developed and developed countries is that others are living, while we are just surviving. That's the gap!

Of course, every developed society has experienced the growing pains of development, sacrificing the lives of several generations. It is especially important to view this issue rationally.

However, those who sacrificed themselves should not have done so in vain, nor should they be treated like cattle or horses!

Being treated properly is not called sacrifice, it's called dedication!

But if poverty becomes a sin, something shameful, and people laugh at poverty but not prostitution, it's a collapse of values, a failed society that is neither moral nor righteous!

It is even more despicable that after a lifetime of hard work, one cannot even enjoy basic benefits and rights, and is ruthlessly exploited and excessively oppressed by capital!

Lin Yu couldn't control other cities, but the three northeastern prefectures were his own territory, and he would never allow such a thing to happen.

The common people cannot be treated like cattle and horses for nothing. If there is no happiness in living, then the person in power is a failure. What face does he have to live in this world? What shame is he to sit around and enjoy the fruits of his labor? He will not be able to sleep at night and will even feel ashamed!

Walking down the street, Lin Yu suddenly remembered what Ivy had told him before.

Ivy's father was a good official who cared about the interests of the people, but he was forced by the powerful families of Yandu, imprisoned, and exiled to Ningguta. Now that he's here, he'll investigate him thoroughly and see who's been hiding the sky over Qing City!

"stop!"

"You dare run away, you son of a bitch!"

Clang!

Just then, at the corner of the road, several men in law enforcement uniforms were wildly hitting a BYD electric car with batons, cracking the glass!

A slightly overweight middle-aged man in the driver's seat looked terrified, gripping the steering wheel helplessly.

A crowd of onlookers gathered around.

"Are they cracking down on ride-hailing services again?"

"Exactly! They fine each one 20,000 yuan, these old men are short of money again!"

"Damn it, these bastards! The unemployment rate is so high now, and they still won't let people drive for Didi. How are ordinary people supposed to survive?"

"They're just acting in accordance with the law! Ride-hailing services definitely need regulation!"

"What the hell are you monitoring? Why doesn't anyone regulate taxi drivers? They charge exorbitant prices and don't even use meters! They're just ripping off ordinary people!"

"Sigh, you don't know this! The taxi company is backed by the Shen family, they have connections! What can they do if they ask for an exorbitant price?"

"Damn the Shen family! When Mayor Ai was in power, they had all those local officials under their thumb. But after Mayor Ai got into trouble, they all turned on their own!"

"Shh, keep your voice down! What if they hear us? You'd be asking for it!"

"I've been wanting to die for a long time, what they did was just too much!"

Discussions rose and fell.

Lin Yu narrowed his eyes slightly. This was the voice of the people!

I didn't expect to hear such a real sound as soon as I arrived here.

In any case, at least Ivy's father was considered a good official by the people, so he couldn't be too bad.

It seems Ivy wasn't lying to him! He's mostly convinced now!

Bang!

Just then, the officer in the uniform shattered the glass completely.

After opening the car door, they dragged the middle-aged man out of the car, kicked him to the ground, and beat him with sticks.

"Stop hitting me! Please stop hitting me!" The middle-aged man curled up in a ball, pleading incessantly.

"Stop hitting me? You son of a bitch, didn't you hear the warning I gave you with the loudspeaker? You forced me to take matters into my own hands, I'll beat you to a pulp!"

The man in the lead, with a fierce-looking face, kicked the middle-aged man repeatedly in the stomach.

The middle-aged man poured out all his grievances!

The people around him glared angrily, but dared not speak out.

"How can you beat someone up like this? Is there no law? Call the police immediately!"

"Would calling the police be useful?"

"How is it useless? I filmed it on Douyin, there's video evidence here, at least we can expose them!"

"Save your breath! Do you think these people are permanent staff? They're all outsourced. As soon as something goes wrong, they immediately issue a public announcement saying it was due to improper law enforcement by an outsourced staff member and that they've been fired. That's it, and you can't do anything about it."

"Exactly! Do you think Douyin is omnipotent? If they dare to do this, they're not afraid of things escalating; they've already planned their strategy!"

"Damn, this is utterly lawless! The sky over Qing City is completely dark!"

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