"I can't find it! I've been looking for days. If I had found it, I wouldn't be asking you for money," one of the workers said.

Captain Sun cursed and ran away.

People from the construction company in the neighboring city seemed to hear Captain Sun calling for Factory Director Xing Baohua. They assumed he was the factory director from the client's side and came over to offer him cigarettes and try to get on his good side.

Xing Baohua waved to them, turned around, and went back, instructing his secretary to invite Secretary Huang of Shanggu Village and the town leaders to the conference room. The construction company representatives arrived and were also led to the conference room.

Let's hold a meeting with them today to set a tone and prevent this from happening again.

Giving money too readily is also not good, as it always benefits certain people. But if you slow down and delay a bit, it's the poor who suffer.

The workers who were asking for their money thought Xing Baohua was a leader, and when they saw him leave, they silently followed him.

Xing Baohua entered the conference room of the office building and waited for about half an hour. The first to arrive was Ji Lanhe, the successor from the town.

Then Secretary Huang arrived and immediately asked Xing Baohua what was wrong and why he was in such a hurry to start the meeting.

Xing Baohua asked them to sit down first, and that they would have a meeting once everyone was present. A short while later, the secretary brought in the heads of several construction companies.

Everyone greeted Xing Baohua politely upon seeing him.

There were quite a few people, and the meeting room was a bit small. The contractors had nowhere to sit and had to stand.

After everyone had arrived, Xing Baohua asked them to be quiet and said loudly, "I went to the construction site today and found a small situation. It's not a big deal, but it's not insignificant either. However, in my opinion, it's a bit serious."

Why is it that after working for several months or a year without receiving wages, people hope to bring some money home for expenses during the autumn harvest and the Chinese New Year?

After autumn comes wheat planting. Don't fertilizers cost money? Don't the children need tuition? If we don't get a single penny back, the whole family will starve!

Xing Baohua then pointed at a deputy general manager of the First Construction Company and said loudly, "Did I shortchange you?"

"We didn't skimp on the pay, but the contractors below us were also very generous with their payments. I suspect that some contractors might have misappropriated the funds for other construction sites. This kind of thing is quite normal," the deputy general manager of the construction company explained, standing up.

“I can’t handle other things. Let me be frank, this happened at the electronics factory. There are still more than a dozen people waiting for money outside. I think there are more than just these people waiting for money. Have you investigated and made sure they’ve all been paid properly?”

Seeing that no one else spoke, Xing Baohua continued, "The electronics factory isn't short of money. As long as the project progresses and the quality is up to standard, I'll allocate funds quickly. But you can't misappropriate the workers' wages!"

Starting today, with each progress payment, Party A will deduct 20% as a reserve fund for workers' wages. If any subcontractor fails to pay wages on time, Party A will use this reserve fund to make the payments. If any worker complains more than three times about not being paid, sorry everyone, you'll either be fired or fined.