After getting my boarding pass at the airport, I waited for almost an hour, but there was still no feedback from Dai Qiang. Presumably, Ye Zhi was still being illegally detained by those villagers, and the matter had not been resolved in any substantial way.
Before boarding the plane, I called Dai Qiang again and asked for the hotel's specific address in Sanya. Dai Qiang told me to find a person in charge surnamed Wu when I got to the hotel, and he would receive me and tell me the details.
At 1:30 a.m., I boarded the plane on time, and after a flight of more than two hours, I finally arrived in Sanya at 4:00 a.m.
...
Sanya has a tropical marine monsoon climate, and the temperature here is at least 15 degrees Celsius higher than in Shanghai. I quickly took off my coat and ran straight out of the terminal without changing my clothes. Ye Zhi's hotel is more than 40 kilometers away from the airport, so it would take about an hour to get there by taxi.
By this time, I was exhausted, but even though I could take a short nap in the car, I just couldn't fall asleep. My mind was filled with thoughts of whether Ye Zhi had suffered any inhumane persecution.
This is not unfounded worry, because according to the information Dai Qiang gave me, this group of villagers had accumulated a great deal of anger, otherwise they would not have attacked and injured two hotel staff members.
While thinking about all this, I urged the driver to go faster, but he couldn't understand my feelings. He agreed verbally, but continued to drive at a constant speed of 60 miles per hour on a road lined with coconut trees on both sides.
If I were driving, I would have to go at least 100 miles per hour on this two-way road with a median strip.
I couldn't contain myself any longer and urged the driver again. He impatiently pointed to the speed limit sign ahead... and then I realized that the maximum speed limit for this section of the road was 60 mph.
...
At five o'clock, I finally arrived at the hotel and hurried into the lobby. The hotel was brightly lit, and several staff members were sitting in the reception area of the lobby, seemingly discussing something.
I walked over to them and asked, "Excuse me, which one of you is Manager Wu?"
A man with a buzz cut and glasses looked up at me and asked, "That's me. May I ask who you are?"
“My name is Michael, and I’m a friend of your CEO Ye… I’ve already contacted someone from your group, and he said he’d contact you after he got here.”
“Yes, yes, yes, my colleagues in Shanghai have already told me. Please have a seat…” He then turned to a female staff member next to him and said, “Xiao Zhao, quickly go and pour Mr. Michael a glass of hot water.”
"No need, please tell me what's going on right now."
Manager Wu, with a bitter expression, told me, “Two years ago, our group acquired land locally to build this hotel. We always operated according to the proper procedures, but the village committee, without informing the villagers, registered the land ownership under their name and obtained the ‘Collective Land Ownership Certificate.’ Then, under the pretext of developing village-level projects, they withheld 30% of the compensation, leaving only the remainder for the villagers… The villagers were certainly unwilling. Later, I don’t know who stirred things up, but the villagers came to the hotel again, claiming that the hotel had withheld their compensation… This is clearly nonsense. During their disturbance, they clashed with our hotel’s security personnel, and two of our security guards were injured… I guess they couldn’t find a way to protect their rights, so they wanted to escalate the situation and attract the attention of higher authorities.”
I finally figured out what had happened, and I asked Manager Wu, "Are those two security guards alright...? I heard they were seriously injured!"
"They were all taken to the hospital for treatment in time and are not in life-threatening condition, but the hospital has not yet given the injury report."
I nodded, then asked, "Did you call the police?"
"We reported it, but there are too many villagers involved, and the police station doesn't have a solution yet..." Manager Wu sighed heavily, then continued, "The idea that 'the law doesn't punish everyone' is too deeply ingrained in the Chinese mindset; how many tragedies have been caused by this idea over the years? I've truly witnessed how powerful these people are! ... Moreover, I don't understand what President Ye is thinking. Before getting involved, she repeatedly told us to handle this with restraint and not to escalate the situation... But do these people deserve sympathy?"
I was silent for a moment before replying, "She's doing this for the greater good... After all, the hotel is located in the place where people's ancestors have lived for generations. If the conflict escalates to an irreconcilable point, and given the fierce nature of the local people, it will be impossible to do business peacefully in the future!"
"That's true. Sitting in her position, her perspective on issues is indeed different from ours... So, do you have any good solutions for this matter?"
I thought for a moment and replied, "Do you know where your CEO Ye is being held? I'll go check on him."
"You'd better not go. These villagers are too unruly and impossible to communicate with... Or, you should wait and see what the police station has to say. They've already sent people to negotiate with the village representatives, and there should be a result soon."
“I don’t want to wait a minute longer… Don’t worry, I know how to handle this. These villagers are just villagers, not some organization. To put it bluntly, they’re just a bunch of loose sand. I’ll think of a way.”
“I believe you have the ability, but I’m afraid that if a conflict breaks out, you won’t be able to control the situation by yourself… How about I send two security guards with you?”
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