"Money? Do you think they're short of money?"
Wang Defa scoffed.
"His daughter's heavily pregnant; now he's concerned about saving face!"
"What should we do then?"
Wang Zhenguo's voice was filled with despair.
"If Xiaofang's dad finds out..."
Wang Defa narrowed his eyes, a sinister smile spreading across his fleshy face.
"Let's agree to Director Liu's request first and get through this hurdle. As for the neighborhood office director..."
He touched his chin.
"His daughter has been unable to conceive, right? Just say the tests show you can't have children, so you can get more compensation in the divorce."
Wang Zhenguo glanced at his father in surprise.
"Will this...will this work?"
"Why not?"
Wang Defa waved his hand impatiently.
"It's better than you going in!"
As the car entered the textile factory's residential area, several workers on the roadside saw the deputy factory director's car and quickly walked away with their heads down.
Wang Defa rolled down the car window and spat on the ground.
"Those bastards from the Su family..."
He said through gritted teeth.
This isn't over!
Wang Zhenguo parked the car downstairs in front of the family building and turned off the engine.
"Dad, that Su Mingde..."
"rest assured."
Wang Defa unbuckled his seatbelt, a ruthless glint in his eyes.
"He can forget about working at the neighborhood office. I'll talk to Old Li at the labor bureau in a bit, and he'll be transferred to a suburban farm next week."
He pushed open the car door, his large body struggling to squeeze out, and then turned back to his son.
"You better stay put for the next few days and don't you dare cause any more trouble! I'll deal with the Su family first."
Wang Zhenguo nodded, watching his father's unsteady figure as he went upstairs, but a hint of disapproval flashed in his eyes.
However, the thought of divorcing Xiaofang and marrying Liu Meijuan made Wang Zhenguo mutter a curse under his breath.
"Damn it, Su Mingde... I'll kill you..."
A lucky charm was hanging on the rearview mirror inside the car, which his wife, Xiaofang, had obtained.
Wang Zhenguo stared at it for a few seconds, then suddenly ripped it off and threw it out the window.
"To hell with peace!"
...
What Wang Defa and his son didn't expect was that this matter was far from over.
At this moment, outside the city of Beijing, hundreds of villagers were driving oxcarts and horse-drawn carriages towards the city.
The person in the lead was Su Jianjun, the second son of Old Master Su and the younger brother of Su Jianguo. Next to him was his wife, Wang Guixiang.
Let's go back to 6 a.m.
Grandpa Su, wearing an old military uniform, stood in front of the public telephone booth in the steel mill's residential compound and dialed the number for the Sujiatun brigade.
"Hello? Is this the Sujiatun Brigade Headquarters?"
The old man's voice was deep and powerful, and it was especially clear in the quiet morning.
"This is Su Dashan. Have Jianjun come and answer the phone."
There was a commotion on the other end of the phone, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps.
"father?"
The urgent voice of the second son, Su Jianjun, came from the other end of the phone.
"What happened? So early in the morning..."
"Jianjun, listen up."
The old man interrupted his son.
"Something happened to your older brother's family. Mingde was beaten up and hospitalized. Your older brother took some people to confront them."
A gasp came from the other end of the phone, followed by the sound of a chair being knocked over.
"What?"
Su Jianjun's voice suddenly rose.
Who did it?
"What kind of worthless deputy director of the textile factory?"
The old man said in a calm tone.
"I don't know what's going on with your older brother, but this matter can't just be left like this."
Outside the phone booth, several residents of the family compound who had gotten up early to buy groceries looked over curiously, but were quickly shooed away by a glare from the old man.
"Dad, what should we do?"
Su Jianjun's voice had become menacing.
"I'll lead my men into the city right away!"
"Call everyone in the village who is able-bodied."
The old man's words
This caused an uproar in Sujiatun, which was 80 miles away.
The loudspeaker at the brigade headquarters suddenly blared, and the piercing electrical noise startled the sparrows in the trees.
"Attention all commune members! All male laborers, assemble at the threshing ground immediately! I repeat, all male laborers, assemble at the threshing ground immediately!"
Su Jianjun kicked open the door of the brigade headquarters, rushed to the old locust tree in the yard, and swung his sledgehammer hard at the hanging plowshare.
"Clang—clang—clang—"
The urgent tolling of the bells echoed throughout the village.
"Where have all the men of the Su family gone?"
Su Jianjun shouted at the top of his lungs.
"My nephew got beaten up in the city! All of you, get the hell out here!"
In less than ten minutes, fifty or sixty strong men had gathered on the threshing floor.
Most of them were still wearing their pajamas, some even shirtless, but each of them carried tools—hoes, shovels, and sickles—that gleamed coldly in the morning light.
"Brother Jianjun, what happened?"
A burly man with a fierce face squeezed to the front, carrying a wood-chopping knife in his hand.
"Did something happen to that kid from your older brother's family?"
Su Jianjun jumped onto the stone roller of the threshing floor and looked down at the crowd.
"My eldest brother's second son, Mingde, was beaten up by the son of a textile factory leader in the city! He broke three ribs and is now in the hospital! My brother took some people to demand an explanation, but I'm worried he'll get hurt!"
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