"Lao Zhang, when was the last time you saw Qi Bing?" Li Guodong asked loudly with his hands on his hips.
When asked by Li Guodong, Deputy District Chief Zhang quickly said, "Half a month ago."
"Why haven't we met for so long?"
Deputy District Chief Zhang shook his head. "I've been focusing on cracking down on several illegal businesses around Dalong Lake lately. District Chief, what's going on?"
"Qi Bing might have run away with the money," Li Guodong said coldly. "Thanks to this little brother for coming over and telling us, otherwise, you and I would both be doomed."
Deputy District Chief Zhang had also heard something from Li Guodong's driver before, which was why he took the initiative to come to Li Guodong. At that time, he thought that owing money was not a big deal. Now, after hearing what Li Guodong said, he suddenly panicked.
"So what should we do?"
"What should we do?" Li Guodong snorted coldly, "Take your men and quickly stop them halfway. I still have to go to the city government and can't afford to waste time with you."
"Okay, I'll arrange it right away." Deputy District Chief Zhang nodded quickly like a chicken pecking at rice.
"We must calm the workers' emotions and prevent them from causing trouble inside the district. Otherwise, neither you nor I can make any progress." After Li Guodong gave these instructions, he hurried downstairs. He had to hurry.
In an instant, only Yuan Fangguo and Zhang Jun were left in Li Guodong's office.
Zhang Jun took a deep breath and gave Yuan Fangguo a wry smile, "Little brother, where are they now?"
"They may be four or five kilometers away from here."
"Then it will take about half an hour to get there." said Zhang Jun.
Yuan Fangguo nodded. "About 30 people, all frontline workers."
Zhang Jun nodded, then looked at him and asked, "Which department are you from?"
Yuan Fangguo replied, "I'm Party A of the project, and they're Party B. This morning, after hearing that the workers had stopped working, I learned the truth. Our project funds were allocated strictly in accordance with the contract requirements, and the workers all agree on this. That's why they're directly targeting the district government. I was also very puzzled at the time, so I asked someone I know, and he told me that Hongsheng Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the district government. Since the workers can't get their wages, they can only point the finger at the government."
Zhang Jun nodded as he listened. Yuan Fangguo was not to blame for this matter, but he did not have much time to care about other things. After all, maintaining stability was the most important thing at the moment.
"Let's go and stop them." Zhang Jun tried his best to control his inner panic. This was not only a critical period for Li Guodong, but also for him, Zhang Jun. As long as Li Guodong was promoted to a senior district official, it would be a foregone conclusion that he, the deputy district chief, would become the district chief.
Zhang Jun was furious and called the office director to ask him to send a car, but unexpectedly, the duty car broke down today.
"Damn it, you are always so enthusiastic about reimbursing the car expenses, but now you tell me that the car is broken down." Zhang Jun was so angry that he kept cursing in the courtyard.
"District Chief Zhang, I have a car." Yuan Fangguo said quickly and loudly.
Zhang Jun's eyes lit up and he quickly waved his hand, "Let's go, take your car."
However, Zhang Jun did not go alone. He brought two people with him, one from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and the other from the Legislative Affairs Office.
After getting in the car, Yuan Fangguo drove directly in the opposite direction of the workers.
Sure enough, they stopped the more than 30 workers four kilometers away from the district government.
The cadre from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission often dealt with Hongsheng Construction Company, so many workers knew him. When they saw him, they immediately surrounded them and asked for an explanation.
Jiangliu District is considered to be a district with a good environment in Chengdu City. The people here are relatively simple and honest. Over the years, not many difficult problems have occurred. Mass incidents like today's have not happened for many years. Zhang Jun has limited experience in dealing with such situations. After being surrounded by the workers, he seemed quite at a loss for a moment and didn't know what to do.
The two people he brought with him were also a bit of a loser. The one from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission was hesitant and didn't dare to make a decision, while the one from the Legal Affairs Office mainly relied on intimidation. Once he scared these burly workers, they became extremely indignant and were about to beat them up.
Zhang Jun was led around by the nose for quite a while. After he gradually calmed down, he resumed his leadership demeanor and loudly asked everyone to calm down first.
"I'll give you an explanation for this matter right now. First, Qi Bing and Li Shuiping are suspected of committing crimes. We've already reported the case to the district public security bureau. Please believe that we'll give you a fair explanation soon..."
Similarly, Zhang Jun was only halfway through his words when he was interrupted by the excited workers around him. "Leader, Qi Bing and Li Shuiping broke the law, that's their business. We just want to ask, when will we be paid back the wages we're owed?"
"Ahem..." Zhang Jun was also quite troubled by this problem. He was not the top leader, so naturally he did not have the power to make the final decision. If he was a deputy district chief in other positions, he could have complaints in his heart, or even pass the buck. But it was different now. As the executive deputy district chief, his status was far higher than that of other deputy district chiefs, and the possibility of being promoted to district chief was very high. He could complain, but he must not pass the buck.
"I'll discuss this issue with Mr. Yuan." Zhang Jun thought quickly and said this.
In full view of the workers, Zhang Jun pulled Yuan Fangguo out of the encirclement.
Yuan Fangguo looked at Zhang Jun, who was sweating profusely and had a bitter face, and suddenly felt that it was not easy to be a leader like these who were usually high and mighty.
Zhang Jun didn't care about the prestige he usually had when sitting on the podium. He said directly, "Boss Yuan, how about I personally owe you a favor?"
Yuan Fangguo said, "District Chief Zhang, go ahead."
"Can the project fee be paid in advance?" Zhang Jun asked in embarrassment.
Yuan Fangguo was stunned for a moment, then nodded without hesitation, "Of course."
"What's the current progress?"
"Two and a half million."
"What's the total price?"
"About 4.2 million."
"How about giving us another 500,000 yuan to get through this first? The interests of the workers must be guaranteed. If an official doesn't serve the people, he might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes." Zhang Jun said with a worried look on his face.
However, Yuan Fangguo shook his head and said something that reminded Zhang Jun not to act on his emotions.
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