Mr. Tan is almost at his breaking point. He hasn't had a proper rest in the past two days, and he's been seriously working on the Extreme Challenge. There's been no news from the outside world, and his mental defenses are on the verge of collapse.
“There’s no point in you carrying this burden. Who will care about you? Let me tell you this: we’ve already gathered some information. Whether you talk or not, you’re not going to escape. If we start a full-scale arrest operation, do you believe those people will pin all the blame on you?” An officer said, smoking a cigarette. “You’re a grown man. You know what’s going on. What kind of people are they? How much of the brotherhood they have at the dinner table will last when it comes to serious matters? Let me tell you something else: no one has called to try and get you out of trouble these past few days. That’s all I’ll say. Go back and rest, and think it over.”
Dragging his weary body toward the cell, Tan felt a growing sense of unease. He worried that this ordeal would never end, and feared he would eventually have to bear the brunt of it all himself.
Back at the cell door, two policemen approached him and said, "Your cell is full. We're moving you to another cell today. Behave yourself."
As they spoke, they led him to a cell at the corner, where a man in his forties, with a stubble beard and a gloomy expression, lay half-reclined in the corner without making a sound.
Mr. Tan went inside and lay down on the board bed without moving. An hour later, the man in the corner suddenly moved, stood up and walked towards Mr. Tan.
When Mr. Tan noticed this person approaching, he looked up at him cautiously and asked, "Is there something you need?"
"How about we play a game?" He stared at President Tan, his eyes lifeless.
"I'm not playing, I'm too tired!"
"Let's play hide-and-seek, it's so much fun!"
Are you out of your mind?
Before Mr. Tan could finish speaking, he was suddenly grabbed by the neck from behind. In an instant, he struggled desperately and was thrown off the bed. His face turned red, his eyes widened, and he kicked the bed frame with all his might.
He felt he was about to die. The next second, the police officer on duty rushed over. He was also shocked to see the situation. He opened the door, separated the two, and then dragged Mr. Tan out to perform CPR.
An hour later, Mr. Tan decided to speak. At that moment, he realized that he had been abandoned and that those people were willing to risk his life for him.
In the first month of 1996, the major economic province realized that state-owned enterprise reform had to be taken seriously. Otherwise, not only would the iron rice bowl be gone, but even the alloy rice bowl would be eaten by these people.
The following day, some major newspapers began to publish reports on the state-owned enterprise reform meeting, and rumors circulated that a seniority buyout system would be introduced. Many people said that Huang Youwei was behind this, and there was a lot of private criticism of Huang Youwei.
The debate over whether to establish a state-owned or private enterprise was heated back then, comparable to the business world's debate between technology-industry-trade versus trade-industry-technology. Some even elevated the issue to the level of political ideology, political affiliation, and left-right divide, arguing that vigorously promoting the private economy was tantamount to being a capitalist roader.
As dawn broke and another night passed, Huang Youwei convened another meeting in the morning. This time, he made the reform clear: the reform was about change, about giving state-owned enterprises a new way of life, and about shattering the dreams of those who were taking sick leave and receiving wages, or those who paid to buy long-term jobs within state-owned enterprises, who were hoping to have an iron rice bowl for life.
Society should be competitive, not complacent.
For people today, "lying flat" might seem like a novel concept, but back then, if your family spent some money and pulled some strings to buy you a long-term job with a secure position, you could truly "lie flat" for life. That was a real "flat" job, something that young people today can't compare to.
From the provincial perspective, Jiafeng is a needle to pluck a boil, and President Zhou and his group are just a stepping stone; ultimately, they still need to achieve the results they want.
Mr. Zhou didn't sleep all night. Around 7 a.m., he received a phone call saying that Mr. Tan was not dead. This completely put Mr. Zhou's mind at ease. He immediately started arranging his passport and prepared to leave the country quietly.
In the morning, at the provincial department meeting, the work of further promoting the reform of state-owned enterprises was discussed. The meeting decided to select a group of people as typical cases, which also demonstrated the province's determination.
At this point in the meeting, everyone understood that there was no turning back, and some people were destined not to land safely.
At 10:00 AM, General Manager Tan had confessed almost everything and was extremely exhausted. He asked for a private room so he could get some sleep. At 10:30 AM, with the approval of the provincial authorities, the task force decided to detain Wang Shouzi, Dean Wu, Director Hou, General Manager Zhou and his son, and a group of others.
This arrest was a covert operation and will not be announced to the public until these individuals are apprehended and interrogated to clarify the intricacies of the situation.
At 2 p.m., Dean Wu and a group of people were taken away from the office, while President Zhou and his son were intercepted on the highway to the airport.
When the news came back, Huang Youwei breathed a sigh of relief and asked his secretary, "Didn't they arrest Lu Feng?"
"No, he's not on this list." The secretary asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why are you arresting him? He was hospitalized the day before yesterday, I heard it was because of a headache, and he's at the First People's Hospital now."
"That kid is incredibly shrewd. If you ask me, we should arrest him and detain him for a few days to teach him a lesson. But things have really come to this point thanks to him. Without him, it would be difficult to find a pretext for investigating the state-owned enterprise. If we suddenly started investigating, we might be accused of retaliation, and it would be easily halted," Huang Youwei remarked.
“The key point is that it’s currently the best-performing private enterprise,” the secretary said from the side.
"So what if it's the best? What are you trying to say?" Huang Youwei glanced at his secretary and reminded her, "Your kind of thinking is quite dangerous. Our country doesn't lack Zhang San and Li Si, nor will it be unable to function without Zhang San and Li Si."
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