Chapter 55: Wealth Without Power Is Easily Oppressed

Wang Lin's health has been deteriorating recently.

In 1953, twenty-six-year-old Wang Lin donned his military uniform to fight in the Korean War. Although he returned victorious, he ended up with two bullet wounds and a host of other ailments.

In his younger days, he could endure through sheer willpower, but now, with age, his bones ache whenever autumn or winter comes, or when the weather changes.

Yesterday, after a heavy rain, the old man was unable to get out of bed due to his discomfort.

Wang Lin has two sons and a daughter. However, since his life was saved by Xu Chaoyang's father during the war, he has taken care of Xu Chaoyang as if he were his own child, even more attentively than his biological children.

Over the years, Wang Lin has taken care of Xu Chaoyang from school through to his work life. Frankly, even Xu Chaoyang's real father might not have done as much for him as Wang Lin did.

The old man's efforts were not in vain. After yesterday's heavy rain, knowing that the damp weather would trigger his illness, Xu Chaoyang arrived at the retirement home early in the morning to take care of him.

Watching Xu Chaoyang peel apples for him, the old man sighed, "Chaoyang, you've got a rare break. Spend more time at home with Juanzi and the kids, and then head back later."

"That's not possible," Xu Chaoyang replied, slicing the apples into thin strips and placing them beside the old man. "With everyone else absent from the bureau, I'm the only one here to take care of you."

Wang Lin waved his hand, clearly reluctant to discuss his children, and turned to work matters: "How's the bureau doing lately?"

Xu Chaoyang's expression darkened at this question.

"It's just so-so. A while ago, when we went to the provincial meeting, we reported nearly six billion in profits for the first half of the year. But, in reality, Sen Gong is still in debt to the bank by over seventy million.

The revenue from the first half of the year was consumed by various debts. It turns out that the debts the entire Sen Gong Group hasn't recovered amount to over two billion, and the debts owed to other units total more than ten billion.

With dozens of units tangled in debt disputes, no one wants to pay, and no one dares to. But the province needs to develop and build, so business must continue, even as the debts grow larger and messier.

I only found out recently that the group's entire expenditure from January to June was covered by bank loans.

A few days ago, the province held a meeting, instructing the forestry bureaus to improve efficiency and try to plug the gap of over forty billion during the logging period. But it's not that simple. They think that the province has bad debts, but the bureau is in the same situation, entangled in countless bad accounts with county and municipal units.

The logging period can yield profits, but the benefits are always the same each year. With several tens of thousands of people to support below, where is there any surplus to help them cover the losses?"

Hearing about the current situation of the forestry bureau, Wang Lin furrowed his brow and struggled to get out of bed.

The bureau mainly relies on the timber industry, with a single industry structure and minimal other income besides the logging period. Now, with a mess of debts, it's impossible to generate revenue or alleviate the situation. It's a stagnant, lifeless pool.

Just as he was thinking about this, Wang Lin suddenly had a brainwave—an image of a face with a wide, toothy grin, like a cracked spirit stone from Dongsheng Shenzhou, appeared in his mind.

"Do you remember when the forestry technical school was allocated? I asked you to keep a kid named Li Xian in check?"

Xu Chaoyang was taken aback, "I remember. Why?"

"That's the kid who delivered the letter about the safety hazards of wooden electric poles in the forest area. Not only that, but this kid is quite sharp…"

Wang Lin muttered about Li Xian's achievements, making Xu Chaoyang confused, "What letter? Didn't you deliver it to the reception room yourself? I was wondering why you were sending letters through the reception room when you were already at the bureau."

"Ah?" Wang Lin was puzzled. He had clearly instructed Li Xian to deliver the letter personally…

As he struggled to get up and find Li Xian, he heard a commotion outside the window.

…

Faced with this scheming fire inspection, Li Xian sadly found himself completely powerless to respond, or rather, to defend himself effectively.

Without connections, support, or even a reliable person to speak up for him—he had nothing!

In this stark reality of helplessness, he could only act like a street vendor fighting against city enforcement, stubbornly blocking the door of the warehouse and guarding the fruits of his hard work and effort.

And then, he was thrown to the ground—literally thrown.

Four burly and strong security team members dragged him by his arms and legs and tossed him into the yard.

Ignoring the mud and water on him, Li Xian scrambled up from the ground. He yelled at the fat man, "You son of a bitch, is this some scheme by that Sun Dazhi? Damn your ancestors eight generations back!"

Sun Dazhi had just lamented that the person who pointed out where to get an umbrella the night before was actually the owner of the aluminum ingots.

Seeing Li Xian's youth, Sun Dazhi had initially planned to offer him a bit more than sixty thousand the next day. But now, after being cursed so viciously, he immediately abandoned that thought.

Nearby, the fat man, who was the leader of the fire prevention and joint defense team, Zhou Quanyu, found Li Xian's furious cursing amusing. He looked at Sun Dazhi with a smirk.

Sun Dazhi's expression was cold as he made a fist gesture.

Zhou Quanyu nodded, walking over to Li Xian. "Kid, since you're not cooperating, I have to deal with you. Two people, take this kid away!"

At that moment, a man strode in.

Seeing the joint defense team handling Li Xian roughly, he shouted, "Stop! What's going on here?"

Hearing this shout, Zhou Quanyu immediately turned around. In the next second, his smiling face was replaced by an unmistakable look of fear!

The security team members who were handling the aluminum ingots dropped them on the ground upon seeing the newcomer.

Seeing this, Sun Dazhi became anxious, "Hey, why have you stopped? Move the ingots quickly!"

As he urged them on, several elderly men on bicycles, carrying fishing rods and small buckets, entered the yard, chatting and laughing.

Upon seeing the scene in the yard, the elderly man at the front, with his long, longevity eyebrows furrowed, was clearly displeased.

The short, stocky old man behind him yelled, "Little bastard!" He threw his bicycle to the ground and charged forward with his fishing rod!