Chapter 58: The Predicament of the Commercial Bureau

Li Xian was quite happy about being assigned to the Commercial Bureau. It wasn't that he had a particular desire to climb the bureaucratic ladder, but he knew that standing at the forefront of the ongoing reforms, being in a supervisory role over enterprises would bring substantial benefits.

In this era, his greatest advantage was having some knowledge of historical events. However, sometimes knowing these events wasn't very useful. It was like trying to produce a car; even with all the technical blueprints, without production equipment and suppliers, you couldn't build it.

So, having access to firsthand information about the commercial industries within the forestry bureau was crucial for his rise. That was why he had proactively requested to work in the Commercial Bureau.

Li Xian had no interest in being an official. What was so good about being a bureaucrat? Every day was filled with intrigue and deception, and many leaders had receded into obscurity before they even turned forty due to stress.

He had no desire to worry about such things. He only wanted to use the convenience of this job to find more opportunities to make money.

However, Wang Linhe and Xu Chaoyang were unaware of his true intentions. Seeing that he agreed to work in the bureau and that Wang Linhe had won the bet with Zheng Weishi, Wang Linhe was overjoyed.

Seeing the old man happy, Xu Chaoyang was less opposed to the somewhat unconventional young man. When Li Xian mentioned he wanted to buy some prepared food and fine wine to entertain everyone, Xu Chaoyang even specifically asked him to visit the Commercial Bureau and bring Wang Zhiye, who was working overtime during the National Day holiday, to accompany the old man.

Riding his motorcycle, Li Xian headed for the supply and marketing cooperative.

The cooperative was like a small supermarket where basic necessities were supplied. However, at that time, the selection was still very limited. Apart from basic tobacco, alcohol, sugar, tea, oil, rice, and meat, there were only some fabrics, rubber shoes, flashlights, and raincoats.

If you wanted something high-end, sorry—just turn left out the door and go to the alley. It's cooler over there; stay there.

Before he arrived, just seeing the cooperative's large sign reading "Developing the Economy, Ensuring Supply," Li Xian was attracted by the commotion in the distance.

There weren't tall buildings in the forestry bureau, and there was no noise from motor vehicles on the main road. Even from two streets away, the shouting and swearing were clearly audible.

Seeing people on the roadside pointing and discussing, he quickly stopped to ask. It turned out that the bureau planned to transfer the tile factory, and the workers, fearing they would lose their jobs, were adamantly protesting and demanding answers from the Commercial Bureau.

"It's no wonder the tile factory workers are upset. If our supply and marketing cooperative were contracted out and all the workers were fired, I'd be right there with them!"

Hearing the roadside gossip, Li Xian scratched his head. 

The tile factory… Could this be related to him?

As he pondered how Yang Hongshan had messed things up, he heard people around him exclaim in alarm, "Oh no, the Commercial Bureau's gate has been broken down by these idiots! They've been shouting and cursing all morning. I hope nothing serious happens!"

"Call the police!"

Seeing that although the people were expressing concern, they seemed excited for trouble, Li Xian quickly shouted to the crowd and rode his motorcycle toward the Commercial Bureau.

By the time he arrived, dozens of people had already surged through the main gate and were pounding and shouting in front of the locked office building.

Li Xian, with his sharp eyesight, immediately spotted the leaders of the group. They were the old employees from the distribution office he had met when he first visited the tile factory.

Inside the office building, people were still trying to persuade the crowd.

On the second floor, a head holding a loudspeaker poked out of an open window. Li Xian focused and saw it was Wang Zhiye.

The girl, who had previously seemed calm and collected, now looked anxious as she faced the crowd threatening to break in. With a somewhat flustered voice, she shouted, "Comrades, please don't get agitated! Do not believe the rumors. We are actively working to resolve your issues, and we hope you remain restrained! The bureau will definitely handle the tile factory issue properly and give you a satisfactory response!"

"Response my ass! You've secretly sold the factory to that scoundrel Yang Hongshan. Don't think we don't know!"

"Brothers and sisters, Yang Hongshan's scoundrel is inside. Drag him out and confront him!"

"Yeah! What can a little girl say? Have Yang Hongshan come out and face us!"

The leaders' shouts were met with immediate responses from the crowd. Amid the chaos, someone picked up a brick and threw it at the open window. By the time Li Xian got closer, he heard a scream from the second floor as the loudspeaker fell.

The scene scared him.

In a moment of desperation, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "The police are coming!"

Perhaps realizing their actions were illegal, the crowd's pressure on the office building gate suddenly eased when they heard the police were on the way.

At that moment, two blue-and-white painted Jiangsu 75 sidecar motorcycles roared into the bureau's compound. Seeing this, the five police officers from the bureau's police station were also startled and quickly disembarked to manage the situation.

Although the arrival of the police deterred the workers from continuing to storm the building, they still held their ground, demanding answers.

Not knowing the details, the police officers had no solution. They could only position themselves in front of the gate to prevent the situation from escalating further and contact those inside to find a way to calm the workers down.

If the people inside had a solution, the situation wouldn't have reached this point. The tile factory was originally established as a supporting enterprise during the construction of the forestry bureau's urban area, supplying tiles for urban buildings. After several years, with the bureau's scale expanded and no major projects remaining, the tile factory had become a burden. Yang Hongshan had proactively proposed to take over the contract, and the Commercial Bureau was happy to accept.

The plan was to handle the paperwork and then find a way to relocate the workers. However, the bad news was that somehow the information leaked.

The workers erupted, fearing for their livelihoods after experiencing the layoffs during the era of dismantling the "three irons."

The situation had reached a stalemate.

Li Xian had just witnessed Wang Zhiye being hit by a brick. Seeing the impasse, he was very anxious. Wang Linhe had not been in good health recently, and if anything happened to his granddaughter, it wouldn't be a laughing matter.

After analyzing the current situation and observing the angry crowd, he gritted his teeth and stepped forward.

"What are you doing?!"

He pushed through the crowd, stood in front of the police officers, and shouted with all his might in front of all the workers.

The sudden shout startled everyone.

Taking advantage of the momentary shock, he endured the pain in his vocal cords and shouted again, "How can this chaos solve anything? You have five minutes to select five representatives to discuss inside. The rest of you, go back to the courtyard and wait!"

During his speech, someone in the crowd recognized him.

"Hey? Isn't that the guy from the renovation, Xiao Li?"

"Xiao Li, what are you meddling in?"

Hearing the discussions, Li Xian lifted his chin and said, "I've been assigned to the Commercial Bureau. Director Xu knows about your situation and specifically asked me to come and address you."

"Director Xu? Xu… Xu Chaoyang?"

"What did Director Xu say?"

Seeing that the crowd was now distracted, Li Xian coldly smiled, "Director Xu said if you want to resolve the issue, you need to sit down and discuss it properly. If you don't want to resolve it properly, the police station has plenty of space for dozens of people!"

The police had initially been worried about escalating the situation and focused on calming things down. Now that the scene was under control, an experienced officer stepped forward, "We won't pursue the previous actions. From now on, anyone who causes trouble will be held accountable!"

Under the carrot-and-stick approach, the situation was brought under control.