Chapter 88: Little Fish Eating Big Fish

The previous debts of the paper factory had been clearly divided, and among all the debts Li Xian was responsible for, there was no portion from Beilin Paper Factory.

So, he certainly wasn't going to be magnanimous enough to deal with these nameless debts that only existed as unsigned IOUs with the old factory director's signature.

After Li Xian took over the factory, the complexity of this triangular debt increased. According to the current situation, those trying to recover the debt should be dealing with the Commercial Bureau or the former factory director.

However, the debt collectors didn't think so. According to them, they only recognized the factory, not the individual. They believed that since Li Xian had taken over the factory, he was responsible for their debt.

As for finding the former factory director or the Commercial Bureau, they thought that was Li Xian's responsibility, and had nothing to do with them.

Facing this unreasonable stance, Li Xian was helpless. Realizing this debt had nothing to do with him and was doomed to be unresolved, he decided not to deal with it.

With tasks like handling tax exemptions, the patent for Sina's premium formula, and reporting the road clearing issue to the bureau, he had too many things to attend to. There was no time to waste dealing with these troublemakers.

Ignoring their harassment, Li Xian left the factory directly.

"Damn it! You can avoid the first day of the new year but not the fifteenth. I'm going to stay here until you deal with us! I don't believe you won't work overtime!"

Seeing the young factory manager leave, Zhao Dongliang, the head of the debt collectors from Beilin Paper Factory, swore angrily.

It must be said, the debt collectors were quite persistent.

At noon, when the factory cafeteria opened, these debt collectors who had started their day on an empty stomach immediately grabbed bowls and plates without a word, forcibly served themselves food, and sat in the middle of the cafeteria eating noisily. They even praised the quality of the food.

Now that it was cold outside, these people didn't leave. After eating, they lay down in the office building's entrance, clearly ready for a protracted battle.

According to their plan, they hoped that by staying until evening, someone would eventually address their issue. They didn't expect to recover all the money, but even if they could scrape together five or six hundred, it would help them get by for a month.

But by 6 PM, when it was already dark, they were dumbfounded. Although some people had left the office building, there were still four or five leaders on duty. The large workshop continued to hum with activity.

Not one Sina Paper employee came out to deal with them.

"This damn factory… really never closes!" Zhao Dongliang was stunned by the scene.

Grinding his teeth, he spent the night on the cold steps of the office building's second floor. The next morning, Zhao Dongliang realized this wasn't a solution.

It seemed he couldn't handle this strange factory.

The others who had come with him, after sleeping on the cold floor for a night, were also puzzled. Shivering, they wondered, "Zhao Ge, doesn't this factory stop working? Last night, the machines ran all night and only stopped for a couple of hours near dawn. What kind of efficiency is needed to work so hard?"

With this question in mind, Zhao Dongliang began to observe.

Yesterday, his mind was on debt collection, so he hadn't noticed. But today, seeing Sina Paper's situation, he was astonished!

In less than half a day, five to six tons of finished paper came out of the workshop. Although the roads were covered in snow, the four-wheel vehicles for incoming and outgoing shipments continued to come and go.

This scene, even in the much larger Beilin Paper Factory, was unheard of.

While he was deeply surprised, Li Xian, the young factory manager from yesterday, came in, brushing off the snow stuck to his pants.

Seeing the debt collectors still there, Li Xian couldn't help but smile, "Oh, you really slept here last night? Was it comfortable?"

Zhao Dongliang snorted coldly and didn't answer.

The factory cafeteria wasn't open for breakfast, and after a night of cold and hunger, the debt collectors' lips were blue. One of the older ones was coughing continuously.

Seeing this, Li Xian shook his head, took a thermos of hot water from the mailroom, and brought it to the boiler room to fill up. He placed it in front of the debt collectors.

"Warm yourselves up. Keep holding on. It's Saturday today, and the cafeteria will have pork stewed with vermicelli for lunch. Eat more then."

Seeing the debt collectors wanting to speak, he immediately stated, "Don't get me wrong. I'm just giving you some humanitarian care because you're out here trying to collect debt. But I can't take care of your debt. As I said before, go to the Commercial Bureau."

Although Zhao Dongliang was irritated by this, seeing Sina Paper's situation made him hesitant.

After pouring the hot water for everyone, he asked, "By the way, how is your factory's business so good? I remember it was almost failing before."

Hearing this question, Li Xian grinned and didn't answer. Instead, he asked about the situation at Beilin Paper Factory.

This question hit Zhao Dongliang's sore spot.

Beilin Paper Factory was quite large, and unlike the Forestry Bureau's small enterprise, it was a genuine state-owned enterprise.

However, in recent years, it had struggled and couldn't improve its performance. Six months ago, under city arrangements, the factory joined Ma Shengli's paper group to produce Yema brand tissue paper. But after half a year, losses worsened, and it had to withdraw from the group and go solo again.

To make matters worse, just at this critical moment, the factory director was found to have misconduct issues. During the time when the factory was part of Ma Shengli's group, he mixed up the already tight funds with outside affairs, supporting a mistress.

After the new factory director took over, he couldn't manage the factory. Now, Beilin Paper Factory, with over 800 workers, was in a state of suspension. They couldn't even guarantee one-third of the workers' wages.

Faced with the workers' rebellion, the new director had to resort to using debt collection to offset wages.

After listening, Li Xian couldn't help but sigh. The situation felt so much like the film *Lost in Thailand* with Wang Baoqiang.

As he was lamenting, Zhao Dongliang began to plead, "Director Li, please look at our old brothers. Our families are waiting for food. Please pay us the debt… You see, your factory is in such good condition. Surely you're not short of money!"

"Old Zhao, it's not the same thing. Whether I have money or not, I can't be a fool. I can't pay this debt in my lifetime," Li Xian said with a bitter smile. "As I said, you need to go to the Commercial Bureau."

Seeing the debt collectors about to start again, Li Xian quickly got up from the ground.

But as he turned around, he stopped again.

A thought triggered in his mind from Zhao Dongliang's words.

Seeing Li Xian get up and then squat back down in front of him, Zhao Dongliang was delighted, "Director Li, have you changed your mind?"

"Stop talking nonsense." Li Xian waved his hand and smiled, "I can't pay this debt. It's impossible in this lifetime. But… you just said your factory is in a state of suspension?"

"Yeah! What about it?" Zhao Dongliang tilted his head, looking at the clearly scheming factory manager, and asked.

"Can you do the processing work?" 

Hearing this, the debt collectors were stunned.

A small paper factory under the Forestry Bureau with about two hundred people. To ask a large state-owned paper factory with eight or nine hundred workers and six paper-making workshops to do processing work?

What kind of appetite is that!