Chapter 111: The Storm Pavilion

The freight train traveled south through the vast mountains of East Siberia, surrounded by endless white landscapes beneath a clear blue sky. The railway snaked through primitive coniferous forests that seemed to stretch on for hours, leaving Li Xian in awe.

Russia, with its vast and sparsely populated land, harbors natural resources that could last for centuries.

Heaven has bestowed the fiercest environment upon the battle-hardened people of this land, yet it has also handed over the treasures hidden within this barren terrain.

This could be considered fortunate.

The slow-moving freight train had been on the road for a full 27 hours before Li Xian finally set foot on the soil of his homeland. At the Manzhouli station, "Old Fourth," one of Cheng Liu's subordinates, was already waiting.

As soon as Li Xian and Xu Maoh and others arrived and completed the customs procedures, the Manzhouli freight yard became a flurry of activity. Somehow, Old Fourth had managed to arrange not only two freight cars for coal but also mobilized the yard workers to use the freight crane to transfer over a hundred machine tools.

That night, the freight train headed straight for Harbin. On the 19th, Li Xian finally stood in Harbin Railway Station.

While Xu Maoh was on the phone arranging for someone to come unload the goods, Li Xian took the opportunity to call the factory.

Having been away for nearly twenty days, he had been focused on making a big profit up north, but now that he had settled, his thoughts were occupied with his family.

When the call was answered and Li Xian's voice was heard, Li Jie was so emotional she almost cried. "Second Brother, my real brother! Where have you been? I was worried sick! Why didn't you think to call home for so long?"

Hearing the urgency in Li Jie's voice, Li Xian quickly asked if something was wrong at home. She explained that recently, the Beilin Paper Factory had transferred ownership, leading to a strike by the workers. The delay in delivering goods had caused merchants to start demanding payment.

Li Xian was jolted by this news!

The Beilin Paper Factory was a crucial part of the development of Xinlang Paper Industry. The scale of the Xinlang Paper Factory was too small to meet the surrounding market's needs, so quickly expanding Xinlang Paper Industry's business to provincial areas was essential. The Beilin Paper Factory was a critical point that could not afford to fail.

If this link had issues, not only would all the efforts so far go to waste, but the future of Xinlang's growth would also be uncertain. And the timing was crucial—1993 was just around the corner!

With the accelerated pace of economic reform, countless private and township enterprises were breaking free from constraints and reaching into various market sectors. The window for business growth had already opened.

To build a brand and complete the initial accumulation needed for a top-tier push, time was of the essence!

Listening to Li Jie urge him to come back quickly, Li Xian said "Hold steady" and hung up the phone.

Behind him, Zhao Si, who had become familiar over the past few days, noticed Li Xian's grim expression and asked, "Xianzi, what's going on at home?"

Li Xian waved his hand, pulling out a stack of documents from his bag and handing them to Zhao Si. "Zhao Ge, keep these for me. Pass on my regards to Sixth Master. I have family matters to attend to and need to go back immediately, so I won't be able to invite you for drinks today."

Zhao Si looked at the documents, carefully stowing them away. "Alright, Xianzi. Here's my phone number. If you run into any trouble, just let me know."

"Mm!"

Li Xian nodded heavily and then informed Xu Maoh and the others about the situation and his decision to return home.

Since he had not yet investigated the domestic lathe market thoroughly, he wasn't in a rush to sell the lathes. After leaving Wang Tiecheng behind, he didn't even leave the station but went straight to the ticket hall.

In the ticket hall.

"Originally, I wanted to return triumphant…

But fate twisted the plans.

How is the mother's health?"

By the high window, an old radio, worn to the point of losing its clarity, played a few lines of the song "Fengbo Pavilion," whose singer was unknown.

...

At the Beilin Paper Factory.

Workers gathered early in the morning at the factory yard.

For three consecutive days, over eight hundred workers had united to petition the district government, demanding an explanation. The factory's change in ownership affected the workers the most. Unlike Xinlang Paper Factory, which was established with the Forestry Bureau, Beilin Paper Factory, though smaller, was a genuine state-owned enterprise.

Founded in the 1960s, it had a history of over thirty years. Many workers had family members working at the factory—some couples worked together, and even some father-son pairs worked in the same workshop.

Therefore, the impact of the ownership change was most severely felt by the workers.

Facing vague responses from the district about the workers' resettlement after the ownership change, everyone was extremely dissatisfied and determined to cause trouble until they received a clear answer.

As the temporary union organized the workers to leave, a loud shout was heard at the factory gate.

"Damn it! Can't you leave half the people behind to finish our orders?!"

With this shout, Chen Shulin, his mouth blistered, rushed into the factory, blocking the workers' way.

In recent days, the workers had been thoroughly frustrated by this outsider.

"Old Chen! You're also a worker. We're in this mess, and you come here shouting!"

"Yeah, we can't even keep our jobs; who has the energy to work?"

"The factory's about to be sold. If you can't finish your orders, go find whoever you need to. Huh!"

Several leading members of the temporary union shouted back at the angry Chen Shulin.

"That's not acceptable!" Chen Shulin stood firm, spreading his arms like a mother hen in a game, and yelled at the crowd: "Have you no conscience? When you couldn't afford food, it was our factory that took on the processing contract and paid the advance. Now you're all well-fed and have the energy to cause trouble, and you're forgetting who helped you?"

"Hey, old fool, why are you speaking so harshly? I'm eating with my own hard-earned money! What does it have to do with you?"

Some young people in the crowd disliked the harshness of his words and pushed Chen Shulin aside.

Chen Shulin, forty-six years old, though not old and weak, was no match for the younger workers. He was shoved and fell to the ground.

After getting up with a tumble, covered in dirty snow, he stood in front of the crowd again, blocking their way, and shouted with all his might, "I'll tell you! Unless you produce two tons of finished paper today, you'll have to step over me! Otherwise, don't even think about leaving!"

"Damn it! It's just processing work, and you act like a landlord?" 

A young man in the crowd took a symbolic rest, stepped forward, and shouted.

"Don't let them out—beat them! Damn it, can't we deal with you?" Several other young people agreed loudly.

As things were about to spiral out of control, some older workers from the temporary union knew that stopping work had caused significant losses for Xinlang Paper Industry and that they were in the wrong. They quickly pulled the young people back.

At that moment, a hand rested on Chen Shulin's shoulder from behind.

"Old Chen, I find you're still somewhat useful."

Hearing this voice, Chen Shulin turned around sharply, and seeing the expressionless face behind him, he was overjoyed.

"Damn it, you're back!"

Upon hearing this, the person's face turned cold, and he pushed Chen Shulin aside.

"Old Chen, you've perfectly missed a chance to be a manager."

With that, the person stopped talking and walked straight to the factory gate.

He surveyed all the Beilin workers in front of him and said in a deep voice, "Zhao Dongliang, Liu Maoshen, Ming Tiejun, Fan Sifang, are you here?"

The four people named were the leaders of the Beilin Paper Factory's temporary union.

Among the crowd, Zhao Dongliang and the three others hesitated but stepped out of the crowd.

Standing in front of the newcomer, Zhao Dongliang bowed and said, "Factory Director Li, um, you're back, huh?"