Chapter 230: Chapter 230
There are only two days left until the Spring Festival, and today should have been Ji Family’s last workday of the year.
But just as Ji Rui thought he could finish work today and go home to spend time with Baobao, he received a call from Xiao Li, who had rushed to the theme park construction site to supervise the engineering progress.
"President, you need to come over quickly."
Ji Rui had a pile of urgent matters to handle and was about to decline, but he heard Xiao Li’s anxious voice, "Nearly a thousand workers are striking at the site; even TV stations and other media reporters have arrived at the scene."
Ji Rui frowned, grabbed his coat and headed out, asking, "Strike? Why?"
"They claim Ji Family is withholding their wages. According to the strike leader, Ji Family hasn’t paid them a penny for two months. Besides media reporters, I seem to have seen leaders from the labor department also arriving."
Ji Rui already stepped into the elevator, "I’ll head over right now. Try to calm the labor department leaders and see if you can convince them to leave. I’ll handle the media."
After ending the call with Xiao Li, Ji Rui phoned the heads of the TV station and several major newspapers. About an hour later, Ji Rui’s car stopped outside the construction site.
From a distance, the site was crowded with people, a dense mass gathered together.
Along the way, Ji Rui had mostly figured out the situation.
If he guessed correctly, these people were likely paid and incited by someone to secretly plan this large-scale strike, and the strike leader’s claim that Ji Family hadn’t paid them for two months was entirely unfounded.
Based on feedback from the manager, last month’s wages had been fully paid by the end of the last month. Because of the upcoming Spring Festival, the manager had even said that tomorrow half of this month’s wages would be paid to ensure everyone had a good time during the festival.
Yet, these people not only failed to appreciate the manager’s gesture but also planned this strike, catching everyone off guard.
Ji Rui had the driver call the manager to ask if there was a way to bypass the striking workers to reach the headquarters building.
The manager asked the driver to wait, and a few minutes later, someone sent by the manager led the driver through an alternate route to the building.
During this time, Ji Rui called Yang Sheng, and over there, Yang Sheng said that all evidence had been formally submitted this morning. Barring any surprises, the new judgment results would soon be released.
Ji Rui mentioned the strike to Yang Sheng, and Yang Sheng fell silent for a moment, "Are you suspecting it’s Mr. Ji behind this?"
"Apart from him, I can’t think of anyone else with the ability to orchestrate such an event and involve the labor department and major media. Who else would have such influence? Most importantly, the timing is too coincidental."
The butler from the mansion used to call Ji Rui daily to report on the situation there, but for the past three days, the butler hadn’t called, indicating that Mr. Ji had returned.
Ji Rui was too naive, thinking Mr. Ji returned during the festival season to spend time with family.
Little did he know, his return was merely to stage this drama aimed at restraining Ji Rui.
"What do you plan to do? Should I withdraw the lawsuit?"
Yang Sheng was unsure of Ji Rui’s intentions, so he asked.
"No need; since he wants to play, I’ll accompany him to the end! Let’s see who has the stamina to last till the end!"
Six or seven years ago, if Ji Rui had to confront Mr. Ji , he might not have dared, as back then his wings weren’t yet strong, his network wasn’t fully developed, hence he was constantly restricted by Mr. Ji.
But it’s different now. Since he became president of Ji Family, he’s been bringing many powers that used to submit to Mr. Ji over to his side. Of course, recruiting those people wasn’t difficult because they were all opportunists, accustomed to shifting alliances based on who held authority.
Therefore, if Mr. Ji wants to wrestle arms with him now, he’s bound to lose!
After speaking with Yang Sheng, Ji Rui’s car just happened to stop, and the manager waiting by the car quickly opened the door. Ji Rui stepped out and calmly asked, "What’s the situation now?"
Even though they were at the back of the building, they could still hear the clamorous noise and the rise and fall of slogans coming from the front.
"The mediators sent by the labor department are working in two teams, one trying to understand the situation from the workers individually, and another calming the emotionally charged leaders."
Ji Rui nodded, indicating he understood.
"How about the media reporters?"
"They are interviewing and taking pictures on the side but have shown no aggressive behavior, nor are they inciting the workers."
It seems those phone calls earlier had an effect.
"Take me to the front desk and have a look!"
Ji Rui took the loudspeaker from the manager’s hand, ready to personally negotiate with the striking workers.
"Mr. Ji, some of the strikers are very agitated. Why don’t you instruct, and I’ll handle it outside?"
The manager appeared to be a responsible person, or perhaps he feared Mr. Ji might face some mishap when dealing with the striking workers.
Ji Rui waved his hand, "It’s fine. Since I’m here, I’ll go out and see for myself."
Ji Rui took the loudspeaker and strode to the front of the building.
As soon as the striking workers saw Ji Rui, their emotions suddenly intensified, and someone began shouting slogans.
"Merciless unscrupulous merchant, return our hard-earned money!"
Nearly a thousand people began shouting in unison.
"Merciless unscrupulous merchant, return our hard-earned money!"
"Merciless unscrupulous merchant, return our hard-earned money!"
Ji Rui stood firmly in front of everyone, face calm and composed, showing no signs of panic or confusion.
After the workers shouted a round of slogans and paused, he raised the loudspeaker and indicated for Xiao Li behind him to turn on the projector.
"To everyone cursing the unscrupulous merchant, please take a serious look at the following payrolls."
The projector displayed on the big screen a series of sliding credit card account data, including names, amounts, and transfer dates.
The initial data had dates all at the end of the last month, and the transferred amounts varied, differing for each person. Then as the data moved, the date on the screen appeared as one day ago, with everyone’s amount equal to one thousand yuan!
Some names had amounts ranging from one to fifty thousand instead.
"Whether Ji Family has withheld your wages, I believe I don’t need to say much; facts speak louder than words! Additionally, can one of you tell me what this sum of money from one day ago is?" Fresh chapters posted on novel·fıre·net
The initially noisy crowd suddenly fell silent when they saw these sliding data on the screen!
[Aunt Flo’s visiting these days, head and stomach ache, speed’s terribly slow, wrote until now, seems today can’t manage a ten-thousand-word update, did eight thousand, dear readers, finish reading and wash up sleep, Zhu Zi’s going to sleep too, night!]