Chapter 46: Compensation Money
Xiaoye said with a furious expression, "This matter shouldn't be brought up at a group meeting, but I'm just too angry to let it go. Old Wang, come in!"
At his words, a simple and honest-looking middle-aged man with his head wrapped in bandages and an arm in a cast walked into the meeting room.
Xiaoye spoke again, fuming, "This morning, Old Wang, a worker from the Zequan Construction Site, was kneeling at the company entrance, unable to get in. I happened to run into him. He said the compensation money the Li Group paid out to Liang Jiaceng was completely stolen by his relatives. Liang Jiaceng's only daughter, Liang Shiyu, didn't get a single cent and was even beaten up."
The words had barely left his mouth when the honest-looking man dropped to his knees with a THUD. He struck his bandaged head hard against the floor and cried out, "I'm begging you, managers, executives, please save that child, Shiyu!"
Li Huiran hurriedly stood up and went to help him. "Sir, please get up. You can tell us what happened on your feet."
The man, whose name was Wang Caifu, stubbornly refused to rise. When he lifted his head, fresh red seeped through the bandage. He tearfully recounted what had happened.
He and Liang Jiaceng had come from the same mountain village near Tianjiang City to work on the site. They were even roommates and were very close.
Liang Jiaceng had a daughter who was his whole world. His wife had died young, so he worked desperately just to save enough money for his daughter to go to college. The poor girl is just a senior in high school, and now her father, her only parent, has died on the construction site.
Thankfully, the Group provided a huge compensation package, which should have been enough for the girl to live a comfortable life.
But no sooner had the compensation been paid to Liang Shiyu than her relatives, who had somehow gotten wind of it, showed up that very day and stole all the money. When Wang Caifu found out, he went to their home to demand it back for Liang Shiyu, but they beat him savagely for his trouble and even broke his arm.
Liang Jiaceng's relatives told him the money was rightfully theirs. They claimed Liang Shiyu wasn't Liang Jiaceng's biological daughter—that his wife had always been too sickly to bear children and Liang Shiyu was just a foundling. Therefore, she had no right to the compensation.
Wang Caifu had nowhere left to turn. The relatives were influential locally, and being barely literate himself, his only option was to come and plead with the Li Group.
The managers in the meeting room, all highly educated, frowned. This wasn't an easy situation to handle; it was essentially a domestic dispute. Furthermore, it was taking place in a remote mountain village in Lower River City.
Li Huiran managed to help the honest man to his feet with great difficulty, only for him to immediately drop to his knees again. "Executives, I know you all have hearts of gold! Please, I'm begging you, help Old Liang's daughter! I'm not asking for much, just to get back a few tens of thousands, enough for the poor girl to finish her schooling..."
Here was a man of such loyalty and integrity, willing to go around begging and even getting on his knees for his friend's daughter.
Chen Dong was quite moved. Though he hated getting into trouble, he spoke up, "The General Affairs Department will handle this!"
All eyes in the meeting room instantly turned to him.
Ignoring the surprised and distrustful looks from everyone, Chen Dong pulled the stunned Wang Hao to his feet, walked over to Wang Caifu, and said, "Brother Wang, we'll make the trip with you."
Wang Caifu was overcome with emotion, stammering his agreement.
Li Huiran looked at Chen Dong, hesitating. She seemed to want to say something more, but in the end, she changed her mind and said, "I'm leaving this in your hands."
Xiaoye warned, "Team Leader Chen, those people are local thugs. You have to be careful when you're dealing with them. Especially since this is a domestic dispute involving a huge sum of money—one wrong move could land you in big trouble!"
Chen Dong nodded, said he understood, and led Wang Caifu and Wang Hao out of the meeting room.
Since it was a task for the General Affairs Department, Wang Hao, as the official team leader, naturally had to participate. He was consequently made the driver, and his BMW X6 was requisitioned for the trip.
The General Affairs Department was now down to a pitiful four members. The three whose families had pulled their shares hadn't been shameless enough to stick around and had resigned.
Expecting that the trip to Lower River City to deal with the compensation money would be anything but smooth, they decided not to bring Xu Qing and the others.
With Old Wang giving directions, Wang Hao drove as they set off for Tianjiang City.
A four-and-a-half-hour drive brought them to Tianjiang. They then left the city proper and, after a number of twists and turns, arrived at a mountain village.
The place wasn't exceptionally remote, just impoverished. Most of the dwellings were simple bungalows; tiled-roof houses and small, two-story buildings were rare.
The car couldn't go any further at the village entrance, so the group had to proceed on foot, eventually arriving in front of an especially dilapidated tiled-roof house. One could see gaping holes in the roof, and the walls looked ready to collapse at any moment.
Just as they were about to enter, a shrill, caustic voice drifted out.
"You're coming with me today, and that's final! You damn brat, if you don't start listening, I'll sell you to a brothel!"
"Stop dawdling! You're making Young Master Yang wait. If he gets annoyed, I'll kill you myself first!"
Wang Caifu's expression changed drastically, and he charged inside.
The woman's voice rang out again. "You again, you meddling bastard! Looks like we went too easy on you last time!"
Wang Caifu roared, "You're monsters! Trying to make her 'entertain' some Young Master Yang? You're animals!"
Chen Dong entered the house, his brow furrowed.
Inside, Wang Caifu was shielding a girl behind his back.
The girl kept her head bowed, her face hidden from view. She wore a washed-out, faded blue school uniform.
A brutish-looking woman stood before them, decked out in a full set: a gold necklace, gold earrings, a gold bracelet, and gold rings.
She clutched a wooden stick as thick as a thumb. Seeing Chen Dong and Wang Hao enter didn't faze her in the slightest. She planted her hands on her hips and said arrogantly, "Well, well, you even called for backup! You two little bastards want to get involved in this too?"