Chapter 768 - Untitled
Just like Wen Xinya had expected, Wen Haowen stopped mentioning about getting a divorce after hearing her words. He even went out of his way to find the best nursing home for Ning Shuqian and took time out of his schedule to reconnoiter and observe the nursing home environment. He decided to send her to the nursing home to recuperate after she was done receiving treatment at the hospital. He wanted her to undergo professional treatment.
Due to the exposure of the extramarital affair, the media had been keeping close tabs on Wen Haowen and hence, all of his actions had been reported on the news and tabloids. Everyone praised him for being so kind and meticulous towards Ning Shuqian.
Having gained a benefit, Wen Haowen was even more determined to do his best.
Wen Xinya sneered and thought to herself, Wen Haowen is an expert at pretending and doing such hypocritical things.
The media stopped reporting about the Wen Family and the matter gradually died down, whereas the Xia Family’s delay in payment of the workers’ wages was heavily reported in the news.
Given how insignificant the Xia Family was, the matter was not enough to catch the media’s attention. However, the incident went viral and was reported on the news, all because of Wen Xinya’s manipulation. The Xia Family’s delay in payment of wages to the poor villagers had also sparked a major controversy and everyone was in disdain of the Xia Family.
At this moment, there were some workers camping outside the Xia Family’s supermarket branch in the Southern district. Some were sitting down, some were lying on the ground, while others were squatting and blocking the entrance. They managed to catch the attention of the public and many bystanders crowded around them to watch what was going on. The reporters were also part of the bunch.
After all, the obstacles that workers faced when demanding for their due wages to be paid had already become a topic of focus in society. Such news would be great for attracting the attention of readers.
The manager of the supermarket was at the end of his wits and that supermarket branch was the biggest in the city. Due to the fact that the products sold at this branch had all passed the quality checks performed by the Administration Bureau of Business and Commerce, business was still alright.
However, there were no longer any customers now that the uncultured workers were causing such a scene.
He informed the headquarters about the situation. Yet, the headquarters did not give him an answer or a suitable solution. They simply told him to solve the problem himself. However, he was just a supermarket branch manager who could not handle the matter at all.
However, he had no choice but to intervene now that things had already escalated to such a level.
As soon as the manager appeared, the workers hurriedly rose to their feet and rushed towards the entrance with their tools. They barked. “Get your person-in-charge to come out. We know that the boss who made us work at the construction site is the owner of this supermarket.”
The supermarket manager said, “Everyone, please don’t get too agitated. Let’s talk things through calmly. I’m not too sure about the details of the company owing you your wages. I’m just a branch manager and I have no idea what exactly is going on. Why don’t you guys go home first? I’ll ask the head contractor…”
The manager’s perfunctory and patronizing attitude instantly angered all of the workers who had issues with receiving their due wages. Everyone barked. “Stop trying to lie to us. Since you can’t decide, get someone who can to come out here and give us an explanation. Your company has been forced to cease the development of the project and yet, you still keep delaying the payment of our wages. You people are obviously out to cheat us and deny us of our salaries.”
“Yes, we slogged away for you and the money we deserve is all hard-earned. How could you people be so wicked as to cheat us out of our money? Aren’t you afraid of being struck by lightning?”
“Get your person-in-charge to come out. We’ll stay here until we get an answer today. If you guys don’t give us our wages, we’ll make sure you cease operations.”
The supermarket manager stared at the workers who were swinging their tools at him and he instantly froze in fear, afraid that violence would break out. “Everyone, let’s talk things out calmly…”
However, no one was willing to listen to him.
“Dear fellow villagers, we don’t have to be afraid of him. This is a busy district. We’re going all out and we don’t care about face value anymore. Yet, they still have to be thick-skinned and carry on with business. They’re the ones getting embarrassed. We can’t just let them off and forgo our hard-earned money.”
“Yes, we can’t just let the matter slide. The more we blow things up, the more afraid they will be!”
Wen Xinya sat inside the car and looked out of the window at the villagers who were causing a scene.
She remembered clearly, the time when she moved bricks at a construction site and the head contractor absconded with the villagers’ wages. As a result, they had no choice but to hunt the employers down for their wages. Due to the fact that the construction site was private-owned and belonged to a rich and powerful organization, the owner hired some members of the triad to scare off the villagers. As a result, many were injured and the brawl resulted in the loss of two lives…
Back then, she was also involved but did not get injured because the villagers had protected her.
As a result, she was detained in the police station for half a month.
Yan Shaoqing noticed that there was a complicated expression on her face. He asked, “Xinya, what’s wrong with you?”
She had been staring into space ever since they arrived.
Wen Xinya snapped out of her trance and shook her head. She said calmly, “Nothing much, I just thought of some stuff. By the way, how has the matter been progressing?”
Yan Shaoqing answered, “These workers have begun blocking the entrance since this morning, but the Xia Family has yet to resolve the matter.”
It was not that they were not willing to solve the matter, but rather, they did not have enough money to do so. No one would want a bunch of poor villagers to crowd around the entrance of their supermarket and hinder them from doing business. The scene had caused the Xia Family’s reputation to be ruined. In recent years, there had been several similar cases, during which there were casualties. The matter had gradually been taken into attention by the government and the results were dire.
Wen Xinya nodded and said, “Hire a civil lawyer, I’ll bear the costs. But I want them to stand up for the villagers and drive the Xia Family into a corner.”
If lawyers were involved, it would be harder for the Xia Family to shirk the responsibility.
The difficulties faced by the villagers were due to the fact that they did not know the identity of the real owner and were not powerful enough. They were poor and could not afford to hire lawyers. Hence, they could not seek legal help to defend their own rights and interests.
Yan Shaoqing found that Wen Xinya was rather benevolent and reckoned that it was probably because she had taken pity on the villagers. “I know, I’ll get to it now.”
The Xia Family was currently facing a major financial crisis and their reputation was out of the window because of the failure to pass safety checks, thus resulting in angry customers demanding refunds. They were in need of a massive sum of money and the overdue wages of the workers were fuel added to fire. The Xia Family had already spent most of their assets on paying the fine.
Pleased with the outcome, Wen Xinya said, “Get some people to approach the Xia Family and try to get some information out of them.”
Yan Shaoqing had already made the necessary arrangements in advance, so as to prevent others from beating them to it. He hired some people to pose as foreign tycoons and get in touch with Xia Haolin. Currently, those people had already become close friends with Xia Haolin and they’d be able to receive firsthand news if Xia Haolin were to decide to sell that plot of land.