"What about Lei Yunhai? After all, Lei Fang was the one who gave his approval. He can't just remain silent, right?"
"Mr. Lei is still alive, and Lei Yunhai has only slowly taken over some of the power in recent years. At most, he can only be regarded as the spokesperson of the Lei Clan, and his prestige is not enough to make his words final. If Lei Fang does not make any mistakes, he can barely suppress the different voices within the company. But if there is any mistake and someone catches him, he will not be able to say much. How can he convince the public if he does not reward meritorious deeds and does not punish mistakes? Moreover, Lei Fang has never been a good seedling in Lei Yunhai's eyes. He has done his best to give him this opportunity, and he will not give him a second chance."
Ning Xi was naturally more aware of the intrigues in the big families. Wen Liang asked, "What do you think the chances are of replacing someone?"
Ning Xi said firmly: "Eighty percent!"
Eighty percent
That meant that Lei Fang's dismissal was almost certain, and Wen Liang began to have a headache. Although Lei Fang might not have much business talent and had his own shortcomings, he was at least smart and efficient. They had worked together many times and had a tacit understanding. He knew what to ask for and what not to ask for. He followed Ning Xi's footsteps closely, never overstepped the line, and never fought for power. If he had to choose a partner from the Lei family, Lei Fang would undoubtedly be the best candidate.
But then again, this best is only for Ning Xi. The Lei family will definitely not see it that way. What they need is a spokesperson who can better reflect their will and gain greater benefits for themselves in cooperation with the Ning family. Lei Fang is obviously not qualified!
"At this point, we are helpless and can only wait and see what happens!"
Since the molybdenum mine integration plan was put forward, Wen Liang has kept his word in front of Ning Huchen and never asked about any decision of Hengsha Mining. He rarely mentioned this matter when talking to Ning Xi. Apart from the shooting incident this time, he only came to play for a few days during the summer vacation.
Why avoid suspicion to this extent
On the one hand, Wen Liang is self-aware and knows that a struggle at this level is not something he can intervene in rashly, or he will suffer a catastrophic disaster; on the other hand, he does not want to be too closely involved with the Ning faction. They can be mutually beneficial at certain times, but there is no need to put his life and future on the fate of one family or faction.
After being reborn, he wants to be his own master, flying freely above the nine heavens, instead of relying on the wings of others to charge into battle. Doing so would not only be a waste of God's gift, but also limit his own vision and perspective!
Therefore, Wen Liang could do nothing to help with Lei Fang's matter. No matter how quick-witted he was, he could not influence the internal affairs of the Lei family. He could only take one step at a time!
"Let's put the Lei side aside for now. No matter who comes, he will have to cooperate with you and it won't affect the overall situation. But Shahe County is now like a small house filled with gas. If a spark is emitted, it will explode immediately. We must have a permanent solution. Otherwise, if we continue to fight with this bunch of local snakes, all opportunities will be delayed."
Ning Xi's eyes lit up. She was also worried about this. She asked, "What suggestions do you have?"
"I thought about it for a long time on the way here. You have used both kindness and force over the past six months, giving them enough time and opportunities, but some of the troublemakers are still stubborn and want to cause trouble from time to time. This is a disaster caused by heaven, but it can be forgiven, but it is self-inflicted. Since you are so ignorant, don't blame us for being cruel!"
"You mean?"
Wen Liang said coldly: "Wildfires cannot be extinguished, and spring breezes will bring new growth. When necessary, we must cut off the roots and leave no one alive!"
For Ning Xi's safety, sometimes Wen Liang didn't mind doing something impressive.
Ning Xi was startled, looked up at his face, and said: "This... This will kill a lot of people..."
"Shahe Mining Area is the foundation of Hengsha Mining. If we don't level the land in our backyard and clear the weeds, how can we welcome guests and welcome them?"
"But with such a big momentum, it might be difficult to operate!"
Wen Liang changed the subject and asked, "Do you remember the bank robberies in January last year, June and August this year?"
"You mean Lu Xuanzhou, Guo Song and their gang... Ah, crack down on them!"
Wen Liang said in a deep voice: "Yes, crack down severely!"
Since the reform and opening up of the People's Republic of China, there have been three large-scale crackdowns, namely in 1988, 1996 and 2001. The crackdown in 1988 was much larger, more influential and more extensive than the last two, so the general public knows more about it, so there is no need to say more. The background of the crackdown in 1996 is similar to that of 1988, and both are inevitable products of social development to a certain stage. The objective reason is the chaos at the basic level of society caused by the turbulent thoughts after 1989 and the bottleneck of reform and opening up, while the direct reason is the public pressure caused by Lu and Guo's wanton and crazy bank robbery in Beijing.
Speaking of Lu Xuanzhou, he was a legendary figure and a fierce bandit. He was a driver of Shouqi Automobile Co., Ltd. He had thick eyebrows and a broad nose, and was handsome. His job and benefits were good. However, he was arrested for committing crimes during the crackdown in 1988, sentenced to life imprisonment, and sent to the west to serve his sentence. He escaped from prison in 1994, and then roamed around and killed many people. Later, he robbed banks and credit unions with guns many times. Among them, the most sensational one was the robbery of a cash transporter of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Beijing in January 1996, which achieved a breakthrough in the armed robbery of cash transporters since the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Lu and Guo were just a small microcosm of the social security at that time. Serious and serious criminal cases occurred one after another across the country. Therefore, after research and deployment by the central government, a new round of "severe crackdown" rectification actions was launched in April 1996, focusing on serious violent crimes, robbery crimes, especially gun-related and gang-related crimes, etc. However, due to various reasons, although this crackdown achieved certain results, it was far from the results of 8 years. Therefore, in just two or three years, in 2001, another nationwide crackdown was organized. This is a later story and will not be mentioned here.
When Wen Liang mentioned this to Ning Xi, the crackdown that had begun in April had actually entered the final stage of the first phase. Just like the crackdown in 1998, which was divided into three campaigns, the crackdown in 1996 was also divided into three phases and would not end until next year. This was also the reason why Ning Xi did not react immediately.
In addition, there is another important reason, which is that this severe crackdown did not cause any waves at all in Shahe County, just a gentle breeze and drizzle, gentler than a girl's hand.
This is determined by the special economic structure of Shahe County. Although the overall economy of Huanghuai Province is relatively backward, and many local people go out to work to make a living, Shahe County has coal mines first and molybdenum mines later, so it can support a large number of idle laborers without leaving the county. Ruffians have things to do and make money, and they are too lazy to harass ordinary people, so social security is relatively stable. The struggles over the mining sources have mostly completed the division of power several years ago. Even if there are fights and bloodshed, most of them are resolved privately and rarely come to the table. In addition, these mine owners have made a fortune from coal and molybdenum mines, their identities are very clean, and the city and county governments are full of supporters. Severe crackdowns can only catch some small fish and cannot hurt them at all.
Last time, in order to capture Zhang Erhu, Ning Xi also made many arrangements and succeeded after great efforts, and did not lean towards the direction of severe crackdown! Therefore, when she heard that Wen Liang wanted to use the "severe crackdown" to wipe out the relevant people in Dongming and Shahe, she frowned and said, "Difficult!"
"If it's not difficult, what's the point of having the golden signboard of the Lei family?"
"But Huanghuai is the territory of the Thunder Clan after all. Lei Yunhai may not agree to start a war."
Wen Liang looked deep, as if he saw into the unknown distance, and said: "It is true that Huanghuai is the territory of the Lei Clan, but the Lei family almost got shot here, so you can imagine how rotten this place is. If you don't even have the courage to cut off your own arm, Lei Yunhai should stop being the head of the family and retire to enjoy a peaceful life."
This was a typical sophistry. Lei Fang being attacked from behind had little to do with whether his last name was Lei or not, but Wen Liang was just giving Ning Xi an excuse to attack. This wasn't a debate, so there was no need to be so logical and well-founded.
Ning Xi fell silent. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that Wen Liang's method seemed to be the only way to solve the current dilemma in a short period of time. With a determined light flashing in her eyes, she asked, "How do we do it?"
"Doesn't the Lei family want to replace Lei Fang? As the helmsman of Hengsha, if you don't protest seriously, people will inevitably think you are weak and can be bullied."
Ning Xi smiled and said, "Retreat to advance?"
"It is precisely a retreat in order to advance. If Lei Fang gets through safely, then we can think of another way. If Lei Yunhai is really determined to replace him, in order to appease your dissatisfaction and for the good of Hengsha, he knows what choice to make!"
After discussing the business, Wen Liang's stomach suddenly growled. Ning Xi blamed herself and said, "I forgot to arrange dinner for you. You came all the way here and haven't eaten for the whole day."
Wen Liang stood up and said with a smile, "It's not a big deal. Go change your clothes and we'll go out for dinner. By the way, your assistant is pretty good and seems quite capable."
Ning Xi walked into the inner room, turned her head and smiled softly, "You seem so interested, how about I introduce you to him?"
Wen Liang crossed his legs and said, "Let me tell you a story. A man went to see a Zen master and asked him why every time he fell in love, he would end up breaking up. The Zen master asked him to pull a leather strap with both hands, and then let go with one hand. The leather strap bounced back and hit the other hand hard. The man screamed and suddenly realized something. He asked, "Are you telling me that if I love, I have to learn to let go?" The Zen master shook his head and said something. Guess what he said?"
Ning Xi was intrigued by him and asked, "What?"
Wen Liang said calmly: "The Zen master said, I'm just telling you that pimping will not end well!"
Ning Xi laughed loudly, and her pleasant laughter echoed in the room for a long time.
Then Wen Liang stayed in Shahe County for three days, staying in Ning Xi's office. Fortunately, it was a suite, so he didn't have to worry about accommodation and washing. In order to avoid suspicion, Ning Xi took Zhuo Min to live in the county government's guesthouse, which was relatively safe. During these three days, Wen Liang played the role of a bystander, checking and filling in the gaps, taking care of everything, and dealing with reactions from all sides together with Ning Xi, and arranging various emergency measures.
From the capital to Huanghuai, many people have started moving invisibly!
On the fourth day, at eight o'clock in the morning, Zhuo Min went out to buy porridge, steamed buns and pickled mustard tubers and brought them back to the office. Wen Liang and Ning Xi sat at their desks and discussed while eating, while Zhuo Min and Chang Cheng sat face to face on the sofa, eating their own food across a coffee table. Chang Cheng had not been idle for three days. In addition to completing the tasks assigned by Wen Liang, he spent the rest of his time bickering with Zhuo Min. Usually, he would say dozens of sentences before Zhuo Min would reply, and this sentence was often not good, either openly mocking or implicitly sarcastic, but Chang Cheng just enjoyed it, like a starving puppy seeing a meat bone, even if it was cheap, he had to take it into his mouth and lick it twice. Once Wen Liang couldn't stand it anymore, Zhuo Min's face turned black, but Chang Cheng was still chattering there, so he taught him a lesson, and then he was honest for a while, but once Wen Liang was not there, he immediately returned to his old ways. After a few days in a row, Zhuo Min actually got used to having such a guy chattering in his ears. I have to say, getting used to this kind of thing is really scary!
"Your eyesight is not good. The buns you bought have three big ones and four small ones, which are not evenly proportioned. If you were on the battlefield and the commander told you to aim at the small head at six o'clock, you would have to hit the big head at three o'clock."
Chang Cheng followed his routine and started to pick on and criticize today, just like a little boy in the kindergarten class who would tease a girl to make her cry in order to attract her attention. Zhuo Min also sat very straight when eating, with his legs crossed and his waist straight, as if there was a ruler measuring behind him. He didn't even look at Chang Cheng, and stretched out his chopsticks to pick up the buns on the plate. Chang Cheng smiled wickedly, and his chopsticks landed on the same bun first. When he was about to pick it back, Zhuo Min no longer ignored it. He turned his wrist, slightly staggered the angle of the chopsticks, and inserted them between Chang Cheng's chopsticks, then pressed down and put the bun back on the plate.
"Ha, the reaction is still not fast enough..."
While making sarcastic remarks, Chang Cheng lightly tapped Zhuo Min's chopsticks and immediately knocked them several inches away. Her own chopsticks kept reaching for the buns. Seeing that Zhuo Min was about to stop him, she didn't know what to do. One of the two chopsticks in her hand flew out diagonally, hitting the end of Chang Cheng's chopsticks, blocking him. At the same time, her right hand stretched forward like lightning, and caught the chopsticks between her fingers at the moment they collided and rebounded.
Chang Cheng shouted, "Great Kung Fu!"
This time Zhuo Min was not fooled, and he crossed his four chopsticks and grabbed the bun. They both snorted coldly at the same time, and with two snaps, the chopsticks broke in the middle, and the buns were torn into pieces, and the mushroom and vegetable stuffing inside splashed a little on the tips of their noses.
Chang Cheng shamelessly stuck out his tongue to eat the mushroom on the tip of his nose, and then looked at Zhuo Min and laughed. Zhuo Min stared at Chang Cheng, but she couldn't really be as shameless as him and lick it with her tongue. Fortunately, Chang Cheng was not really an idiot. He immediately took out a tissue and leaned over. Before Zhuo Min could react, he gently helped her wipe off the vegetable filling.
Zhuo Min's body suddenly stiffened, and he clenched his fists, almost punching Chang Cheng's exposed ribs with a heavy punch, but in the end he did not move, letting this man lie so close to him, which was very awkward.
Ning Xi, who was standing on the other side, saw this scene and couldn't help but roll her eyes at Wen Liang. She whispered, "If the top beam is crooked, the bottom beam will be crooked!"
Wen Liang was indignant. He thought, "It's none of my business if Chang Cheng, this lecher, picks up his girls." Just as he was about to explain, the phone on the table rang. Ning Xi picked up the phone, and her expression gradually became cold.
After she hung up the phone, Wen Liang asked, "What's wrong?"
"The Lei faction is completely finished. The new guy is called Lei De, and he has a nickname, 'Fake Mercy'!"
Life is not a comedy. Lei Fang still failed to dodge the 80% probability. He smiled gently and said, "The cat cries over the rat in false sympathy. Just by listening to the nickname, you can imagine the style of the person."
Now that the dust has settled, Lei Fang is out, and the Lei family has sent a new partner, Ning Xi only needs to follow the measures she and Wen Liang had prepared in advance to deal with the complicated situation that follows. As for Lei De, whose nickname is not a good one, Wen Liang believes that with Ning Xi's wisdom and having run Hengsha Mining for so long, it should not be difficult to deal with him. Wen Liang does not want to meet other people from the Lei family yet, so he left Shahe with Chang Cheng before Lei De arrived.
The two cars parked side by side in the suburbs. The wind blew Ning Xi's long hair. Wen Liang hugged her gently and said, "Be careful!"
Ning Xi nodded and watched Lexes slowly disappear at the end of the road. Zhuo Min stood behind her all the time, and after a while, he whispered, "Boss Ning, it's time to go back!"
Ning Xi stared for a moment, then resolutely turned around, her fluttering red skirt drawing a graceful arc, like a sharp knife, breaking through the bloody rain! (To be continued)