Not two minutes later, a young man walked over. Liu Fu had seen him before when signing the distillery acquisition agreement with the municipal government. He told Liu Jian that this was Zhang Yang, Secretary Zhang of the Mayor's office, the top secretary in the municipal government. Liu Fu greeted him, shook Zhang Yang's hand, and said, "Secretary Zhang, what brings you here?"
Zhang Yang smiled and said, "Mr. Liu, please don't be so polite with me. Mayor Yu wants to see you. It's already a mess inside."
As for Liu Jian, who was beside Liu Fu, he just treated him as a regular driver and didn't pay attention. Liu Fu didn't introduce him, and he followed Zhang Yang inside. Liu Jian followed closely behind them, wondering why he had never heard of this situation in his previous life.
Upon entering the office, they saw a middle-aged man, nearing fifty, who was currently furious. When he saw Zhang Yang leading Liu Fu in, he hurriedly walked over, shook Liu Fu's hand, and said, "Mr. Liu, what brings you here?"
The speaker was Yu Guohua, the mayor of Panshi City. He had been the mayor of Panshi for seven years and was likely to be promoted to secretary of the Panshi Municipal Party Committee next. For the remainder of his mayoral term, he didn't want any unexpected situations to affect his career. He was sincerely grateful to Liu Fu. The Sanbao Winery had gradually declined during his tenure as mayor, which had been a source of anxiety for him, fearing it would become an obstacle to his promotion. He hadn't expected Liu Fu to solve it. He had a good impression of Liu Fu. This time, the printing of the trademark was also because he had put pressure on Liu Fu through Chen Sheng, handing the job over to the city printing factory. On the one hand, he hoped that the Sanbao Winery's orders could revitalize the printing factory. On the other hand, he also wanted to protect the Sanbao Winery. He didn't expect such a big mistake to occur.
Liu Fu described the situation he had just heard and asked, "Mayor Yu, I still don't understand what exactly went wrong with the city printing factory? Can the trademarks we ordered be delivered on time?"
Yu Guohua was a little embarrassed to speak, not knowing what to say. Chen Sheng beside him hurriedly explained the situation. This time, not only Liu Fu but also Liu Jian felt both amused and dumbfounded when they heard the whole story.
It turns out the city printing factory had long been an empty shell, basically relying on mandatory tasks from the municipal government to maintain production. Although wages could be paid, it was only about 50%. As long as the workers could still earn money and continue working, no one made a fuss. In fact, the municipal government allocated quite a few tasks to the printing factory every year, and the factory could still make money if these tasks were completed. The money in the account was used to purchase raw materials for production, and completing the Sanbao Distillery's task was more than enough, which is why Mayor Yu Guohua dared to entrust the printing factory with printing the Sanbao Distillery's trademark.
So, where did the problem lie? It lay with the printing factory's director and accountant. Although the printing factory's director was married and had children, he had an affair with the accountant not long after being transferred to the printing factory as director, developing into a romantic relationship. For the sake of romance, the two secretly embezzled the printing factory's funds. Over the past two years, the printing factory's performance had deteriorated, and workers' wages had been decreasing. Everyone thought it was due to the overall market environment, as the performance of state-owned enterprises was generally not good, so no one suspected anything. The two became increasingly bold, embezzling more and more public funds. Later, they realized the hole was too big, and they planned to use public funds to speculate on stocks, hoping to earn money and make up for the deficit.
Who knew the stocks would be trapped? Coincidentally, at this time, the municipal government handed over the task of printing the Sanbao Distillery's trademark. The two were dumbfounded. Printing the Sanbao Distillery's trademark required extremely high anti-counterfeiting measures. From paper to templates and ink, high quality was required. It wasn't like the Education Bureau's trashy test papers, where you could just use any kind of paper. But printing the Sanbao Distillery's trademark required purchasing all the raw materials, and the deposit paid by the Sanbao Distillery was far less than the printing cost. At this point, the two were helpless. They couldn't print because they had no money, but if they didn't print, they wouldn't be able to complete the task, and if it aroused suspicion and led to an audit, the two would be going to jail.
It's still a woman's heart that's ruthless. She came up with an idea, and the two of them took out all the money from the printing factory, using the excuse of going out to purchase raw materials, and absconded with the money.
Liu Jian almost died laughing. I was wondering what was going on; I had never heard of this in my previous life. The reason is here.
If the printing of the Sanbao Winery hadn't been given to the printing factory, the printing factory could have maintained production, and the director and accountant's embezzlement of public funds would not have been exposed. They could have found a way to balance the books, and no one would have discovered these things. Even if someone did discover it, the director would have been transferred long ago, and who would still investigate? But all of this was ruined. In order to avoid going to jail, the two had no choice but to abscond. But to abscond and take all the money from the factory with them, this factory is probably finished.
Liu Fu was quite surprised after hearing this. He was more concerned about his deposit and the printed trademarks, and asked, "Mayor Yu, what about our deposit? And most importantly, our distillery is about to resume production. Without the trademark, our distillery's plans will be completely disrupted."
Yu Guohua knew that what Liu Fu said was true. This was even more important than the printing factory's matter. He couldn't let a printing factory destined to close down drag down the model he was trying to re-establish, could he? He couldn't think of a good solution to this problem for the time being.
At this time, the workers of the printing factory started to make trouble again, shouting various chaotic slogans such as "We want to produce!" "We want wages!" In fact, these workers were also very unlucky. They thought they had ushered in a turning point, but unexpectedly it turned out like this.
The printing factory's courtyard was full of workers. There were a few leaders, and at the front was the workshop director, Ren Yuan. People called him Ren Yuan, meaning that he was always willing to work hard and bear hardship. Ren Yuan was a veteran of the printing factory and a long-time Party member. He had worked diligently for decades. His original intention was not to cause trouble, but the workers were starving. What could he do but protest? He also had to support a family of four, and his eldest son was in college. After much consideration, he didn't stop them.
Mayor Yu Guohua saw the situation and went outside, accompanied by various leaders. Ren Yuan was at a loss when he saw the mayor. He had been received by the mayor a few years ago, who awarded him the title of model worker. He never imagined that the next time they met would be under these circumstances.
Yu Guohua also didn't expect to see Ren Yuan, and said, "Ren Yuan, you're a veteran Party member, how can you lead the workers to cause trouble?" His words were stern and his tone was serious.
Ren Yuan hesitated and said, "Mayor, I know it's wrong to do this, and as a party member, I haven't played the role I should. But we can't be at peace if we don't get a clear answer. How did the factory get to this point? The factory director ran away, the accountant ran away, all the factory's money is gone, and everyone is saying our factory is going to close down. Is this true? I've worked in the factory for decades, how can it just close down like that? What will we do? What else can we do besides printing? I also have a family to support! Mayor, please save us!" As he spoke, Ren Yuan couldn't help but kneel down, tears streaming down his face. After he knelt, more and more people knelt down, and the workers kept shouting, "Mayor, please save us!"
In the room, only Liu Fu, his son, and Chen Sheng remained. Watching the scene outside, Chen Sheng said with a wry smile, "Brother, I never thought the printing factory would become like this. I originally wanted to help them, but I didn't expect to hurt you instead."
Liu Fu looked at the workers kneeling all over the ground, feeling deeply moved. If he hadn't hardened his heart and ventured into business himself, would he have ended up like this? Hearing what Chen Sheng said, Liu Fu shook his head, "Brother, this is not your fault. I know it was Mayor Yu's rigid arrangement. You guys had no ulterior motives. No one expected this kind of situation to occur. The only thing I want to know is, how will this be resolved? What about my trademark?"
Chen Sheng thought for a moment and said, "This is really difficult to resolve. I estimate you won't be able to get your deposit back anytime soon. As for the trademarks, you should contact another printing factory as soon as possible, so as not to delay the winery's resumption of production. Alas, this printing factory is probably not going to get over this hurdle."
Liu Fu was stunned and said, "Really? My deposit is only tens of thousands of yuan, which is not a large sum. I can understand if they can't pay it back for a while, but the printing factory is going bankrupt? How is that possible?"
Chen Sheng said with a wry smile, "Brother, your money is not much, but they ran away with more than just your money. They also owe money to paper mills and stationery factories. The most terrible thing is that they ran away with the one million yuan loan from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China this year. This money was guaranteed by the municipal government to maintain the normal operation of the printing factory. This is not a small amount, and who knows how long it will take to sort out this mess."
As they talked, both of them frowned, unable to find a solution. After a while, Yu Guohua and the others returned to the meeting room. The workers had already dispersed, and no one knew what demands Mayor Yu had agreed to.
As soon as he entered the meeting room, Mayor Yu said to Liu Fu, "Boss Liu, I just had an idea. Come to the Municipal Government tomorrow, let's research it first, and I'll talk to you about the specifics tomorrow."
Liu Fu was stunned, wondering what they were going to discuss, but he agreed. When the mayor asks to talk to you, can you say no?
Leaving the printing factory, Liu Fu still hadn't decided what to talk about. He asked Liu Jian, who replied with a smile, "Dad, why are you racking your brain about this? We'll find out tomorrow anyway. He's not going to sell the printing factory to us again, is he?"
As soon as he finished speaking, both father and son were stunned. Liu Fu slammed on the brakes and looked at Liu Jian, asking, "No way, right?" But this sentence was no longer in a certain tone, filled with doubt.
Liu Jian didn't say anything, but his expression betrayed him. Reminded by Liu Jian, Liu Fu also had this feeling, but could it really be possible?
There are many inexplicable things in this world. Sometimes you don't even know how it happened or why it happened, like Liu Jian's rebirth, or Mayor Yu Guohua's thoughts.
Coming out of the mayor's office, Liu Fu's head was still a mess. What to do? He didn't have a clue. After getting in the car, he drove to a quiet place, partly to calm down, and partly to hear what his amazing son thought.
Although Liu Jian was mentally prepared, he still couldn't quite believe it when he heard Liu Fu say it.