The big wolf is coming

  "Xiao Hua, she's a journalist, you've offended her, won't there be some trouble?"

  Yang Xindian brought out a bowl of stir-fried rice noodles and handed it to Lin Zhenhua, while anxiously asking. Just now, Lin Zhenhua had a tongue-lashing match with Song Ying, Yang Xindian heard it clearly in the kitchen, feeling very happy. She had let Song Ying squeeze her dry earlier, she felt that Lin Zhenhua's move was like taking revenge for her.

  When he saw Song Ying crying and running away, Yang Xin felt a little unbearable and began to worry. After all, her identity was that of a reporter, and Lin Zhenhua's affairs were no more than those of a middle-level cadre in a small factory.

  Lin Zhenhua shoveled the fried noodles into his mouth and said vaguely: "Yang Xin, don't be afraid of her. What's with reporters? Can they just be unreasonable?"

  "My goodness, this woman was outrageous just now."

  "What's wrong, did she scare you?"

  "It's not that, it's just that her nose is raised higher than her face, as if someone owed her money."

  "You didn't tell me earlier, if you had told me earlier, I would have punched her and made her nose unable to stand up again." Lin Zhenhua said.

  "Come to think of it, Xiaohua, she just said that she received a letter of accusation, accusing you of getting the house, could it be someone from our factory who wrote it?" Yang Xin asked.

  Lin Zhenhua smiled: "Needless to say, it must be someone from our factory who wrote this. This matter has nothing to do with outsiders."

  Yang Xin hesitated: "Could it be written by my master?"

  Lin Zhenhua said: "It's possible, of course, it could also be someone else. This letter may be aimed at the housing issue, or it could be a case of borrowing a topic to express oneself, actually it's because our labor service company is doing well and has become the target of envy."

  "Shall we go and ask who wrote it?"

  "How to ask?" Lin Zhenhua said, shaking his head and saying: "There's no need to investigate this matter, it will only stir up trouble. Yang Xin, you knowing about it is enough, don't tell Xiaofang or your parents. I'm not afraid of ghosts knocking on my door as long as I haven't done anything wrong."

  Just as he said this, he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door. Yang Xin felt a chill: "Xiaohua, someone is at the door."

  Lin Zhenhua also felt a chill run down his spine. He wasn't afraid of people coming to knock on the door, but mainly because he had just said he wasn't afraid of ghosts knocking on the door, and then suddenly there was a knocking sound, which really made it easy for people to associate.

  "Who is it?" Lin Zhenhua asked loudly.

  "Excuse me, is Comrade Lin Zhenhua in?" The voice that answered the door was male and didn't sound like a ghost.

  "It's you again." Yang Xin said in a low voice.

  "Cut the nonsense," said Lin Zhenhua. "Whoever knocks on my door is looking for me."

  As he spoke, Lin Zhenhua walked over and opened the door. Outside stood two people, led by a man in his thirties wearing glasses, with a refined and courteous appearance. Behind him was Song Ying, who had just been scolded away by Lin Zhenhua.

  "Is that Comrade Lin Zhenhua?" The bespectacled man smiled and said, "I'm Xu Haikuo, a reporter from the Jiangnan Branch of Xinhua News Agency. Xiao Song is my colleague, I suppose you've already met. This time, we two came to Hanhua Factory together for an interview."

  Lin Zhenhua didn't know if the other party was friend or foe, so he stepped aside and said: "Please come in, both of you. Let's talk inside."

  Xu Haikao took Song Ying into the house, Song Ying dodged Lin Zhenhua's gaze, her face showing a look of discontent. Yang Xin stood behind Lin Zhenhua and asked in a low voice: "Who is this man?"

  Lin Zhenhua also turned around and said in a low voice: "The old reporter who came with Reporter Song, I just hit the wolf cub, now the big wolf is looking for trouble."

  His voice was not loud, but he didn't intentionally avoid the guests either, so both reporters vaguely heard it. Song Ying was naturally angry with a twisted mouth and eyes, while Xu Haikuo chuckled and said: "Comrade Lin is very humorous, we are not wolves, at most we are sheep wearing wolf skin."

  Lin Zhenhua handed the bowl he had finished eating from to Yang Xin, telling her to take it to the kitchen to wash, and then made a gesture to Xu and Song: "Please sit down, ask whatever you want, don't hold back."

  Xu Haikuo pulled up a stool and sat down, Song Ying also sat down beside him. Xu Haikuo continued to smile and said: "Comrade Lin, you and Little Song may have some misunderstanding, let me explain."

  "Please go on," said Lin Zhenhua. Seeing that Xu Haikuo was still smiling, Lin Zhenhua didn't dare to be too harsh, after all, one shouldn't hit a smiling face.

  Xu Haikuo said slowly and calmly:

  The reason for this is that our Xinhua News Agency Jiangnan Branch and the Jiangnan Daily both received an anonymous letter of accusation signed by "some employees of the Hanhua Factory", accusing your factory of irregularities in the allocation of new housing. As a result, we each sent a reporter to conduct interviews. The Jiangnan Daily sent Xiao Song, while our branch sent me.

  We arrived in Fenghua County this afternoon, and I went with Little Song to visit some of your factory leaders and learned about the situation. In the evening, Little Song and I divided up the work, Little Song came to your home to understand the situation, and I visited some workers.

  "Just now, Little Song came to find me and said that you didn't have a pleasant conversation, I'm afraid there might be some misunderstandings between you two. So, I brought Little Song along with me. Firstly, I'd like to apologize on behalf of Little Song. Secondly, I want to clarify some things. Comrade Lin, can you give us this opportunity?"

  Xu Haikuo said to this extent, his attitude looked very sincere again. Lin Zhenhua also found it inconvenient to keep a straight face. He nodded and said: "Mr. Xu is being polite, cooperating with reporters' interviews is the duty that every citizen should fulfill."

  "That's a bit too serious," Xu Haikuo said with a smile. "We're not police, just reporters. If you feel uncomfortable about anything, you don't have to answer."

  "There's nothing wrong, go ahead and ask."

  Xu Haikuo said, "Today, I visited some workers and heard many legends about you, some of which are quite legendary. Of course, there were also some negative opinions, I suppose you can guess what they are. I'd like to ask you to speak frankly and openly: do you think it's reasonable for you to have such a set of housing?"

  Lin Zhenhua thought for a second before responding: "Reasonable, but unreasonable."

  "I'd like to hear more about it," said Xu Haikuo. Song Ying, who was standing beside him, hastily pulled out her notebook and began to take notes.

  Lin Zhenhua said: "It's not reasonable because there are still many workers in the factory whose living conditions are very poor. My family has only two people, and after September, my sister went to university, so I'm the only one left at home. For one person to live in such a big house is indeed unreasonable."

  "You say it makes sense, but what makes your words reasonable?"

  "It's reasonable, because this is the treatment I deserve. I once told that reporter Song, our system should be one of rewarding diligence and punishing laziness, where those who work harder get more and those who work less get less. Since my contributions are great, I should openly and fairly enjoy the treatment I deserve. If we deprive a worker with outstanding contributions of their due treatment for the sake of personal relationships, who will be willing to work hard in the future?"

  "That makes sense, is there anything else?"

  "Besides, I could have done without this apartment, because my family's original living conditions were not that bad. But I still insisted on getting this place, and the purpose of doing so was to spread a message at the factory: the era of big-pot meals is over, and in the age of reform and opening up, whoever works hard will get rewarded. If you have ability, you can own a big house, a small car, branded clothes, and even an electric rice cooker that Song journalist is very dissatisfied with."

  "Are you saying that you did it on purpose?" Xu Haikuo was indeed a seasoned journalist, and he very sensitively grasped the important information revealed in Lin Zhenhua's words.

  Lin Zhenhua said, "I didn't think that deeply about it, but after discussing with Song earlier, I thought seriously about this matter and felt that what I did was not wrong. Not only was it not wrong, but it might even be of great significance."

  Xu Haikuo nodded, and his tone suddenly changed: "Comrade Lin, since we've discussed it to this extent, there's one thing I'd like to ask for your advice on. If you think it's inappropriate, you don't have to answer. What do you think?"

  "Please go ahead and ask your question, Mr. Xu."

  "Today, when we interviewed your deputy factory director Zhu Tiejun, he mentioned the matter of you contracting labor service company. He said that according to the original contract you signed with the factory, before the Spring Festival, you could get 7,000 yuan in contract fees, but you didn't take it and instead invested this money into expanding production in the labor service company. I'd like to ask, why didn't you take this money?"

  Lin Zhenhua said: "Xu journalist, your question is very timely. Regarding the issue of contract fees, the factory leaders have been arguing fiercely, and no one dares to give me this money, fearing that I will make mistakes because of it. As for me, I want to invest this money in the enterprise, and after the enterprise develops, I can have my own shares in the enterprise. Whether this is possible, nobody can say clearly at present, even the factory leaders are not clear whether there is such a policy. You are a journalist from Xinhua News Agency, your words can reach the top, can you ask the person in charge of policies for me to see if my approach is appropriate?"

  "Are you saying that you want to own shares of a labor service company in the future?" Xu Haikuo asked.

  "That's right."

  "But labor service companies are collectively owned enterprises, and assets should be jointly owned by the working masses. What you're doing is turning the company into a private enterprise, isn't it?"

  "Mr. Xu, think about this: if an individual's investment in a collective enterprise cannot be calculated as shares, then who will be willing to invest in the enterprise? If an enterprise has no investment, how can it develop and grow? The country is currently lacking in construction funds, so why not open up a small opportunity here to allow those who are willing to invest to have the chance?"

  "Your idea..." Xu Haikuo pondered for a moment, then said, "Sorry, I'm not the one who makes policies, so I can't give you an answer. If you agree, I can report your situation and opinions in the form of an internal reference to my superiors, maybe the department in charge of policy will see this internal reference and respond."

  "That would be great!" Lin Zhenhua said with joy, "Xu journalist, you should know that our grassroots are too lacking in channels for communication with superiors."

  "Haha, that's what we're doing," said Xu Haikuo. "So, we are not wolves, we are sheep, very friendly sheep."

  Lin Zhenhua turned his head and said to Yang Xin standing behind him: "Yang Xin, go and get some tea for the two sheep."