"Zhou Kai, listen to my advice," Zhang Wenhui said seriously, then added, "Now that you've been moving towards whitewashing, you shouldn't handle problems the way you used to. It's not appropriate for you. You need to understand that everything you say and do now represents the Sichuan University Group. I believe that if it were Lin Chuan, he would definitely hand these people over to us rather than deal with them privately."

Zhou Kai was startled for a moment, obviously hesitating. After all, the incident involved the reputation of the Sichuan University Group, so he didn't know what to do.

"Zhou Kai, hand them over to me," Song Xiaojia immediately said.

Zhou Kai gritted his teeth, "No, I have to give an explanation to the neighbors."

"I will explain it to Lin Chuan," Song Xiaojia said immediately.

"I..." Zhou Kai was stunned again.

Song Xiaojia immediately stepped forward, then called for two buses via the intercom and took all those hundred or so people away.

The people in the factory watched as these individuals were taken away. Those who were being removed also heaved a sigh of relief. They would rather fall into the hands of the police than into the hands of the Jvyi Gang. In the hands of the police, at worst, they would only face imprisonment, whereas in the hands of the Jvyi Gang, even if they didn't lose their lives, they would probably lose their arms and legs. They had long heard of the Jvyi Gang's brutality, so they were extremely frightened.

Watching these people being taken away, Zhou Kai was very annoyed.

On the bus, Song Xiaojia laughed, "Captain Zhang, you really know how to handle things!"

"Just a matter of reasoning with them and appealing to their emotions," Zhang Wenhui chuckled.

"If Lin Chuan were here, would he really hand these people over to us?" Song Xiaojia asked doubtfully.

"No!" Zhang Wenhui shook his head, "From what I know of Lin Chuan, he is a person with strong opinions, and he's quite obstinate. Seeing his own neighbors bullied like this, he would definitely become enraged. Nobody would be able to calm an angry Lin Chuan."

"Hmm," Song Xiaojia felt Zhang Wenhui made a lot of sense.

Zhang Wenhui smiled, "So, we've taken advantage of a loophole."

"Then we need to hurry up and clear up the investigation to give Lin Chuan an explanation," Song Xiaojia said seriously.

............

At Changlin Factory, Zhou Kai and his team hastily worked to extinguish the fire. The blaze was too great, and even two fire engines couldn't contain it. The shantytown was too densely packed, leading to a domino effect where a whole swath of shantytown and nearby bungalows were engulfed. Hundreds to thousands of square meters were scorched.

The fire brigade was helpless and had to deploy large carbon dioxide fire engines.

Four fire engines were involved in the firefighting effort, and it wasn't until the evening that the fire was completely extinguished. However, the area was in complete disarray, pitch black, with occasional wisps of white smoke still emerging.

A group of residents stood helplessly at the edge of the ruins, trying to scavenge some of their losses, but nothing remained after the massive blaze. It was all reduced to nothingness. They could only squat on the ground and cry silently.

The brothers from the Jvyi Gang helped to extinguish the fire, rescue the injured, and comfort the affected residents. They were busy for an entire day.

In the evening, when Lin Chuan returned home from work, he discovered the turmoil. Zhou Kai, filled with righteous anger, narrated the whole incident. And he asked, "Chuan, why couldn't I get through to your phone today?"

"I was accompanying Secretary Tang on an inspection today," Lin Chuan glanced at him, "My phone was turned off the whole time on the way. I didn't expect such an incident to happen."

"The people were also taken away by the local police station," Zhou Kai said angrily.

"Forget it," Lin Chuan shook his head, "Settling accounts can wait, let's first deal with the immediate needs for shelter and necessities for these residents."

"Chuan, what should we do?" Zhou Kai, looking at the helplessly crying people. There were more than thirty affected households, over a hundred people. Their houses were burned, and nearly all their possessions turned to ash. Moreover, these older folks didn't have the habit of depositing money in the bank; they preferred hiding cash in wardrobes or within wall crevices. This fire disaster utterly destroyed the small savings they had accumulated with hard work."

"My compensation money!" An elderly man pulled out a metal box from the ruins, which contained the hundred thousand yuan of compensation he had received from the Sichuan University Group. As the box opened, it revealed clumps of black ash with scarcely recognizable faces of Chairman Mao printed on the now-charred banknotes.

"This is a disaster!" Many onlookers were dumbfounded at the sight.

The old man suddenly sat down and burst into loud tears, "My money, my life!"

The crying was so loud that it made it hard for the onlookers to bear. Looking on, Zhou Kai glanced at Lin Chuan, "Chuan, this..."

"Uncle," Lin Chuan walked up, "I will personally compensate you the hundred thousand yuan."

"Ah?" The elder was stunned, "Chuan, this... wouldn't be right, would it?"

"There's nothing wrong," Lin Chuan smiled, "A hundred thousand yuan means nothing to me, but it's a lifeline for you."

"Thank you, thank you so much!" the elder was immensely moved.

Lin Chuan looked around at everyone present and said, "Neighbors of Changlin Factory, those of you who suffered from today's disaster will have your expenses covered by the Sichuan University Group, and you'll all stay in a hotel."

"Really?" The crowd was startled, as if they had heard the voice of an angel.

"That's right." Lin Chuan nodded and said, "We know it's not easy for everyone, especially after such an event. Therefore, our Sichuan University Group has decided to donate to help everyone."

Of the necessities of life—food, clothing, shelter, and transportation—shelter is of utmost importance. Food is a minor issue; one can simply eat something to resolve it. But without a place to stay, one would be forced to sleep on the streets. Staying with relatives can work for a day or two, but over time it becomes a burden to the hosts. Now that Sichuan University Group has decided to subsidize everyone for hotel accommodations, naturally, everyone is very willing to accept.

Soon, Li Xiaodong from Sichuan University Group quickly arrived at the scene and took over the matter.

Li Xiaodong brought a few people, set up a table on site, and was responsible for counting the number of disaster victims. All the disaster victims had to be identified and vouched for by the residents of Changlin Factory to ensure that those harboring greedy thoughts did not mix in with the victims.

After all this was done, Li Xiaodong immediately got someone to contact a chain hotel, and opened a room for each family. Given the disaster, having a room to live in was already very good. As for food, it was up to them to sort it out, either by eating fast food or cooking themselves.

Busy until 10 p.m., the last household finally received their room card, and this matter was temporarily resolved. Li Xiaodong, along with several Sichuan University Group employees, drove home, exhausted.

Lin Chuan and Zhou Kai were at the hospital.

Three people in the factory died: Uncle Zhou, Aunt Liu, and a young man. Each was stabbed through the heart; a fatal blow.

The families of the three cried as if their worlds had collapsed.

There were also quite a few injured people lying in the hospital.

"Brother Chuan, these people are ruthlessly brutal," Zhou Kai said through clenched teeth. "Killing three people, we can't let them off easily."

Drip...

Lin Chuan took a deep drag of his cigarette, squinting his eyes. He had already surveyed the scene, and the young man's stab wound to the heart was particularly alarming, almost a deadly strike. The precision of the knife work was evident; it was clear that this was premeditated. This definitely wasn't the doings of just any rioting civilians, but definitely the work of underworld figures.

"Brother Chuan, say something!" urged Lu Dapao anxiously.

At this moment, Song Xiaojia hurried in.

"Officer Song, why are you here?" A group of people quickly gathered around.

"Lin Chuan." Song Xiaojia, upon seeing Lin Chuan, involuntarily straightened up.

"Xiao Jia?" Lin Chuan looked at Song Xiaojia, asking in confusion, "What's brought you here so late at night, is something the matter?"

"I've already investigated today's incident," Song Xiaojia said seriously.

"What's the situation?" Lin Chuan inquired.

"After investigating and reviewing the Sky Net surveillance footage, we found that there were two groups of people causing trouble today," Song Xiaojia said as she took out a few photos from a folder she brought. Zhou Kai immediately recognized one of the individuals, a dark-skinned and burly man who was leading the trouble today. Zhou Kai exclaimed, "Yes, it's him, this person was the most vicious. Aunt Liu was killed by him."

Song Xiaojia nodded and said, "This man is a notorious bandit wandering through three provinces and one city, with several murder cases on his record. I didn't expect that this guy would appear in Jiangbei City."

"Is that so?" Lin Chuan furrowed his brows and said, "How could this man appear in Changlin Factory without any reason?"

"There must be someone behind this who bought him off," Song Xiaojia immediately said.

"Could it be Liu Jianguo?!" Zhou Kai exclaimed.

"It must be him!" Lu Dapao urgently added.

However, Lin Chuan was not convinced.

Song Xiaojia asked curiously, "How could Liu Jianguo possibly have contact with such people?"

"That kid's cunning," Zhou Kai said through gritted teeth. "For money, he would do anything."

Lin Chuan shook his head and said, "Liu Jianguo doesn't have the capability, nor the guts."

"Brother Chuan, why are you still making excuses for Liu Jianguo?" Zhou Kai asked in confusion.

"Well, nevermind Liu Jianguo probably not having the means to contact such notorious bandits, he also doesn't have the capability to hire them," Lin Chuan chuckled. "Paying a few thousand or tens of thousands to hire some hooligans might interest him. But to spend hundreds of thousands, even millions to hire a few notorious bandits, I'm afraid he doesn't have the capability, and moreover, he doesn't have the money."

Zhou Kai and Lu Dapao, upon hearing this, felt that Lin Chuan seemed to make some sense.

"If it's not Liu Jianguo, then who could it be?" Zhou Kai asked curiously.

"Xiao Jia, do you have any leads?" Lin Chuan asked.

"Not at the moment," Song Xiaojia shook her head and said, "I've already sent people after them, hoping to receive some good news."

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