After Lin Baicheng left the factory, Liu Yihui went to find the factory's security captain, Wu Jianjun.
"Captain Wu, come out for a moment."
Liu Yihui called Wu Jianjun out of the security office.
"Factory Director Liu, is something the matter?"
Seeing that it was Liu Yihui, Wu Jianjun immediately stepped outside.
"Let's go over there and talk while we walk."
Liu Yihui pointed toward an empty spot and began walking in that direction.
"What's going on?"
Wu Jianjun was a little confused, but he knew Liu Yihui must have something he didn't want others to hear. Otherwise, he would've just said it in the security room.
After walking a dozen or so steps and confirming no one else was nearby, Liu Yihui finally spoke. "Captain Wu, did you or any of your people offend President Lin or Manager Lin from the Finance Department?"
The only explanation he could think of was that someone among the mainland workers, like Wu Jianjun, had offended Lin Baicheng or his sister, Lin Shufang. Otherwise, why would President Lin suddenly make such arrangements?
"That's impossible!"
Wu Jianjun immediately shook his head. "Director Liu, all of us rely on President Lin to make a living. How could we possibly offend him or his sister? He gave us stable jobs—we respect him, we'd never dare offend him."
"That's true."
Liu Yihui nodded. In the workplace, how many employees dared to offend their boss unless they wanted to quit? And for mainlanders like Wu Jianjun, finding work in Hong Kong wasn't easy. Having a stable factory job was already a blessing. He believed they would cherish it—even more than the local workers—and would never dare offend the boss or his family.
"Director Liu, did something happen? Please tell me directly, or I won't be at ease."
Wu Jianjun looked at him nervously. He wasn't stupid; since Liu Yihui was asking this, something must have happened.
"Here's the situation."
Since he had decided to ask Wu Jianjun, Liu Yihui didn't plan to hide it. Besides, he could tell that although he didn't know why President Lin made such an arrangement, President Lin wasn't biased against mainlanders. If someone had really offended him, he could have just kicked them out of the factory.
Besides, in Hong Kong these days, hiring for factories was easy. In the villages near Kwun Tong, plenty of people were waiting to get into factory work. They could easily replace Wu Jianjun and the others.
"Not long ago, President Lin came to me and said that from now on, the number of mainland workers in the factory cannot exceed half of the total workforce—at most thirty to forty percent. In other words, with your current proportion of workers, once the new factory is completed, they basically won't be hiring people from your side anymore."
"How can this be?!"
The news struck Wu Jianjun like a bolt from the blue. He never expected Lin Baicheng to make such a decision.
Seeing his stunned expression, Liu Yihui added, "So I thought—did someone offend President Lin or Manager Lin? Otherwise, why would he suddenly do this?"
"That's impossible. If someone had offended President Lin or Manager Lin, everyone would know soon enough."
Wu Jianjun forced a bitter smile and shook his head. If something like that had happened, it wouldn't stay secret—it would spread immediately.
"You have a point," Liu Yihui agreed with a nod. Seeing the worry on Wu Jianjun's face, he comforted him, "Don't worry too much. President Lin only said that mainland workers shouldn't make up more than half of the total workforce. He isn't firing anyone already hired. That means it's not too serious and won't affect you directly."
"It's already serious enough."
Wu Jianjun sighed. This situation had to be dealt with. If President Lin started to look down on mainlanders, that would be terrible. And if the factory stopped or reduced recruiting people from the mainland in the future, it would affect many families' livelihoods.
"That's all. I'll get back to work."
Liu Yihui patted him on the shoulder and left. He wasn't a mainlander himself—telling Wu Jianjun was already a courtesy for the sake of their years of working together. He wouldn't get further involved.
"Thank you, Director Liu."
Wu Jianjun thanked him and returned to the security office with a troubled expression.
"Brother Wu, what happened?"
Seeing his gloomy face, everyone could tell something was wrong.
"It's nothing—what could possibly happen?"
Wu Jianjun forced a bitter smile and didn't say more. He was afraid the news would get distorted, spread around, and affect everyone's work—making things even worse.
Everyone could tell something was off, but since he didn't want to talk, they kept their questions to themselves.
At around nine that night, after estimating that everyone should be home, Wu Jianjun went to visit Chen Yaoxian—one of President Lin's personal bodyguards.
Chen Yaoxian had already returned from work. Although surprised to see him, he still invited him into the house.
There were four people in Chen Yaoxian's family. His wife was also from the mainland, though they met and married in Hong Kong. Their children were still young—only three or four years old.
As a personal bodyguard of President Lin, his salary and treatment were even better than Wu Jianjun's as security captain. Not only had President Lin advanced them some money, but he even bought a townhouse for his bodyguards to live in—completely rent-free.
Although the housing in Kwun Tong wasn't luxurious, two rooms had been merged into one spacious unit—much better than their previous rentals. They were already very satisfied.
Having experienced death once, Lin Baicheng treasured his life. Now that he had made money, he didn't want anything to happen to him before he could enjoy it. That's why he placed great importance on his safety. He had over a dozen personal bodyguards working in shifts to protect him, and every night, several of them stayed at the villa.
He treated his bodyguards very well and made efforts to take care of their families. His reasoning was simple: if one day danger really came, he hoped they would be willing to risk their lives to protect him because of his kindness.
Spending more money was fine—best if nothing ever happened. But even if danger came just once, and his bodyguards were willing to risk everything to protect him, then all his efforts would be worth it. After all, a person only has one life.