Chapter 191 - Don’t Go Overboard
Translator: Lav
Editor: Seliniaki Ilikia
As someone who grew up in the factory, Shi Lei was very familiar with Li Peisong. He’d kept his position of as the director of the factory through thick and thin. And Li Peisong’s son had also been Shi Lei’s classmate.
Seeing the person notorious for being deceitful appear, Shi Lei knew that Qin Huaiyuan felt pressured and had arranged for Li Peisong to save the situation.
“Aiyo, the whole family is here!” Li Peisong came in with smiles, some fruit in his hands, and a bouquet of flowers.
Shi Lei’s mother was a kind person. No matter how dissatisfied she was with the factory, no one could slap a smiling person. At the end of the day, the man was someone who came to visit her husband, so she couldn’t just shut him out. And after all this time, Li Peisong was the only colleague who came to visit Shi Zhongping.
“Director Li.” Shi Lei’s mother stood up and wiped her tears away.
“Sister-in-law(1), we didn’t do our job well…” Li Peisong talked in an official manner as he studied the mother and son and quickly concluded that it would be more effective to talk to the mother than the son. Shi Lei’s mother hadn’t spoken and yet tears were already rolling down her cheeks, making her seem soft-hearted.
Shi Lei supported his mother and helped her sit down, then turned to Li Peisong. “Uncle Li, please have a seat as well.” He had to negotiate anyway, but he first needed to see Qin Huaiyuan’s attitude.
Li Peisong smiled and passed the things in his hands over, but Shi Lei didn’t take them, making him feel awkward.
He went to put the fruit on the table only to be stopped by Shi Lei.
“Uncle Li, we are very thankful that you came to visit my father, but there’s no need for these things.”
Li Peisong was slightly surprised. Shi Lei wasn’t like this before. It seemed like he’d improved a lot after studying in university for a few years.
“Shitou, Uncle Li watched you grow up, and you were in the same class as Li Chen. I came to visit your dad and got some fruit because that’s just the natural thing to do. It isn’t worth any money…”
“Don’t be in such a hurry. Is this from the factory or from Uncle Li, yourself?”
Li Peisong felt slightly awkward. Since Shi Lei had distinguished it clearly, it was obvious that the gifts wouldn’t be accepted if he said it was from the factory.
“It’s just something small from me.”
Shi Lei finally took the fruit. Li Peisong was rather uneasy as he looked at Shi Zhongping. The man’s head was wrapped with bandages and his leg was in a cast. He couldn’t help but to think that those people really did go overboard. In any case, Shi Zhongping was already fifty years old and his body couldn’t stand to be tormented in such a way.
“How’s Lao(2) Shi’s condition?”
“Thanks to you, he’s not dead yet. We just don’t know when he’ll wake up.” Shi Lei replied vaguely, which made Li Peisong feel that the negotiation wouldn’t go smoothly for him. Although Qin Huayuan gave him a maximum of 300,000 yuan to use, he’d initially prepared to offer 100,000 yuan to test Shi Lei’s attitude. Now that he heard Shi Lei talking like that, he knew that 100,000 yuan definitely wasn’t enough.
“Uh, Shitou has really matured.” Li Peisong coughed in an attempt to mask his awkwardness, then looked to Shi Lei’s mother. “Sister-in-law, why don’t we talk for a bit?”
She was about to answer when Shi Lei signaled her with his eyes and said, “Uncle Li, you came as a representative of the factory, didn’t you?”
Li Peisong knew that he couldn’t get around that and could only nod. “Chairman Qin asked me to visit Lao Shi. He has already ordered the people responsible to turn themselves in and cooperate with the investigation, and definitely doesn’t tolerate their actions.”
Shi Lei smiled. “Don’t bother with those polite words. The reason why Qin Huaiyuan told them to turn themselves in was because I found a famous lawyer. That lawyer asked the people in this city’s police station to register the case. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have even done that, and I wouldn’t even where those people who beat my father up are. Uncle Li, since you came to negotiate on behalf of the factory, let’s talk outside as to not disturb my father’s rest.”
Shi Lei’s mother stood up in panic, but Shi Lei quickly said, “Mom, stay here. I’ll go talk with Uncle Li.”
His mother glanced at Li Peisong and then at her calm and collected son, and eventually nodded. “Shitou, don’t be impulsive. Talk to Director Li nicely.”
Shi Lei smiled as he gestured to the door and stepped outside the ICU .
“Let’s talk by the window. There’s too many people here.” Shi Lei didn’t give Li Peisong time to reject as he walked toward the window at the end of the corridor.
After Li Peisong followed him there, Shi Lei leaned against the window and said, “Uncle Li, how does Qin Huaiyuan plan to settle this?”
Li Peisong looked at Shi Lei seriously and realized that he really couldn’t treat him as a child. He could even receive the help of a great lawyer, which meant that he hadn’t only been studying these past three years, but also making some connections. Although a student wasn’t really anything to be afraid of, he’d asked a lawyer to interfere. And that lawyer accepted the case, so this incident definitely couldn’t go as they’d initially planned.
Li Peisong revised his words. “First, I apologize to comrade Lao Shi on behalf of the factory. This incident only happened because of misconduct and lax supervision. Chairman Qin was also shocked and ordered for an explanation to be given to your family. And the factory has decided to compensate you accordingly. Don’t worry about medical expenses. The factory will cover all of that. And factory owner Qin will directly compensate your family with 150,000 yuan.”
Shi Lei ignored Li Peisong’s words. “I definitely want compensation, but that’s not the important part,” he replied straightforwardly. “Since you are here on behalf of the factory, I’ll be direct. My family’s request is simple. First, it’s impossible to reconcile like this. I want the perpetrators to take full responsibility of injuring my father. Second, Qin Huaiyuan must publicly apologize to my parents. My father wasn’t the only one who was hit. My mother as well, just not severe enough to warrant a thorough examination. In any case, my father worked for the factory for thirty years. Even if he was laid off, he can’t be beaten up like this for no good reason. Third, we got our house by raising enough money and the factory did indeed pay for part of it, but that was a benefit given to my father for working there for so long. So this house must belong to my family. Fourth, for the compensation, I will wait until my lawyer is here to consult in detail and decide on the amount of money.” Li Peisong gasped. Shi Lei’s requests was basically stirring up trouble. Compensation was fine, since 300,000 yuan would definitely be enough, but Qin Huaiyuan definitely wouldn’t agree to the first three demands. The people did it under his orders, so if the case was to be investigated, then Qin Huaiyuan couldn’t get out of it. It was even more impossible for him to apologize publicly. How could he bear to do that? And the house. Qin Huaiyuan had emphasized that they could not back off on that. If they did, then that was basically admitting that the factory was in the wrong.
Li Peisong laughed bitterly. “Shitou, you don’t even want to negotiate!”
“I never wanted to negotiate. Maybe you can pass my words onto Qin Huaiyuan, then. Tell him that I’ll go and demolish his house, and then beat him up. I won’t be excessive. I promise he’ll just be injured on the same level as my father. Only a hole in his head and a broken leg. Nothing else. How about that?”
“Shi Lei, don’t go overboard!” Li Peisong yelled angrily.
Sister-in-law: they are not related, but it’s a friendly way of addressing a friend’s wife Lao: means old, usually used by older adults to address friends around the same age