Chapter 46: Retribution

“Dad, that Li Mu showed me no respect at all. You have to help me vent this anger!”
That evening, Guo Yuhang was at home, hysterically shouting at his father, who was the director of the mine.
Although Guo Lin doted on his son, after hearing the whole story, he felt it was nothing more than a verbal spat. He waved his hand helplessly and said, “Alright, your old man is at least the head of a mine. You can’t expect me to discipline a kid barely in his teens, can you? If you want to teach him a lesson, just find a few people outside. It’s easy enough.”
“I don’t want you to teach him a lesson!” Guo Yuhang gritted his teeth, emphasizing the word “him” with particular clarity.
He continued, his face clouded, “I’ll handle him myself. What I want is for you to fire his parents from the mine!”
Guo Lin frowned. “Yuhang, don’t drag family into a quarrel between kids. It’s not easy for me to hold this position; so many eyes are watching, hoping to see me replaced. I can take risks to earn you enough money for a lifetime, but I can’t risk it for such childish things. You know how many people would question it if a state-owned mine director suddenly fired two employees without cause? How many would gossip behind my back?”
Workers at state-owned enterprises call their jobs “iron rice bowls” because they’re so secure. Unless someone makes an irreparable mistake, it’s almost impossible to fire them. To dismiss employees without reason, especially in front of thousands of workers, is to smash their livelihoods—an action sure to breed resentment.
Guo Yuhang’s mother, Xue Guilan, who was sitting nearby, also tried to persuade him. “Yuhang, nowadays even the mayor wouldn’t dare fire state enterprise workers without cause. You’d offend all the workers at once.”
Xue Guilan was the vice-chairwoman of the Xiling Coal Mine union and knew the workers well. They could easily be stirred up by injustice. Just a few years ago, when the mine’s profits were down and wages went unpaid for months, over a thousand employees staged a sit-in in the city center, paralyzing traffic and alarming the municipal party secretary.
Guo Yuhang was displeased. He stamped his foot and said, “Dad, Mom, I’ve already found out—the girl’s name is Su Yingxue. Her father is Su Weimin, deputy director of our city’s public security bureau. When I went to enroll at the driving school, I spotted her right away. But Li Mu, not only was he flirting with her, he embarrassed me in front of her. How am I supposed to hold my head up around her now?”
“Su Weimin’s daughter?” Guo Lin squinted, sizing up his son, thinking to himself: He knew better than anyone what kind of son he had—a young man who wasted his days, had no ambition, and was already dabbling in romance. Recently, he’d seduced a vocational school graduate from the mine, and her parents confronted him, forcing Guo Lin to spend tens of thousands to settle the matter.
Guo Lin didn’t object to his son dating, but he thought his son should have higher standards. Chasing girls from the mine led nowhere. But now, his son had taken a fancy to Su Weimin’s daughter. Su Weimin was only forty-one and already a deputy director—third in command but young, almost certain to be promoted. With some patience, he could become a deputy mayor in charge of police affairs—a remarkable political background for Haizhou.
In comparison, Guo Lin, as a mine director, was lacking. He had no political pedigree, just some connections in the mining group headquartered in Pengcheng, which meant he had virtually no foundation in Haizhou.
If his son could win Su Weimin’s daughter, it would be an enormous boon.
Guo Lin asked with keen interest, “What else did you find out?”

“I learned she’s enrolled at Renmin University in Yanjing this year.”
Guo Lin smacked his lips, “She’s off to college soon. Why put in all this effort?”
“I want to study in Yanjing too!”
Guo Yuhang blurted it out almost without thinking.
Guo Lin and Xue Guilan exchanged glances. They had always hoped he would attend college, even though he scored less than two hundred on the entrance exam. Guo Lin had considered paying for him to attend some obscure university, partly so he could broaden his horizons, partly because it would be embarrassing for the mine director’s son to drop out after high school.
Yet Guo Yuhang had always resisted the idea, for a simple reason: in Haizhou, he was a typical second-generation rich kid. He had connections, respect, and plenty of girls waiting for his favor. If he left for another city, all those advantages would vanish.
But now, just because he’d met Su Yingxue once, he was determined to study in Yanjing—a transformation that delighted both his parents. Their years of persuasion had failed, but a single girl had changed his mind.
Guo Lin was immediately excited. “Going to Yanjing is great! There are many private universities there. I’ll pick one closest to Renmin University. Don’t worry—once you’re in Yanjing, I’ll buy you an apartment and a car. You can take your time pursuing that Su… what's her name.”
“Su Yingxue!”
“Yes, Su Yingxue!”
Xue Guilan chimed in, “When you’re in Yanjing, you’ll have a car and an apartment at nineteen—what girl wouldn’t you win? We’ll give you enough pocket money for all your expenses.”
She knew her son would be won over by such sweet promises. Their family was wealthy, with tens of millions in hidden assets, not to mention the millions earned from the coal shipped out of Xiling Mine in the past year alone. With only one son, they spared no expense.
Guo Yuhang was immediately tempted. “I want a Crown, the 2000 Millennium Edition, top-of-the-line!”
Guo Lin calculated that the top model Toyota Crown would cost sixty or seventy thousand, which sounded steep but was no problem for them. He’d never agree to buy such a car in Haizhou, but in Yanjing, there was no need to worry.
He said, “Alright, as long as you’re willing to study in Yanjing, I’ll buy you the Crown you want and an apartment near Renmin University!”

Guo Yuhang was thrilled but hadn’t forgotten Li Mu. He blurted, “What about Li Mu? We can’t just let him off. It’d be best if he couldn’t even afford college, kept away from Su Yingxue. If you don’t solve his problem, I’m not going to Yanjing!”
Xue Guilan saw her son finally warmed up to the idea of college and was determined to keep him enthusiastic. She thought for a moment and said to Guo Lin, “The couple are both employed at the mine. Firing them without cause won’t work. Why not make sure they’re included in the layoffs at the end of the month?”
“Layoffs…” Guo Lin pondered. Xiling Coal Mine was in the midst of a wave of layoffs. There were plans for two rounds this year, and another early next year. As production shrank and resources dried up, more than half the workers would lose their jobs. As mine director, he didn’t pay much attention to each batch of names, but ordinary workers like Li Mu’s parents, even if spared this time, would inevitably be laid off by year’s end or next year.
Seeing Guo Lin consider it, Xue Guilan quickly added, “Dismissal draws too much attention, but layoffs are different. Unless it’s a leadership position, no one is surprised by layoffs nowadays—no one gossips.”
Guo Lin nodded. “The union handles this. You take care of it.”
“Alright,” Xue Guilan agreed immediately. “I’ll arrange it.”
Guo Yuhang felt a surge of satisfaction and pride. He couldn’t wait to see Li Mu and Su Yingxue at driving school again. If Li Mu learned his parents were laid off because he angered Guo Yuhang, what would he feel? The thought delighted him.
He also began to look forward to Yanjing.
If Li Mu knew what was happening, and compared it to the events of his previous life, he could guess why Guo Yuhang had gone to Yanjing—most likely because of Su Yingxue, after meeting her at the driving school and pursuing her all the way to Yanjing.
Although Guo Yuhang hadn’t won Su Yingxue in his previous life, his move to Yanjing prompted Guo Lin to buy property there, and while he didn’t win her heart, he benefited from the rapid rise of housing prices, becoming a multimillionaire in just a few years.
But now, the only unknown was whether, after antagonizing Li Mu, his life would be as smooth as before.