Chapter 317 - 185: You’ll Have to Face the Consequences

Chapter 317: Chapter 185: You’ll Have to Face the Consequences

「The next day!」

Su Chen waited and waited in his hotel room, but he never received a call from Chen Peng.

It wasn’t until almost ten in the morning that it dawned on him: his third brother had probably already gone to the industrial park.

After a moment’s thought, Su Chen understood what was going on. Chen Peng must have thought he couldn’t be of any help. If a dispute broke out and Su Chen got into any trouble, it would be hard for Chen Peng to answer to their family. So, he’d simply chosen not to call.

’Ah, my foolish third brother!’ Su Chen sighed to himself. After quickly packing his things, he checked out of the hotel.

He hailed a taxi on the street and headed straight for the industrial park.

Meanwhile, at the Yu Peng Mould Processing Factory, things were just as Su Chen had imagined. Chen Peng and Fu Qiaoyu were arguing with a portly, middle-aged man.

Chen Peng and Qiaoyu had arrived at the factory before nine o’clock. They didn’t go to the industrial park’s management office to find the person in charge. After all, they had called Uncle Yang the night before. They figured they should wait for his call back to get a better sense of the situation before deciding on their next move.

It wasn’t just Chen Peng and his family; representatives from the other small businesses had also come to ask about the situation. After talking it over, they hadn’t learned much, but they all guessed the industrial park had landed a major client.

They were planning to lease all these factory buildings to that one client; otherwise, there would be no reason to make everyone move out.

They waited until almost 9:40 AM, when Uncle Yang finally called.

The situation was just as Chen Peng and the others had predicted. A large processing plant had taken a liking to the buildings housing their small factories and planned to use the space for a new branch.

Uncle Yang had tried to negotiate on their behalf, but the response he received was that they had to clear out as soon as possible to make room for the large processing plant.

After hanging up, Chen Peng, who had been suppressing his anger for a long time, was about to gather the owners of the other factories to go talk to the industrial park management about what to do. After all, they had signed official contracts and were entitled to compensation.

But before he could even walk out of his factory, he ran into Director Li from the park office.

Who would have thought that this portly Director Li wouldn’t even wait for Chen Peng and Fu Qiaoyu to say a word? He immediately launched into a tirade, not giving them a chance to get a word in edgewise.

How could Chen Peng tolerate such disrespect? He started shouting right back at him.

"Kid, I suggest you hurry up and find a truck to move all this stuff out. Otherwise, it’ll be too late for regrets."

Director Li paused after speaking, as if remembering something, and his tone softened slightly. "If it weren’t out of respect for Old Li, do you think I’d have personally come here to tell you this? I would’ve just had security kick you all out."

"You should know that the incoming plant is the famous Weiru Manufacturing. You ought to know how powerful they are."

"If you want to have any future in this industry, you will clear this place out for me today!" Director Li said, patting Chen Peng’s shoulder with a look of great significance.

Hearing this, not only Chen Peng but Fu Qiaoyu also shuddered. Compared to small fries like them, Weiru Manufacturing was a behemoth.

Chen Peng was still unwilling to give in, but thinking about what Director Li had just said, his tone softened considerably. "Director Li, we signed a multi-year contract with the industrial park. We paid a lot of cold, hard cash. The park can’t just take our money and then deny everything, can it?"

"Leaving aside the issue of compensation, you should at least refund our rent, right? After all, the industrial park is the one breaking the contract first."

When they signed the contract, they had to pay at least a year’s rent upfront, plus a security deposit of tens of thousands. All told, it was a significant amount of money.

Hearing this, a strange expression appeared on Director Li’s face. He seemed to recall some gossip he’d heard, and a flash of pity flickered in his eyes as he looked at Chen Peng.

It was gone in an instant, so fleeting that neither Chen Peng nor Fu Qiaoyu, standing right in front of him, noticed it.

"Ahem... As for that, we’ll only know the specifics after the finance department reviews and approves it. You know, an industrial park isn’t like an individual who can just pull out money at any time. As for the details, you’ll just have to wait for the official notice!"

Director Li was spouting pure bureaucratese. He didn’t dare make any promises about something like this. If problems arose later, he’d just be asking for trouble.

The moment he heard "wait for notice," Chen Peng’s heart sank. He might have an honest-looking face, but that didn’t mean he was an idiot. How could he not understand the bureaucratic runaround they were getting?

’Notice... Notice my ass! Once you move out of the park, trying to come back and defend your rights would be a complete pipe dream.’

’Everything had to be settled right here and now. That was the only way to avoid getting stuck in this quagmire.’

’If he didn’t get the rent and security deposit back today, Chen Peng was certain he never would. He’d never been scammed like this himself, but he’d seen plenty of similar cases.’

’Later, the industrial park would just list off some nonsense, claiming you violated the lease agreement or something. You’d be lucky if they didn’t demand a penalty fee from you, let alone give you back your rent.’

’You can say the park told you to move out first and they’d settle the rent issue later, but do you have any proof?’

’They might even turn around and blame you for everything. By then, it would be too late for tears.’

’Therefore, the only way to protect his interests was to resolve everything in one go.’