Seeing them all looking like quails, Zhang Liunian continued, "If you don't speak up, I'll give you one last chance. If this kind of thing happens again, you can pack your bags and leave. Do you understand?"
"We understand." Whether it was fear of Zhang Liunian's presence, they involuntarily replied.
However, the sound was so faint, it was clear they were just saying it out of fear.
Zhang Liunian didn't care if they were convinced. He just wanted them to understand the consequences of these actions.
"You still haven't said if you'll fire Director Chen. We only recognize Director Chen." Someone among the employees hadn't been swayed by Zhang Liunian and hadn't forgotten the purpose of their visit.
"No, Boss Zhang is magnanimous and didn't fire me." Chen Zhenghe felt a little comforted seeing everyone so concerned about his situation.
"Really? That's great!" The employees cheered.
Zhang Liunian watched them cheer, turned around, and sat back in the car. Chen Zhenghe immediately followed.
They still had to order and deliver goods to each household. These two days were very busy.
Fortunately, these merchants weren't like Old Man Zhu, who had so many ill intentions. When they heard about their pig farm's troubles, they were willing to supply them with goods.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye. Chen Zhenghe's compensation money was spent, and Fuqiang Pig Farm had finally resumed its previous operations.
Moreover, the factory's safety factor had more than doubled. There were several patrols every night, the walls were raised and reinforced, and the gatekeepers dared not be the slightest bit slack.
Seeing that the pig farm had resumed normal operations, Zhang Liunian decided to go to Nancheng to see. Tomorrow was the last day. If the forty merchants didn't show up, he would close the department store.
However, what he didn't expect was that before he could enter Nancheng, he was stopped outside.
Upon asking someone, he learned that a flu epidemic had appeared in Nancheng in the past two days, spreading very rapidly. In just two days, one-tenth of Nancheng's population had contracted the disease.
To prevent the disease from spreading and to avoid increasing Nancheng's medical burden, the leaders of Nancheng had completely sealed off the city.
Not only were people not allowed to leave, but they were also not allowed to enter.
"How could this happen?" Zhang Liunian remembered that this was supposed to happen next year. Why did it happen in advance?
Could it be that his rebirth caused it?
No, if that Wang Dahammer was truly a member of the Tang family, it wouldn't be difficult for him to spread the disease.
However, this was all his personal speculation and couldn't constitute anything concrete.
Now that he couldn't enter Nancheng, he could only call to inquire about the situation there.
His first call was to his home, but no one answered. Zhang Liunian panicked inexplicably. Then he called the Nancheng Department Store. This time, it rang three times before someone answered. The person who answered was Li Chunhua, the office team leader.
"Team Leader Li, where are Manager Meng and Deputy Manager Du?" As soon as the call was connected, Zhang Liunian immediately asked about the two of them.
Li Chunhua replied, "Boss, Manager Meng is missing. He hasn't come in since yesterday, and he didn't come today either. Deputy Manager Du seems to have gone to handle something, but I'm not sure what.
Do you know? Nancheng was just sealed off. Everyone is rushing to sell things, and it's almost chaos inside."
It was Li Chunhua's first time encountering such a situation, and she was very nervous. After receiving this call, she chattered like a bamboo tube pouring out beans, revealing everything.
"If Manager Meng is missing, then he's missing. Don't bother with him. Go and inform the forty merchants that the department store will close tonight and will not open tomorrow. We will continue this until the contracts are re-signed. Anyone who dares to trespass will be reported to the police." Meng Jie Chu is missing? It seems he ran away and doesn't want to deal with this.
Zhang Liunian didn't care either, as he didn't want Meng Jie Chu anyway.
"Understood." Li Chunhua accepted the order.
"Deputy Manager Du is here. Have him call me on this number immediately. I'll wait here." Zhang Liunian hung up and waited in the phone booth. About an hour later, he received a call from Du Ziteng.
"Brother Liunian, it's not good. Sister-in-law is missing."
Boom!
Zhang Liunian's mind exploded. After a while, he asked, "What did you say?"
"Sister-in-law is missing. I just received news that Sister-in-law went out to buy some things, and after she left, she never returned." Du Ziteng's tone was also very anxious.
"Impossible. They have people protecting them. If something happened, they would inform me immediately, but I haven't received any news." Zhang Liunian calmed himself down and said urgently.
"It was they who notified me because they said they couldn't reach you by phone."
"Have them speak to me." Zhang Liunian was furious.
Du Ziteng didn't dare to say more. He turned and handed the phone over to the ten-person team protecting Jiang Qingqing.
The captain took the phone and explained the whole incident.
Originally, Jiang Qingqing was buying things at the supply and marketing cooperative. However, upon hearing the news of the city's lockdown, the people of Nancheng went crazy buying things. Amidst the pushing and shoving, Jiang Qingqing disappeared.
They immediately rushed into the crowd to search, but they found a group of people carrying sacks away. They immediately suspected that Jiang Qingqing had been carried away. However, when they caught up with these people and opened the sacks, they only found a sack of flour inside.
When they turned back to search, they found nothing.
Thus, the person disappeared before their eyes.
Bang! Zhang Liunian punched the wall. His usually calm face turned a dark shade of purple.
"Let Du Ziteng take the phone." Zhang Liunian suppressed the urge to hit someone. When Du Ziteng took the phone, he immediately asked him to bribe the bare-footed big man for information.
Du Ziteng did as he was told, hung up the phone, and went to the Nancheng teahouse with money to find the bare-footed big man Zhang Liunian mentioned.
"Brother Liunian sent me to ask you where sister-in-law went. This is what he asked me to give you." Du Ziteng pushed a stack of cash in front of the bare-footed big man.
The big man sized up Du Ziteng several times and said something that made no sense to him, "Don't betray."
Betray whom?
Du Ziteng was confused and could only repeat his previous words.
This time, the big man said nothing but directly gave him the answer.
On the other side, Zhang Liunian, who was waiting by the phone, paced anxiously. Zhang Qian didn't dare to disturb him, as he could hear that something had happened to his sister-in-law.
He couldn't help with such a major event, other than worrying.
Fortunately, about half an hour later, the phone rang again. The moment the phone rang, Zhang Liunian answered it, "Where did you go?"
"They said the person left Nancheng and was nearing the provincial capital. They also said this matter is related to Old Man Zhu." Du Ziteng replied breathlessly, while also being amazed by Zhang Liunian's capabilities, having such a place to provide him with clues.
As for why Du Ziteng had this thought, it was because he originally thought this would cost money, but the bare-footed big man waved his hand and refused, saying that Zhang Liunian wouldn't have to pay a single cent even if he came in person in the future.
Since they said so, they were naturally on their side, meaning Zhang Liunian's allies.
"Old Man Zhu?" Zhang Liunian gritted his teeth. This guy had reached out for Qingqing for the second time, and he couldn't let him get away with it.
"I heard he was released long ago, and he has already left Nancheng." Du Ziteng had also inquired at the police station after hearing Old Man Zhu's name.
He naturally got the news that Old Man Zhu had been out of prison for a long time.
"I understand. You'll close the department store tonight. If they cause trouble, report them to the police. I'll deal with this when I get back. I'm heading to the provincial capital now."
"Okay, I'll guard here. Go without worry!"
"Mm." After hanging up the phone, Zhang Liunian and Zhang Qian turned the car around and headed for the provincial capital.
"Brother Liunian, don't worry. Sister-in-law is blessed and will be safe." Zhang Qian, driving in the front, didn't forget to comfort Zhang Liunian.