Siheyuan: Revenge of the Stupid Pillar

Steel rolling mill, conference room.

Party Secretary Xiao Zhenggang sat in the upper seat with a majestic look. He glanced around and saw that all the participants had arrived. He said calmly:

"Now that everyone is here, let's start the meeting!"

"I believe everyone has already known about Yi Zhonghai and others. Now let's discuss their punishment."

"Snapped!"

Li Huaide slammed the table and said angrily: "What else is there to discuss? People who commit crimes and have corrupt morals should be fired directly."

As soon as Li Huaide spoke, his younger brothers echoed him one after another.

"I agree with Director Li's opinion. Our steel mill is a key state-supported unit and cannot harbor filth. We should have zero tolerance for people like Yi Zhonghai who break the law and have bad conduct."

"I also agree to fire Yi Zhonghai and his men. Keeping such people in the factory is like a time bomb. If we are not careful, it will affect the entire steel mill."

"Yes! These people's behavior is too bad. They organized a group to commit fraud and ruined people's marriages. Keeping such people here will affect the reputation of our factory."

Seeing the excitement of the crowd, Yang Xinmin's eyes flashed with surprise, and he quickly said:

"Everyone, please be patient. Yi Zhonghai and his men did make mistakes, but they are old employees of our factory after all. We can't just punish them with one blow. We have to give them a chance to reform."

"Especially Yi Zhonghai, he is an eighth-level fitter that our factory has worked so hard to train. We can't give up on such a talent so easily."

As soon as Yang Xinmin finished speaking, people from his group also echoed him.

"I agree with Director Yang's opinion. No one is perfect. After correcting his mistakes, he is still a good comrade!"

"I also agree with Director Yang's opinion. We should not be too harsh on our fellow workers. We should give them a chance to reform themselves."

"If we fire people for minor offenses, it will discourage fellow workers and be detrimental to unity. Unity and stability are paramount."

"Yes! Our country is ruled by workers and peasants. Workers are our brothers and sisters. How can we fire them at will?"

Li Huaide said angrily: "How can this be called a casual dismissal?"

"They didn't make mistakes, they committed crimes. They are criminals. Tolerating criminals is to shield crimes."

Yang Xinmin said with a smile: "Director Li, what you said is a bit serious. We didn't say that we won't punish them, but we just don't recommend expelling them. After all, Yi Zhonghai is a rare talent."

Li Huaide said sternly: "Director Yang, I don't agree with your opinion. It doesn't mean that anyone with ability can commit crimes. Ability is important, but character is more important than ability."

“People often say that people with both virtue and talent are the best, people with virtue but no talent are good, people with talent but no virtue are drugs, and people with neither talent nor virtue are waste.”

"People like Yi Zhonghai, who are capable but have low moral character, are very dangerous. If we keep him in the factory, something bad will happen sooner or later."

He is strong by him, and the breeze is blowing on the hills; he is strong by him, and the moon is shining on the river.

Xiao Zhenggang watched the quarrel between Yang Xinmin and Li Huaide calmly. He remained unmoved and only spoke when the two factions started arguing fiercely.

"Ahem, our party advocates democratic centralism. Since everyone has different opinions, let's vote and the minority obeys the majority."

Xiao Zhenggang's words were well-reasoned and Yang Xinmin and Li Huaide could not find any flaws, so they had no choice but to agree.

"Please raise your hands if you agree with Director Yang..."

"Wow!"

"Please raise your hands if you agree with Director Li..."

"Wow!"

The result is obvious, Yang Xinmin won.

Although Li Huaide is versatile and good at scheming, he has only been in the steel mill for a short time and his foundation is still slightly insufficient.

Although Li Huaide had anticipated this outcome, he still couldn't help but get furious. He secretly decided to call his father-in-law after the meeting and accuse Yang Xinmin of harboring criminals and interfering with the judiciary.

Even if I cannot get Yang Xinmin fired, I still have to vent my anger.

Xiao Zhenggang said with a smile: "It seems that the majority of people agree not to expel Yi Zhonghai and others, so let's discuss the punishment for Yi Zhonghai and others!"

"Let's go one by one, starting with Yi Zhonghai."

In order to avoid losing too badly, Li Huaide naturally had to do his best to increase the punishment on Yi Zhonghai and others.

"Yi Zhonghai defrauded others of their money and ruined their marriages. His behavior is extremely bad. I suggest that he be given a serious warning, demoted to an apprentice, and never be allowed to take the promotion exam again."

Yang Xinmin frowned and said, "This punishment is too severe. When Yi Zhonghai finds out, he will definitely give up and muddle through. He will be passive and lazy, which will be detrimental to the factory."

Li Huaide retorted: "The punishment should be heavier to serve as a warning. If it is dealt with in a painless manner, not everyone will learn from Yi Zhonghai. Then how should we manage our steel mill with more than 20,000 workers?"

Yang Xinmin said angrily: "Director Li, you are exaggerating..."

"How can I be considered alarmist? I am just trying to scare the crap out of you, to nip it in the bud..."

"What do you mean by threatening others with a warning? I think you are just abusing your power and seeking revenge for personal gain."

"Director Yang, please be careful with your words. I have no grudges against Yi Zhonghai and others. Why are you taking revenge for personal gain? I am doing this entirely for the sake of the factory and for the public good."

"Director Li, I apologize for my careless words, but I still think your punishment is too severe."

“I don’t think it’s heavy at all.”

……

After a heated debate between Yang Xinmin and Li Huaide, the punishment results for Yi Zhonghai and other three were finally announced.

Yi Zhonghai's punishment results:

First, a serious warning will be given and the entire factory will be criticized.

Second, he was demoted from a level 8 fitter to a level 4 fitter and was not allowed to take part in the upgrade assessment in the next six years.

Third, after being released from prison, write a 5,000-word self-criticism and make it on stage at a factory-wide meeting.

Qin Huairu's punishment results:

First, a serious warning will be given and the entire factory will be criticized.

Second, first-level fitters will be demoted to apprentices and will not be allowed to participate in upgrading assessments in the next eight years.

Third, after being released from prison, write a 5,000-word self-criticism and make it on stage at a factory-wide meeting.

In fact, no one took Qin Huairu's punishment seriously, and there was no excessive debate. After all, she was just a first-level fitter, and her presence or absence would have no impact on the steel mill.

If it weren't for the fact that she had three children to support, everyone would have wanted to fire her. After all, this woman was useless and troublesome, and no one had a good impression of her.

Xu Damao's punishment results:

First, a serious warning will be given and the entire factory will be criticized.

Second, the eighth-level projectionist will be downgraded to the ninth-level projectionist and will not be allowed to take part in the upgrade assessment in the next five years.

Third, after being released from prison, write a 5,000-word self-criticism and make it on stage at a factory-wide meeting.