"Debao, help me get in touch
Vice President Cao of the Jinlou District Court.
That's right, the one we all had dinner with before.
Something has happened to me here,
I may have to go back to work at the Golden House Court. ”
Over the phone,
I can still hear Xu Juntong's exhaustion on the other end of the microphone.
1
Jun Xu and I were both college classmates. At the end of the 90s, I took the last train assigned by the bag and was admitted to a political and legal school in Jiangnan Province, where I became a classmate with Xu Jun.
I come from a small county town in Suzhou City, I was born in a farming family, and my dream is to be admitted to a good university, assigned a good job, and eat public food, so that I don't have to face the loess all my life like my parents. Xu Juntong came from a cadre family in Zhong City, his father was a high-ranking official in Zhong City, who resigned decisively in the 90s, took advantage of the spring breeze of reform and opening up to go to the sea to engage in business, and relied on his previous official connections to make a lot of money. At that time, I didn't know how much Xu Juntong's family property was, but I knew that his family's annual income was worth my parents' work in the fields for several lifetimes.
Xu Juntong's personality is very bold, humorous, and very open among his classmates. I'm a bit of an introvert and don't like to talk to people I don't know well. But I never expected that two of us with very different personalities would end up becoming friends.
After getting acquainted with Xu Juntong, I once asked him why his family was so rich why he still came to this political and legal school. He smiled and said that he had a childhood girlfriend, and his girlfriend's family felt that his family's business was unstable and risky, so he had to eat public meals. Xu's father also hoped that he could have a guarantee, so he arranged for him to be admitted to our school.
Xu Jun is also heroic, willing to make friends, often invites guests to dinner, is a popular figure in school, and everyone gives him three points of face. Although he was born rich and noble, he never showed off, let alone bullied people by virtue of his identity, and he could play well with people from all walks of life, so he had an excellent reputation.
After graduating, Xu Juntong was assigned to the Jinlou District Court in his hometown of Zhong City, where he was named a clerk, and he never went to work except for one report. His main business is to run the family's chemical factory and steel factory, and through his father's former relationship, many municipal projects in Zhong City use his family's products, so he earns a lot of money.
2
After graduating, I returned to Sioux City and worked in a grassroots court. After that, he was introduced, went on a blind date, got married, had children, and climbed up the system step by step. From the basic court to the intermediate court, from the clerk to the vice-president, it was difficult, but it still paid off.
After graduating, I entered the grassroots court in Sioux City, and this is the beginning of my upward climb
After graduating, I changed my number several times, and gradually lost contact with Xu Juntong. After graduating from university, everyone went their separate ways, busy with tedious work, and did not have much contact with each other. On the contrary, because I returned to my hometown, my middle school classmates moved around closely.
One day in 09, I received a text message: "Hello old classmate, I am Xu Juntong, a college classmate, and I have lost contact with you for many years, and I have never found your contact information after several inquiries." Recently, I heard President Wu of the Zhong City Court talking about you unintentionally, so I contacted you. ”
I was very happy to receive a text message from my old classmate who had been missing for a long time, and I hurriedly called him back and had a good chat with him. Xu Juntong is now doing a lot of business, with total assets of more than one billion. Xu Juntong asked me about my current situation, congratulated me on the promotion of the vice president, and invited me to take my wife and children to Zhongshi to play, he will definitely receive me well, and I agreed.
3
During the National Day holiday, Xu Juntong bought tickets for us, and our family of three took the high-speed rail north to Zhongshi. Xu Juntong's "service" is still as meticulous as when he was in college, and the high-speed rail ticket specially bought a high-priced sightseeing seat. When we arrived at the high-speed rail station, he arranged for his brother-in-law to drive a Cadillac to pick us up. Sitting in the car, his wife looked around the car and said, "This Emgrand has all kinds of configurations quite good." ”
Xu Juntong's brother-in-law laughed a few times and said, "Sister-in-law, this is not Emgrand, it's Cadillac." Emgrand is a domestic car, the logo is plagiarized from Cadillac, with a big tail wolf, which looks quite similar to Cadillac at first glance. The wife smiled wryly.
Xu Jun's brother-in-law's high-end version of the Cadillac CT6
XU JUNTONG'S BROTHER-IN-LAW SEEMS TO BE QUITE WEALTHY, ALL APPLE PRODUCTS, HOLDING AN APPLE MOBILE PHONE TO MAKE A CALL, PLAYING SONGS WITH AN IPAD CONNECTED TO THE CAR, AND WEARING AN IWATCH ON HIS ARM, MY SON LOOKED AT IT WITH ENVY, AND I COULD ONLY SMILE BITTERLY. has worked hard in the court for more than ten years, and his monthly salary is only seven or eight thousand, and he can't even afford the latest Apple mobile phone that his son wants.
Everyone thinks that the court has great power and gray income must be too much. In fact, otherwise, the system is a pool of backwater, on the surface the wind is calm, everyone is harmonious, but in fact, there is a murderous motive hidden under the joke. The year before last, there was a vacant position of vice president, as if a handful of bait was sprinkled into a pond, startling countless jumping fish, all kinds of conspiracies and conspiracies made people frightened, and report letters were written all over the sky. I've thought about running out of the system countless times and quitting my job to become a lawyer. But I can't make up this decision, and I'm even more worried about whether I still have the energy to make a career when I'm getting older.
Far from it. Xu Juntong's brother-in-law drove us to a five-star hotel in Zhongshi and arranged a room for us. Looking at the gorgeous and rich decoration of the hotel, I felt a sigh of emotion in my heart, I was afraid that my daily salary would not be enough to open an hourly room here.
4
Xu Juntong received us at his family's hotel, which was a Japanese restaurant with a rich decoration and a good business in the city. During the banquet, old friends got together and felt a lot of emotion, Xu Juntong seemed extremely happy and kept persuading him to drink.
I asked Xu Juntong about the situation, he has a big business and a lot of daily affairs, but fortunately he earns a good income, with an annual income of about 100 million. He has a daughter and a son, who has been sent to Australia, and the son is studying in the best middle school in Jinling.
I smiled and said, "Then your son's grades are quite good, unlike other rich second generations who can only play games." Xu Juntong waved his hand and said, "Bullshit! That stinky boy's grades were so bad, Lao Tzu found someone to send him in." My wife is also there to take care of my son. I don't expect that stinky boy to study hard in it, I hope that he will make more excellent classmates, and take over the company in the future with the care of these classmates, so that he can do a better job. I give him tens of thousands of yuan every month, and I ask him to spend it, use this money to invite his classmates to dinner, and he must pay for going out with his classmates. I plan to either spend millions to send him to a university in China, or send him abroad to study in a university, and come back to take charge of a department in the company. I couldn't help but sigh in my heart about Xu Juntong's "foresight".
Xu Juntong has an older brother and sister above. His brother is in charge of the operation of the head office and is the chairman. His sister is in charge of one of the large clothing companies and has a lot of money.
During the holidays, Xu Juntong arranged for his brother-in-law to take us to visit several tourist attractions in Zhongshi, and entertained us with delicious food and drink along the way, which cost a lot of money. He also arranged for us to have a few meals in his restaurant, and then took us on a tour of his factory.
Xu Juntong's factory is located in Linxing Province, which borders Zhong City. When asked why the factory was built in Linzhou, Xu Juntong replied: "It was originally built in Zhong City, but it was a bit harmful to the environment, and the local environmental protection department fined it several times, and it was useless to treat guests and give gifts." Damn, Lao Tzu simply moved to Linxing. Linxing Province is poor, the land price is cheap, a factory can feed thousands of people, and it can also provide a tax to the local government, which is not much in Zhongshi, but a lot in Linxing. The local government is turning a blind eye to pollution and other things. I laughed wryly.
Xu Juntong is located in a factory in a neighboring province
I was impressed by Xu Juntong's factory, the pungent smell of the factory, the roar of the machines made people feel like they were under a waterfall, and people were as small as insects in front of the huge machine system. Even more impressive, the wastewater from the factory is poured directly into the surrounding river, where a thick layer of pollutants floats on the surface of the river, a smell that reminds me of the cyanobacteria that ravaged Taihu Lake many years ago.
On the last day of the holiday, Xu Juntong was originally scheduled to visit a five-star hotel in Zhongshi. At noon, Xu Juntong's brother-in-law came to pick us up at the hotel and said apologetically: "Mr. Xu was on a business trip early this morning, and I couldn't come to the lunch dinner." ”
Perhaps seeing my doubts, Xu Juntong's brother-in-law continued: "Mr. Xu passed by a construction site this morning and saw that the steel used at the construction site was a brand that I had never heard of. Hurriedly checked it and found that it was a new company, so Mr. Xu immediately booked a ticket to investigate. Now the steel business is not easy to do, and if you squeeze in one more company, the profit will be less. ”
I smiled bitterly: "His family has a fortune of more than a billion yuan, and his life is not easy." ”
Xu Juntong's brother-in-law said with a smile: "Whoever has a good life in this society eats together." Those officials don't know how much benefit they have taken from others, we send so much every year, and we still use other people's steel, or they are not from Zhongshi. ”
5
In the following years, I kept in touch with Xu Juntong, and he felt that the last time the hospitality was not good, and invited my family to go to Zhongshi again many times. I have been putting it off because of my children's increasingly heavy studies and trivial work.
Until one day in the 16th year, the political and legal system meeting of Jiangnan Province was held in Zhong City, and I went to Zhong City for a meeting and contacted Xu Juntong privately. He was quite enthusiastic, set up a banquet in the hotel to wash the dust for me, and asked me to invite some officials of the Zhong municipal legal system.
Entrusted by Xu Juntong, I invited all the officials of the political and legal system to the banquet
I haven't seen him for a few years, Xu Juntong is a little blessed, and his expression is much haggard. During the banquet, the cups were pushed and changed, and all kinds of jokes and jokes were mixed together. Xu Juntong still smiled boldly, but there was always a lingering gloom between his eyebrows.
I tentatively asked in a joking tone: "Lao Xu, how is the business, how many hundred million have you earned this year?"
Xu Juntong put down the wine glass, leaned on the back of the chair, and sighed: "Debao, brother, I have a hard time this day." ”
I said, "Come on." A big boss like you can't have a hard time, so isn't there no way for a small civil servant like us to live?"
Xu Juntong shook his head and said: "Last year, steel prices plummeted around the world, and I lost 100 million yuan a year. ”
The atmosphere on the wine table instantly cooled, and everyone stopped joking and persuading them to drink, and looked at Xu Juntong.
Xu Juntong lit a cigarette, took a deep breath and said, "I don't dare to travel, for fear that the employees who go out to travel will say that the boss has run away." My wife and children have been sent to Australia, and now I am alone in Zhongshi. Since last year, the market has been very poor, some factories in the Northeast have closed down, and our company has only lost 100 million yuan. ”
Xu Juntong said, bowed his head and only smoked, and a young prosecutor said: "Mr. Xu's net worth is more than one billion, it's a big deal to close the factory and immigrate with money." ”
Xu Juntong sighed and said leisurely: "All the money is invested in the operation of the factory, and it can't be withdrawn." If the factory is closed, it will have to pay a large amount of severance pay to its employees, five or six thousand people! After removing the money and severance pay put in it, and some real estate, there will be a few dollars left!"
6
Since then, the number and frequency of Xu Juntong's chats with our old classmates have decreased a lot, and I only said that his company is not doing well. It wasn't until he called me to entrust me to come forward to a banquet for Vice President Cao of the Jinlou Court in Zhongshi that I knew that his situation had reached this point.
"Debao, I'm afraid I'm going back to work at the Jinlou Court. Xu Juntong on the other end of the phone sighed.
"Go to work, your company is doing well, why do you suddenly say to go to the court? What will your company do when you go to work?" I felt incredulous.
"It's a long story. Xu Juntong let out another long sigh.
During the conversation, I learned that Xu Jun had a close relationship with his eldest brother and a certain deputy mayor of Zhong City, and he had given gifts to the deputy mayor for many years, and the deputy mayor had also given the Xu family a lot of convenience. coincided with the change of the Zhongshi Municipal Party Committee, and the deputy mayor and another deputy mayor both wanted to be normal and competed with each other. Xu Jun and his eldest brother were involved in many activities behind the scenes, giving a lot of support to the deputy mayor, but he didn't expect that it was another deputy mayor who was a step ahead and successfully became the executive deputy mayor.
After the executive vice mayor sat down in his seat, he immediately organized forces to crack down on the deputy mayor supported by Xu Juntong's eldest brother, and even reported it to the inspection team of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection. Under the vigorous suppression of the executive vice mayor, the deputy mayor supported by Xu Jun and his eldest brother was dismissed, and Xu Jun and his eldest brother were also implicated and arrested for bribery.
Xu Juntong's sister was in the clothing business and took out a loan of 50 million from the bank. Xu Juntong's sister originally had no loan qualifications, but thanks to Xu Juntong's eldest brother, the deputy mayor came forward to the bank. Now that the deputy mayor has fallen, Xu Juntong and his eldest brother have also entered, and the bank has demanded money from Xu Juntong's sister. Xu Jun and his sister did not manage well, so they couldn't get the money at all. The bank called the police for fraud, and Xu Jun and his sister also went in. Xu Juntong hurriedly transferred 50 million yuan from his company and returned it to the bank, getting his sister out, but his sister's company was still seized.
Stimulated by two things, Xu Jun went to the hospital with his father. The company withdrew 50 million, and Xu Juntong's company immediately fell into trouble.
Xu Juntong's factory was also seized by the Ministry of Environmental Protection
When the house leak happened to rain overnight, the Ministry of Environmental Protection dispatched an inspection team to the local government to carry out environmental protection inspections, and the province became the key inspection object of the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Xu Juntong's factory was so polluting that he was punished several times and ordered to rectify. Xu Juntong tried his best to ask someone to find a relationship to give gifts, but no one refused to accept it.
"Fuck, I'm not afraid that he will take too much, but I'm afraid that he will not accept it. Xu Juntong's "indignation" could still be heard on the other end of the phone.
After repeated supervision by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the local government seized Xu Juntong's factory and ordered Xu Juntong to rectify it, and it could only be reopened after the rectification was completed and passed the environmental protection inspection. But Xu Juntong's factory is quite large, and a lot of money has to be invested in rectification, and Xu Juntong's money is all set in the operation of the factory. In desperation, Xu Juntong could only close the factory, and the money was also trapped in it, and thousands of workers lost their jobs.
"This environmental protection rectification can't be rectified without hundreds of millions of dollars! If I could change it, I would have changed it a long time ago. Xu Jun said.
"Environmental protection is the trend of the times, and your factory is indeed a bit polluting, so you should plan early. I said helplessly.
"I can't help it, Debao. The Chinese have achieved the fruits of the 200-year industrial revolution of foreigners in 30 years, and this is the price. Xu Juntong replied.
"And what are you going to do now?" I asked.
"That's all the way the factory is, and I plan to go back to work in the courthouse. There are also two restaurants under the name, and the business is okay, at least I have no worries about food and clothing in this life. Xu Juntong replied, his tone full of helplessness, "Debao, you can help me contact Vice President Cao." After my eldest brother's accident, the leaders of Zhong City were afraid to avoid me! Fuck, all that money was given away in vain! I am afraid that Vice President Cao will have to come forward. Xu Juntong's emotions were helpless and resentful.
"Okay, I'll get in touch. Don't take these things too seriously, they have already happened, and there is nothing you can do. It's really not okay, you sell all your houses, cars, and restaurants in China, and go to Australia to accompany your wife and children, at least worry-free about food and clothing for the rest of your life. I went to work in the court, I wronged you too much. "I can't imagine that Xu Juntong, a boss like Xu Juntong, who used to be worth more than one billion yuan and had good relations with department-level leaders, is now going to work in the grassroots courts, and he still has to listen to the command and dispatch of the little section chief when he is old.
"Okay, thank you, Debao. Xu Juntong said.
"Nothing. Hey, the world is impermanent. I said.
"yes, fuck, things are impermanent. Xu Juntong also scolded.
(Text/Zhang Debao, this article is the exclusive first release of "Human Story Shop", enjoying exclusive copyright authorization, no third party shall reprint it without authorization, and offenders will be held accountable according to law.) ）