A Valiant Life

He was busy until the afternoon.

He had practically finished discussing everything with the shop owners. After paying the deposit for the items, he only had to wait for the goods to arrive.

In the car.

Fraud Tian said enviously, “You’re really quite famous. Someone would recognize you everywhere we went today. Their service was really impressive.”

Lin Fan smiled, “You must be feeling proud after following me around.”

Fraud Tian replied, “Yeah, I really did feel proud.”

Zhao Zhong Yang was the one driving and Lin Fan was looking at Weibo on his phone.

Then, he realized that someone with the ID ‘happy migrant worker’ send him a lot of private messages.

He opened his inbox to read the messages.

“Hi, Master Lin. I am your fan and I would like to seek your help.”

“I am really helpless. I am only twenty-seven years old and I’ve been working in Shanghai for a year. It’s almost the Lunar New Year but I haven’t been able to get my salary. It’s not just me without it. There are a lot of people without it too.”

“Master Lin, you might not have seen this message. But I can only discuss it with you.”

He sent several messages to him.

Lin Fan furrowed his brows in helplessness. This man was his fan and he sent him so many messages to request for his help. He couldn’t have just sat there and not do anything about it.

No way, since he had encountered this, he had to do something about this.

He looked at the phone number that was left behind and dialed it immediately.

“Hello, who is this?” The person on the phone sounded young and hoarse. He sounded as if he just had an argument.

“I am Master Lin. I just saw your messages. Where are you now?”

“Huh? Master Lin? You’re really Master Lin?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Where are you now?”

“Master Lin, I am at Chao Hai Road.”

“Alright, wait for me. I’ll be there.”

He hung up the phone.

The young man was extremely excited.

After a moment, he saw a group of people standing on the sidewalks of the pavement.

They were wearing dirty uniforms and they were not young. Most of them were in their thirties or forties and some of them were almost fifty.

“Sigh, the construction site isn’t giving us money and we can’t go back for New Year now,” one of the middle-aged men said helplessly. He looked really pitiful.

The other migrant workers looked the same. Some of them were furious and some looked like they were about to cry.

“I’ve been here for almost a year and I don’t even have any money to go back at the end of the year. How can I have any face to meet my family?”

“Yeah, we’ve looked for them for so many times and they just dismissed us every single time.”

One of the young men said, “Wait for a moment. I just received Master Lin’s call. He said he’ll be here in a moment. He will definitely be able to help us.”

“Hey, Young Zhao, don’t be so obsessed with these ‘idols’. They’re all fake and none of them will help us.”

Young Zhao said, “No, Master Lin is not the same as them.”

Then, Young Zhao was excited by a voice that he heard.

“Which one of you is ‘happy migrant worker’?” Lin Fan asked.

“Master Lin, that’s me.” Young Zhao went forward and was so ecstatic that he wanted to jump about.

Lin Fan and the others exited the car.

Zhao Zhong Yang asked curiously, “Why didn’t you approach the Ministry of Manpower?”

Young Zhao said helplessly, “We went there a long time ago but they asked us to look for those that are responsible for this project. How could we find them? Furthermore, we don’t have any proof to claim the salary. The government can’t do anything about it too.”

Zhao Zhong Yang shook his head, “This is going to be difficult.”

Lin Fan said, “It’s not difficult. We can resolve this. I look down on those that don’t give salaries. How can they do this during the Lunar New Year period?” Then, he looked at Young Zhao, “Where is your construction site? I’ll go there now to ask for it.”

Young Zhao looked at Master Lin, “It’s just in front.”

“Let’s go and have a look,” Master Lin said.

…

At the construction site near Chao Hai Road.

When Lin Fan brought the migrant workers to the destination, there were some people in there but they were all blocked from entry.

Lin Fan heard some things that they said.

“Give us our salaries. If not, you can forget about leaving today.”

“Yeah, we worked so hard for the entire year for you. You have to pay us.”

“It’s almost the Lunar New Year. How are we going to go back like this?”

Those migrant workers were helpless, “I really don’t have money. The bosses didn’t pay me anything. How can I pay you?”

“Please excuse me.” Lin Fan walked towards them after exiting the car. Although he hadn’t been in this industry before, he had never seen a thing like this happen before.

The migrant workers looked at Lin Fan and didn’t know who this young man was.

Lin Fan said, “What do you do here?”

The person looked at Lin Fan, “I am a chief labor contractor. I really have no money. If I had money, I’d definitely give it to them. The bosses didn’t give me any money.”

Young Zhao went forward, “Master Lin, he is our chief labor contractor. I know he really doesn’t have money because of the bosses.”

Lin Fan nodded, “Chief labor contractor, right? Please tell me the workflow here.”

The chief labor contractor looked at Young Zhao and looked at the young man in front of him. “I am the chief labor contractor of a few groups of workers. The labor services company is in charge of us. The construction company is in charge of the labor services company and the real estate developers take charge of the construction company. The money is passed down from the different layers. This time, the labor services company really didn’t give me any money. I can’t give them their salaries.”

“Do you have the phone number of the labor services company?” Lin Fan asked.

The chief labor contractor nodded, “Yes, yes.”

“Give it to me.”

Lin Fan dialed the number.

He used the chief labor contractor’s phone and the person on the phone started to shout even before he said anything.

“I said it a lot of times. I really don’t have money to give the workers. I’ll pay up after the Lunar New Year.”

Lin Fan said, “Hi, I am Master Lin. One of my fans is your worker. You said you don’t have money. Then, who else would have it?”

“Master Lin? What Master Lin? I already said I don’t have any money. Do you understand human language? Alright, stop calling me. If you want to keep your job after the New Year, you better keep your mouth shut.”

*slam*

The person hung up.

Lin Fan smiled. He didn’t expect the person to have such a bad attitude. “Do you have the number of the construction company?”

The chief labor contractor shook his head, “No, the company that pays us is the labor services company. We just do whatever they tell us to do.”

“Which company is in charge of the land here?” Lin Fan asked.

“It’s Mother Earth Real Estate Corporation,” the chief labor contractor said.

Lin Fan immediately took out his phone and started searching for the company’s phone number. Then, he dialed it.

“Hi, this is Mother Earth Real Estate Pte Ltd. May I know what would you like to know?”

Lin Fan said, “Hi, I am at the plot of land that your company has developed on Chao Hai Road. I would like to find out why you haven’t paid the workers even though the Lunar New Year is almost here?”

“Sorry, I’m not very sure about this. Our company transfers funds on time. Therefore, you should ask the construction company. May I know if you need anything else?”

Lin Fan added, “Can you get your director to speak to me?”

“Sorry, he is currently in a meeting. Also, you need to book an appointment with him to speak to him.”

Lin Fan replied, “Don’t try to push the blame onto others. I want to speak to your director now. If not, you can face the consequences.”

The person became silent for a moment.

“Please hold on.”

After a while, the phone call transfer got through.

“Who is this?”

“I would like to ask why the workers at Chao Hai Road’s construction site are all unpaid.”

“Who are you? What does this have to do with you?”

Lin Fan said, “I am Master Lin of Cloud Street. A fan of mine is a worker here. I am asking on his behalf.”

“Master Lin? Oh, I know now. Master Lin of Cloud Street, right? We’re not sure of this matter. We have paid the relevant construction companies. You should ask them about the situation.”

Lin Fan added, “Oh, then can I trouble you to contact the construction company to pay these workers?”

“Master Lin, I don’t think this matter concerns you, right?”

Lin Fan added, “Yes. It doesn’t concern me but I am a busybody. Can’t I be one?”

“Crazy.”

*slam*

He immediately hung up.

The surrounding migrant workers looked at Lin Fan and sighed helplessly. It looked like they could do nothing about it.