Becoming a Billionaire From Awakening a System

「Meanwhile.」

Far away in Cyan Mountain Town, Vice President Li saw a familiar person step out of the black sedan parked at the factory gate.

He knew the plan was off to a smooth start.

The person who got out of the car was none other than Boss Tian!

Boss Tian had rushed over to the factory early this morning.

But as soon as he entered the factory, he saw a group of people sitting on the ground.

Boss Tian recognized some of the faces.

Most of them were residents of Cyan Mountain Town.

This wasn’t a worker’s strike, as Boss Tian had guessed on his way over.

"Uncle Zheng! What brings you all here?"

Boss Tian said with a smile as he walked in.

The moment they saw Boss Tian enter, the crowd immediately stood up.

The sheer presence of such a large group made Boss Tian’s heart tighten.

"Xiaotian, we didn’t come here to cause trouble at your factory. We want to have a proper talk with you!"

The man Boss Tian called Uncle Zheng was the same old man who had been chatting with the guard in the security booth earlier.

Leaning on a cane, Uncle Zheng walked up to Boss Tian.

As it turned out,

Boss Tian and Uncle Zheng were distant cousins, relatives of a sort...

That was why, upon seeing the crowd and not understanding the situation,

Boss Tian had immediately sought out Uncle Zheng.

"Let’s talk this out if there’s an issue. Why have so many people come...?"

Boss Tian said, his smile looking a little stiff.

"We’ve come to have a proper talk with you, Boss Tian. Don’t worry, we’re all reasonable people!"

"We’re representing everyone’s opinion, and we’re here to show you, Boss Tian, where we stand!"

The others started talking all at once.

The cacophony immediately gave Boss Tian a headache.

"Stop... everyone! Stop!"

"Let’s discuss this properly, one at a time, okay? With everyone talking at once, I can’t hear a thing!"

Uncle Zheng pointed at someone with his cane.

"The Yu Family’s kid is quick-witted and well-spoken. You come and explain our position to Boss Tian!"

The person Uncle Zheng chose was none other than Xiaoyu, Uncle Yu’s son.

Xiaoyu, having been singled out, didn’t hesitate. He stepped forward confidently to speak with Boss Tian:

"Actually, we’ve come to discuss just one thing with you, Boss Tian. Don’t let the chemical plant come to our town and build a factory on this piece of land!"

Boss Tian was taken aback by Xiaoyu’s blunt words.

’How did the townsfolk find out about this?’

To be fair, Boss Tian himself had been hesitating these past two days.

But with everyone showing up so suddenly to confront him,

he was still of two minds.

"This isn’t really my call. If they have all the official permits..."

"I can’t just turn down the money!"

However, those words immediately sent the crowd behind Xiaoyu into an uproar.

"You’d take that kind of dirty money?"

"That’s blood money! You can’t lease this land out!"

"We don’t care who you lease it to, just not to this chemical plant!"

"Their pollution is so severe! Once they come to our town and ruin our land and water, you can just wash your hands of it and leave, but what about us?"

Suddenly,

public anger flared.

Even Uncle Yu and Uncle Zheng couldn’t hold back the crowd behind them.

Seeing the situation escalating, Boss Tian felt a bit intimidated.

Just as it looked like a riot was about to break out,

Boss Tian, who knew how to read a situation,

grabbed a megaphone from the security booth and shouted, "Alright, alright, I won’t lease it!"

"But if you won’t let me lease it, you have to give me a reason! Why should I just let this money slip through my fingers?"

Speaking of which, Boss Tian was full of grievances and resentment.

’I was just trying to run my business, how did I end up getting cornered at my own factory by this mob?’

’And now they’re stopping me from making a living!’

It was Xiaoyu who stepped forward again to explain the situation.

Xiaoyu presented a well-reasoned case.

He was even holding a stack of printouts from his online research.

"Look at this! These are all news articles about residents from the town where the chemical plant used to be, fighting for their rights!"

"Tell me, if you lease the land to them and our Cyan Mountain Town gets polluted like this, how could you face our ancestors?"

Nearby, Uncle Zheng tapped Boss Tian’s arm with his cane.

Boss Tian had also been asking friends to investigate the chemical plant’s background recently.

He knew the plant had a bad reputation online,

but he was still tempted by the above-market-rate rent they offered.

He hadn’t looked too closely when searching for negative news about them.

But now, with these articles laid out right in front of him,

the more Boss Tian read, the more horrified he became.

"Maybe they won’t pollute so much when they come to our town..."

"Maybe they’ve upgraded the factory..."

Boss Tian muttered.

Uncle Zheng, standing nearby, slammed his cane on the ground.

"Xiaoyu already looked it up! This chemical plant is relocating their entire factory—all the old equipment is coming with it. We haven’t heard anything about them upgrading their machinery!"

The other residents chimed in, all talking at once. "If they’re moving it all over as-is, how can there be any improvements!"

"Look, this land is yours, Xiaotian, but this town belongs to all of us."

"If you really let that chemical plant move in, we’ll protest at their gate every single day!"

"Yeah, that’s right! None of us from town will work for them, so the plant won’t be able to hire anyone!"

"And when that happens, we’ll be able to drive them out of here!"

"Wouldn’t that be an even worse deal for you, Boss Tian?"

As everyone clamored,

Boss Tian’s resolve began to waver even more.

"But my factory isn’t doing well, and I need the money."

"The other factories have all gradually moved away, and no new ones are coming in. I have to eat, too!"

Boss Tian said, his face a mask of misery.

The residents who came to see Boss Tian weren’t unreasonable; they understood that he was in a difficult position.

For a moment, everyone fell silent.

Uncle Yu stepped forward and patted Boss Tian’s shoulder. "There are many ways to do business, but you only have one conscience."

"Whether you sell or lease this land, we have no right to interfere."

"But this chemical plant will affect the entire town, and we will absolutely not agree to it!"

"Even if the plant gets built on your land, we’ll report them every day. They won’t be able to operate."

"And at that point, whether they can still afford to pay your rent, Boss Tian, is another matter entirely!"

Xiaoyu, standing to the side, quickly stepped forward and nodded. "That’s exactly right. Boss Tian, you need to think long-term!"

The residents appealed to both his emotions and his sense of reason.

Combined with Boss Tian’s own previous caution regarding the chemical plant,

he seriously considered what the residents had said.

He realized that leasing the land to the plant would indeed bring more harm than good.

That being the case, it would be better not to make this deal at all.

Having figured this out, Boss Tian felt a weight lift from his shoulders.

Boss Tian had always been very cautious about the chemical plant’s situation.

So, he gritted his teeth and said to the assembled residents, "Uncle Zheng, I’ve thought about what you all said, and you’re right."

"How about this: I won’t lease the land to the chemical plant."

"You all don’t have to worry anymore, okay?"

Hearing Boss Tian finally relent, the crowd’s attitude softened.

"Thank you so much, Boss Tian. We really didn’t want to have to do this..."

As Boss Tian’s attitude changed, so did the crowd’s.

Seeing this, Boss Tian breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the matter was finally resolved.

But just then, to his complete surprise, the situation took a sudden turn.

Another car pulled up to the factory gate.

Five or six men in suits stepped out.

They walked into the factory with smiles on their faces.

The suited men were surprised to see so many people gathered inside the factory.

They stopped at the entrance for a moment,

unsure of what was happening inside.

However, the man in the lead spotted Boss Tian standing at the front of the crowd right away.

"Boss Tian, we’re here to talk business..."

the leader called out with a smile.

When Boss Tian turned and saw the familiar-looking man, his scalp went numb.

’Isn’t that the team from the chemical plant?’

’Why did they have to show up so early in the morning and cause more trouble...?’

Boss Tian forced himself to turn and walk up to the man.

"Sorry, I’m busy today. How about we talk this afternoon?"

Boss Tian had hoped to postpone the negotiation with the chemical plant until the afternoon.

But this representative had already grown impatient due to previous issues with the paperwork and Boss Tian’s ambiguous attitude.

The whole reason they had rushed over so early this morning was to corner Boss Tian and get him to commit.

So naturally, he wasn’t going to be brushed off until the afternoon.

"Boss Tian, I hope you’ll consider our offer carefully. Our chemical plant is a strong company, and you don’t need to worry about the rent."

"As for relocating your factory, we can offer you a certain subsidy..."

"But as for this land, I still hope you’ll agree to lease it to us!"

The representative’s voice wasn’t loud, but the residents standing close behind Boss Tian immediately caught the key word.

Chemical plant!

At that, the residents behind Boss Tian were no longer happy.

’To think the chemical plant would move so fast and show up here already?’

This really stirred up the hornet’s nest.

The residents behind Boss Tian immediately started shouting.

And the more they shouted, the more agitated they became.

"Pah!"

"So you’re from that immoral chemical plant?"

"Your pollution is so bad, and you still dare to move here?"

"Boss Tian, don’t you forget what you just promised us!"

Boss Tian hadn’t expected the situation to change so quickly!

’How could it be such a coincidence? How could these two groups run into each other here?!’