Chapter 182 For the Sake of His Wife

The match factory was struggling so badly that it could not pay wages for months. Naturally, some people set their sights on Lin Jianguo's business.

Some former colleagues invited him out for drinks and meals, flattering and coaxing him until Lin Jianguo fell into their trap, foolishly signing a contract to lease and transfer the match factory's workshop.

This wasn't even a purchase; it was a lease transfer, much like the arrangement between Wang Lao Ji and Jia Duo Bao in the past. Because the original factory was performing poorly, the brand and the facility were leased to another party to operate.

However, the situations were vastly different. The match factory had zero brand value to speak of, and the factory building had long been stripped completely bare. There was not a single production machine or raw material to be found.

To put it bluntly, it was a setup—a trap designed to drag Lin Jianguo down.

"Twenty thousand! What on earth is this unfilial son thinking? Spending ten thousand yuan to rent an empty factory for four years—no, to lease it for four years."

"Where on earth can our family pull together twenty thousand yuan? That broken stall of his might make some money, but we haven't seen a single penny of it brought home; he spent it all on food and drinks."

"And that woman, what was her name—Fangfang? He spent it on her, too. And now? Look, when trouble hits, does she give a damn about you? She's run off without a trace. How did I ever give birth to such a wretched son? What sins did I commit in my past life!"

As Lin Laogen spoke, he worked himself into a fury, beating his chest with both hands. Yet, out of the corner of his eye, he kept glancing at Chen Huajiang.

Lin Jianguo was his son after all. No matter how much of a scoundrel he was, he was still flesh and blood, and facing a crisis like this, he had no choice but to shoulder it.

"What?! Twenty thousand?!"

"Brother! How—how could you be so foolish!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Jiangyin panicked as well. She stamped her foot and pointed at Lin Jianguo in deep exasperation.

Her face was etched with anxiety, and her heart was filled with despair.

Although her husband, Chen Huajiang, had made some money last year, there was no way they could pull out twenty thousand yuan.

Besides, even if they could afford it, what face would she have to ask Chen Huajiang to shell out twenty thousand yuan to rescue her older brother?

This was all because Lin Jiangyin did not know that Chen Huajiang had made a fortune the previous year by selling No. 8 aluminum tubes for the stove-heating project, mistakenly believing he had merely sold coal stoves.

Chen Huajiang pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep, lingering drag.

This situation was extremely troublesome. Theoretically, a contract signed by Lin Jianguo while he was coaxed into drinking and intoxicated should not be legally binding.

However, things did not work that way in this era. The match factory had obviously been a mess for a long time, and the entire place had been gutted. They needed a scapegoat.

The agreement signed by his brother-in-law Lin Jianguo didn't matter at all, nor did its legal validity; the point was that, for the moment, he was meant to be the fall guy.

Even if they could eventually prove through a protracted lawsuit that Lin Jianguo had been "framed," it would already be too late.

In his past life, Chen Huajiang hadn't paid much attention to the match factory, but he knew it belonged to the very first wave of bankrupt enterprises.

Yes, it went bankrupt and closed down directly, without even making it to the enterprise restructuring wave.

The enterprises in that first wave of bankruptcy were generally military factories and the like. Places like Hao Jianguo's 115th Military Factory—nobody dared to take them over even during restructuring, and the state would never allow anyone to take over a facility that manufactured grenades for the commercial market.

The situation at the match factory was even more complicated. Not only were its financial deficits severe and infested with greedy officials, but more importantly, its market share had long been squeezed dry.

Since matches were not commodities controlled by state planning, small workshops were already competing in the market by those years; the market in Nanming City alone featured many different brands of matches.

Because Chen Huajiang smoked, he was relatively familiar with this sector. The match factory's market share had vanished two or three years prior.

After all, matches were hardly high-tech products; naturally, people bought whatever brand was cheapest.

Chen Huajiang understood what the father and son of the Lin family were getting at, but he refused to take the bait. With his experience from the future, he knew full well that matches were a sunset industry.

No matter how well they tried to run it, the business would soon face the devastating blow of disposable lighters, lasting at most another two or three years.

Chen Huajiang didn't know the exact year lighters became widespread in Nanming City, but he knew that by the 1990s, lighters could be bought in every mom-and-pop store on the street for twenty cents each, later rising to fifty cents. Matches, conversely, experienced the exact opposite fate, plunging in price until they finally became unsellable.

The match factory's final desperate struggle amounted to supplying customized matches to ordinary restaurants and hotels, but the sales volume was utterly dismal.

"Why don't we just drag it out? We don't have the money at home anyway."

"When the time comes, this storm will blow over. Anyone with half a brain knows the people at the match factory set my brother up."

After a period of silence, Lin Jiangyin offered her suggestion to Lin Jianguo.

Lin Jianguo said nothing. At that moment, he was consumed by despair, much like a broken vessel ready to shatter completely.

"No, your brother will be arrested."

"I've asked around about this—if things go wrong, his entire life will be ruined."

Lin Laogen put down his tobacco pipe and shook his head with absolute certainty.

"Then what can we do? Is there any money at home? How much is this house even worth?"

"How much money does his market stall make in a day? This match factory is a bottomless pit; no matter how much money is poured into it, it can never be filled."

Lin Laogen's words utterly infuriated Lin Jiangyin. She finally understood her father's intentions—he was trying to dump her older brother's mess onto them.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she grew. She walked right up to Chen Huajiang, grabbed his arm, and said, "Huajiang, let's go."

"You—you—are you trying to drive me to an early grave?!"

"Huajiang, see if there's anything you can do to help Jianguo. You're capable and resourceful, I'm begging you."

Lin Laogen cast an angry glare at his daughter, then turned back to look anxiously at Chen Huajiang, his face full of pleading.

He was entirely out of options; the only person he could think of now was his son-in-law.

If Chen Huajiang refused to help, he had no idea what to do and might simply have to abandon Lin Jianguo.

But that was the sole son and heir of the old Lin family!

"Brother-in-law, sob, sob... I know I was wrong."

"I misjudged people, but I was tricked! They're the ones who framed me. I'm begging you, you have to save me."

"I will work like a beast of burden for the rest of my life to repay you."

Seeing his sister and brother-in-law about to leave, Lin Jianguo could no longer sit still. With a loud plop, he dropped to his knees, grabbed the hem of Chen Huajiang's trousers, and wept for mercy.

He was truly terrified, tossing aside all pride and dignity, praying only that Chen Huajiang would help him and keep him out of prison.

"Huajiang, our family only has this one son. You have to help him."

Lin Laogen looked at his son-in-law with an imploring expression as well.

Lin Jiangyin was boiling with rage; her face flushed crimson, and her eyes were bloodshot.

Trying to save Lin Jianguo like this—wasn't this pushing her husband straight into a fire pit?

Thud, thud, thud—

"Open the door! Hurry up and open the door!"

"I know someone's home, open the door right now!"

"Open the door! Open the door!"

Violent pounding suddenly erupted from the entrance. The heavy thuds shook the entire door frame.

"Huajiang, I'm begging you to save me!"

Lin Jianguo gripped Chen Huajiang's legs even tighter, as if clinging to a straw in a shipwreck.

"Dad, go open the door."

"This is the last time. For the sake of you marrying Lin Jiangyin to me all those years ago, I'll shoulder this for Lin Jianguo this once."

"But there won't be a next time."

Chen Huajiang let out a breath, grasped his wife's hand, and looked at Lin Laogen with a stern voice.