In the reborn era, the lucky bag is enjoying the show in the factory area.

Director Hao waved his hand. “No, don’t overthink it. It’s the daughter of one of our mine’s employees who escaped from the Northwest. This has a very bad impact on the mine. We need to discuss what to do. We’d like to hear your opinion.”

After listening, Xi Beizhan relaxed and leaned back in his chair.

"I thought it was something serious. Just here? What's the big deal? Just send it back and it'll be fine."

Mine Manager Hao rolled his eyes at Xi Beizhan. "I don't know yet to send him back. I want to know how to deal with Lao Ding."

Xi Beizhan blinked. "He's the one who sent his daughter back? He provided her with help?"

Manager Hao thought for a moment, "It seems not, but he must have given the child money before she left. If he hadn't given her money, she wouldn't have been able to survive."

The Northwest is so harsh. Even if you have money, you probably don't know where to spend it. If you don't have money, a young girl who hasn't experienced much hardship probably wouldn't be able to survive.

Xi Beizhan felt even more relaxed after hearing this, and he was almost ready to lie down on a chair as a bed.

“He didn’t offer any help, and he didn’t send us back, so what’s it to him? Our Party doesn’t practice the system of collective punishment, so you can’t make a mistake in this matter, mine manager.”

Mine Manager Hao thought for a moment, then frowned and said, "But his daughter has been back for more than a day or two, and he hasn't told anyone. If his daughter hadn't gone out to see her boyfriend yesterday, no one would have known she was back."

He knew about this but failed to report it, so he also bears responsibility.

Xi Beizhan immediately perked up, "If that's the case, then the nature of this is quite different. Concealing or lying are both mistakes. If everyone were like him, how would the top leaders manage the country?"

With such a vast territory and a large population, and given the generally low level of public awareness, it is only through the whistleblowing and denunciation of the masses that we are able to catch those spies.

Although this matter has nothing to do with spies and is of a different nature, the actions of the Ding family were wrong.

To prevent all the children of mine workers from suffering the hardships of rural life like her and running away back home, thus damaging the mine's reputation, I think we should still punish her severely.

Goodness, you've said everything, good and bad. One minute it's none of their business, the next you're demanding severe punishment. What are we supposed to do?

Of course, no one took Xi Beizhan's words too seriously, because his position was what it was. Even if the head of the criminal investigation department came to the meeting in person, no one would listen to what he said, because it had nothing to do with the mine's security. He was just brought in to make up the numbers. After all, the head of the criminal investigation department was a member of the leadership team, and they couldn't exclude outsiders.

However, Mine Manager Hao took Xi Beizhan's words to heart.

The Ding family must be punished. Putting aside the impact on the mine, it will be difficult to explain to the management bureau and the educated youth office. If they really come to us and make a big fuss, Wulong Mine will lose face big time.

How do we control the degree of punishment?

"How about we deduct two months' salary? If we deduct too much, I'm afraid Lao Ding's family won't be able to survive."

The logistics minister tentatively offered his opinion.

Director Xu sighed, "Two months isn't a long time, but it's a disaster for the Ding family."

Mine Manager Hao looked at Director Xu and asked, "What do you mean? Are they having financial difficulties?"

There are quite a few mines operating, and the underground workers must be earning at least fifty yuan a month, right? Isn't fifty yuan enough for a family to live on?

Director Xu then introduced the situation of Lao Ding's family.

"Old Ding's family now has a total of thirteen people. In addition to Old Ding and his wife, his parents also live with him. His second and third brothers' four children also live with him. Old Ding and his wife have two sons and three daughters. The eldest is twenty-three years old this year. A few years ago, the mine was recruiting workers. This kid was good and passed the exam. He is also down-to-earth and capable, but he just doesn't have good luck."

Last summer, during a heavy rain, he went up to the roof to repair a leak, but lost his footing and fell off, breaking his leg. At the time, Lao Ding had no money, so he had to beg the mine to advance him and his son a month's wages before they could get him to the hospital.

After returning home, he was penniless and his leg hadn't fully healed, leaving him crippled. As a result, he was forced to leave the mine and let his younger brother take over.

His brother…

At this point, Director Xu sighed again, "His younger brother is an incompetent good-for-nothing. He's a good-for-nothing at home, and he only goes to work sporadically, never getting a penny."

Moreover, he doesn't go down the mine, saying he's afraid. He does surface work, which is less frequent, and since he doesn't come to work often, he can earn at most twenty yuan a month.

He doesn't hand over this money to his family; it's not even enough for him to go out drinking and gambling. The security department has checked several times, but this kid is cunning, and they haven't been able to catch him doing anything wrong. Eventually, the matter was dropped.

His three daughters, the eldest of whom got married a couple of years ago, I heard her husband is from Wangying Mine, and she's doing alright, but she doesn't have much status in her husband's family, and her own family can't help her at all.

His second daughter, unhappy that Old Ding was supporting four nephews, ran off with a poor young man last autumn. When she returned this spring, she was heavily pregnant. It was because of this that our Women's Federation came to investigate Old Ding's family.

After listening, Mine Manager Hao and the other members of the leadership team fell silent again.

Seriously, is Old Ding crazy? His family is barely scraping by, yet he's supporting four nephews. What was he thinking?

The eldest son broke his leg and they didn't have the money to take care of him, so he ended up disabled. Even in this situation, didn't they ever think of sending their nephew back to their parents to be raised?

How come they don't have parents?

Is this kindness? This is sainthood!

The twenty-odd grown men frowned as they smoked, inwardly complaining that Old Ding was too honest—no, he was more like a filial son. They simply couldn't believe that his raising four nephews had nothing to do with his parents.

Director Xu frowned in disgust as he glanced around, then got up and opened the window.

A gust of cold air brought everyone back to their senses, and they couldn't help but shiver.

This Director Xu is too ruthless. You opened the window in this freezing weather. It's just a little smoke. What man doesn't smoke? Why are you making such a fuss?

Manager Hao awkwardly stubbed out his cigarette and glanced at everyone.

"Looking at it this way, two months' salary seems a bit too much. How about one month? And give him a public reprimand or something?"

Deputy Secretary Liu frowned even more deeply. "Logically speaking, two months' salary isn't much, but given the current situation of Lao Ding's family, it's really not appropriate to deduct too much. However, it's a fact that Lao Ding's youngest daughter ran back without permission. If the punishment is too lenient, it won't be easy to explain to the Management Bureau and the Educated Youth Office, will it?"

The senior secretary, Chang, glanced at the deputy secretary, Liu, and said, "We have to explain, even if it's difficult. At worst, we can say a few nice words and see if we can get away with it. As long as it doesn't have too much of an impact on the mine, it's fine."

Secretary Chang knew about the affair between Deputy Secretary Liu and Lao Ding's family, and he sympathized with Deputy Secretary Ji, but they couldn't drive him to his death, could they?

The key is that Lao Ding's parents are still alive. If the old lady starts making a scene and things escalate further, it will be even worse.