The Witch's Taste

Chapter 179 Layoffs
Finally reaching the end of the line, Chen Ziang put coins in the coin box next to him, and then took six more incense sticks and gave half of them to Xia Zili.

Xia Zili shook the rope in front of the shrine, causing the bell on the top to ring, which is said to be a notification to the gods.

Then she put the incense in her hand into the incense burner and began to close her eyes and make a wish.

Chen Ziang also stood beside her and did the same.

The two bowed slightly, then opened their eyes, looked at each other for a moment, and gave up their seats to the tourists behind them.

At the other end of the courtyard, there are wishing stones arranged neatly.

The four stones respectively represent "career", "health", "marriage" and "birth". Pilgrims can write their wishes on red paper, fold them, and throw them in the stone bowl in front of the corresponding stones, symbolizing the letter of blessing sent to the gods.

Chen Zi'ang looked carefully, and saw that the career and health stone bowls were already full, the marriage stone bowl was only half full, and the fertility stone bowl had almost no red paper.

"It seems that you can only vote for one." Xia Zili looked at the signboard next to the stone and read, "Multiple wishes will make the gods think you are too greedy, so the pilgrim can only choose the most urgent wish in his heart to write. Chen Ziang, which one do you want to choose?"

"Then let's do business." Chen Ziang didn't think about it.

There seems to be nothing else to ask for...

He picked up a piece of red paper, and originally planned to write "I hope there will be no more witches in the world", but then realized that if someone opened this paper, even if they couldn't understand what the witch meant, it would be an illegal leaking operation.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Ziang wrote:
"I hope that fewer people need to be saved."

Folding the red paper and putting it into the stone bowl, Chen Ziang looked back and saw Xia Zili folded his hands together, and he didn't know what wish he was making.

Then she folded the red paper in the same way and put it in the marriage stone bowl.

"What wish did you make?" Chen Ziang asked curiously.

"It won't work if you talk about it." Xia Zili declined.

At this moment, her face was reddish, she was very shy, but she was hiding under the mask, Chen Ziang didn't see it.

After praying and making wishes, I looked at the torii gate of the shrine. A steady stream of tourists are pouring in. The shrine has already started to pull up the blocking line, and only as many people can come in as they go out.

So he suggested:

"Let's go back."

"En." Xia Zili was a little bit reluctant, and wanted to stay here for a while, but he really couldn't find any reason to stay.

At this moment, Chen Ziang's cell phone rang suddenly.

It was Lu Yunfeng who called.

"Old Chen, where are you?" The voice on the other side seemed anxious.

"Izumo Shrine, what's wrong?" Chen Ziang sensed something was wrong.

"Why did you go there?" Lu Yunfeng said in surprise.Shouldn't you stay at home to take care of your younger sister on New Year's Day, you lazy dog?

But he didn't even think about it, he just said quickly:
"In that case, stay in the Izumo area for now and don't come back."

"What's wrong?" Chen Ziang asked nervously.

"There is a disturbance here in Jibei City." Lu Yunfeng said, "I will send you the latest notice from the Public Security Department."

Chen Ziang hung up the phone, and then clicked on the information sent by Lu Yunfeng, his face suddenly became serious:

Dijing Group has laid off employees.

The so-called Dijing Group is currently the largest mining conglomerate in the Gaotianyuan star area.

During the reign of Governor Shi Jintang, after the Gaotianyuan Star District successfully joined the Federation Interstellar Trade Union, the Dijing Group took the lead in establishing cooperation with the Bacht family and won a large number of ore orders from the Agilaos Star District, so it soon occupied a monopoly in the Gaotianyuan mining development industry.

The good times didn't last long. As the minerals in the shallow stratum of Gaotianyuan planet were exhausted, the mining cost in the deep part was too high, which led to the shrinking of Dijing Group's trade share year by year.

To put it bluntly, there used to be a mine at home, but now it is almost gone.

The depletion of each shallow mine means a wave of layoffs, which means that dozens or even hundreds of miner families lose their source of livelihood.

The sharp increase in the unemployment rate can easily lead to chaos, so the upper echelons of Jibei City have already greeted Dijing Group in private: Even if you want to lay off employees, you can't do it all at once.

But this time Dijing Group obviously broke its promise: they not only laid off large-scale employees, but also shut down the operation of thousands of low-latitude mining areas in one go, affecting nearly [-] employees.If the number of family members is counted, the number will be even larger.

Some of these people have already come to Extreme North City through various means of transportation, gathered in front of Dijing Group's headquarters to discuss layoffs and resettlement plans, and more families of miners are coming to Extreme North City.

Therefore, the situation in the city is extremely tense now. Not only are many entrances to the outside world blocked, but even many main traffic roads are closed to vehicles.

Chen Ziang read the news silently, and quickly said to Xia Zili:
"Sorry, I have to go home quickly."

With so many unemployed miners gathered, and everyone holding a grudge, it's hard to say what will happen.

The Dijing Group's headquarters is in Shinjuku District, but no one can guarantee that the chaos will not spread to the Gunma District in the north.

In this situation, Chen Xiaozhu would stay at home alone...Chen Ziang would definitely not feel at ease.

"I'll go too!" Xia Zili insisted, "In such an emergency, it's better for us to act together."

"No need." Chen Ziang said quickly, "Although there is no chaos in the city center, it is likely to be chaotic soon. You stay here in the Izumo District, find a hotel to stay..."

"Chen Ziang." Xia Zili said seriously, "Don't forget, I'm not a weak woman with no strength to restrain a chicken."

"And do you really think that the Izumo District is safer than the Gunma District? You know, in the current situation of insufficient manpower of the Public Security Department, it will definitely give priority to protecting administrative districts with more residents."

"The possibility of chaos in the Izumo District is small. But if there is a chaos, don't expect security personnel to come to rescue!"

Chen Ziang was quickly convinced by her: yes, in fact, nowhere in the city is safe now, the safest place is his own home.

Once the door is locked and everything is blocked, no matter whether you are a demonstrator or a guerrilla, you can't get in and you're done.

Wait... I haven't said what happened yet, how did Xia Zili know?
He didn't have time to think so much, so he quickly left the Izumo Shrine with Xia Zili, and rushed down the mountain steps.

For the sake of worrying about his sister, Chen Zi'ang was a third step and took one step at a time. He wished he could just jump to the bottom of the mountain with one foot, stop the taxi and walk away.

Xia Zili was not as agile as he was trained, and couldn't keep up with his speed at all. Seeing that he was being thrown further and further away, she could only cry out in panic:
"Wait for me! Wait for me!"

The star's voice was so recognizable that even though he had disguised it, there were already pilgrims nearby who heard it and looked over.

Chen Ziang was shocked: If you are surrounded by recognized fans here, and you can't escape, then it's over!
With the experience of going up the mountain as a reference, he didn't care so much at this time, he turned around and hugged Xia Zili by the waist, and then continued to rush down the mountain - naturally, so that she would not hinder him on his way.

Xia Zili was a little caught off guard, but quickly turned into shy joy and sweetness.

She closed her eyes tightly, feeling the rushing wind around her and the heat of the man's chest beside her, so she stretched out her arms shyly and wrapped them around Chen Zi'ang's neck, like a koala hanging on a tree.

(End of this chapter)