Chapter 405 Compensation Plan

Chapter 405: Compensation Plan

When Zhang Jingan arrived with Secretary Zhou, Su Taotao and Chenchen had rested enough.

Chenchen was sitting on the sofa playing with his new toy.

The group headed to the meeting room to talk, and Su Taotao brought Chenchen with her.

Such an exceptionally lovely child naturally caught Secretary Zhou's attention.

The little boy wasn’t too shy around strangers now, but he merely tilted his small head, gave a big-eyed blink at Secretary Zhou, and then went back to playing with his toy.

The usually stern Secretary Zhou had the corners of his mouth turn up, looking quite pleased.

Time was tight, so Su Taotao skipped the small talk and got straight to the point.

As Zhang Jingan had said, Secretary Zhou was indeed a pragmatic man.

Before arriving, he had already investigated the land situation and was upfront with Su Taotao.

“There is indeed some dispute over the ownership of the land,” Secretary Zhou pointed to the mountain outside. “That mountain originally belonged to a certain landlord, but the land below was seized from the villagers through shady methods.

The landlord and officials involved back then have been taken down, but due to unforeseen circumstances, the formalities were never completed.

And for reasons nobody knows, the villagers disappeared at the same time, so the land was temporarily taken over by the government.”

Su Taotao listened in silence, which also explained why the deeds were all under one person’s name.

“I wonder—since you’ve just arrived, how do you know more about this than Secretary Zhao, who’s been in office for years?”

Secretary Zhou took a sip of tea, set down his cup, and said, “My wife is from Haixian. Her father, my father-in-law, was once the county magistrate here. He knows the situation well.

Before coming, I spoke with him on the phone and checked the facts with the relevant departments.

If these people’s identities are confirmed, then they are indeed the legal owners of the land.”

Su Taotao understood and also realized that Secretary Zhou was a decent, principled official.

“So, Secretary Zhou, do you have a proper compensation plan figured out?” Su Taotao asked.

Secretary Zhou clearly had it all figured out, but he said, “Director Su, I have one request. After I meet these people, if they’re still capable of working, could they stay and work in the factory?

I know the factory has its rules, and you’ve never bent the rules for anyone. But according to my father-in-law, they were forced to leave their homes back then. Now that they have a chance to return, I doubt they’d want to leave again.”

Su Taotao smiled, even more certain that this was an official who truly cared for the people.

She then laid her cards on the table: “Secretary Zhou, rest assured. Though they’re not young, they’re all in good health and can certainly work in the factory.

Additionally, based on the size of their land, I’ll compensate them with apartments so they can bring their families here to work or live. I’ll give them priority.”

Su Taotao’s vision for the factory’s future development was more like a self-contained community—a large area integrating work, life, entertainment, and leisure.

She wanted the factory employees to put down roots and prosper here, able to live self-sufficiently without ever needing to step outside.

Truthfully, if the land dispute had been resolved earlier, she wouldn’t have made exceptions to hire them. But as a make-good solution, she could only strive to satisfy them as much as possible.

Secretary Zhou looked at Su Taotao in surprise. This request had been a tall order, and he’d expected to spend more effort persuading her. He had even planned to cover the monetary compensation himself, but Su Taotao had gone the extra mile—exchanging housing for land and even solving the issue of their family members all at once.

He couldn’t think of a better solution, nor could he imagine why they'd say no.

Secretary Zhou stood up and firmly shook Director Su's hand:

"Director Su, you're very generous. I thank you on their behalf, and I believe the factory will thrive under your leadership."

Our county is lucky to have a director like Su Taotao.

Director Su shook her head and said, "It's the least we can do. The factory is just getting started, and we'll be relying on your support in the future. Hope I won't be too much trouble."

Secretary Zhou wasn't one for formalities either. With their agreement reached, things should go smoothly from here.

"I'll take them back first to verify their identities. Then, please send over the property deeds. Once the formalities are completed, this matter will be fully resolved."

Director Su rose and escorted Secretary Zhou out: "We'll leave the rest to you and Secretary Zhang."

Secretary Zhou replied, "Of course."

Zhang Jingan listened the whole time without voicing any opinions, but he was inwardly astonished. Trading houses for land was a common compensation scheme in the 21st century—he couldn't help being surprised that Su Taotao had taken this approach.