Chapter 101: A Show of Force

Early the next morning, Ning Weidong arrived at his unit quite early.

The decision made by the Manager yesterday would be issued today.

If nothing unexpected happened, Ning Wei would be inserted into the position.

Ning Weidong was the first to arrive today; he did not go to fetch hot water as he usually did, but simply sat silently at his own desk.

After a while, Chen entered from outside, paused slightly upon seeing him, and immediately smiled: "Weidong, you're here so early today!"

Ning Weidong smiled, gave a response, and didn't say much else.

A moment later, Wen Aiying and Feng Wen arrived one after the other.

Feng Wen knew some of the situation in advance, and a strange look flashed in his eyes when he saw Ning Weidong, but he didn't say anything either.

It wasn't until 8:30 that Li Peihang came over in person to call Ning Weidong away.

Ning Weidong responded and followed Li Peihang to his office with a blank expression.

Once inside, Li Peihang looked troubled: "Weidong, the document from the Manager has already come down..."

Ning Weidong nodded and said: "Brother Li, I understand. You have your own difficulties. Since it is the organization's decision, I will firmly obey the arrangement."

Li Peihang was stunned for a moment; in fact, after he finished talking with Ning Weidong yesterday, he had estimated that Ning Weidong might choose to retreat under pressure.

After all, applying for sick leave for personal reasons was undoubtedly safer and could avoid getting caught in the vortex of the Fourth Workshop.

Although it was a bit shameful, making such a choice at a time like this was actually understandable.

He hadn't expected Ning Weidong to choose to meet it head-on.

After being stunned for a moment, Li Peihang felt conflicted.

To be honest, he admired Ning Weidong's courage, but from a rational standpoint, he did not approve of doing this.

Knowing full well that this was a pit dug by the enemy, why step into it? Was it just for the sake of that one breath of pride?

Ning Weidong did not know what Li Peihang was thinking, and if he did, he would only give a faint laugh.

It was no wonder that Li Peihang, despite having the home-field advantage at Red Star Factory, was always beaten into a disadvantage when facing Wang Kaifeng, who was brought in by Wang Guoqiang.

It was precisely because he lacked the determination and guts to fight to the death at a critical moment.

Today he felt he could take a step back, and tomorrow, when the situation became severe, he could take another step back.

Li Peihang sighed and said: "Alright, Weidong, since this is your choice... I will take you over there now."

Ning Weidong nodded and said nothing more.

Because saying anything now was a waste of time; Li Peihang or Li Weibing had already concluded that he was going to the Fourth Workshop to serve himself up on a platter.

Besides admiring his courage, what else was there to say to a "dead man"?

Next, only by letting them see that he was not going to his death, but that there was hope for victory, would they change their minds and feel there was an opportunity to be exploited.

Only then could Ning Weidong gain the strength of the Li faction.

Leaving the Factory Office, the Fourth Workshop was at the very back of the factory area, and further east was the railway line leading directly to the Manager.

Although it looked the same as other workshops on the surface, the security level inside was different.

In addition to the Security Group sent by the Manager, there were also one chief and two deputy military representatives, and if there were important projects, people would be temporarily transferred in.

Counting the time since the original owner entered the factory, Ning Weidong had been at the factory for over a year, but this was his first time coming to the Fourth Workshop.

From afar, one could see a workshop standing there with a very heavy Soviet Union heavy industry style.

The main building was made of red brick, and on the lintel of the front door was a huge hammer and sickle in cement relief.

The front of the workshop was quite massive, originally painted with blue anti-rust paint, but because of the long passage of time, the surface was somewhat mottled.

From outside the workshop, one could hear the rumbling sound of machines operating inside.

Li Peihang and Ning Weidong did not enter the workshop, but came to a small auxiliary building nearby.

This was the duty room for the Fourth Workshop's Security Group.

The entire group consisted of five people: one Security Officer and four members.

When Ning Weidong and Li Peihang arrived, the door to the duty room was open, and a man was standing to the side, smoking with his neck hunched.

Seeing Li Peihang, he was startled, then immediately smiled and came up to greet them: "Oh, Section Chief Li, why have you come so early in the morning?"

Li Peihang glanced at him and said with a blank expression: "Where are the others?"

The man's eyes flickered, and he chuckled: "Well, Old Liu and Xia went out on patrol early this morning, and Xiao Liu is inside. If you have any business, I'll go call Old Liu and the others right now."

Li Peihang frowned, knowing full well that there was no such thing as a patrol; those two must have been slacking off during work hours.

However, this was not his business to manage, and he was too lazy to pursue it, so he said impatiently: "Hurry up and go."

The man said "Oh," and hurriedly ran off in a flash.

Li Peihang turned back and gave Ning Weidong a meaningful look; the meaning was very clear.

This place is in such a state, do you still think you can get out unscathed?

Ning Weidong frowned; he hadn't expected the Security Group of the Fourth Workshop to be this rotten.

He had originally thought that since it involved secrets, the foundation should still be there.

But on second thought, it didn't seem like anything to be surprised about.

As the old saying goes, it takes ten years to learn good, but only ten days to learn bad.

Since 1977, some social trends had been visibly deteriorating.

Moreover, in the past two years, the Red Star Factory hadn't received any heavyweight related projects.

Then, the two entered the duty room.

Inside, a young man of twenty-four or twenty-five was sweeping the floor; he must be the "Xiao Liu" mentioned outside.

The duty room was connected to the workshop's heating, and there were two layers of cotton curtains hanging at the door, providing quite good sound insulation.

Xiao Liu inside hadn't heard the conversation outside just now; he was stunned for a moment before recognizing Li Peihang, then saw Ning Weidong, and not knowing the situation, he didn't dare to say anything.

It wasn't until nearly twenty minutes later that the person who had gone out to find the others returned with two other people, swaying as they walked.

"Section Chief Li, you are a busy person, how do you have the time to come to my place?" The leader was a man in his thirties, tall and sturdy, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

Although his words were polite, judging by his gaze and attitude, he clearly had no respect for Li Peihang.

Ning Weidong watched from the side, knowing that this person was most likely on Wang Guoqiang's side.

By the looks of it, he was the one who called the shots among these four people.

Ning Weidong had already made up his mind; this person had to be cleared out, partly to remove a hidden danger, and partly to kill the chicken to warn the monkey.

Li Peihang also knew what was going on and said expressionlessly, "I came here today for one thing: the night before last, Officer Wang of the Fourth Workshop was injured and hospitalized. After a meeting held by the Manager, it was decided that Comrade Ning Weidong would take over as the leader of the Fourth Workshop Security Group."

The people present were stunned and couldn't help but look at the man who had just spoken.

The man narrowed his eyes, a flash of ferocity in his pupils, and looked at Ning Weidong with ill intent.

Unlike the others, this man was not surprised; he seemed to have known about this situation for a long time and chuckled, "Section Chief Li, since it is a decision by the Manager, we certainly support it. But the Fourth Workshop isn't just any place where anyone can come."

As he spoke, he bared his teeth, looked at Ning Weidong with a smirk, and took the initiative to reach out his hand, saying, "This comrade, are you Ning Weidong? My name is Liu Wenbao..." Ning Weidong had a playful expression as he looked at the thick, sturdy hand reaching out toward him.

Liu Wenbao was under 1.8 meters, not as tall as Ning Weidong, but his physique was extremely robust, his shoulders were broad and flat, and his arms were thicker than the legs of an average person.

In an era generally lacking in nutrition, it was truly not easy to grow such a physique.

Ning Weidong saw that he had come with ill intent; this was an attempt to intimidate him.

He wanted to make Ning Weidong lose all his prestige on his very first day.

"Comrade Liu Wenbao, hello~" Ning Weidong smiled and reached out to shake the other's hand.

Sure enough, he immediately felt a massive force coming from the other's palm.

Liu Wenbao had a ferocious look on his face and used all his strength, as if he wanted to crush Ning Weidong's hand.

Don't look at this behavior as if it were childish; it was very effective among the grassroots workers.

These people had little education and believed more in simple brute force and violence.

Ning Weidong happened to possess violence, and the simplest way to deal with such people was to fight violence with violence.

"Section Chief, look, Comrade Liu is still quite enthusiastic." Ning Weidong wore a smile, and while turning his head to speak to Li Peihang, he also began to exert force.

It was true that Liu Wenbao had great strength, but it depended on who he was compared to.

Encountering a freak like Ning Weidong, he could only blame his bad luck.

Ning Weidong exerted a little force, and Liu Wenbao's face instantly flushed red, followed by his mouth twitching as he couldn't help but show a pained expression.

He couldn't understand it; although Ning Weidong looked quite sturdy, this strength was just too exaggerated.

Liu Wenbao knew how much strength he had in his own hand, and realizing he had run into a tough nut to crack, he hurriedly tried to pull his hand back.

Since he couldn't slap his face in public today, he would find another opportunity later.

Anyway, Deputy Division Chief Wang had already promised him that as long as he helped get rid of Ning Weidong, he would let him become a Cadre.

But Ning Weidong had no intention of letting him go and continued to increase his force with a smile on his face.

Liu Wenbao endured it at first, not wanting to lose face.

But as the force grew greater and greater, and the tendons and bones in his hand hurt more and more, he could no longer hold back, screaming "Let go, let go," and desperately shaking his hand, trying to pull it out, but he couldn't break free at all.

Finally, with a fierce look in his eyes, he simply raised his hand and threw a punch at Ning Weidong's face.

This was exactly what Ning Weidong was waiting for; he wouldn't make a move otherwise, but since he had to, he would make it a ruthless one.

The few people present, including Li Peihang, had not expected things to develop this way.

Before they could react to the situation, Liu Wenbao had already made his move.

Ning Weidong, however, struck after the opponent but arrived first, lifting his foot to kick the front of the other's shin.

There was no need to mention how painful it was to be kicked there; this was still Ning Weidong holding back his strength, otherwise, one kick would have caused a fracture on the spot.

Liu Wenbao let out a miserable scream, and immediately after, a heavy slap from Ning Weidong's other hand arrived.

Without suspense, with a "slap," Liu Wenbao's head tilted to the side, and his whole body went limp and fell to the ground like a noodle.

The howling sound came to an abrupt end, and the entire duty room fell into silence.

The other three were completely dumbfounded, and their eyes held more fear as they looked at Ning Weidong.

One had to know that Liu Wenbao's combat power was famous throughout the entire Security Division; besides being naturally gifted and having received guidance from famous masters, he was also particularly ruthless, and no one dared to provoke him easily.

They didn't expect this newcomer to be even more ruthless, knocking him down with a single slap.

Li Peihang also widened his eyes; he had looked at Ning Weidong's physique earlier and thought his combat power might not be bad, but this was just too exaggerated.

He actually took Liu Wenbao out in seconds! Usually, even he was a bit afraid of this stubborn brute Liu Wenbao; when his bull-headed temper flared up, he wouldn't care if he was the Section Chief or not.

He was fine china and wouldn't clash with an earthen pot; if he really ended up looking disheveled, it would be embarrassing even if he managed to subdue Liu Wenbao in the end.

At this moment, Li Peihang saw Ning Weidong's determination and couldn't help but frown, feeling a bit of a headache.

He suddenly had a feeling that perhaps bringing Ning Weidong to the Fourth Workshop might not be a dead end, but could instead be Wang Kaifeng shooting himself in the foot.

However, this thought flashed through his mind and was immediately extinguished.

How could that be!

Ning Weidong was only one man; coming to the Fourth Workshop was like falling into a pit, and even if he climbed out, he would be covered in mud.

Instead, Ning Weidong knocking Liu Wenbao unconscious was truly too insignificant to the overall situation.

"Xia, Liu Wenbao tripped and fell by himself; take him to the infirmary to get checked out, and if that doesn't work, send him to the hospital. Don't let anything major happen." Li Peihang ordered calmly, nonchalantly defining the cause of Liu Wenbao's unconsciousness.

Although it looked like half of his face was swollen and it didn't look like he had tripped by himself at all, if everyone said he did, then he tripped.

Li Peihang had intended to do a favor, but who knew that after he finished speaking, while the others had no objections, Ning Weidong said, "Wait."

Li Peihang was stunned, not understanding what Ning Weidong meant.

Xia, who was just about to help Liu Wenbao up, and the other two were also stunned.

Ning Weidong was expressionless; he didn't speak in response to Li Peihang's questioning gaze, but took two steps forward, leaned over to Liu Wenbao, took a stack of folded Big Unity notes from his pocket, and under the gaze of several people, stuffed them into Liu Wenbao's pocket.

Now everyone was dumbfounded; the money Ning Weidong took out was not a small amount, and judging by the thickness, it was at least two hundred.

What did this mean? Did he think he had hit him too hard and intended to pay compensation to smooth things over?

Only Li Peihang felt it was not that simple.

If Ning Weidong only had this much courage, he would have simply admitted defeat and taken long-term sick leave; he wouldn't have even come here.

Sure enough, Ning Weidong stood up, looked at Li Peihang, and said with a chuckle: "Brother Li, I just lost two hundred yuan, and I suspect he stole it. Hurry up and call someone over to search his person." The finger was pointed squarely at the unconscious Liu Wenbao lying on the ground.

The corners of Li Peihang's mouth twitched wildly, and he thought to himself: My brother! Are we really going to be this blatant?

Does this even need a search? I saw you put it in there with my own eyes just now, and as for whether it's two hundred yuan, since you've already said so, it must be correct.

At this moment, the hair on the bodies of the other three people present stood on end.

This was no longer as simple as just slapping someone; it was about trying to finish Liu Wenbao off for good.

Stealing two hundred yuan—what kind of concept is that! If it were truly pinned on him, he would not only lose his job but also have to go inside and sit in the slammer.

Previously, they thought Liu Wenbao was ruthless enough, having even brought the injured Officer Wang from before to heel.

Looking at it now, this newcomer, Officer Ning, is the truly ruthless one!

"Gulp," someone swallowed, breaking the silent atmosphere.

"This..." Li Peihang hesitated; he understood Ning Weidong's meaning, but would there be any consequences for doing this? Ning Weidong sneered inwardly; this Li Peihang was indecisive when encountering matters and was truly not someone cut out for big things.

If not for his uncle, let alone fighting Wang Kaifeng, he wouldn't even be able to hold this position as Section Chief.

Ning Weidong said in a deep voice: "Brother Li, having me come here was the intention of 'Factory Director Li'!"

Li Peihang's heart jolted; although he lacked courage, he had gained quite a bit of experience over the years through observation.

He heard that Ning Weidong had particularly emphasized the words "Factory Director Li," which was a reminder that Li Weibing was the one who owed a debt first, and if he couldn't even handle a small matter like this, it would be unjustifiable.

(End of this chapter)