Chapter 114: Narrow Road, Meet Head-On: A Hard Clash First

Lu Zhou looked at the smiling Ning Weidong, and could not help but feel a bit more vigilant in his heart.

He felt somewhat guilty, as his previous dealings with Ning Weidong had been directed by Wang Kaifeng behind the scenes. Now that Wang Kaifeng had been taken down, there was no need for Ning Weidong to continue playing games with him. He had no idea what attitude Ning Weidong would have after calling him over this time.

"Old Lu, you told me last time that you wanted to be a Deputy Section Chief, right?" Ning Weidong took a cigarette from his pocket and tossed one over.

Lu Zhou was stunned for a moment; he hadn't expected Ning Weidong to bring this up, so he laughed dryly: "That... I was just saying, just saying~"

Ning Weidong lit a cigarette, took a puff, and said: "That won't do. I said at the time that with your qualifications and ability, being a Deputy Section Chief is more than enough."

Lu Zhou let out an "uh," not knowing how to respond.

The main thing was that he didn't understand whether Ning Weidong was being serious or sarcastic.

Ning Weidong decided not to speak in riddles and patted him on the shoulder: "Old Lu, there's an opportunity now, I don't know if you have the guts to take it."

Lu Zhou felt a shiver in his heart.

Ning Weidong continued: "You should be clear about the situation in the Manager. Now that Li Kebian is to be promoted to Deputy Division Chief to preside over the work, the Manager's intention is for me to return to the Office Building to take over Li Kebian's affairs..."

Lu Zhou gasped; he hadn't expected that just after Wang Kaifeng had an incident this morning, the follow-up arrangements had already been made.

For Ning Weidong to take over Li Peihang's original work, his position would have to be at least Deputy Section Chief. If it weren't for Ning Weidong being so young, he would have been made a full Section Chief right away.

However, Lu Zhou didn't feel a shred of jealousy, because he knew best how much of a risk Ning Weidong had taken this time.

He had made it through now, but if he had gotten trapped in the Fourth Workshop and hadn't made it out, the situation would not be what it is today.

Lu Zhou even thought that if it were him facing the same situation as Ning Weidong, he would absolutely not have the courage to go to the Fourth Workshop, let alone the ability to turn the tide and strike back.

Ning Weidong continued: "I want you to take over the Fourth Workshop. I don't know if you want to go?"

Lu Zhou was stunned for a moment, and several thoughts instantly popped into his head.

If it were yesterday, and Ning Weidong had proposed this, he would definitely have refused without a second thought.

At that time, the Fourth Workshop was a bottomless pit, a powder keg ready to explode at any moment.

But now, the situation had changed.

Not only was Wang Kaifeng arrested, but Ning Weidong had also pulled himself out of this pit, so relatively speaking, the Fourth Workshop was no longer dangerous.

Of course, because it involved an important project for a higher-level unit, the Security Officer in charge of the Fourth Workshop would certainly have a heavy responsibility.

Ning Weidong said: "Just now, Li Kebian asked me who could shoulder this burden after I left the Fourth Workshop, and I thought of you immediately. Old Lu, you can't let me down at a critical moment."

Lu Zhou watched the young man in front of him, his mood complex and mixed with all sorts of feelings.

Previously, under Wang Kaifeng, although he had done a lot of work, he had never been able to break into the core; there was nothing good for him, but he was blamed for everything bad.

On the contrary, Ning Weidong had given him an opportunity, and more importantly, Ning Weidong had just demonstrated powerful methods. If he didn't lean on him now, when would he?

Lu Zhou hurriedly expressed his stance: "Please rest assured, leader. I will definitely not let down your painstaking efforts. I am a man of few words, so I won't say anything else. In the future, just watch my actions!"

Ning Weidong's smile deepened, and he patted his shoulder again: "My younger brother is there, his name is Ning Wei. He's just a kid, only nineteen. You take good care of him."

In reality, Ning Weidong had gone through careful consideration before deciding to put Lu Zhou in the Fourth Workshop.

The reason for using Lu Zhou was not for any special reason, but simply because Ning Weidong had no one else to use under his command.

The original owner had spent over a year at the West Gate and hadn't built up any connections at all.

The newly recruited Xia Dongqiang, Wang Weiran, and Liu Dong were still not up to the task, and while Ning Wei was loyal, he was too young to be promoted.

After thinking it over, only Lu Zhou, who had been neglected by everyone in the past, could be won over.

If Lu Zhou proved useful, Ning Weidong wouldn't mind pulling him up in the future; if he remained half-hearted, it wouldn't be too late to replace him then.

Lu Zhou hurriedly patted his chest to guarantee it.

Afterwards, they briefly handled the procedures, and Ning Weidong personally took Lu Zhou to the Fourth Workshop's duty room.

When the people there heard that Ning Weidong was actually going back to the Office Building, they were all shocked.

It had only been a few days, and he was already leaving in such a hurry.

However, knowing that Ning Weidong was going back for a promotion, everyone felt at ease.

Especially the three of them—Xia Dongqiang, Wang Weiran, and Liu Dong—although it hadn't been long, they were all considered Ning Weidong's people. Now that Ning Weidong was returning to the Office Building to be a Deputy Section Chief, it was undoubtedly good news for them.

As for Lu Zhou, since he was brought by Ning Weidong, he should also be considered one of their own, but everyone knew clearly who was the big boss and who was the small boss.

This was also the reason why Ning Weidong dared to put Lu Zhou in the Fourth Workshop; with Ning Wei there, and with these three, Ning Weidong's control over this place would not only not decrease but would actually improve.

After all, in terms of position, he was previously just a Security Officer, but now he was a solid Deputy Section Chief.

Next, Ning Weidong took Lu Zhou to visit Tian Zhengfu to explain the current situation.

Tian Zhengfu was a sensible man, and Ning Weidong's departure actually made him breathe a sigh of relief.

Previously, the core of the crisis in the Fourth Workshop was Ning Weidong himself.

Now that Wang Kaifeng had been arrested and Ning Weidong had been transferred out of the Fourth Workshop, the Fourth Workshop had regressed from a focal scene to an ordinary one.

The center of the Manager's conflict had moved away from here, and the trouble had left along with it.

Tian Zhengfu couldn't help but feel relieved.

Before, he had truly had no choice; Wang Kaifeng had planned to dig a pit in the Fourth Workshop to bury Ning Weidong, without considering his position as a Military Representative at all.

This forced Tian Zhengfu to do his utmost to cooperate with Ning Weidong for self-preservation.

But that didn't mean he was willing to fight to the death with Wang Kaifeng's side.

This result was undoubtedly a very good one for Tian Zhengfu.

Finally, Ning Weidong spoke privately with Ning Wei for a moment before leaving the Fourth Workshop, preparing to return to the Office Building. However, just halfway there, he was called out: "Hey~ Weidong~ Section Chief Ning..."

Ning Weidong turned his head and saw Wang Zipeng jogging over from the side.

Ning Weidong stopped, smiling as he waited for the other party to approach, and called out "Brother Wang."

Wang Zipeng arrived, beaming with joy: "Brother, congratulations, congratulations~ I just heard that you've returned to the Office Building and have even been promoted to Deputy Section Chief." As he spoke, he reached out and gave a thumbs up: "That's damn impressive!"

Ning Weidong smiled, not surprised that Wang Zipeng knew about this.

Wang Zipeng was originally a "well-informed" person in the Manager; whenever there was any movement, he could always get the wind of it first.

Ning Weidong said with a smile: "It's not set yet~ Don't go shouting about it outside; wait until the Manager officially issues the document."

Wang Zipeng said, "Sigh~ what is there to be ambiguous about? The Personnel Section has already entered it into the files; it's a done deal, could it still be changed? I just don't believe it."

Ning Weidong really didn't know that the efficiency over at the Personnel Section was actually quite high; he joked with Wang Zipeng for a couple more sentences before they parted ways.

Watching Ning Weidong walk into the Factory Office Building, Wang Zipeng couldn't help but shake his head and click his tongue.

There was only one thought in his mind: you really never know which cloud in the sky will bring rain.

If it were a month ago, and someone had told him that Ning Weidong could become a Deputy Section Chief in their factory, he would have cursed "idiot" without hesitation.

But reality is just this magical.

Ning Weidong not only transferred from the West Gate guard room to the office building, but he also openly became a Deputy Section Chief of the Security Division. What's more critical is that Ning Weidong's deputy position isn't just a hollow title, but a real, substantive position taking over Li Peihang's work.

The value of this Deputy Section Chief position is truly immense.

Moreover, there is talk circulating in the factory that Wang Kaifeng being taken away this time was Ning Weidong's doing.

What kind of concept was Wang Kaifeng in the Red Star Factory? To think he was actually toppled by Ning Weidong!

Wang Zipeng felt secret regret; they were clearly from the same courtyard, yet he hadn't built a good relationship with Ning Weidong before.

Although Wang Zipeng had taken the initiative to show goodwill to Ning Weidong recently because of that business with Zhou Kun, the time was too short, and the effect was limited.

As of now, his relationship with Ning Weidong was limited to being neighbors who were on decent terms.

……

At the same time, Ning Weidong returned to the office building.

He had become a Deputy Section Chief, taking over Li Peihang's original work, and naturally, he also took over the office.

Li Peihang was eyeing Wang Kaifeng's original office; there was no rule that a Deputy Division Chief must be in that room, it was just a bit of his own petty malice.

However, Wang Kaifeng's office was sealed, so Li Peihang couldn't move in for the time being.

But he was tactful and didn't delay Ning Weidong because of this; instead, he immediately called people to pack up his things and vacate the office.

Ning Weidong came up the stairs and saw the door to Li Peihang's former office standing open, with people inside packing things up.

Just as he was about to walk past, he scanned the first office with his peripheral vision and discovered that besides Chen and Wen Aiying, Zhao Ruyi was also there, chatting with Wen Aiying.

Ning Weidong paused his steps, turned, and walked into the room, calling out, "Ruyi."

Zhao Ruyi looked up and immediately said with a smile, "Where did you go just now? I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Chen and Wen Aiying also looked over.

The fact that Ning Weidong was seeing Zhao Ruyi was no secret in the factory; previously, Ning Weiguo had tried every possible way to secure this opportunity, just to use the Zhao Family's name to protect Ning Weidong.

It was just unexpected that it had the opposite effect.

Instead, the relationship between Ning Weidong and Zhao Ruyi had long been spread throughout the factory.

Ning Weidong said with a chuckle, "I just went to the Fourth Workshop."

Zhao Ruyi nodded obediently.

Chen, who was to the side, interjected, "Section Chief, I heard that Lu Zhou went over there?"

Ning Weidong responded with a sound, then added, "You should still call me Little Ning~"

Chen hurriedly said, "That won't do; the organization has the organization's discipline, a leader is a leader."

Ning Weidong was just saying it; mainly because he was too young, and although he had been promoted, he still needed to maintain the posture a young person should have.

Otherwise, if someone with ulterior motives caught onto it and said behind his back that he didn't respect the veteran comrades, it would be troublesome.

Although this kind of thing couldn't affect much, it was like a toad crawling onto one's foot—it doesn't bite, but it's disgusting.

Ning Weidong was not a young man who would get carried away; he knew that the more it was like this, the more he needed to appear humble and cautious, especially respecting veteran comrades, so that no one could find fault with him.

Seeing Ning Weidong nod, Chen's expression didn't show much, but a flash of disappointment passed deep in his eyes.

After crossing over, Ning Weidong's physical fitness had not only improved significantly, but his various senses were also very sharp.

Having caught Chen's emotional change, he couldn't help but have a thought.

Could it be that Chen wanted to go to the Fourth Workshop?

As the thought flashed through his mind, Ning Weidong guessed Chen's idea.

When Ning Weidong went to the Fourth Workshop before, that position was a den of tigers and dragons; now, however, with the changing of times, the Fourth Workshop had instead become an opportunity.

It was just that the power to decide this matter was in Ning Weidong's hands.

From Ning Weidong's perspective, there was no way he could put Chen in that position.

The reason was simple: the first was the hierarchy of power.

After Wang Kaifeng fell, Lu Zhou was a lonely ghost; Ning Weidong was willing to take him in, and he would have to be grateful.

Looking at Chen, who was backed by Li Peihang, if he were really moved over there, who would he listen to? Furthermore, Ning Weidong had been Chen's subordinate before going to the Fourth Workshop.

Now that their status had suddenly reversed, no matter what Chen said on the surface, he was likely unconvinced in his heart.

Third, and most importantly, from beginning to end, Chen had never shown interest in this position, nor had he taken the initiative to come to Ning Weidong to vie for it.

If you don't fight for this kind of thing and don't take the initiative to show it, you still want people to feed the meat into your mouth?

Guessing Chen's thoughts, Ning Weidong acted as if he didn't know, and went out to the corridor with Zhao Ruyi to talk.

A moment ago, in front of Chen and Wen Aiying, Zhao Ruyi was still smiling, but upon reaching the corridor and seeing no one around, she immediately withdrew her smile and whispered, "My eldest brother called me just now..."

Weidong frowned; Zhao Lichun was calling at this time?

Zhao Ruyi said, "He told me to tell you not to relax; Vice Factory Director Wang isn't finished yet, he is looking for people above, wanting to protect Wang Kaifeng."

Ning Weidong felt a chill in his heart.

Previously, he had anticipated that there would be two results after taking down Wang Kaifeng.

The first, and most ideal, was that Wang Guoqiang would directly cut his losses and admit defeat, reintegrating his resources in the factory to hold onto his base.

This should be the most rational, and also the strategy for long-term struggle.

The second was that Wang Guoqiang would not be reconciled and would exhaust all his efforts to save Wang Kaifeng.

This would be equivalent to binding his own political life to Wang Kaifeng; if he won, there would still be a thirty percent chance of a comeback, but if he failed again, it would exhaust all the resources he had accumulated over these years.

Originally, Ning Weidong analyzed that Wang Guoqiang was more likely to choose the first option; he did not expect to have misjudged Wang Guoqiang's rigid character.

He actually chose the second option, continuing to invest resources to desperately protect Wang Kaifeng.

Upon hearing this news, Ning Weidong's expression turned gloomy.

"He really is tough!" Ning Weidong muttered to himself, suddenly realizing a problem of his own.

While the life experience Ning Weidong had before his transmigration provided him with plenty of insight, it also had the limitations of his era.

The people he faced before his transmigration and the people he faces now have too great a difference in character.

In such matters, if it were before Ning Weidong's transmigration, nine out of ten people would choose the first option: to temporarily retreat and plan for the future.

But now, most Cadres of Wang Guoqiang's generation have military backgrounds, and many have even personally experienced war.

Deep down, they are more valiant and fierce; when encountering trouble, their first thought is to meet it head-on in a narrow pass and clash hard, rather than compromise for self-preservation.

It is hard to say which is better or worse; it is just that different historical backgrounds created different people. — That is all for today; the incision hurts a bit, and it is hard to concentrate.

(End of this chapter)