Chapter 122: Double-Dealing

Regarding Zhang Dajun's explanation, Ning Weidong was somewhat surprised and asked, "Not simple? In what way is it not simple?"

Zhang Dajun said, "Speaking of which, this isn't really a big deal; there are plenty of things that cause a bigger stir than this, but..."

Saying this, Zhang Dajun suddenly gave a meaningful smile and clicked his tongue: "Why else would people say in the past that a beautiful woman is a disaster? That wife of Wang Kai is truly beautiful, otherwise she wouldn't have attracted so much attention."

Ning Weidong caught his subtext and asked, "Are there others paying attention to this matter?"

Zhang Dajun said, "More than just paying attention. Before you called, just this morning, someone already came to me to say a word."

Ning Weidong's eyes narrowed slightly. The fact that someone other than him had also put in a word made him feel a bit intrigued, and he asked, "Who was that person? What did they say?"

Zhang Dajun didn't beat around the bush and replied, "It was Section Chief Wang from the Sub-bureau Technical Division. I know this person, though we aren't very close. But I suspect this person is also just helping out; I don't know yet who specifically asked him."

Ning Weidong had absolutely no impression of this Section Chief Wang from the Sub-bureau Technical Division.

This Section Chief Wang putting in a word wasn't to plead for Wang Kai, but to demand that he be dealt with severely and swiftly.

This was clearly a case of "the drunkard's heart is not in the cup."

As for Wang Kai, he and someone like Section Chief Wang were in completely different worlds; he wouldn't even be able to come into contact with him under normal circumstances.

The only way Wang Kai could have had a conflict with the other party was through Shi Xiaonan.

The saying about a beautiful woman being a disaster isn't about what the woman does, but that her beauty itself is the source of trouble.

It is the same principle as "an innocent man is guilty of his own treasure."

At this moment, on the other end of the phone, Ning Weidong remained silent for a long time, and Zhang Dajun asked, "What? Do you want to arm-wrestle with them?"

Ning Weidong gathered his thoughts and said with a smile, "What arm-wrestling? I already said we live in the same courtyard; since an elder asked, as neighbors, I'm just helping to ask around."

Zhang Dajun wasn't quite sure if Ning Weidong's words were true or false.

Mainly because he had seen what Shi Xiaonan looked like; that appearance, that figure—even Zhang Dajun himself felt a bit moved.

It was just that he had self-awareness; this kind of woman was not someone he could covet.

But Ning Weidong had achieved success at a young age and was in a prime position; it was hard to guarantee there wasn't a story there.

Ning Weidong guessed a bit of it and said again, "Don't consider me. I'm just asking about the situation today so I have something to report back. As for the rest... do whatever you have to do, don't take me into account."

Only then did Zhang Dajun confirm Ning Weidong's attitude.

But after hanging up the phone, he still frowned and pondered what exactly Ning Weidong meant.

If he really didn't want to get involved, Ning Weidong had plenty of excuses; he didn't need to make this call to ask personally.

As for Ning Weidong emphasizing not to consider his side, Zhang Dajun's mind turned and he thought of several possibilities.

If it were him, facing this situation, he would also make this choice.

No matter who asked that Section Chief Wang at the Sub-bureau, the goal ultimately had to lie with Shi Xiaonan.

If Ning Weidong was also interested in Shi Xiaonan, he could just sit tight, wait for the other party to act and pressure Shi Xiaonan, and then make his move when she had nowhere else to turn.

Let others be the bad guys while he plays the good guy inside and out.

Ning Weidong didn't know what Zhang Dajun was thinking, but he really didn't have that thought at the moment.

After hanging up, he thought for a moment and simply picked up the phone again to dial out: "Hello, Auntie Liu, please do me a favor and call Shi Xiaonan, or their Auntie Wang will do..."

At this time, Shi Xiaonan and Auntie Wang were staring at each other at home when suddenly a loud voice came from outside: "Old Sister Wang, little Shi, there's a phone call."

Auntie Wang was taken aback; she didn't usually have phone calls, though Shi Xiaonan occasionally had changes in her performance schedule, and the troupe would call to notify them if it was urgent.

But listening to what was said outside, it included Auntie Wang, so it clearly wasn't from Shi Xiaonan's troupe.

The two of them responded and hurried out to meet the caller.

Auntie Wang asked, "Liu, who is the call from?"

Auntie Liu, who brought the message, said, "It's a man. He didn't say who he was, just said he was looking for you and little Shi."

Auntie Wang and Shi Xiaonan followed her quickly to the grocery store at the entrance of the alley. Auntie Wang saw the telephone locked in a wooden box on the counter with the receiver placed to the side, so she rushed over in three steps and grabbed the receiver, shouting "Hello."

Ning Weidong's voice immediately came from the other end: "Hello, I am Ning Weidong. Are you Auntie Wang?"

Auntie Wang's eyes lit up, and she quickly said, "I am, I am~ Weidong, go ahead."

Ning Weidong said, "Is my Sister Shi there too?"

Shi Xiaonan was nearby, leaning in to listen, and responded, "I'm here~"

Ning Weidong said, "Early this morning, I went to my unit and made a call to ask..."

Auntie Wang and Shi Xiaonan both pricked up their ears to listen carefully.

Ning Weidong's tone was troubled: "I'm afraid this matter with Wang Kai is not easy to handle!"

Auntie Wang and Shi Xiaonan's hearts sank.

Auntie Wang said anxiously, "This, what is so hard to handle? Isn't it just a fight~ nothing serious happened..."

Shi Xiaonan knew things were going to go wrong; she hadn't expected her mother-in-law, who usually seemed quite shrewd, to babble nonsense at a critical moment.

She quickly snatched the phone and said to the other side, "Brother Weidong, please don't be angry, my mother was just in a rush."

Ning Weidong didn't bother arguing with a housewife and said indifferently, "It's fine, let's leave it at that for now~ I have some other things to attend to."

Hearing the dial tone on the phone, Shi Xiaonan helplessly hung the receiver back up.

Auntie Wang, who was on the side, was still busy asking, "What else did he say?"

Shi Xiaonan glanced at her, feeling increasingly annoyed, and said crossly, "What else could he say?"

After saying this, she swished her hips and walked out of the grocery store.

Auntie Wang said "Hey," knowing she had said the wrong thing, but she wouldn't admit it; she glared at Shi Xiaonan's back, muttered to herself, and followed her out.

On the other hand, Ning Weidong hung up the phone and was also pondering Wang Kai's matter.

According to Zhang Dajun's description just now, someone clearly wanted to destroy Wang Kai; if it were just coveting Shi Xiaonan's beauty, this method was too vicious.

Or to put it another way, this person didn't consider Wang Kai a human being at all.

Wang Kai, or people like Wang Kai, were in his eyes just ants to be crushed at will.

Ning Weidong could not help but purse his lips; one didn't even need to meet such people to feel disgusted by them.

Self-righteous and condescending.

But then again, disgust is disgust; as long as the other party didn't provoke him, Ning Weidong couldn't be bothered to spare such people a second glance.

After thinking for a moment, Ning Weidong put the matter to the back of his mind, turned to take a textbook from the drawer, and began to read.

The Correspondence Secondary Specialized School Diploma he mentioned earlier wasn't just empty talk.

As his next step, if Ning Weidong wanted to secure his Cadre Status, he had to obtain the Secondary Specialized School Diploma as soon as possible.

Although there is a fundamental difference between what one learns in a correspondence secondary specialized school and a full-time one, they serve the same purpose in certain matters.

Furthermore, whether in Ning Weidong's memories or looking at the current situation, the practice of Worker-turned-Cadre is bound to be rectified.

The current abuse of Worker-turned-Cadre has reached a point where it must be addressed. At the latest by next year, the higher-ups will certainly come up with a solution.

Ning Weidong must secure his status before this policy is introduced, otherwise, he will be very passive later on.

And to secure his status, the most important thing is the diploma.

As long as he has the diploma, given Ning Weidong's current situation, there will be no obstacles to securing his Cadre Status.

Therefore, Ning Weidong's top priority now is to obtain the correspondence diploma.

Objectively speaking, the difficulty of a correspondence secondary specialized school in this era is really not high, but Ning Weidong had abandoned his textbooks for decades before transmigrating, so even if the difficulty isn't great, it will still take some time to pick it all up again.

The morning passed without incident.

After Wang Kaifeng was taken down, although Wang Guoqiang returned to the factory, he kept a low profile and made no moves.

As for Li Weibing, although he appeared to have the upper hand, he had one fatal weakness: his advanced age.

Li Weibing's age issue was also a major reason why he had been suppressed by Wang Guoqiang previously.

Otherwise, having managed the Red Star Factory for over twenty years, even if Wang Guoqiang had backing, it would have been impossible for him to admit defeat so easily.

This time, with Wang Guoqiang keeping a low profile and Li Weibing not pressing his advantage, the Red Star Factory became unprecedentedly calm.

Everyone seemed to have forgotten the previous intense clashes, and even forgot the existence of a person named Wang Kaifeng.

Ning Weidong sat in the Office holding a book, with a draft paper notebook beside him, writing and drawing from time to time.

Near noon, Zhao Ruyi ran over to call him for lunch.

Having learned from the last lesson, she didn't close the door when she came in.

Seeing the books on Ning Weidong's desk, she asked in surprise, "Studying?"

Ning Weidong gave an "mm," checked the time, capped his fountain pen, stood up, and asked, "Where do you want to eat at noon?"

Zhao Ruyi walked over, picked up Ning Weidong's notebook, and said with a grin, "Let me see, correspondence secondary specialized school—if there's anything you don't understand, I'll teach you."

Ning Weidong shot her a sideways glance.

Meeting his somewhat skeptical gaze, Zhao Ruyi said unhappily, "What, looking down on someone? I was accepted into high school back in the day, too."

Ning Weidong didn't care that the door was open; he walked over, gave her a quick kiss, and said with a smile, "Want to be my teacher?"

Zhao Ruyi blushed, hurriedly looked toward the door, and said crossly, "The door is open!"

Ning Weidong said, "Let it be open. Who in the factory doesn't know we're dating?"

Zhao Ruyi pouted and said, "You still can't just do whatever you want! If word gets out, what will happen to my reputation?"

Ning Weidong laughed, "Then why didn't you close the door when you came in?"

Zhao Ruyi rolled her eyes, "Are you trying to make me mad on purpose? Don't you know why I didn't close the door?"

Ning Weidong asked a question he already knew the answer to: "Why?"

Zhao Ruyi hadn't expected Ning Weidong to still dare to grope her with the door open, so she hurriedly took a step back and said, "You stop that right now. Every time it's like this—if you really like those two lumps of meat so much, I'll cut them off and give them to you, so they stop making my shoulders ache every day."

Ning Weidong didn't take it to heart and said, "Look at you, getting angry. I touch you because I like you. Why don't I touch anyone else?"

Zhao Ruyi shot back a huge eye-roll: "As if I should thank you for your favor. 'Touch anyone else'—as if others would let you touch them, you lecher."

As she spoke, she turned and walked toward the door.

Ning Weidong curled his lip and was about to follow her out, but unexpectedly, Zhao Ruyi peeked outside at the doorway, and instead of leaving, she closed the door, turned around, and pouted: "Hurry up, just a few touches, we're waiting to eat."

Ning Weidong was stunned by her, not knowing how to describe that hypocritical little expression.

Ning Weidong had one virtue: he listened to advice.

Since the girl had already said so, it wouldn't be right if he didn't make a move.

A moment later, Zhao Ruyi, her face flushed, came out of the Office with Ning Weidong.

In this era, even for young men and women who were dating, it was rare to hold hands in public; the two of them just kept a closer distance than ordinary colleagues.

Walking down the stairs, Zhao Ruyi whispered while heading toward the canteen, "Be gentler next time, you pinched me and it hurt."

Ning Weidong grinned, "Then I'll rub it for you."

Zhao Ruyi rolled her eyes, "Stop being so improper. By the way, my sister-in-law is coming back next month, and she might want to see you then."

"Your sister-in-law?" Ning Weidong knew it was Zhao Lichun's wife.

Ning Weidong knew a bit about Zhao Lichun's wife; the two had been married for five years and had two daughters, one named Zhao Xiaoxian and the other Zhao Xiaohui.

She worked at the Foreign Affairs Department and often had overseas assignments.

Otherwise, when he took Zhao Ruyi to the Wang Family for a blind date last time, she, as Zhao Lichun's beloved wife, certainly would have been there.

Ning Weidong acknowledged this, but just then, someone suddenly called out to him: "Section Chief, Section Chief Ning!"

Ning Weidong turned his head and saw Xia Dongqiang walking over quickly; he stopped and waited for him to get close: "Xia, what's the matter?"

Xia Dongqiang caught his breath, glanced at Zhao Ruyi, nodded, and smiled.

Zhao Ruyi said to Ning Weidong, "Weidong, I'll wait for you at the canteen."

Ning Weidong gave an "mm," took a cigarette from his pocket, and tossed it to Xia Dongqiang.

Xia Dongqiang caught it with both hands but didn't rush to smoke it; he leaned in closer and said with a grin, "Section Chief, that... my second uncle's family is in the Northeast, and they sent a few catties of Hazel Mushroom for the New Year, along with some mountain delicacies—all local specialties. Please don't look down on them."

Ning Weidong had not expected that Xia Dongqiang had come to find him to give him a gift: "Xia, why are you doing this with me?"

Xia Dongqiang hurriedly said: "Section Chief, it really was brought by my second uncle; it's not worth much, please don't decline it, that... before getting off work, I'll tie it onto your bicycle for you."

After finishing speaking, he didn't wait for Ning Weidong to say anything more, turned around, and slipped away in a flash.

Ning Weidong couldn't shout after him, so he could only watch him walk away.

In his heart, he was secretly calculating that what Xia Dongqiang sent today was probably not as simple as just Hazel Mushroom.

If before, those few people in the Fourth Workshop duty room had no choice but to offer a pledge of allegiance, this time Xia Dongqiang was actively and enthusiastically drawing close, showing his attitude to Ning Weidong.

However, Ning Weidong did not take it too much to heart.

Previously, those few people in the Fourth Workshop duty room were important because he was trapped in the Fourth Workshop.

Now that he had already jumped out, the importance of these few people like Xia Dongqiang naturally dropped significantly.

Especially Wang Weiran and Xia Dongqiang; Liu Dong at least held tight to Ning Wei's thigh.

Xia Dongqiang was older and had seniority, so he certainly wouldn't be willing to suck up to Ning Wei; if he was going to suck up to anyone, it would be directly to Ning Weidong.

——

Much better today, will resume eight thousand words tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)