Chapter 170: Making an Arrest

"What did you say!" Li Weibing, who had just prepared to go to sleep, received a phone call.

The call was from Chu Zhongxin, and the content was singular: they were going to arrest Deputy Factory Director Liu.

As the head of the Red Star Factory, in principle, Li Weibing had to be notified before the operation.

This was both a sign of respect for Li Weibing and a form of trust.

After hanging up the phone, Li Weibing's expression turned gloomy.

Although it was Deputy Factory Director Liu who was in trouble, as the top leader, having an incident occur within his own ranks—and a matter of such major right and wrong at that—was absolutely a loss of face for Li Weibing.

What's more, he was currently eyeing his upcoming retirement and was thinking only of how to land safely, even going so far as to push Chu Chengfu out to compete against Wang Guoqiang.

Yet now, such a thing had happened; Deputy Factory Director Liu had been in the factory for all these years, and a traitor had emerged right under his nose.

This was practically a slap to his old face!

Yet he couldn't say anything, nor could he obstruct or cover it up.

The nature of this incident was truly too egregious; if he showed even the slightest lack of cooperation, he could potentially be stained with a blemish.

Li Weibing couldn't help but grit his teeth; in the final analysis, it was Deputy Factory Director Liu's own mess—it was simply outrageous! Almost at the same time, Wang Guoqiang also received the news.

No matter how secrecy was requested for such matters, it was only directed at those below; for people at the level and position of Li Weibing and Wang Guoqiang, it was fundamentally impossible to keep it secret.

At this moment, Wang Guoqiang's reaction was similar to Li Weibing's; his expression was also not very pleasant.

He knew Deputy Factory Director Liu had issues, he just hadn't expected the issues to be this serious, and even less did he expect the matter to explode this early.

He even had thoughts of waiting another two or three years for Li Weibing to step down, so he could take the stage and then excise the tumor that was Deputy Factory Director Liu.

Wearing his pajamas, Wang Guoqiang sat on the sofa and took a deep breath, his mind rapidly contemplating the potential impact on the current situation in the factory after Deputy Factory Director Liu's incident.

……

At the same time, Lu Zhou, having taken Ning Wei along under the pretext of a theft at the hospital, had swiftly and decisively apprehended Ning Wei's target.

In that instant, the look she gave Ning Wei was filled with disbelief.

She had never imagined that Ning Wei would be so stubborn; even after she had caught him in a compromising position, he still dared to confront her head-on.

Ning Wei, however, had a complex expression as he looked at this woman; in his eyes, there was initially some pity, but it instantly transformed into cold, sinister malice.

This woman could be said to have been his mentor and friend; she not only turned him into a man but also taught him never to trust a woman.

……

On the other side, Deputy Factory Director Liu was preparing to sleep when the phone in his house suddenly rang.

Deputy Factory Director Liu frowned; he was startled the moment he heard the phone ring.

The saying "a guilty conscience needs no accuser" was not false at all.

Ever since he went to Japan the year before last, he had developed a case of neurasthenia upon his return; he either couldn't sleep or had nightmares.

Recently, this ailment had become increasingly severe, and every morning when he got up, his hair would fall out in clumps.

Deputy Factory Director Liu realized he had to leave, to get away from this place and go abroad.

That was his promised land, his spiritual home, a place where he could spread his wings and soar across the world.

Furthermore, recently, the side in Japan had been secretly contacting him, hoping to obtain information regarding the Fourth Workshop.

Deputy Factory Director Liu could feel that the other party was very interested in this, and this was his opportunity.

It made him resolve that if one does not act when the time is right, one will suffer the consequences.

Just like that, starting a few days ago, Deputy Factory Director Liu had exhausted all his efforts, intending to obtain the important technical data regarding the Fourth Workshop at all costs.

"Hello~" Deputy Factory Director Liu composed himself and reached out to pick up the phone.

Li Weibing's voice came from the other end: "Old Liu~ It's me, Li Weibing."

Deputy Factory Director Liu was stunned; usually, Li Weibing wouldn't call him, so he hurriedly said, "Factory Director, do you have any instructions?"

Deputy Factory Director Liu had no personal friendship with Li Weibing; the two belonged to completely different camps.

A few years ago, Li Weibing had steered the course to his advantage, occupied the Red Star Factory, and remained unaffected.

Deputy Factory Director Liu, however, was a typical intellectual who held his head high; after going to the countryside for a few years, he felt he had suffered a great injustice.

But then again, wasn't his so-called suffering just the daily life of the local common people?

How did their life become persecution for him? Was he born noble? Or were others born lowly?

But on the surface, the relationship between the two was still passable.

On the phone, Li Weibing said: "Old Liu~ There are some technical problems in the Fourth Workshop, and the Technician there can't solve them; come over and take a look."

Deputy Factory Director Liu's eyes lit up; although he had tried every possible way to obtain some information about the Fourth Workshop before, none of it had been first-hand.

Being called over today was truly a case of "searching high and low, only to find it without any effort"!

Deputy Factory Director Liu immediately agreed and hurriedly got up to put on his clothes.

Just then, a person entered from outside the door—a young man in his twenties with a buzz cut; he could only be described as average-looking, not tall, and somewhat timid; seeing Deputy Factory Director Liu, he called out "Dad."

Deputy Factory Director Liu frowned imperceptibly and continued to put on his clothes with a blank expression.

The young man was his son, who had been raised in the countryside for the past few years and was only brought back after he resumed his work.

Yet he was timid and not close to him either.

Deputy Factory Director Liu disliked it very much, even feeling some disgust.

This son was not like him at all.

But his reason told him that no matter how much he disliked it, this was his son, and he could not deny it.

Moreover, at his age, he did indeed need a son. Deputy Factory Director Liu had no choice but to patiently say: "There's something at the factory; you stay home, if you're sleepy, just go to bed~"

The young man responded, watching Deputy Factory Director Liu leave in a hurry, and finally, with the "bang" of the door closing, he suddenly felt, for no reason, that something bad was about to happen with the closing of that door.

"Dad~"

The young man called out, but only heard the sound of footsteps hurrying downstairs outside the door.

……

Twenty-some minutes later, Deputy Factory Director Liu arrived at Li Weibing's Office.

Although he was in a hurry to get to the Fourth Workshop, it was Li Weibing who had called him just now, so he definitely had to come over to show his face.

Who would have thought, the moment he arrived at Li Weibing's Office, he couldn't help but be stunned.

He saw that besides Li Weibing, there were three other people in the Office.

He recognized the leader among them; it was none other than Chu Zhongxin.

Accompanying Chu Zhongxin were two unfamiliar faces.

Deputy Factory Director Liu had not yet realized the danger; because there had been an accident at the Fourth Workshop earlier, he assumed Chu Zhongxin had come because of that matter.

He smiled and greeted Li Weibing, then nodded to Chu Zhongxin.

Li Weibing, however, was expressionless; he ignored him and looked toward Chu Zhongxin.

Chu Zhongxin gave the other two a look, and these two immediately seized Deputy Factory Director Liu from the left and right.

Suddenly being restrained, Deputy Factory Director Liu was terrified out of his wits; he already had a guilty conscience, and this nearly scared him into wetting himself.

But like a dead duck with a stiff beak, he still clung to a glimmer of hope and shouted, "What are you doing! Factory Director! Factory Director Li..."

In the end, he still held onto hope, wanting Li Weibing to speak up.

Yet at this moment, Li Weibing was sick to death of him and looked aside, too lazy to pay him any more mind.

Chu Zhongxin let out a cold snort and signaled his two subordinates to make him shut up.

These two were both experts; upon receiving the leader's signal, one of them reached out and pressed a spot on Deputy Factory Director Liu's ribs.

It didn't look like much force was used, but it was actually heart-piercingly painful. Deputy Factory Director Liu was a scholar by nature and couldn't handle this; he immediately opened his mouth wide, gasping in pain but unable to let out a scream.

By the time he recovered, he was covered in cold sweat and, knowing when to submit, didn't shout again.

Chu Zhongxin reached out to shake hands with Li Weibing: "Factory Director Li, thank you for cooperating with our work."

Li Weibing smiled reluctantly: "It's only right~ Does Section Chief Chu intend to take him back immediately, or interrogate him at the Manager first?"

Chu Zhongxin understood Li Weibing's meaning; he hoped he could interrogate him at the Manager first, so that if any situation arose, the Manager would be well-prepared.

It wasn't that Li Weibing had a guilty conscience; it was just that Deputy Factory Director Liu was already on a dead-end road, and at a time like this, it wasn't impossible for him to fabricate things and drag others down with him.

Chu Zhongxin had his own considerations: first, to save face for the Red Star Factory, and second, he was afraid that delays would lead to complications.

If they made a big scene and took Deputy Factory Director Liu to the Municipal Bureau to interrogate him, all their efforts would be wasted if news leaked out.

This time, the arrest of Deputy Factory Director Liu, besides Ning Weidong's suspicion that Deputy Factory Director Liu might be planning to run, was more importantly because Deputy Factory Director Liu's desperate gamble this time would likely implicate personnel hidden by Japan.

This was the true great merit.

Li Weibing secretly breathed a sigh of relief, expressed his thanks, and gave Chu Zhongxin full authority to handle the matter.

Since Chu Zhongxin was giving him face, he certainly had to return the favor.

The next day.

Early in the morning, Ning Weidong continued to take Bai Feng to her exam.

Once finished, he didn't stop for a moment and headed straight for the Manager.

The arrest of Deputy Factory Director Liu last night, as well as the situation at the hospital, had not caused any stir.

Deputy Factory Director Liu had been arrested in secret, and the news had not yet spread.

Some people knew that a theft had occurred at the hospital, but it was only hearsay, and they did not know the details.

Ning Weidong was not surprised; with the capabilities and experience of Chu Zhongxin and Lu Zhou, it was bound to be done cleanly and efficiently.

It would be strange if it were already the talk of the town early in the morning.

Just as he arrived at the Office, Li Peihang came over and said as he entered: "Brother, you've finally arrived. What exactly happened last night?"

Ning Weidong, however, played dumb: "Brother Li, what happened last night?"

Li Peihang was half-doubting: "You really don't know? Last night, Old Liu~ was arrested! Chu Zhongxin brought people to do it."

Ning Weidong looked surprised: "Really! What for?"

Li Peihang had originally come to ask him for information, but now he was also left feeling a bit confused: "No, you really don't know?"

Ning Weidong said: "What would I know~ Tell me quickly, what is this all about?"

After listening to what Li Peihang said, Ning Weidong also understood the latest developments.

After he went to find Chu Zhongxin last night, he really didn't know the specific progress regarding Deputy Factory Director Liu.

He had intended to show his face at the Office before going to find Chu Zhongxin, but he hadn't expected Li Peihang to come so quickly.

The key now was whether they could use Deputy Factory Director Liu to ferret out the Japanese.

(End of chapter)