Chapter 192: Archives Room

Although Wang Rui and Qian Dacheng had a decent relationship, it was only to a certain extent.

If it were something trivial, a mere wave of the hand, he would certainly agree without a second thought, but if it truly involved interests or something dangerous, he would have to weigh it carefully.

Now that Qian Dacheng was asking about Ning Weidong's personnel file, what did this mean? Qian Dacheng smiled, yet avoided talking about what he needed Ning Weidong's personnel file for.

Wang Rui thought for a moment, then looked at Qian Dacheng.

If he directly stated he wouldn't give it, leaving Qian Dacheng in an awkward position, the relationship he had worked so hard to maintain would be over.

But he didn't want to leave any hidden trouble behind, so he rolled his eyes and said, "Old Qian, it's not that I don't want to help, but there are some situations in our division you don't know about..."

Qian Dacheng was taken aback.

Originally, he felt that coming to find Wang Rui to look at Ning Weidong's personnel file wasn't a difficult matter; after all, he was just looking, not taking it away.

Who would have thought that Wang Rui, who usually spoke so nicely, would be so uncooperative at a critical moment.

He couldn't help but feel a bit displeased, but since he was asking for a favor, he didn't dare show it on his face and remained smiling.

Wang Rui explained, "The personnel files are currently under the sole control of our Division Chief. If I go to help you pull it out, it will definitely alert the Division Chief... I'm afraid that wouldn't be convenient for you."

Although Qian Dacheng didn't explicitly say what he wanted Ning Weidong's personnel file for, he was definitely up to no good.

Qian Dacheng reacted quickly and immediately asked, "Is there any other way?"

Wang Rui raised his hand to check his watch and said, "How about this, it's almost noon, I'll take you to the archives room directly. Xiao Houzi, who keeps the keys, is my apprentice. There's no one else there at noon, so just take a look, don't take it out."

Qian Dacheng naturally had no objections; just as Wang Rui said, if the Division Chief of the Personnel Department really found out about this, it would be a trouble for him too.

He nodded in agreement and thanked him again.

More than half an hour later, taking advantage of the lunch break, the two arrived at the Personnel Department's archives room.

"Master~" In the corridor at the entrance of the archives room, a lean young man in his twenties had been waiting for a long time. After greeting Wang Rui, he also called out to Section Chief Qian.

He took the key out of his pocket while speaking.

Wang Rui was considered a leader in the division and had some power, so he would occasionally enter and exit the archives room; it wasn't strange even if someone in the corridor saw him.

Moreover, while personnel files were nominally very important, if one really looked into it, they were actually just so-so.

As long as they weren't lost or didn't have some error that caused serious consequences, generally no one would mess with them.

Leaving Xiao Houzi to wait outside, Wang Rui took Qian Dacheng inside.

Very quickly, they found Ning Weidong's name on the Security Division's shelf.

Wang Rui, who carried a small knife, carefully pried open the side of the file bag along the seal, trying his best not to damage it.

It was obvious that he hadn't done this once or twice; his movements were very practiced and his craftsmanship was solid. In less than two minutes, he had pried open half of the attached seal.

Qian Dacheng took the file bag and took out the contents to look at them.

Ning Weidong was not old, so naturally, his personnel file didn't have many pages.

He skipped the elementary and middle school parts at the front, and what remained were two sheets: one from when he went to the countryside, and one from after he arrived at the Red Star Factory.

Qian Dacheng's gaze swept over them, then suddenly stopped, and he asked Wang Rui, "Ning Weidong is a Worker-turned-Cadre?"

Wang Rui was stunned for a moment. Although he was in the Personnel Department, he had little contact with Ning Weidong. He had at least heard of him before and had also heard some rumors in the factory.

"Is he?" Wang Rui replied. Anyway, he had already helped, and as for Qian Dacheng's discovery, he didn't care.

Qian Dacheng rolled his eyes and continued reading.

He finished looking quickly and returned it to Wang Rui.

Wang Rui didn't ask him anything else and casually fished a tube of glue out of his pocket, skillfully sticking the seal he had just pried open back on.

It looked seamless; if one didn't observe carefully, one couldn't tell it had ever been opened.

The two came out of the archives room, and Xiao Houzi was talking to someone, speaking loudly on purpose.

Wang Rui heard it from inside.

When that person saw Wang Rui come out, he said in surprise, "Section Chief Wang, you haven't gone to eat yet~"

Wang Rui didn't feel guilty and said with a smile, "There was a document that needed to be filed just now, I'm going right now."

That person didn't suspect anything and complimented, "You are truly diligent in your work."

Wang Rui waved his hand, "Don't say that, it's all part of the job."

As the person spoke, he looked at Qian Dacheng, nodded, said a word to Xiao Houzi, and left first.

Qian Dacheng looked at him, feeling he looked familiar, but couldn't remember who it was for a moment. After the person walked away, he asked Wang Rui, "Who was that just now?"

Wang Rui returned the key to Xiao Houzi, "Him? Old Chen from the third floor, you don't know him?"

Qian Dacheng was stunned for a moment and frowned, "From the Security Division?"

Wang Rui realized that Qian Dacheng wanted to find trouble for Ning Weidong, and the Chen he had just seen was also from the Security Division.

However, the two just mentioned it and moved on; after all, there were over a hundred people in the Security Division. After giving Xiao Houzi another instruction, Wang Rui and Qian Dacheng headed to the cafeteria.

Little did they know, as soon as Xiao Houzi parted ways with them, he couldn't wait to leave the Factory Office Building, too busy to eat, and hurried toward the Fourth Workshop.

A few minutes later, he arrived at the Security Division's duty room outside the Fourth Workshop.

Under the poplar tree outside the duty room, a few people who had just finished eating were chatting idly.

Xiao Houzi's eyes swept over, and he happened to see Liu Dong.

Previously, Liu Dong had thought he couldn't climb up to Ning Weidong, so he set his sights on Ning Wei, but unexpectedly, things went against his wishes, and Ning Wei left not long after being in the factory. Before leaving, Ning Wei had actually talked to him, asking if he was willing to follow him to Ning Weidong and Zhao Ruyi's Trade Company.

Liu Dong considered it repeatedly but still didn't go.

He wasn't Ning Wei; he didn't know the potential of that Trade Company. In reality, Ning Wei didn't understand it either, but Ning Wei believed in Ning Weidong, and it was a blind trust.

Liu Dong was far from that level; he had an iron rice bowl at the Red Star Factory.

Even so, Liu Dong's stance hadn't changed; before Ning Wei left, he had specifically entrusted him to Lu Zhou.

"Liu Dong~" Xiao Houzi called out from a few meters away.

Liu Dong pulled himself away and casually fished out a cigarette, "Brother Hou, why did you run to the workshop?"

Xiao Houzi took the cigarette but didn't light it, busy asking, "Where is my Third Brother, where did he go?"

The "Third Brother" in Xiao Houzi's mouth is Lu Zhou, but looking at their surnames, it is clear they are not biological brothers, but rather distant cousins.

Coupled with Lu Zhou's poker face and the significant age gap between the two, they do not usually hang out together, so not many people know about this relationship.

Liu Dong did not know either; he had only heard Xiao Houzi call Lu Zhou "Third Brother," and he did not know how they were related.

Liu Dong peeked into the duty room.

In this season, because the duty room was built against the workshop, it only had doors and windows at the front, and the north side was completely blocked; there was no cross-breeze, so even with an electric fan on, it was like a steamer inside.

There was not a single person inside.

Liu Dong said, "Brother Lu was just in there a moment ago."

Before the words had even faded, he saw Lu Zhou coming out of the small building on the Military Representative's side, just about to head this way.

Liu Dong had sharp eyes and reached out to point.

Xiao Houzi immediately went up to meet him.

Liu Dong could see that Xiao Houzi had something to discuss with Lu Zhou; he hesitated for a few seconds, then immediately followed.

Liu Dong was not old, but he was a very sharp person; otherwise, he would not have been the first to bet his chips on Ning Weidong at a critical moment.

When Xiao Houzi reached Lu Zhou, he first called out "Third Brother," but just as he was about to speak, he noticed Liu Dong had followed and immediately shut his mouth.

For one, he was wary of Liu Dong, and for another, he was not entirely sure himself.

Just now, Wang Rui had looked for him and only asked him to take the key to the archives; as for what he was going to look for in the archives, he had not said.

Xiao Houzi had only been by the door and vaguely heard Ning Weidong's name, and on a whim, he felt he had grasped an opportunity.

He knew Lu Zhou's previous situation: under Wang Kaifeng, he did plenty of work but received no benefits, and his lifelong ambition was to be promoted to Deputy Section Chief.

Ever since he threw his lot in with Ning Weidong, things had suddenly taken off.

Previously, Lu Zhou was a lone wolf, holding the title of Security Officer while doing all the dirty and tiring work.

Now, he was a proper leader; the Fourth Workshop, including the duty room and the Factory Protection Team, added up to over twenty people, all of whom answered to Lu Zhou.

In the first half of the year, he was even named an advanced worker, clearly paving the way for a promotion to Deputy Section Chief.

From Lu Zhou, Xiao Houzi saw Ning Weidong's influence and character.

He kept the promises he made back then, unlike Wang Rui, who only knew how to feed him empty promises.

Lu Zhou frowned, glanced at Liu Dong, and said indifferently, "It doesn't matter, Xiao Liu is one of our own."

This statement was indeed correct; Liu Dong was indeed one of their own, but he was not Lu Zhou's man—he was Ning Weidong's man.

Xiao Houzi found it hard to hide anything and immediately explained the situation.

Lu Zhou's expression turned gloomy, and he muttered, "Qian Dacheng from the Logistics Department, Wang Rui from the Personnel Department... they are looking for the Section Chief's files... what are they trying to do!"

Liu Dong's expression was stern, but he did not speak rashly.

The main thing was that he did not know either Qian Dacheng or Wang Rui.

There were over ten thousand people in the Red Star Factory, and Liu Dong was just a young man who hung around the Security Division; he did not have the particularly social personality of someone like Wang Zipeng.

Xiao Houzi also had his own little schemes and suggested, "Third Brother, this matter is of great importance; do you think we should report it to the leader immediately?" In his heart, he was wondering if he could use this opportunity to show his face in front of Ning Weidong.

He did not want anything else, just to let Ning Weidong know he existed.

Lu Zhou kept his poker face, mostly able to guess his little cousin's thoughts, and after thinking for a moment, said, "I will go report it now."

Xiao Houzi's expression stiffened, hearing that Lu Zhou did not intend to take him along.

Lu Zhou explained, "Houzi, I know what you're thinking; the credit that is yours will definitely not escape you!"

Xiao Houzi nodded; he still trusted this cousin's character.

Lu Zhou continued, "You go back immediately now, don't expose yourself rashly, understand?"

Xiao Houzi's heart stirred; he understood what Lu Zhou meant and nodded, saying, "Third Brother, I understand."

After giving these instructions, Lu Zhou looked at Liu Dong: "Xiao Liu, come with me."

The three of them met, and in less than three minutes, they separated again.

Xiao Houzi returned to the Factory Office Building, while Lu Zhou and Liu Dong hurried to the canteen.

According to routine, Ning Weidong was mostly likely eating lunch at this time.

(End of chapter)