Chapter 24: The Aggressive Technician

Ning Weidong pondered various things, but didn't really go to the canteen, just wandering around the nearby roads.

About an hour later, seeing it was seven o'clock, he returned to the West Gate guard room at a leisurely pace.

Upon reaching the entrance, he heard the sound of a radio coming from inside; he didn't know what channel it was, but it was playing crosstalk.

Ning Weidong opened the door and went in.

Wang Yong heard the movement and turned his head: "Dongzi, you're back~"

Ning Weidong nodded and stomped his feet on the ground: "It seems like the temperature has dropped; if things go wrong, it might snow tonight."

"Yeah~" Wang Yong stretched his neck and glanced out the window.

Ning Weidong poured himself a cup of hot water.

After transmigrating, he could feel that his physical fitness had improved significantly, but in winter, he was still as sensitive to the cold as ever; having wandered outside for nearly an hour, he was frozen quite badly even while wearing a cotton-padded coat.

After sipping a few mouthfuls of hot water and feeling his stomach warm up, Ning Weidong yawned, sat on the chair next to Wang Yong, and glanced into the inner room: "Is the Squad Leader still sleeping?"

Wang Yong nodded and said in a low voice: "He drank too much~"

In his memories, Xu Jinshan had some tolerance for alcohol; being called to accompany others in the afternoon was mostly because they valued his ability to drink.

The two chatted aimlessly, and no vehicles had entered or exited the whole time.

Seeing it was eight o'clock, the crosstalk on the radio finished, and it began playing other programs.

Wang Yong's interest waned, and he suggested: "Want to play a couple of games?"

Come to think of it, among the day shift, middle shift, and night shift, the middle shift was considered the most comfortable.

The day shift had too many people and eyes, and for the night shift, it was miserable not to sleep in the second half of the night.

Ning Weidong was also idle, so he said "Let's do it" and took the Chinese chess set out of the drawer.

He didn't know whose this chess set was, but it had always been kept in the guard room.

The cardboard box it came in was already ruined and had been taped back together with electrical tape from the factory.

The original plastic board was also gone, so Wang Yong pulled a wooden board from the side of the desk, on which the Chu River and Han Border had been drawn with a black pen.

The two set up the pieces and began to play at a leisurely pace.

Wang Yong's chess skills were average, and Ning Weidong wasn't much better; he had learned from his father when he was a child, so the two could be considered evenly matched.

Back and forth, two novices pecking at each other.

Just as they were enjoying the game, someone suddenly burst in from outside.

With a "Bang!", the person entered very rudely; the door of the guard room was already pulled by a spring, and it was slammed even harder by this person, making an even louder noise.

It gave both Ning Weidong and Wang Yong a fright, and they both looked at the person at the same time.

Ning Weidong found the face unfamiliar, but Wang Yong recognized him at a glance and immediately stood up: "Oh my, isn't this Technician Liu? What's the matter?"

Technician Liu glanced at him, his face as dark as water: "Where is Xu Jinshan? I'm looking for him."

Ning Weidong watched from the side and didn't chime in.

He didn't know what kind of background the other party had, but coming to find Xu Jinshan in such a menacing manner, it was clear he didn't come with good intentions.

Wang Yong frowned, feeling quite displeased in his heart.

Although a Technician was a backbone of the factory, not only having a high salary but also Cadre Status, he still had no authority over the guards; who the hell was he putting on a long face for?

But he only cursed a few times in his heart; he really didn't dare to have a direct conflict with the other party, so he gave a dry laugh: "Our Squad Leader is inside~"

As he spoke, he glanced at the door of the inner room; the meaning was obvious: if you have business, go find him yourself.

Technician Liu gave a light "Hmph" and walked right in.

Wang Yong curled his lips, gave Ning Weidong a look, and said in a low voice: "Weidong, come outside with me for a smoke."

Ning Weidong agreed, even more curious about who this Technician Liu was and what business he had with Xu Jinshan that required them to step out. Once outside, Wang Yong took out a cigarette and handed one to Ning Weidong, cursing as he spoke: "What the hell, he really thinks he's some kind of Cadre, I spit on him~"

Spitting on the concrete steps at the entrance, Wang Yong made no effort to hide his emotions.

Ning Weidong took the cigarette and lit it, following Wang Yong's mood by gesturing toward the room: "Brother Wang, who is this? So aggressive~"

Wang Yong took a deep drag of his cigarette, his emotions stabilizing, and raised his eyebrows: "You don't know him? Liu Xinwen, the Technician from the Second Workshop."

Ning Weidong nodded, but he had absolutely no concept of this in his mind.

Although he had been in the factory for over a year, the original owner's understanding of the Red Star Steel Factory was superficial at best.

Let alone a Technician like Liu Xinwen, he couldn't even name the people in charge of several important departments.

Ning Weidong felt helpless and could only curse the "fool" in his heart once more.

Although he was curious about how a Technician like Liu Xinwen could be involved with Xu Jinshan and come looking for him in the middle of the night with such a bitter grudge—could it be that Xu Jinshan had cuckolded him? With Xu Jinshan's tetracycline-stained teeth, that shouldn't be possible! Inside the guard room, although separated by two doors, they could vaguely hear the argument between Xu Jinshan and Liu Xinwen.

Unfortunately, the two seemed to have their own reservations and didn't shout recklessly, so it was impossible to hear what they were arguing about.

After about ten minutes, Liu Xinwen came out, still fuming and looking terrible.

Xu Jinshan followed him out; he had already been drinking, and now his face was flushed red, and he gritted his teeth: "Liu, don't you go too far!"

Liu Xinwen looked back at him: "I should be the one saying that; if you really push me too far..."

At this point, he seemed to realize it was inappropriate, quickly glanced at Ning Weidong and Wang Yong nearby, swallowed the second half of his sentence, glared at Xu Jinshan, snorted, and turned to leave.

Xu Jinshan's face was as dark as water, his eyes staring gloomily at the other person as he walked away, then he turned to look at Ning Weidong and Wang Yong, gave a dry laugh, raised his hand, and cursed: "Damn it, what a total lunatic."

Wang Yong didn't say anything, and Ning Weidong didn't rashly interject.

Xu Jinshan talked to himself to cover up his inner emotions.

The three of them returned to the guard room together.

Xu Jinshan didn't go back to the inner room to sleep; he sat outside for a while, smoking with his eyes lowered, not knowing what he was thinking.

After smoking several cigarettes in a row, he suddenly stood up, put on his overcoat, said "I'm going out for a bit," and left.

Ning Weidong and Wang Yong looked at each other and said nothing.

After this episode, the two had no interest in playing chess and began to just kill time.

Until the middle of the night, Xu Jinshan did not return.

After finishing the shift handover with the night shift, Ning Weidong came out, parted ways with Wang Yong, and headed straight for the South Gate.

Wang Yong's home was in the nearby residential area, so he walked back directly after getting off work.

Ning Weidong, however, needed to catch the night shift commuter bus.

Arriving at the factory's South Gate, a long line of six or seven large buses was parked there.

Most workers preferred riding bicycles, so the number of people taking the commuter bus wasn't too high; these few buses were enough.

Ning Weidong spotted his target and boarded the third bus.

These buses took different routes, so it would be troublesome to get on the wrong one.

There were still plenty of seats when Ning Weidong got on.

He found a place to sit, tightened his cotton-padded overcoat, and pondered that he needed to get a bicycle, otherwise it would be inconvenient to go anywhere.

A moment later, the workshop workers came out and quickly filled the commuter bus; there were even those without seats standing in the aisle.

Until 12:15 AM, the engine started, and the bus departed on time.

(End of this chapter)