Chapter 27: Big Stir

Obtaining Li Peihang's label was the first step in Ning Weidong's plan.

Before this, never mind that the original owner had worked in the Manager for over a year, or that there was the classmate relationship between Ning Weiguo and Li Peihang.

But the original owner had never obtained this qualification.

It could also be said that Li Peihang simply didn't think much of him; previously, it was just purely social interactions with the couple, Ning Weiguo and Wang Yuzhen.

Ning Weidong also understood in his heart why Xu Jinshan and Wang Yong, who were in the same work group as him, both had income outside of their wages, yet he alone was excluded.

It was likely that Li Peihang had given a heads-up beforehand, not that he had any personal opinion of him.

Quite the contrary, Li Peihang doing this was good for both sides.

With the original owner being the type who didn't use his brain, getting him involved would definitely be a disaster.

But the situation had changed now.

Even without involving the original owner, Li Peihang still encountered trouble.

Not waiting for Li Peihang to fully digest the matter of Wu Bingzhong, Ning Weidong threw out another piece of news: "Section Chief, there is one more thing..."

He recounted the situation from yesterday afternoon where Xu Jinshan was called away by Wang Kaifeng to accompany him for drinks.

Upon hearing this, Li Peihang immediately raised his eyebrows, his gaze becoming more sinister.

Ning Weidong was secretly paying attention from the side, and seeing this, he knew that Li Peihang and Wang Kaifeng were not on the same path.

In normal times, if a Deputy Division Chief hosted a guest and found someone who could drink to accompany them to liven up the atmosphere, it wouldn't matter.

The problem was that Wu Bingzhong seeking out Ning Weidong was aimed at Xu Jinshan, and now this matter had come up as well.

One matter might be excusable, but now that both matters involved Xu Jinshan, it was inevitable that Li Peihang would have thoughts in his mind.

As for what he was actually thinking, Ning Weidong didn't care.

He only needed to sell the information he held for a good "price," and that was enough.

Emerging from Li Peihang's Office, a smile curled at the corners of Ning Weidong's mouth.

He had just spent over twenty minutes in the office, and when he came out, Li Peihang had seen him to the door.

However, Li Peihang was no ordinary person; facing this situation, his composure didn't falter in the slightest, and he didn't even make any specific demands of Ning Weidong from start to finish.

Ning Weidong wasn't in a rush either; today was a very good start.

His performance would make Li Peihang feel that the original owner had been hiding his light previously, or at least he wouldn't think he was truly brainless.

Coming out of the Factory Office Building, Ning Weidong stood below the steps and exhaled a puff of white air into the cold wind.

He looked back at the five-story cement-gray building, then turned and strode away.

How Li Peihang would act next was not something Ning Weidong needed to consider.

Passing the information over and showing his stance and attitude was enough; taking the initiative to say or do more would be gilding the lily.

It wasn't even eleven o'clock yet when Ning Weidong came out of the Factory Office.

He wasn't in a hurry to leave, so he first went to find Lu Dayong at the Factory Protection Team.

Although it wasn't Saturday yet, Ning Weidong didn't intend to drag it out; after all, the man was in a hurry to get married~ Lu Dayong was truly a bit surprised to receive the cash.

He had thought Ning Weidong would drag it out until the very end, and this time, what he worried about most was that something would go wrong on Ning Weidong's end.

It wasn't about Ning Weidong's character, but rather that in these last few months, Ning Weidong was clearly strapped for cash, so it certainly wouldn't be easy for him to pull out nearly three months' worth of wages all at once.

He hadn't expected that it was only Wednesday, and Ning Weidong had already brought the money.

Leaving the Manager, Ning Weidong took a vehicle back to Fuchengmennei.

At the intersection of Shijin Lane, the excavator was still working in an orderly fashion, and as always, a crowd of people was gathered around, immovable, watching the excitement.

After two days, a row of the courtyards that had been right next to the road had already been demolished.

Ning Weidong calculated in his heart that at this speed, in twenty days at most, or half a month if it went quickly, this entire area could be cleared. It would just happen to catch the spring thaw, making it a good time to start construction on the buildings.

And the time actually left for Ning Weidong and Wang Jingsheng would be even less.

Because it was impossible to wait until the very last moment of the demolition to reach Qi Jiazui's house.

If it were demolished ahead of schedule and the items were exposed, everything would have to be confiscated and processed.

Thinking of this, Ning Weidong couldn't help but purse his lips, a sense of urgency budding in his heart.

His gaze scanned around, and he soon spotted Ning Wei's figure in the crowd.

Ning Weidong walked over nonchalantly, lingered near Ning Wei for a moment, and then walked forward.

Seeing this, Ning Wei waited a short while before following.

The two left the construction site one after the other and found a small alley to enter.

Ning Weidong took out a cigarette, gave one to Ning Wei, and asked about the situation while lighting his own.

Actually, Ning Weidong hadn't expected there to be any progress, after all, he had only asked Ning Wei yesterday.

Who knew that Ning Wei really had some skills, as he whispered: "Third Brother, Wang Jingsheng went to find Zhang Jinfa last night..."

Ning Weidong frowned; in the original owner's memories, he actually knew this person too.

Zhang Jinfa was considered a famous hoodlum in this Xicheng area, and it was said he kept four or five Buddha under his wing.

Buddha was a type of thief with a relatively high technical requirement, emphasizing picking pockets face-to-face and taking money right in front of people.

Generally, Buddha were "high agility, low defense, low health" glass cannons; sometimes even if they picked up money, it was easy for others to intercept it.

They needed someone with a "reputation" on the ground and "high status" in the underworld to protect them, and on the due date, they would hand over a portion of their earnings; this was called keeping Buddha.

Being able to keep Buddha was enough to demonstrate this Zhang Jinfa's strength.

Ning Weidong hadn't expected that Wang Jingsheng would seek out such a person.

But he was only slightly surprised; it didn't matter who Wang Jingsheng sought out, what mattered was the progress of the matter.

And with the shrewdness of the couple Wang Jingsheng, even if they sought out Zhang Jinfa, they wouldn't tell the whole truth.

After hearing what Ning Wei had to say, Ning Weidong took a drag of his cigarette and said: "You keep watching, and be a little careful."

Ning Wei said, "Third Brother, rest assured."

Ning Weidong nodded and patted his shoulder; the two did not say much more, and Ning Weidong continued along the alley, taking a wide detour before returning home.

Although it was almost noon, not many families in the courtyard were cooking.

Those who worked had cafeterias at their units and rarely ran all the way home to eat.

Those who didn't work usually ate two meals a day, grabbing a bite to eat only if they happened to be hungry at noon.

Ning Weidong returned to the side courtyard.

Having just finished eating after nine in the morning, he was not hungry.

Moreover, Zhou Kun had told him yesterday to finish his driving shift early today and invited him to stew fish and drink alcohol, so there was even less need to light the stove.

Ning Weidong returned to the earthquake shelter; in just over two hours, the room had frozen through.

Fortunately, the area was small; he took off his overcoat, lit the stove, and it soon warmed up.

Ning Weidong leaned back on the bed, recalling the details of his meeting with Li Peihang just now.

He couldn't help but have a premonition that this time, he might cause a big stir in the factory.

It was possible that Li Peihang wasn't even the target, but rather his uncle, Li Weibing.

Thinking of this, Ning Weidong couldn't help but click his tongue.

If that were really the case, who would be the person planning this behind the scenes? In Red Star Factory, there were only one or two people who were qualified to go head-to-head with Li Weibing.

(End of this chapter)