Chapter 55: Investigation Team

Li Peihang was satisfied with this attitude from Ning Weidong.

Although such pledges of loyalty were just words to be heard and forgotten, at least Ning Weidong was not a blockhead, and there was no need for him to waste effort explaining many things too clearly.

Li Peihang nodded, paused, and said, "You know about what happened during the day, right?"

Ning Weidong said, "Are you referring to the production accident in the Second Workshop?"

Li Peihang nodded and said in a deep voice, "News just came from the hospital; the injured Liu Xinwen has died from his wounds."

Ning Weidong wore an appropriately surprised expression on his face, though he had already guessed this outcome in his heart.

Ning Weidong's expression was stern: "Brother, just tell me, what do you want me to do?"

Li Peihang said, "The factory held a meeting and decided to draw capable personnel from the Security Division and the Technical Section. Led by Deputy Factory Director Liu and overseen by Deputy Division Chief Wang Kaifeng, an Accident Investigation Group will be established to cooperate with the comrades from Public Security in the investigation."

"An investigation?" Ning Weidong feigned ignorance. "Isn't it a production accident?"

Li Peihang sneered, "If some people want to stir up trouble, let them."

Ning Weidong then understood that this must be Wang Guoqiang taking the opportunity to launch an attack and gaining the upper hand.

Otherwise, this Accident Investigation Group would not be headed by Wang Kaifeng.

Although Deputy Factory Director Liu was nominally leading it, this Deputy Factory Director had always been a marginal figure, a technocrat in charge of production who had almost no presence.

However, the fact that Li Peihang could squeeze Ning Weidong into this working group showed that Li Weibing's side was not losing ground.

Having specified that capable personnel were to be drawn, someone like Ning Weidong, who was in a Big Collective and had only been in the factory for a little over a year, clearly did not fit the criteria.

……

Emerging from the Factory Office Building, Ning Weidong returned to the guard room at the West Gate.

Although it was already decided that he would be transferred out soon, he still had to stand his final shift well.

When Ning Weidong returned, Wang Yong was still dazed; hearing the door open, he turned his head to look.

Ning Weidong yawned, smiled, and said, "I'm too sleepy today, I'm going to the inner room to nap for a while."

Wang Yong nodded mechanically, complex emotions flashing in his eyes.

Don't look at his smiling surface; in fact, he looked down on Ning Weidong quite a bit.

He felt that Ning Weidong was just a fool who had been in the factory for over a year and still hadn't figured out the ropes, foolishly just taking a fixed salary.

At this moment, however, he suddenly had the feeling that fools have their own luck; Ning Weidong, completely unaware of the inside story, could still sleep, while his own heart felt as if it were being kneaded into a pulp ever since he learned of Liu Xinwen's accident in the afternoon.

Dead—Liu Xinwen was actually dead! In the blink of an eye, it was late at night.

Ning Weidong entered the inner room, lay on the bed and pondered for a while, fell asleep around ten o'clock, and slept until the twelve o'clock shift change.

With a bicycle, he didn't have to time his arrival perfectly to catch the night shift commute.

As expected, Xu Jinshan did not appear during the shift change.

He rode his bike home.

After twelve o'clock, the courtyard was pitch black, not a single household had their lights on, and the couple in the Upper Room, Ning Weiguo and his wife, were also asleep.

Ning Weidong parked his bicycle; having slept for two hours, he felt wide awake after riding back.

However, since he was transferred to the Accident Investigation Group, tomorrow would not be a night shift, and he would have to get there early in the morning.

Based on the situation Li Peihang described, it was clear that this Accident Investigation Group was led by Vice Factory Director Wang's side, and Ning Weidong was the sand that Factory Director Li had thrown into the mix.

Both sides were well aware of this.

At this time, he must not let the other side catch him in any wrongdoing; even the smallest matter would be blown out of proportion.

Just then, the door of the West Wing room next to him suddenly opened.

Bai Fengyu poked half her body out and beckoned to him.

Ning Weidong was somewhat surprised; he walked over and whispered, "Not asleep yet?"

Bai Fengyu pulled him in and said, like a thief, "Come inside to talk."

Ning Weidong followed her in. Bai Fengyu carefully closed the door, and without turning on the light, she said in the dark, "You're finally back." Ning Weidong guessed there must be some situation with the Ma Family.

Bai Fengyu said, "I listened to you and had a showdown with them..."

Bai Fengqin was asleep in the inner room, and Bai Fengyu was terrified of waking her, so she kept her voice to a minimum.

Fearing that Ning Weidong wouldn't hear clearly, she leaned almost against his ear.

Ning Weidong felt his ear tickled by her breath, so he decided to go all the way; he reached around to hug her waist, his other hand taking the opportunity to slip inside her clothes.

But just as he touched Bai Fengyu's belly, his hands were frozen cold from the ride, even with gloves on.

Touching Bai Fengyu, she immediately shuddered from the cold, almost let out an "Aiya," and reached out to press his hand down.

Ning Weidong was a bit disappointed; this woman wouldn't let a man sleep in the middle of the night, yet she wouldn't let him touch her either—she was truly wicked.

Who knew that Bai Fengyu would say with heartache, "Why are your hands so cold? You don't even know to wear thick gloves. Sister will warm them for you."

Saying this, she took Ning Weidong's other hand and tucked them both into her bosom.

Ning Weidong immediately felt soft and warm.

Bai Fengyu let out a soft moan, shivering all over from the cold.

Once some things are broken through, there is no longer a bottom line.

Bai Fengyu felt no shyness or discomfort.

Instead, Ning Weidong was somewhat surprised, then reacted, grabbed back, and chuckled, "Sister, you're the best."

Bai Fengyu rolled her eyes at him; the darkness made her more uninhibited in her actions, though she couldn't quite describe the feeling in her heart.

If one were to say how she felt about Ning Weidong, it was actually a bit of affection, a feeling primarily stemming from being attracted to his looks.

Back when the original owner had just returned from the countryside, he was tall, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, handsome and spirited—completely matching Bai Fengyu's girlhood fantasies about the appearance of a lover.

Compared to him, her Ma Liang was not worth looking at.

Especially last summer, when Ning Weidong had stripped to the waist to wipe himself down in the courtyard, his muscles rippling, water droplets clinging to him...

It was that very time that Wang Yuzhen saw him and began to guard against her.

However, having thoughts is one thing, but Bai Fengyu truly never intended to reach this point; deep down, she still held traditional views: follow the chicken if you marry a chicken, follow the dog if you marry a dog.

Even if Ma Liang was not good to her, she only wanted to make do and live on, fantasizing that the situation would improve once she gave birth to a child or two.

Yet Ma Liang abandoned her and ran away! "Don't move around," Bai Fengyu said, feeling Ning Weidong's fingers fidgeting; she rolled her eyes in the darkness.

Ning Weidong had excellent eyesight, but he acted as if he hadn't seen it, continuing while asking, "What did they say?"

Bai Fengyu had no choice but to let him be, answering, "They don't agree to sell the house and want me to move out."

Ning Weidong grunted an "Mm," not surprised by this result.

Those two old folks of the Ma Family who used to live in the courtyard were not easy to deal with either.

He asked, "What did you say?"

Bai Fengyu said, "I told them that's fine, as long as they bring back the one hundred yuan you helped me repay earlier, I will move out immediately."

Ning Weidong smiled: "They don't want to pay?"

Bai Fengyu scoffed: "I know their little schemes; it's nothing more than waiting for the creditors to come and force me away, then they can pay back the money themselves—not only would they pay back one hundred less, but they could also take the house back."

Ning Weidong recalled the original owner's memories; the Ma Family was capable of such things.

Bai Fengyu asked, "What should we do next?"

Ning Weidong said, "It's fine, I'll find someone later to ask about the background of that side."

Bai Fengyu knew Ning Weidong was referring to the creditors, and she couldn't help but feel a bit worried, reminding him: "Weidong, you must be careful; those people are all ruthless."

In her impression, those who lent usury outside were all figures involved in both the underworld and the legitimate world, people who could not be provoked.

(End of this chapter)