Chapter 59: Unprecedented

The words of Wang Hong's wife were, all things considered, reasonable and well-founded.

At least for now, it appeared that Wang Hong had no obvious negligence in this accident.

After asking a few more questions, Chu Zhongxin stood up and said, "Comrade Wang Hong, don't have any psychological burden. I will be at the Manager for the next few days; if you recall anything else, you can come find me at any time."

Wang Hong hurriedly stood up and shook hands with Chu Zhongxin: "Comrade Public Security, I understand..."

After some assurances, Wang Hong saw Chu Zhongxin and Ning Weidong out, following them all the way to the alley entrance, and watched as the two mounted their bicycles.

Chu Zhongxin pedaled his bike at a steady pace and asked, "Weidong, what do you think of this Wang Hong from just now?"

Ning Weidong thought for a moment and said, "It's hard to say. He looks like an honest, simple worker; he couldn't even speak properly when he saw us, and he had to have his wife step in to talk... But I feel this person doesn't seem as nervous or guilty as he is acting."

Chu Zhongxin nodded: "Not bad, you have a decent eye for things." As he spoke, he looked ahead, his expression turning serious: "It seems this accident really isn't simple~"

After leaving Wang Hong's home, the two returned to the Manager, and it was already noon.

Instead of returning to the conference room specifically prepared for the Investigation Team at the Manager, Ning Weidong took Chu Zhongxin directly to the canteen.

Chu Zhongxin was a leader from an outside unit, so by rights, he was qualified to eat the special meals.

However, he couldn't be bothered with the trouble and simply used meal tickets with Ning Weidong to have a quick meal.

After eating, they returned to the conference room, where the other pair, Wang Lei and Lu Zhou, were also present, but the two people from the Technical Section were nowhere to be seen.

The two sides exchanged some information, after which Chu Zhongxin and Wang Lei went back to the bureau to report the situation, leaving Ning Weidong and Lu Zhou to stand guard.

Once the two were gone, Ning Weidong didn't stay long either, simply saying with a smile: "Officer Lu, I'm going upstairs to report to Li Kebian."

Lu Zhou gave a grunt of "Mm," with no discernible emotion.

Ning Weidong exited the room and pulled the door shut behind him, but he didn't leave immediately; he waited a few more seconds and heard the sound of a table being slapped from inside the room.

Ning Weidong chuckled softly; it seemed this Officer Lu was just poker-faced, and his depth of character might not be all that profound after all.

He quickened his pace, arrived at the third floor, knocked, and entered the room.

"Brother Li, there's a situation." Ning Weidong entered the room and, without further ado, dropped a bombshell.

Li Peihang felt a jolt in his heart: "What situation? Tell me."

Ning Weidong said: "I've seen the deceased, Liu Xinwen!"

Li Peihang frowned and told him to explain in detail.

Ning Weidong recounted the situation from when he was working the night shift and saw Liu Xinwen come to find Xu Jinshan twice.

Since Chu Zhongxin had already brought this situation to light, it meant the Public Security side already had a handle on it, so it was no longer a secret.

Ning Weidong had to throw it out there quickly, otherwise, it would just rot in his hands.

Sure enough, for Li Peihang, this news still held value.

After hearing Ning Weidong finish speaking, his expression shifted between light and shadow, and he clicked his tongue: "There's such a thing? Xu Jinshan..."

Ning Weidong took the opportunity to explain further: "Brother Li, I didn't know Liu Xinwen. At the time, I only heard Wang Yong from the same shift say he was a Technician. It wasn't until just now, when I saw the photo, that I matched the two together."

Li Peihang realized; this reason was plausible enough, though it didn't matter anymore.

What mattered now was that Li Peihang was unsure—could it be that this wasn't an accident, but something Xu Jinshan had designed specifically to kill Liu Xinwen?

Before this, Li Peihang hadn't been too worried.

Vice Factory Director Wang was merely trying to use the opportunity to seize real power and suppress the authority of Li Weibing.

In essence, it was no different from the previous proposal to expand the Factory Protection Team and increase the quota for the Factory Office Big Collective to help the higher-ups shoulder the employment of over a thousand people.

It wouldn't shake Li Weibing's power base.

Furthermore, this time, by inserting Ning Weidong as a grain of sand, the outcome was still hard to call.

But once it was discovered that this wasn't an accident but a murder case, and one committed by Xu Jinshan, the nature of the matter would change! "That idiot!" Li Peihang suppressed his anger and cursed through gritted teeth.

Ning Weidong acted as if he hadn't heard.

A moment later, Li Peihang's emotions calmed down, and he said with composure: "Weidong, the clue you provided is very important; you did very well! As for that Section Chief Chu..."

Ning Weidong understood that Li Peihang meant to ask if it could be covered up, but he knew clearly that Chu Zhongxin already knew.

He said with difficulty: "Brother, I'm afraid that's tough. At the time, Wang Yong at the West Gate saw it too..."

Li Peihang immediately stood up and grabbed the phone on his desk: "Hello, this is Li Peihang. You go find Wang Yong at the West Gate right now... I know he's on the night shift, go find him at his home..."

Ning Weidong didn't know who he was giving orders to; this kind of rash action was actually very unwise.

He didn't intend to remind him.

Yet at this moment, Li Peihang suddenly paused, realized it himself, and changed his tune: "Forget it, don't go." Then, with a clatter, he hung up the phone.

He also realized that it was not the right time for rash moves.

He wasn't sure if the Public Security's investigative capabilities had already discovered Xu Jinshan and Wang Yong.

If they found something, trying to cover it up by finding Wang Yong now would be tantamount to inviting disaster upon himself.

Li Peihang's reaction wasn't slow, but he had ultimately lost his composure in front of Ning Weidong.

Coming out of Li Peihang's room, Ning Weidong smiled slightly.

This trip had not been in vain.

With Li Peihang planning to find Wang Yong and then ultimately giving up, Ning Weidong's value within the Investigation Team became even more prominent.

If Ning Weidong was originally just a grain of sand inserted into the mix, he had now been upgraded to an 'ear and eye'.

And so, following that, sand has the price of sand, while an ear and eye has the price of an ear and eye.

What's more, Chu Zhongxin was the cousin of my sister-in-law, a proper close friend and brother... I must ask for more money.

After Ning Weidong left, Li Peihang immediately dialed another number: "Hello, Third Uncle, this is Peihang... Yes, Ning Weidong was just here... I'm afraid Xu Jinshan... Yes... Yes... I'm sorry, Third Uncle!... I understand, okay... okay..."

After hanging up the phone this time, Li Peihang couldn't help but take a deep breath.

On the other side, Ning Weidong returned to the small conference room downstairs.

He was still reviewing Li Peihang's reaction in his mind.

He did not expect to have an unexpected gain during this trip at noon.

Originally, he just wanted to exploit a time difference, but who knew Li Peihang would break down so easily.

Previously, Ning Weidong guessed that Xu Jinshan and the others were only messing around with things like scrap steel.

After all, given the scale of Red Star Factory, the scrap steel produced every month was enough to support an underground gray industry chain, from the workshop to storage, then to transport, and entering and exiting the gates...

Now it seems he likely underestimated the audacity of these people.

As for the dead Liu Xinwen, judging from Li Peihang's reaction, he did not seem to be on this line.

He likely discovered some clues, thought it was Xu Jinshan playing tricks, and felt he had caught them in the act.

Thinking this through, Ning Weidong felt fortunate for the first time since transmigrating that the original owner was a good-for-nothing who couldn't be helped; he had stayed at the Manager for over a year and somehow managed not to get involved!

——

A quick note: regarding the plot point where the gold bars were taken by An Ning earlier, after careful consideration, I have changed it.

(End of this chapter)