Chapter 65: Having Cards in Hand

Zhang Dajun casually stuffed the two packs of cigarettes into the drawer, stood up with a chuckle, and poured two glasses of water: "Ning Weidong, tell me the situation in detail."

Ning Weidong took a sip of water from the glass and recounted Wang Jingsheng's situation, but did not reveal the accident that had occurred at the factory.

Finally, he said: "Brother Zhang, I'll leave this matter to you; the sooner, the better!"

Zhang Dajun pursed his lips, not rushing to make any grand promises, and began to think seriously.

A moment later, he pondered: "This Wang Jingsheng you mentioned, I do have an impression of him."

Ning Weidong knew that Wang Jingsheng must have been registered at the Police Station.

It was not surprising; it would be strange if the local Police Station knew nothing about a person like Wang Jingsheng.

Zhang Dajun added: "But this guy is usually fairly well-behaved, so we can't be bothered to deal with him."

Ning Weidong said: "As far as I know, Wang Jingsheng has a few people under him who don't have jobs and are idlers. How do these people make a living..."

"That is indeed a direction." Zhang Dajun nodded, stood up, went to the door, and called out: "Qian Qiang, Sun Mu, come here for a moment."

The two men came in from the large office outside; one of them was the young man who had been sitting at the door earlier and had spoken to Ning Weidong with a bad attitude.

The one in the lead was a man of thirty-six or thirty-seven with messy hair, who smiled and said: "Boss, what's the mission?"

Zhang Dajun said: "Qiangzi, you and Little Sun go on a run for me. There's a Wang Jingsheng over at Anping Lane..."

Blah blah blah, Zhang Dajun explained the situation.

Qian Qiang, being experienced, glanced at Ning Weidong beside him, acknowledged the order, and took Sun Mu out.

Zhang Dajun patted Ning Weidong on the shoulder: "Little Ning, Qian Qiang is a veteran investigator; he is the most familiar with the situation in our area."

Ning Weidong smiled and said: "Brother Zhang, a strong general has no weak soldiers, so I will wait for your good news."

After finishing, they chatted briefly, and Ning Weidong proposed to take his leave, saying he would come back in the afternoon.

Zhang Dajun walked him all the way outside and watched him ride his bike away before returning.

"Red Star Factory, Ning Weidong~" Back in the Office, Zhang Dajun weighed the two packs of cigarettes in his hand, wondering what Ning Weidong's background was that could make Chu Zhongxin call specifically.

On the other side, Ning Weidong left the Police Station and was in no hurry to return to the factory.

With the methods and channels available to Qian Qiang and Sun Mu, it wouldn't take long to find out what they needed.

If it couldn't be found out in a short time, it wasn't a matter of three or five days.

Ning Weidong planned to come back in the afternoon; no matter what, he had to have something to show for it before getting off work.

It was not yet ten o'clock, so no matter how fast they were, it would be after three in the afternoon.

Ning Weidong thought for a moment and had a place to go.

Pedaling his bicycle, he turned a corner not far from the Police Station and arrived at Langxia Hutong, with An Ning's Tongzi Building right in front.

It was work hours, so the bike shed under the Tongzi Building was empty.

Ning Weidong locked his bicycle, entered the building, and went up the stairs to the third floor.

He wasn't sure if An Ning was here or at Wang Jingsheng's place, so he was just trying his luck.

Last time, Ning Weidong didn't want to get too involved with An Ning, firstly because his own foundation was too thin, and secondly because he didn't know the other party's background and feared being led into a trap.

Although he was a transmigrator, he never felt that people of this era were fools.

But now, knowing about the ambiguous relationship between Wang Jingsheng and Liu Hong'e, he finally had cards to play in his hand.

It also further confirmed that there was indeed a problem between Wang Jingsheng and An Ning.

Arriving at Room 315, Ning Weidong raised his hand and knocked on the door.

He waited for a moment, but there was no movement inside.

Ning Weidong didn't rush to leave; he had just heard very faint footsteps inside, so there was someone there, but they weren't answering.

After waiting a few seconds, Ning Weidong said: "It's me, Ning Weidong. If you don't open the door, I'm leaving." There was still no movement inside; Ning Weidong waited a moment longer, saw that the door remained unmoved, and turned to leave.

He had come here just in passing and had no clear purpose.

Since An Ning didn't want to see him, so be it.

Just as he took two steps away, the door behind him opened with a "click".

An Ning poked half her body out and complained: "You're quite decisive, leaving just like that."

Ning Weidong turned around and said with a half-smile: "You're home~ I thought there was no one, why shouldn't I leave?"

An Ning rolled her eyes, said "Come in," and retreated back inside.

Ning Weidong followed her in and closed the door behind him.

The room looked the same as last time, but there was now a big white cat with odd-colored eyes on top of the radio, lazily dozing off.

An Ning was in casual loungewear, and on the coffee table in front of the sofa lay a half-knitted bright red sweater.

Beside it was a pot of steaming black tea and a plate with a small cake sprinkled with chocolate shavings.

It had to be said, this woman An Ning's bourgeois lifestyle was truly damn comfortable.

In this era, there were probably few people in all of Beijing living like her.

Ning Weidong glanced at the clean floor, looked at his own shoes, and asked: "Should I change into slippers?"

An Ning was stunned for a moment, not expecting Ning Weidong to be so considerate.

She smiled and said: "Can't tell, you're quite thoughtful. Forget it, I don't have men's slippers here."

Ning Weidong raised an eyebrow, walked in, and said: "Wang Jingsheng doesn't come?"

"Him?" An Ning curled her lips and didn't continue.

She turned to ask Ning Weidong what he was doing here today. Ning Weidong said: "Nothing much, I just went to the Police Station to handle some business, and I have to go back at three this afternoon. I had nowhere else to go, so I thought of you."

An Ning didn't ask what business he was handling and picked up the sweater: "You can stay, but I'll say it first: I'm not providing food."

Ning Weidong took off his overcoat, sat on the single sofa nearby, picked up the cup next to the teapot, poured himself a glass, took a sip while it was still steaming, and asked: "What exactly is going on between you and Wang Jingsheng? You don't look like a normal married couple living together."

An Ning retorted: "How do we not look like it?"

Ning Weidong heard her counter-question and, knowing she was unwilling to answer, simply threw out the question she cared about, turning to say: "Last time you looked for me, what did you want to say?"

An Ning asked in surprise: "How so? You turned and left last time, why the change today?"

Ning Weidong did not mince words: "Last time I wasn't sure of myself; to use your words, I was afraid I couldn't handle it."

An Ning said: "And you're not afraid this time?"

Ning Weidong said with composure: "That depends on what the matter is."

An Ning's thoughts raced: "Judging by your tone, could it be that you've been promoted?"

In fact, An Ning was just saying it off the cuff; Ning Weidong was originally just a gatekeeper, so even if he really had been promoted, it would only be to Squad Leader, which had no real significance.

Unexpectedly, Ning Weidong said with a chuckle: "You guessed right; my personnel file was just transferred out yesterday and placed in the Factory Office as a Worker-turned-Cadre, so you could say it counts as a promotion."

The movement of An Ning knitting her sweater paused, startled by Ning Weidong's half-true, half-false statement.

If it were an ordinary person, she wouldn't believe it, but after Ning Weidong came to look for Wang Jingsheng last time, they had carefully looked into the situation of the Ning Family.

With Ning Weiguo helping out, it was quite reasonable for Ning Weidong to be able to move up a bit, so there was no need to make a fuss.

An Ning recovered, and while continuing to knit her sweater as if nothing had happened, she scoffed: "How conceited; what does you sitting in an Office at the Factory Office have to do with me? You aren't my man."

"Is that so?" Ning Weidong feigned regret: "I thought you were looking for me because of something related to our Manager~"

(End of this chapter)