Chapter 68: Coordination

Chu Zhongxin's worry was not without reason.

He himself was not a simple Public Security officer; he was involved in the entanglements.

What was the purpose of the Red Star Factory setting up this Investigation Team? Wasn't it to grasp the development of the situation to a certain extent? But now, because of the affair between Liu Hong'e and Wang Jingsheng, an under-the-table interest chain within the factory had been exposed, which made things very difficult to handle.

Standing in Chu Zhongxin's position, it was impossible to turn a blind eye to this matter; that would be gambling with his own future.

But if he continued to dig deeper, it would be equivalent to putting the entire factory on the fire to roast.

It wasn't just Li Weibing who would be uncomfortable; Deputy Factory Director Wang Guoqiang would also have to suffer the consequences.

Offending both of these people at the same time was not Chu Zhongxin's original intention.

At the same time, Lu Zhou also realized the severity of the situation, his face turning red and then white.

Just a moment ago, he had felt that Ning Weidong was a pretty good guy, and hadn't forgotten to leave him a sip of soup to drink after the job was done.

Now, looking at Ning Weidong, he had only one thought: this guy's core must be black if you cut him open with a knife.

What he had given him just now wasn't a sip of soup; it was clearly a bright, glaring black pot.

It wasn't that Lu Zhou lacked brains; following Chu Zhongxin, he quickly realized that the situation was not right.

Family scandals should not be aired in public; if he really brought this line of Wang Jingsheng's out into the open, it would be smearing the faces of the factory leadership.

After it was all over, Chu Zhongxin would pat his butt and leave, while Ning Weidong was just following orders.

Only he was the true culprit who started it all.

Thinking of this, Lu Zhou's old problem of a migraine almost flared up; he wished he hadn't gone to Liu Hong'e's house last night, hadn't discovered Wang Jingsheng coming out of the room, and certainly hadn't reported this situation with such smugness.

Chu Zhongxin was silent for a moment, then raised his hand to check his watch.

It was almost four o'clock, so he decided to just call it a day and talk about it tomorrow.

This would give the Red Star Factory a buffer, allowing them to take a stance during this one night, making it easier to talk tomorrow.

Lu Zhou was on the side of Vice Factory Director Wang, while Ning Weidong had been inserted by Li Peihang.

He would see what both sides intended when the time came; in any case, Chu Zhongxin would not be the one to play the villain.

Sure enough, Lu Zhou left immediately; his mind was still a bit chaotic, and he hadn't thought much at all.

Wang Lei, who was with Chu Zhongxin, saw that Chu Zhongxin had called it a day and didn't leave immediately; being very perceptive, he also left right away.

Only Ning Weidong and Chu Zhongxin remained in the room.

"Weidong, you've given me a not-so-small problem with this move." Chu Zhongxin fished a cigarette out of his pocket and handed one to Ning Weidong.

Ning Weidong smiled and said, "Brother, let's not act like you're complaining after getting the benefit; with this turn of events, if they want to cover it up, both sides will owe you a favor."

Chu Zhongxin raised an eyebrow: "So I have to thank you?"

Ning Weidong chuckled: "No need to thank me, it's all about serving the people."

"Get lost~" Chu Zhongxin laughed and cursed, took out a lighter from his pocket to light his own, and then tossed it to Ning Weidong.

"Whoa, an Austrian 4700!" Ning Weidong took it, looking at the metal lighter with its worn-smooth surface that carried a strong sense of history.

Chu Zhongxin was slightly surprised: "You even know about this?"

Ning Weidong pressed it with a 'click', a small flame jumped out, and he leaned in to light his cigarette: "When I was sent to the countryside, a youth had one; he stole it from home before coming, and treated it like a treasure every day."

As he spoke, he went to hand it back, but Chu Zhongxin waved his hand: "Keep it."

Ning Weidong was stunned for a moment, but he didn't stand on ceremony, said a word of thanks, and tucked it into his pocket.

Although this kind of antique lighter wasn't worth much, it was quite hard to come by, especially in such good condition.

Chu Zhongxin said: "I'm off, won't delay you from going to report."

Ning Weidong saw him to the door, watched Chu Zhongxin leave the building, and then headed up the stairs.

Arriving at Li Peihang's Office, he stated the situation directly. Li Peihang's brows immediately locked together, and he didn't speak for a long time, hating Xu Jinshan to the core in his heart.

He was simply insatiably greedy; wasn't his side enough for him to feed on, that he had to secretly run another line on the outside?

This was something Li Peihang hadn't expected, and he realized the complexity of this matter exceeded his estimates.

After thinking for a while, he said in a deep voice: "What did Section Chief Chu say?"

Ning Weidong said: "Brother Li, Section Chief Chu is a sensible man; he will definitely save face for the factory."

Li Peihang nodded; Li Peihang leaving early today was a stance in itself.

Now it just depended on what the factory thought.

Li Peihang knew his own business; this line of Wang Jingsheng's was a wild route and had nothing to do with them.

But Vice Factory Director Wang's side might not be clear on that and would likely grab onto this line to follow the vine and find the melon.

If that happened, the investigation would surely come up empty in the end, but once such a matter was poked open, it would certainly be bad for the factory.

As the Manager, Li Weibing would inevitably face blame when the time came.

Li Peihang wasn't sure how to make the trade-off; he still needed his uncle to make the decision.

……

After coming out of Li Peihang's Office, Ning Weidong didn't wait for the time to be up and rode his bike straight home.

He now belonged to the Investigation Team, and his personnel file had been transferred, so he didn't need to go in to clock in.

As for the matters in the factory, based on his experience, Li Weibing and Wang Guoqiang would at least have a phone call tonight, and the two might even meet in private.

Whether to tear off the masks, fight face-to-face, and trade wounds for wounds, or to stop here—there would be a clear tone tomorrow.

Ning Weidong estimated that the latter was more likely.

Currently, the major policy from above hadn't been determined, and regardless of whether it was Li Weibing or Wang Guoqiang, both were politically mature; before seeing the situation clearly, they would never go all-in.

Sure enough, the next morning.

Ning Weidong arrived at the unit, and just as the people in the Investigation Team's Office were gathered, Chu Zhongxin glanced at Ning Weidong and Lu Zhou.

His eyes carried a question: what was the plan from both of your sides? Ning Weidong didn't know what Li Peihang had said to his uncle last night.

Lu Zhou was a bit restless, his glasses framing dark circles under his eyes—he probably hadn't slept all night—and he lowered his head to avoid Chu Zhongxin's gaze.

Just at this moment, a knock at the door came, and immediately following it, a middle-aged man wearing a Zhongshan Suit and a blue worker's cap entered, with a young worker following behind him, head lowered and constantly rubbing his hands.

"Hello, Section Chief Chu, I am Feng Zhonglin, the Workshop Director of the Second Workshop." The middle-aged man entered and shook hands with Chu Zhongxin.

"Director Feng, we met the day before yesterday." Chu Zhongxin recalled this person.

Feng Zhonglin went straight to the point: "Section Chief Chu, I have a situation here." As he spoke, he looked at the young man who had come with him: "Wang, you tell them."

In an instant, everyone's gaze was focused on that young worker.

"That~ le, leader, hello, my name is Wang Tao, I am... I am a worker in the Second Workshop..." Wang Tao began to recount, stumbling over his words: "That day~ it was the day the accident happened, I~ I saw... Wang Hong tampering with the machine..."

Blah, blah, blah, the more Wang Tao spoke, the more fluent he became.

Ning Weidong knew that this was likely the result of the coordination between Li Weibing and Wang Guoqiang yesterday.

This was using people like Wang Jingsheng, Liu Hong'e, and Xu Jinshan to fill the gaps.

And incidentally, to calm the negative impact caused by the death of Liu Xinwen.

Liu Xinwen's death was not an accident, nor was it a problem with the factory's management, but rather a case of "dogs biting dogs" among bad elements due to an uneven distribution of spoils.

However, after hearing him finish, Chu Zhongxin's expression became very ugly.

(End of this chapter)