Chapter 72: This Girl Has a Somewhat Wild Personality

As Lu Zhou was thinking this, the door was pushed open once again.

He turned his head to look, and it was Feng Wen who had come in, travel-worn, yet with a smile on his face: "Uncle-in-law, the matter has been handled."

Wang Kaifeng frowned imperceptibly; he did not like how Feng Wen addressed him, but he said nothing more, continuing to stare at the chessboard as he said indifferently, "Tell me the details."

Feng Wen hurriedly said, "As you instructed, I went to the detention center and saw Liu Hong'e..."

Lu Zhou, standing to the side, could not help but feel secretly alarmed upon hearing this.

In fact, when Wang Kaifeng had asked him to go find Ning Weidong earlier, he had not quite understood what Wang Kaifeng meant.

This kind of sowing discord was fundamentally useless.

Ning Weidong was not a three-year-old child.

Now it seemed that Wang Kaifeng had never expected Ning Weidong to believe it; instead, he was warning Ning Weidong to be on guard in advance.

Or more precisely, he was using Ning Weidong to warn Li Peihang.

Feng Wen continued, "Liu Hong'e has agreed; she will have Deputy Factory Director Liu lock his target onto Ning Weidong..."

Lu Zhou could not help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.

Feng Wen did not specify what conditions he had given Liu Hong'e, but one thing was certain: this woman was not worth pitying.

Deputy Factory Director Liu had done everything he could for her; under such circumstances, he had not given up and was still trying to save her, yet she had turned around and conspired against Deputy Factory Director Liu with an outsider.

However, having said that, it was likely that Wang Kaifeng had offered some bargaining chip that she could not refuse.

Lu Zhou simply stopped thinking about it deeply; in terms of character, he was not necessarily any nobler than Liu Hong'e.

After hearing Feng Wen finish, Wang Kaifeng rattled the Go stones in their container, then simply stopped playing, turning instead to look at Lu Zhou: "Little Lu, you heard it all?"

Lu Zhou hurriedly responded.

Wang Kaifeng said, "Next, Factory Director Liu's side will target Ning Weidong to entangle Li Peihang. I have a task for you..."

Lu Zhou perked up, knowing the crucial part had arrived; whether he could be promoted to Deputy Section Chief depended on this.

Wang Kaifeng said, "Go and find Xu Jinshan for me."

Lu Zhou was stunned, then immediately realized: was Wang Kaifeng actually feigning an attack in the east to strike in the west, intending to use Xu Jinshan to launch a counterattack?

The involvement of Xu Jinshan, that "gatekeeper," was significant, and most importantly, it touched upon the line involving Li Peihang.

By comparison, Wang Jingsheng and Liu Xinwen were just small fry.

If he took this opportunity to bring Xu Jinshan back, what would the consequences be? Once Chu Zhongxin withdrew and the Investigation Team disbanded, the tacit cooperation that had existed between the "Li" and "Wang" factions would cease to exist.

Seeing Lu Zhou looking somewhat distracted, Wang Kaifeng said unhurriedly, "Do you think it's difficult?"

Lu Zhou hurriedly said no, straightened his body, and said, "Division Chief, rest assured, I guarantee I will complete the mission!"

On the other side, Ning Weidong did not know that Wang Kaifeng had already taken action and had made him one of the links in the chain.

In the afternoon at the Office, he saw Feng Wen return with his pant legs clearly covered in dirt; he must have ridden his bike a long way at noon.

"Brother Feng, where did you eat at noon?" Ning Weidong asked casually.

Feng Wen smiled, his expression somewhat meaningful: "I had some business at noon, so I went home."

Ning Weidong felt it was strange; from the very beginning today, Feng Wen had been acting oddly.

But he was not a deity and could not foresee the future; based on these things alone, he could not guess what was going on.

After getting off work in the evening, Ning Weidong returned home.

Ning Weiguo and Wang Yuzhen had already arrived home first.

Wang Yuzhen had just put the rice on to cook and happened to see Ning Weidong enter the room; she immediately came to greet him and said, "Weidong, how did work go today?"

The Investigation Team had been disbanded on the spot yesterday, so Ning Weidong's status today surely had to be determined. As she was speaking, Ning Weiguo heard her and came out from the inner room.

Ning Weidong said with a smile, "It was arranged first thing this morning. Li Kebian said to use the name of a secondment for now and told me to hurry up and enroll in a Correspondence Secondary Specialized School."

Wang Yuzhen nodded: "That's probably the only way. Once you have a correspondence degree, it will be easier to make moves later, though it would be best if you could get a junior college degree directly."

Ning Weiguo knew his younger brother was not cut out for studying and smoothed things over: "A secondary specialized school has its own benefits—the difficulty is low and it's fast. Get your status regularized quickly to avoid any complications. If you really want to study for a junior college degree, it won't be too late once things are settled."

Wang Yuzhen also realized she had been taking things for granted, so she asked again, "What about the salary?"

Ning Weidong said, "It's definitely equal pay for equal work. For now, it's calculated based on a secondary specialized school intern, with a monthly salary of 33.5 yuan."

Wang Yuzhen was fairly satisfied; at Ning Weidong's age, this salary was not low, and sitting in an office in the Office Building was a respectable thing to say to others.

She could not help but exchange a look with Ning Weiguo; it was indeed time to consider arranging a partner for Ning Weidong.

After dinner, Ning Lei clamored to go play at a classmate's house.

With school about to start, the kid was most likely going to copy his winter break homework.

Ning Weidong had other plans; he wiped his mouth and rode his bike out as well.

With the couple Ning Weiguo left to clean up, Wang Yuzhen said while clearing the table, "Our Weidong was born in '58, the year of the dog..."

Ning Weiguo tied on his apron to wash the dishes and caught the implication in Wang Yuzhen's words: "Is there someone suitable?"

Wang Yuzhen stopped what she was doing, leaned in toward Ning Weiguo, and said, "Teacher Jiang at our school—their third child was born in '56, two years older than Weidong."

"Teacher Jiang..." Ning Weiguo thought for a moment: "The one from the Ministry of Coal, Zhao?"

Wang Yuzhen nodded: "Uncle Zhao is an old comrade-in-arms of our father, and Teacher Jiang is from the same hometown as our mother; it can be considered knowing the family background well."

Ning Weiguo nodded.

Wang Yuzhen continued: "And Uncle Zhao is at a better age than our father, and his health is good too..."

Ning Weiguo understood what she meant; the Zhao Family had greater future potential, and marrying into the Zhao Family through Ning Weidong would be a great help to his own official career.

But Ning Weiguo did not just consider this and asked, "What is the girl like?"

Wang Yuzhen said, "You can rest assured about that; her height and appearance are a match for our Weidong. She also works at the Red Star Factory, in the Factory Office, it's just..." She paused here.

Ning Weiguo was surprised: "Just what?"

Wang Yuzhen said, "It's just that this girl has a somewhat wild personality; I don't know if Weidong can keep her in check."

"Wild?" Ning Weiguo raised his eyebrows: "How wild?"

Ning Weidong came out of his house and rode his bicycle straight toward An Ning's Tongzi Building.

Just after getting off work, Ning Wei had waited for him at the entrance of the alley, saying that An Ning had someone pass a message to him, asking Ning Weidong to go over after work.

It was not strange that An Ning could find Ning Wei.

Ning Wei was considered to have a bit of a reputation in this area; last time Ning Weidong went to the construction site to find Wang Jingsheng, he had brought Ning Wei along with him.

Ning Weidong originally did not want to pay any attention to An Ning at this time.

Wang Jingsheng had just been arrested, so An Ning's side must be restless.

An Ning had guessed his thoughts in advance and specifically had someone tell Ning Wei that Ning Weidong must go over, as there was very important information to disclose.

Hearing this, Ning Weidong scoffed, unmoved.

However, Ning Wei also brought a folded note.

Ning Weidong unfolded it and took a look, his gaze sharpening.

The handwriting on that note was elegant and clear; it was An Ning's own writing, and it only had three characters written on it—Xu Jinshan!

(End of chapter)