Chapter 81: Deputy Factory Director Liu

Ning Weidong felt a chill in his heart; Lu Zhou had succinctly explained how Wang Kaifeng was using Liu Hong'e to first provoke the Deputy Factory Director into venting his anger on Ning Weidong, thereby muddying the waters.

Then, he would fish in troubled waters, using the plan to have Xu Jinshan deliver a fatal blow to Li Peihang.

Ning Weidong truly hadn't expected Wang Kaifeng to have this trick of pointing at the east while attacking the west.

But thinking about it carefully, if he really managed to pull it off, he and Li Peihang would truly suffer a great loss.

However, man proposes, God disposes.

Ning Weidong cursed inwardly.

Wang Kaifeng, you say you're dealing with Li Peihang, so deal with Li Peihang; you damn well use me as a smokescreen—do you really think everyone is a soft persimmon! But right now, the person Ning Weidong needed to deal with first wasn't Wang Kaifeng, but that Deputy Factory Director.

According to what Lu Zhou said, Feng Wen's negotiation with Liu Hong'e was the day before yesterday.

Wang Kaifeng acted with lightning speed; after two days, he surely had already let Liu Hong'e pass the information unfavorable to Ning Weidong to the Deputy Factory Director.

It was just that in these two days, Li Peihang's unexpectedly timely reaction, going tit-for-tat with Wang Kaifeng, had created a turbulent undercurrent that blocked the Deputy Factory Director; otherwise, he would have already made a move against Ning Weidong.

And Ning Weidong was right: while inciting the Deputy Factory Director, Wang Kaifeng would also prepare a "knife" for him.

Once this was stabbed out, it would definitely make Ning Weidong suffer the consequences; otherwise, it wouldn't be enough to serve the purpose of restraining Li Peihang.

Thinking of this, Ning Weidong's expression grew increasingly gloomy.

He had to think of a way quickly; Xu Jinshan was already dead, and the power struggle between Wang Kaifeng and Li Peihang had also come to an end.

But the Deputy Factory Director wouldn't change his course because of that.

He couldn't stop, and Wang Kaifeng wouldn't let him stop; with Wang Kaifeng's personality, even just disgusting Li Peihang a little would allow him to vent some frustration.

Therefore, one couldn't be lucky and think that everything would be fine just because Xu Jinshan was dead.

Ning Weidong looked at Lu Zhou and said in a low voice, "You told me all this—what do you want?"

Lu Zhou did not hide his purpose at all and said bluntly, "I want to be a Deputy Section Chief; I've waited nearly ten years for this position!"

Speaking of this, Lu Zhou's poker face rarely revealed emotion; it was a long-standing obsession with a single matter.

This Deputy Section Chief position had become his inner demon.

Ning Weidong sneered, "I'm just a seconded person myself; you want to be a Deputy Section Chief, and you come to me?"

Lu Zhou said with certainty, "I know you can."

Ning Weidong raised an eyebrow, knowing that Lu Zhou's words shouldn't be taken literally; it should mean, "I know your brother and sister-in-law can."

At this moment, Lu Zhou was already treating a dead horse as if it were a living one, regarding him as the final opportunity.

Lu Zhou left, and Ning Weidong didn't give him any promises.

In reality, what Lu Zhou came for today wasn't a promise, but to find a way out for himself.

For him, the path on Wang Kaifeng's side was completely blocked; he had to find another way.

He came to find Ning Weidong just because he happened to have information useful to Ning Weidong that could serve as a bargaining chip.

As for proposing to be a Deputy Section Chief, it was to tell those behind Ning Weidong that he had a sense of proportion and wouldn't make exorbitant demands.

And Ning Weidong's top priority was how to deal with the Deputy Factory Director.

At this time, Wen Aiying returned from outside, smiling and not mentioning the previous matter at all; she chatted with Ning Weidong for a few moments, then got up, intending to go out again.

The Office was left with one person again; a flash of firm, sinister intent crossed Ning Weidong's eyes, and he also got up and walked out.

To deal with the Deputy Factory Director, one must cut the Gordian knot quickly and not be indecisive.

If he dragged it out until tomorrow, the opponent's methods would likely arrive.

Perhaps reality wasn't so severe, but Ning Weidong didn't want to underestimate his opponent. Although previously, in handling the issue of Liu Xinwen, this Deputy Factory Director's methods were very childish.

But he dared to take action, and after careful planning, he ultimately succeeded, which was enough to explain everything.

This Deputy Factory Director, who was privately mocked by many workers as a bookworm and was firmly suppressed by Li Weibing and Wang Guoqiang in the Manager's office, having almost no presence, was definitely a ruthless character.

Such people often don't like direct confrontation because their physical strength isn't strong.

Instead, they like to use powerful external objects, such as the machine that killed Liu Xinwen, or more clever conspiracies that could bury people without direct contact.

Since that was the case, the more the enemy disliked something, the more we must use that method to deal with him.

Ning Weidong made up his mind and followed Wen Aiying out.

Wen Aiying was startled and slowed down a bit: "Little Ning, do you have something to do?"

Ning Weidong smiled and pointed upstairs: "A small matter; I need to report to the Factory Director. It won't take long, no need to worry about no one being in the room."

Wen Aiying was stunned. She knew Ning Weidong had a background, but who in the Office Building didn't have a background? He had only been here for three days and was already brazenly going straight to report to the Factory Director.

Her heart couldn't help but drum; she didn't know if Ning Weidong didn't understand the rules or if he was truly capable of reaching the heavens.

This thought flashed by, and Wen Aiying hurriedly said: "Forget it, I'd better wait~ I'll go out after you come back. In case something happens and there's no one in our room, that wouldn't be right."

Ning Weidong let her be and went straight up the stairs in front of the door.

The Factory Directors' offices were all upstairs; Ning Weidong had been vague just now and hadn't said which Factory Director he was looking for.

However, Ning Weidong was brought in by Li Peihang, so Wen Aiying naturally assumed he must be going to find Li Weibing.

Little did she know, once Ning Weidong reached the upper floor, he headed straight for the Deputy Factory Director's office.

The Deputy Factory Director was in charge of technology; judging by the seating order at the Manager's meetings, his ranking was roughly fourth or fifth.

Ranking was one thing, but actual power was a different matter.

But this Deputy Factory Director was no fool; he had always firmly held onto one power: the operational status of the equipment in the Manager's office—whether it needed maintenance, major repairs, minor repairs, or simply applying to superiors for new equipment.

If he said the machine wasn't working and must undergo major repairs, Li Weibing and Wang Guoqiang would have to order the machine to be shut down.

Otherwise, if an accident occurred and caused serious consequences, they couldn't bear that responsibility.

And maintenance or replacing equipment involved money, so although the Deputy Factory Director seemed to have no presence and was isolated in the Manager's office, he was actually indispensable.

This was also why, in the case of Liu Xinwen, even though Liu Hong'e had already been implicated, Li Weibing and Wang Guoqiang could probably guess that the matter was related to the Deputy Factory Director, yet they were willing to let it go and stop at a certain point.

Aside from concerns that the Manager of the factory might be implicated, which would have a negative impact externally, there were also worries that once Deputy Factory Director Liu ran into trouble, it would affect the overall situation of the factory.

In their eyes, a technical factory director who did not vie for power, never reached out to meddle in things, possessed excellent technical skills, and only focused on his own small plot of land was a very good tool.

Arriving in front of the door to Deputy Factory Director Liu's Office, Ning Weidong raised his hand and knocked three times.

A voice from inside said, "Come in."

Ning Weidong pushed the door open and entered.

The area of the Deputy Factory Director's Office was over thirty square meters; other than being a bit large, it was actually quite plain.

Behind a desk painted with light yellow lacquer sat a handsome middle-aged to elderly man of about fifty, with graying hair, wearing glasses, and looking quite spirited.

Ning Weidong had seen the photos of the main factory leaders on the bulletin board downstairs.

Deputy Factory Director Liu had a somewhat sanctimonious air, and with the refined proportions of his facial features, if he were twenty years younger, he would definitely be a heartthrob.

"Deputy Factory Director Liu~" Ning Weidong closed the door and, with a chuckle, locked it behind him.

The "click" of the door lock sounded as if a hammer had struck Deputy Factory Director Liu's heart, giving him an ominous premonition.

(End of this chapter)