Chapter 515: Trouble in Hong Kong Island

Three days later, Tian Dan closed the last case file and gently rubbed her temples with her fingers.

The same clue appeared repeatedly in all the files: a size 36 footprint.

"Documents, money, they didn't even spare children's toys..." Tian Dan muttered to herself, "The footprints weren't concealed, and fingerprints were everywhere; this wasn't the work of spies..."

She stood up abruptly, walked to the archives room, and said, "Xiao Ma, find me the file on the Ma Shouyi espionage case."

When Yan Jiefang's file was spread out on the table, a cold smile curled the corners of Tian Dan's mouth.

"Xiao Tian!" she shouted toward the door.

Secretary Xiao Tian walked in quickly, "Director Tian, what is it?"

"Call Li Xiangxiu over here immediately, right now!"

After only a moment, Li Xiangxiu pushed the door open and entered, "Director Tian, are there leads?"

"Far away in the horizon, yet right before our eyes!" Tian Dan pushed the file toward her, "Mobilize everyone from the Second Team, go to the 95 Siheyuan immediately, and arrest Xu Damao, Yan Jiefang, and Liu Guangtian."

Li Xiangxiu was stunned: "The spy theft case... it's them? That can't be possible, right?"

"

Whether they are spies or not, I don't know," Tian Dan sneered, "but the footprints and fingerprints are all Yan Jiefang's. Last time we were eating with Chen Xueru, Liu Guangtian and Yan Jiefang ran the moment they saw us. I wanted to investigate him then, but when he dragged Xu Damao out to provide cover, I changed my mind. It's all my fault for being careless and wasting three days."

Li Xiangxiu realized: "It would have been right to listen to He Yushui back then; they were in contact with Yan Jiefang every day and understood each other."

"Move quickly!" Tian Dan ordered.

At the entrance of the 95 Siheyuan, He Yushui was jumping rope with Xiaomi, Dahua, and Xiaoqi, humming a song.

Suddenly, a burst of hurried footsteps approached from afar, and a team of Police rushed over, led by none other than Li Xiangxiu.

"Sister Xiangxiu?" He Yushui ran over, "Who are you arresting?"

"Xu Damao, Yan Jiefang, and Liu Guangtian. Are they all here?"

"Xu Damao isn't here!" Xiaoqi shouted preemptively, "The other two are both at home!"

When Yan Jiefang was being handcuffed, Yang Ruihua lunged forward like a madwoman, clutching her son's arm tightly and refusing to let go: "You can't arrest my son!"

Li Xiangxiu scolded sternly: "If you dare to obstruct official business, I'll take you away too!"

Yan Bugui hurriedly pulled his wife away, his face pale as he stepped forward: "Comrade Li... my son is not yet an adult, what exactly did he do?"

"Theft of state secrets. He left his footprints and fingerprints at several crime scenes. You tell me what he did?" Li Xiangxiu said bluntly.

Yan Bugui trembled all over, then pulled Yang Ruihua to the side and lowered his voice: "I've been reading law books lately; even if he really committed a crime, a minor can't be sentenced. Don't panic..."

"Really?" Yang Ruihua asked.

Yan Bugui nodded vigorously.

In the Houyuan, the Second Uncle's wife watched as Liu Guangtian was taken away, collapsing onto the ground and slapping her thighs while wailing: "Liu Haizhong! You irresponsible thing, you've got it easy, but now that Lao Er is in trouble, what am I supposed to do—"

Liu Guangqi squatted down and persuaded: "Mom, what are you crying for? Lao Er is young, he'll be out after being locked up for a few days. Being locked up is fine too, it'll save him from causing trouble all day long."

"You heartless thing!" The Second Uncle's wife widened her eyes, "He is your own brother!"

Liu Guangqi sneered, "Mom, don't you know what he's been doing? Doing odd jobs for people to earn money—you actually believe that kind of nonsense?"

The Second Uncle's wife said: "Hurry up and send a telegram to your deadbeat father, tell him to come back immediately!"

Liu Guangqi held out his hand, "An express telegram costs twenty thousand."

"Why is it so expensive?"

"That's the price for other provinces," Liu Guangqi said, looking at her.

In the interrogation room, the lights were ghastly white.

Tian Dan looked at Yan Jiefang, who was sitting opposite with his head lowered, and tapped the table: "This is your second time in here. Speak, who ordered you to steal from the homes of state Cadres?"

Yan Jiefang immediately began his performance—his eyes reddened, and tears fell "pitter-patter," "Sister... my family is too poor... we can't even get full eating steamed corn buns every day, we can only split ten pieces of pickled vegetables per meal... I really couldn't stand the hunger..."

"Acting for me again, aren't you?" Tian Dan sneered.

Yan Jiefang continued to sob and weave his story: "That day, Liu Guangtian and I were passing by Xinjiekou and smelled the scent of stewed meat from a house... we wanted to go in and beg for a bite... who knew there was an animal trap inside! I was caught the moment I went in... the woman in that house had a gun! She forced me and Guangtian to write down the details of the theft, and said if we didn't listen to her, she'd kill our whole family..."

In the next interrogation room, Liu Guangtian's confession was identical to Yan Jiefang's.

Both insisted that a woman named "Zhou Li" forced them to do this, and that she lived in Xinjiekou.

When Tian Dan led her team to raid the place, they only found a high-power radio and a few bags of grain in the cellar; the person had long since fled.

Although Tian Dan knew Yan Jiefang was full of lies, the two children were too young, and their testimonies had been colluded to be flawless, so she could only lecture them and let them go.

Xu Damao was also released due to insufficient evidence.

As they walked out of the police station gate, Yan Jiefang and Liu Guangtian exchanged a glance, their eyes hiding luck and smugness.

At the Lingnan Tractor Factory, Liu Haizhong received a telegram delivered by the postman; his hands were shaking, and cold sweat was pouring down his face.

After thinking for a long time, he put down his work and rushed into He Yuzhu's office, his voice trembling: "Zhuzi! I must ask for leave to go home! That woman in my house has no brain; if I don't go back, my home is finished!"

He Yuzhu took the telegram and scanned it; it only had a few words written on it: "Second brother arrested, return quickly."

"Second Uncle, don't be anxious." He Yuzhu poured him a cup of herbal tea, "It takes five or six hours to make a call to Beijing from here. I'll go to the City Government and use the dedicated line to help you ask."

"Then I'll trouble you!" Liu Haizhong said.

He Yuzhu used Secretary Liu's dedicated phone line to connect to Tian Dan.

When Secretary Liu saw He Yuzhu out, he said: "There's an important announcement tomorrow; make sure to attend the factory meeting on time."

"No problem!" He Yuzhu drove away.

An hour later, He Yuzhu found Liu Haizhong and told him the whole story exactly as it happened.

After hearing this, Liu Haizhong gritted his teeth and cursed: "That little beast! He's a born bad seed! He'll be eating a bullet sooner or later!"

He Yuzhu waited for him to calm down before saying sternly: "Second Uncle, the factory is at a critical stage right now. Don't worry about things in Si Jiu Cheng anymore. I'll give you a task—as long as you can lead the Forging Workshop to complete the equipment debugging and material preparation within three months, when your two-year term is up and you return to the Rolling Mill, I guarantee you'll become a Workshop Deputy Director. If you do well, becoming a Director isn't impossible."

Liu Haizhong's eyes suddenly lit up; his previous anger and panic were instantly thrown to the nine heavens, and his back straightened unconsciously.

His nature as a power-hungry man was fully exposed at this moment.

At the factory affairs meeting the next day, Factory Director Li Zhen and Deputy Factory Director Wei Guoming were taken away on the spot by the Discipline Inspection Commission.

Secretary Liu announced at the meeting: Lu Zhaoheng would preside over the work of the entire factory, and He Yuzhu would be in charge of production.

Once the order was given and He Yuzhu held the power, he began a vigorous and resolute style of work, recruiting experienced construction workers with high wages, working in two shifts to rush the project, and providing fish and meat at every meal in the canteen.

The workers' enthusiasm was thoroughly ignited, and the previously sluggish and lax atmosphere was swept away.

A few Cadres and workers who refused to obey management or who were slacking off were quickly transferred away from key positions.

Two months later, the new factory buildings were all completed.

One month after that, all equipment was finished being calibrated, and the production line officially went into operation.

Just as the factory was filled with joy, Secretary Liu received a distress message from Liu Rusi's side.