Chapter 63: Reenacting the Accident, the Truth Approaches

Zhao Jianguo squatted under the courtyard Wall Base, took a small shovel and dug into the soil, soil clods turned up, revealing a half-section of black copper wire. He stared at it for two seconds, then covered it back with a shovel and packed the soil down.

Su Qing poked her head out from the Kitchen doorway: "What are you burying? Yesterday that bottle of vinegar-soaked wire, you really treat it as treasure?"

"It's not treasure, it's evidence." He clapped his hands, Standing Up, "Not yet finished."

"Not yet finished?" She wrung the rag and wiped her hands, "Hasn't that workshop matter been settled already? People can't even stand up, what else do you want?"

Zhao Jianguo didn't answer, only said: "The person fell, but the accounts remain."

Zhao Jianguo went back inside, changed into clean work clothes, tucked the notebook away and left. Passing by Jia Dongxu's doorstep, he saw him squatting on the steps repairing a bicycle, the chain jammed, twisting and binding repeatedly.

"Don't bother fixing it." Zhao Jianguo kicked the rear wheel, "Something big is happening today."

Jia Dongxu looked up: "What's up?"

"Let's redo the day your brother had the accident."

Jia Dongxu's hand paused, the chain snapped open with a "pop", striking the back of his hand, leaving a red mark.

"Are you crazy? That case can't be reopened, the factory records say it, my brother himself made an operational mistake, and the duty person wasn't there."

"But the duty log says who was on shift?"

"Written..." Jia Dongxu paused, "Written: Yi Zhonghai asked for leave to Go Home."

Zhao Jianguo took out a sheet of paper from his pocket, unfolded it; it was a hand-drawn workshop floor plan, even marking clearly which way the small door of the duty room opens.

"Then let him say it again in person."

Jia Dongxu stared at the diagram, voice lowered: "What do you plan to do?"

"Let the machine 'fail' again." Zhao Jianguo shoved the diagram into his hands, "Just say it—if back then someone had shouted a warning while your brother was clearing material, maybe he wouldn't have reached in. It's a matter of life and death; whoever hears it would be moved."

Jia Dongxu didn't move, after a while he asked: "What if he again insists he wasn't present?"

"Then let him 'be' there." Zhao Jianguo chuckled, "People misremembering words is far easier than altering records."

At the factory meeting halfway through, the dispatcher was reporting last month's attendance, Zhao Jianguo raised his hand: "Let me interject."

The director frowned: "Say it after the meeting."

"It's related to production safety." He said calmly, "Last night shift, the No. 3 press suddenly lost control, almost catching someone in half a second. Checking the wiring, it was an aging relay. This problem had occurred ten years ago as well."

Someone below chimed in: "Wasn't that the incident with Jia Wu?"

"Right." Zhao Jianguo nodded, "Back then he reached in to clear material, the machine wasn't powered off, and he was crushed on the spot. But who was on duty that day? By rights, the first person who should have pulled the switch was the shift team leader."

The director waved his hand: "It's outdated, nothing can be cleared up."

"Can't figure it out, we can reenact it." Zhao Jianguo took out his notebook, "I've done a process reconstruction; want to try it on site? Let everyone see just how 'evil' this machine is."

The director hesitated, the technical department staff also became interested: "Now that the equipment has been upgraded, can we still reconstruct it?"

"Yes." Zhao Jianguo flipped open a page, "I have the circuit diagram from back then, the relay model matches. As long as we run the machine through the old procedure and have an veteran worker simulate the operation, we can see whether the fault lies with the person or the equipment."

Jia Dongxu suddenly spoke up: "I'll do it."

The whole hall fell silent for half a second.

"I'll simulate my brother's operation that day." His voice wasn't loud, but each word was clear, "I just want to know if someone had shouted a warning, would he have stopped?"

The director looked at the technical department, then at the safety officer, finally nodded: "Alright, organize a review, it can also serve as warning education."

Set for 3 p. m., the workshop cleared a space, the No. 3 machine was rewired and debugged according to the old process. News spread fast; by the time it started, people filled the inside and outside three layers deep.

Yi Zhonghai was the last to arrive.

He wore a faded work uniform, standing at the outer edge of the crowd, neither pushing forward nor leaving. Zhao Jianguo glanced at him, said nothing, only told the technician: "Begin."

The machine started up, a humming sound rose.

Jia Dongxu stepped up to the Operation Console, movements slow, each step following the old records. When he reached the material-clearing step, he stopped, hand hovering in midair.

"At this point," Zhao Jianguo said, "the duty team leader should have noticed the abnormality and immediately pulled the switch. But that day no one shouted, no one stopped him, and Jia Wu reached in."

He turned to the crowd: "I want to ask the veteran comrades present, for such an incident, could the duty personnel possibly be unaware?"

No one spoke.

Zhao Jianguo asked again: "On March 17th, from 8 p. m. to 6 a. m., who signed in at the duty room?"

The technical department flipped the logbook: "It says…… Yi Zhonghai, on leave, absent from post."

He nodded, then raised his voice: "Master Yi, you were the shift team leader back then; when Jia Wu had the accident, were you actually present or not?"

Yi Zhonghai didn't expect this question, his body stiffened.

Zhao Jianguo stared at him: "By rights, in such an emergency, the first reaction should be yours. You teach your apprentices to keep a trick up your sleeve, but in a life‑or‑death moment, surely you wouldn't also 'hold back'?"

Someone in the crowd laughed out loud, with anger.

Yi Zhonghai's face changed, he blurted: "I was there! I kept the night shift that day, I personally saw him operating in violation of the rules!"

The air fell silent all at once.

The technical staff lowered their heads to look at the logbook, then lifted their heads to look at him.

Zhao Jianguo slowly opened his own notebook: "But the records say you took leave, and the signature was from duty clerk Li Wenshu."

"I……" Yi Zhonghai's throat moved, "I misremembered, that day…… I was filling in for someone."

"Subbing for whom?"

"This…… it's been too long, I can't remember."

"Can't remember?" Zhao Jianguo closed his notebook, "But you just said it quite clearly, 'personally saw'. If you personally saw it, how can you now say you don't remember?"

Yi Zhonghai's lips twitched, he said nothing more, turned and walked away.

The crowd automatically parted a path, no one blocked, no one gave way.

Zhao Jianguo watched his back disappear at the doorway, turned to Jia Dongxu and said: "He's panicked."

Jia Dongxu clenched the flow chart, his knuckles whitening: "What's next?"

"To the archives." Zhao Jianguo put away his notebook, "I want to see who actually signed that duty sign‑in sheet from back then."

Jia Dongxu whispered: "But the director said old files aren't to be casually accessed."

"No permission to transfer, but you have to look." Zhao Jianguo walked toward the Toolbox, "I was on night shift yesterday and casually took a photo."

"When did you take it?"

"Your brother's incident happened the year I wasn't even born yet." Zhao Jianguo grinned, "But I have a way to make the old thing speak."

He pulled a yellowed sheet from a compartment of the Toolbox, its edges curled, the ink slightly blurred, yet the words "March 17, 1965" remained clear.

Below were two lines of signatures.

First line: Duty Officer Li Wenshu

Second line: Shift Leader ______

Blank.

Zhao Jianguo tapped the blank spot with his finger: "See, he didn't sign."

Jia Dongxu's breath tightened: "Then why does he claim he was present?"

"Because he wasn't there at all." Zhao Jianguo folded the paper and slipped it into the notebook, "If he were truly there, he'd have signed. He didn't sign, which shows he never entered the workshop that day. Yet he just said 'saw it with his own eyes'—that's a lie."

Jia Dongxu's voice trembled: "So… when my brother's incident happened, there wasn't even a duty officer?"

"Not only that." Zhao Jianguo stared at the sheet, "The duty records are fabricated as well. Li Wenshu signed, but he wasn't in the plant that night. I asked his neighbor; his wife went into labor that day, and he rushed her to the hospital overnight."

Jia Dongxu snapped his head up: "Then who signed those characters...?"

Zhao Jianguo gave no answer, only said: "Let's go back to the Security Section."

"What for?"

"Just to borrow something." He smiled, "To borrow the key to their file cabinet."

Jia Dongxu was stunned: "Are you crazy? Those are sealed files!"

"Only sealed files hide things." Zhao Jianguo patted his shoulder, "Your brother's case can't just be written off. People can fall, words can be changed, but once a character is written, it can't be erased."

The two walked to the Security Section doorway, where the Duty Officer was dozing on the desk. Zhao Jianguo knocked on the window frame: "Just borrowing something."

The Duty Officer looked up, rubbing his eyes: "What?"

"File cabinet key." Zhao Jianguo produced a slip of paper, "Approved by the Director, to adjust the March 1965 duty records."

The Duty Officer squinted: "The handwriting… doesn't look like the Director's."

"Oh, he dictated, I wrote it." Zhao Jianguo placed the slip on the windowsill, "If you're uneasy, you can ask right now."

The Duty Officer hesitated a few seconds, then opened the cabinet, took out the key and handed it over.

Zhao Jianguo took it and gave Jia Dongxu a look.

The archive room was at the far end of the second floor, the Iron Gate locked and rarely opened. The key slipped in, turned with a slight resistance, and with a clack it opened.

Inside was a stale paper smell, mildew mingling with ink, choking.

Zhao Jianguo switched on his flashlight, the beam sweeping rows of metal cabinets. He went to the "1965" slot, pulled open the drawer, flipped for a few seconds, and took out a blue leather register.

"Found it."

He opened it, his finger sliding down the dates until it stopped at "March 17".

Duty Officer: Li Wenshu (proxy signature)

Shift Leader: blank

Zhao Jianguo stared at that line, suddenly reached out, pulled a transparent sheet from the notebook and gently placed it over.

It was tracing paper.

He took a soft pencil from his pocket and began to trace lightly.

The characters emerged bit by bit.

In the "Shift Leader" column, where it had been blank, faint strokes began to appear.

Zhao Jianguo held his breath and continued tracing.

A character "Yi" slowly took shape.

Next came "Zhong".

The final character was unfinished, only a slash and a hook.

Zhao Jianguo stopped the pen, stared at the half "Hai" and smiled.

Jia Dongxu leaned in, voice trembling: "This… this is…"

"He signed it." Zhao Jianguo whispered, "He signed, then erased it. But the paper records the characters; even if rubbed out, the imprint remains."

Jia Dongxu reached for the page, then withdrew: "So that day… he actually was there?"

"He was." Zhao Jianguo closed the register, "He not only was there, he signed. Later the record was altered, shifting the blame onto Li Wenshu, and removing himself."

"Then my brother…"

"He saw it." Zhao Jianguo looked at him, "When your brother's incident occurred, he was there. He didn't pull the lever, didn't call anyone, just watched."

Jia Dongxu's eyes reddened, his fists clenched with a crackling sound.

Zhao Jianguo returned the register to the drawer, locked the cabinet, "Now you understand why he panicked just now, right? He thought the file clearly stated 'leave', but he slipped and said too much."

"But we have evidence now, can't we…"

"We can't." Zhao Jianguo shook his head, "We can't take the register, nor keep the tracing. If we move, he'll become alert."

"Then what do we do?"

"Wait." Zhao Jianguo folded the tracing paper, slipped it into the notebook's pocket, "Wait for him to reveal more flaws himself."

He exited the archive room, casually closing the door behind him.

When he returned the key to the Duty Officer, the man asked, "All done?"

"All done," Zhao Jianguo said with a smile, "Sure enough, it was Li Wenshu's signature; we ran for nothing."

Going downstairs, Jia Dongxu whispered, "Did you really return the key?"

"I did." Zhao Jianguo pulled a small file from his trouser pocket, "But tomorrow I need to borrow a file to copy the key's teeth pattern."

Jia Dongxu stared wide-eyed: "You got ready early?"

"Starting from burying that piece of copper wire." Zhao Jianguo put the file away, "Some debts have to be settled one by one."

The two walked to the Courtyard Gate; the sky had already grown dark.

Zhao Jianguo looked up at the eaves of the Siheyuan and suddenly said, "If your older brother were still around, he'd probably be retiring soon."

Jia Dongxu didn't speak, only nodding his head.

Zhao Jianguo took out a notebook, flipped to the last page, and wrote a date in pencil: 1965.3.17.

Below he drew a horizontal line.

Then he wrote: Yi Zhonghai, signature, alteration, lying.

He drew another horizontal line.

He closed the notebook and slipped it into his pocket.

"Tomorrow the factory is holding a safety meeting; remember to bring a pen."