Chapter 71: Clearing the Misunderstanding, the Truth Reappears

Zhao Jianguo didn't go back to the house, nor did he go to the Kitchen; he turned a corner and entered the electrical room. Once the door closed, only he and He Yushui were inside. He Yushui was squatting in front of the tool cabinet, flipping through a multimeter; hearing a sound, she turned her head to look.

"So urgent?"

"Urgent." Zhao Jianguo took off his padded jacket and draped it over the back of the chair, "Pull up the wiring log for the back window of the coal depot on the seventh."

He Yushui was startled, "The seventh? Wasn't that day fine?"

"Don't ask, just retrieve it."

He Yushui stopped rambling, opened the logbook and flipped through it, then pulled out her privately kept inspection notes for comparison. Zhao Jianguo stood behind her, fished a freshly generated electronic screenshot from the attendance system out of his pocket, glanced down—"Three unauthorized disconnections, last one: the night before 23:17."

"You have a backup?" He Yushui looked up.

"Yes." Zhao Jianguo handed the paper over, "Check the times, do they match your records?"

He Yushui squinted and compared, drawing three lines on the paper with her finger: "They match. I have it noted that on the seventh at 4 p. m. the circuit was still live, and a check at 6 a. m. the next morning was normal. But in between—" she paused, "from 11 p. m. to 1 a. m. at night, there was no inspection."

"Then that explains it," Zhao Jianguo nodded, "When the bell doesn't ring, people come and go, and no one knows."

He Yushui sprang to her feet, "You mean the coal that disappeared from the depot those days was moved out at that time?"

"It's not 'those days', it's 'every time'." Zhao Jianguo pointed to the markings on the paper, "Three disconnections, three instances of abnormal resource consumption. All the times are locked in the dead of night; the bell was broken, yet people were active."

He Yushui inhaled a cold breath, "But you installed the doorbell wiring; to cut it you'd need tools and some knowledge of electricity…"

"So it wasn't an outsider," Zhao Jianguo sneered, "It was an insider who knows the ropes."

The two exchanged a glance, said nothing, but both understood.

He Yushui turned, opened the Toolbox, took out the Insulated Pliers and a test pen, "Now to the coal depot?"

"Right now, let's go."

They stepped out of the electrical room one after another, crossing the Courtyard. The sky was overcast, the wind light, yet it brushed the faces like tiny knives. Reaching the back window of the coal depot, He Yushui stepped on the bricks and climbed onto the windowsill, opened the junction box cover. Inside, the Electric Wire was neatly coiled, but the blue wire at the far edge bore a fresh scratch in its insulation, exposing half of the copper strand.

"It's been tampered with," He Yushui said, touching it with the test pen, "This wire was broken and reconnected. The splice is decent, but the timing's off—my last inspection didn't show this damage."

Zhao Jianguo squatted under the window, looked up and asked, "If the line is cut now, what happens to the doorbell?"

"It won't ring," He Yushui jumped down, promptly sealed the junction box, "Not just the bell—half the rear‑yard alarm wiring collapses as well."

"But no one heard the bell ring."

"That means—" He Yushui lowered her voice, "It wasn't disconnected for long, or when it was cut, there was simply no one on duty."

Zhao Jianguo nodded, "Let's go back to the well platform."

A few water‑drawers had already gathered by the well platform. Aunt Li was carrying a bucket, about to leave, but when she saw them approach, her steps slowed by half a beat.

"Jianguo, what are you checking now?"

"Find out who's spreading lies behind this," Zhao Jianguo said, his voice not loud but clear, "Anyone who doesn't believe me can come over now; the evidence is on the table."

Aunt Li was startled, the bucket stayed put. Aunt Wang, who was hanging laundry nearby, also stopped, peeking over.

In a short while, seven or eight people arrived. Sha Zhu slipped out of the Kitchen, still clutching a spatula.

"What's up? A trial?"

"Pretty much," Zhao Jianguo pulled the screenshot from his pocket and handed him a stack of papers, "This is the original duty roster, this is the doorbell wiring log, this is He Yushui's inspection record. All three line up—on the night of the seventh, the doorbell was down for thirty‑seven minutes, Er Lengzi's name was crossed out, and Lao Chen covered his shift. Coincidence?"

The crowd buzzed.

Sha Zhu flipped through the paper, his brows furrowing tighter, "These characters… really weren't written by Er Lengzi?"

"No," Zhao Jianguo shook his head, "It was Lao Chen. I compared the handwriting; he's covered shifts for several people, and the list is full of those who later never returned."

"Why did he cover?"

"He makes people think I'm not letting them learn," Zhao Jianguo stared at the crowd, "He goes around saying the technical certificate is a bottleneck tool; if you don't obey, you're barred from the Classroom. But in reality—" he pulled out another paper, "Night School enrollment never closes; Er Lengzi never submitted an application, nor did he sign in. His name was secretly altered."

The crowd erupted.

"Who did it?"

"Lao Chen!" Sha Zhu slapped his thigh, "I saw him two days ago squatting by the restroom door, scribbling something, all sneaky!"

Zhao Jianguo said nothing more, turned to He Yushui and said, "Play the recording."

He Yushui pulled out a modified radio, pressed play. A vague yet clear simulated conversation came through—a reconstruction by the system based on the disconnection time and environmental data—

"... Don't let the bell ring, move quickly. Just this bag, once it's done I'll leave you half a piece of fatty meat."

"You can really get the meat?"

"Zhao Jianguo may be strict, but we still have to sleep at night. He installed the bell, I cut the line; neither delays anything."

When the sound stopped, the room fell silent for a few seconds.

"Is this… Lao Chen's voice?" Aunt Li asked.

"Looks like it," Aunt Wang nodded, "The oily slickness in the latter half is just like when he speaks in meetings."

Zhao Jianguo looked toward Er Lengzi. Er Lengzi had already squeezed to the front, his face flushed bright red.

"I… I really thought Zhao Jianguo was preventing me from learning," he stammered, "Lao Chen said my name was crossed off the duty roster on purpose, targeting me, and even said… that someone like me learning would be useless."

"Then why didn't you ask me?" Zhao Jianguo asked.

"I… I thought…" Er Lengzi lowered his head, "Everyone said so."

"Now?"

Er Lengzi clenched his teeth, "Now I know—it was someone who deceived me."

The crowd roared again.

"Lao Chen is so unscrupulous!"

"He even claimed Zhao Jianguo was overbearing, yet he secretly cut the line himself?"

"No wonder the coal was low recently; that's what happened!"

Sha Zhu suddenly stepped forward, his voice drowning out everyone, "Let me ask you, when did Zhao Jianguo ever block anyone from learning the technique? San Daye, all over eighty, went to attend the lectures! I, Sha Zhu, can't even read the schematics, yet he taught me hand‑by‑hand! If he really wanted to be a bottleneck, how could a guy like me get to hold a welding torch?"

No one spoke.

San Daye, leaning on his cane, slowly walked over and stood beside Zhao Jianguo.

"I this morning even heard Old Zhou's daughter‑in‑law say we need to write a joint letter accusing Jianguo of 'technical dictatorship.'" His voice was low, but every word was clear, "Now I ask you—who saw him being dictatorial? Who saw him … detected sensitive content, please modify and retry."