Chapter 2: 2 A Hasty Conclusion

2 A Hasty Conclusion

"Dear neighbors, elders, Bang Geng may be a bit mischievous, but he is not the type of person to engage in petty theft.

Besides, Shazhu has already said that he was the one who stole the chicken.

Zhou Zengyang, why must you insist on slandering my son as the thief?

Is it just because Bang Geng once scolded you, that you hold a grudge and must slander my son?"

Qin Huairu stood up nervously, then politely greeted the neighbors in the Compound.

First, she defended her son, saying he was not that kind of person, then she said Shazhu had already confessed, and finally, she turned the tables, claiming there was some misunderstanding between Zhou Xinyang and her son.

Just like in the original story, Shazhu admitted to stealing the chicken, but Xu Damao did not accept it because he had no motive.

So, Shazhu made up a reason about Xu Damao insulting him for being a bachelor, which finally made everyone believe him.

As for why Qin Huairu and Zhou Xinyang called him Zhou Zengyang, there was a reason for that too.

The person Zhou Xinyang possessed was also from his own hometown in his previous life, a village called Zhou Family Village in Hebei Province.

However, he had followed his father to Beijing since he was a child, because his father, Zhou Shushan, was a veteran.

Who would have known that a few years after arriving in Beijing, he fell ill, and early this year, Zhou Shushan passed away.

Zhou Zengyang took Zhou Shushan back to their hometown for burial, and then returned to Beijing.

It was for no other reason than that after Zhou Shushan retired from the military, he had been assigned to work at the Shishan Steel Factory.

In the sixties, factory children could take over their parents' positions; although the policy only officially existed in the seventies, it had long been tacitly allowed.

For example, Qin Huairu, why was she able to work at the Shishan Steel Factory? It was because her husband Jia Dongxu died, and with one elderly person and three children at home with no one to support them, they showed mercy and allowed Qin Huairu to take over Jia Dongxu's shift.

Zhou Xinyang is fifteen years old this year, born in '50, so theoretically, he had no way to take over the job.

But special circumstances were treated specially; Zhou Shushan was dead, he had no mother, and his grandparents in his hometown were too old, so there was no other way but to let him take over the job.

In any case, a steel factory has many people. At this time, it wasn't just the production workshops, but also hospitals, schools, nurseries, cinemas, broadcasting stations, bathhouses, canteens, cold storage, warehouses, shops, and even its own security department.

You must know that Shishan Steel had over fifty thousand employees, and this was even before the employees' children had reached the age to take over.

By the seventies and eighties, just take a look, ten thousand would be a small number.

But I've digressed.

Following Qin Huairu's defense, the looks everyone cast at Zhou Xinyang were slightly suspicious.

Zhou Xinyang was naturally unruffled. "I wouldn't go so far as to take revenge on a child. As for whether he stole it or not, why don't we change locations and hold a meeting to find out?"

Once these words were spoken, some clever people knew that there must be more to this matter.

Although Xu Damao was foolish, he could still work as a Film Projectionist, which showed he wasn't that stupid.

Just as he was about to use this "evidence" to demand a change of venue for the meeting, the First Elder spoke up.

"Alright, I think we should handle it this way.

Shazhu, you admitted to stealing Xu Damao's chicken; now, return the chicken soup to Xu Damao and compensate him with five yuan."

Yi Zhonghai made the decision directly, which left the official-obsessed Second Elder Liu Haizhong quite dissatisfied.

But his mind couldn't quite grasp it; he couldn't understand why, even though Shazhu had confessed, Zhou Xinyang still insisted that Bang Geng was the one who stole it.

Although he didn't understand, he also knew that while Shazhu was a jerk, he wasn't the type to engage in petty theft.

As for Bang Geng, he actually looked a bit like the type.

However, since Yi Zhonghai had already made the decision on the punishment, he couldn't say anything more.

And Shazhu didn't want to cause any more trouble, lest the matter of Bang Geng stealing the chicken be uncovered.

As for the five yuan, it was already several days' income for many people, but as a bachelor, he didn't really care.

Qin Huairu was also in a panic, terrified that the place where Bang Geng stole the chicken would be pointed out by Zhou Xinyang.

If that happened, the reputation of being a petty thief would follow her son for the rest of his life.

In this era where the factory is your home, a reputation for petty theft could truly ruin a person.

Fortunately, the First Elder Yi Zhonghai decisively terminated the Compound meeting.

Xu Damao also knew it wasn't Shazhu who stole it, but as long as Shazhu paid him, he was happy; as for who actually stole it, it didn't matter.

Having received the five yuan, Xu Damao happily returned home.

The first full-Compound meeting of the Compound thus ended hastily, but Zhou Xinyang knew that this was just the beginning.

Returning from the Compound, Zhou Xinyang went back to his own room.

This was a room that could be considered a main room, about twenty square meters; after all, most of the Compound was from the late Qing Dynasty, and the residents were influenced by the late Qing.

What they believed in was that bedrooms must be small, so most houses were not very large in area.

If you insist on saying that grand halls, temples, and pavilions also count as places for people to live, then he had nothing to say.

Zhou Xinyang reflected on what he should do in the future.

As for offending Qin Huairu's family, he didn't take that to heart.

As long as he could find a powerful backer, moving out of the Compound was a sure thing.

But where should he go to find a backer?

He racked his brains and realized that for now, it would be best to cozy up to the Factory Director.

You must know that Shishan Steel was one of the most important steel factories in Beijing and even the country; this year, they even built a blast furnace that reached world-class standards, absolutely leading in the country. The whole factory was cheering and celebrating, and they even distributed two catties of white sugar for it.

Zhou Xinyang thought about it, why did Shishan Steel sound a bit awkward?

"Right, Beijing Steel is the real deal; the name sounds like it's the best in the country, the best in all of Beijing."

"Should I make a suggestion to the Factory Director?"

Thinking of this, Zhou Xinyang couldn't sit still.

Although he had never met the Factory Director, he knew from the memories of the person he possessed that this Factory Director had come out of the war, and his own father, Zhou Shushan, had been his old subordinate.

Since that was the case, Zhou Xinyang could no longer stay calm and immediately ran to the factory.

"Factory Director, I have something to discuss with you."