Chapter 31

Han Yating glanced at Liu Fusheng and Wei Tong, then said, "Our section handles criminal cases within the factory grounds and involving factory workers. Usually, these are transferred from the Security Section or reported by workers. We take people to handle them. There are two bicycles in the section for use when on duty."

Liu Fusheng finished lighting a cigarette for Li Xuewu and retreated to the side of the table. Seeing Han Yating finish, he added, "Our section also focuses primarily on criticism and education. For serious cases, we go to the police station to get a summons, then conduct an investigation before handing it over to the bureau and the Procuratorate. But usually, they are detained for a day or two, and after suffering a bit, they all become obedient."

Li Xuewu nodded without saying much; this Public Security Section was just a small police station.

After smoking a cigarette, Xu Ning came running back, panting and wheezing, carrying a new mesh bag in his hand. Inside the bag were two aluminum lunch boxes, and the clattering sounds from inside suggested they contained chopsticks and spoons.

Xu Ning: "Huff, huff, Section Chief, I've bought the lunch boxes, chopsticks, spoons, and the Daqian Sect cigarettes for you. Here are the meal tickets, and here is the remaining money." As he spoke, he took out the remaining small-denomination bills and handed them back.

Li Xuewu smiled as he took them, picked up the Daqian Sect cigarettes, tore them open, took out two packs and threw them to Wei Tong, then took out two more and threw them to Liu Fusheng. He handed the remaining six packs to Xu Ning and said to him, "Thanks for your hard work."

The three of them, Xu Ning included, couldn't decline and accepted them politely.

Since it was the first day and they weren't yet familiar with the business, they didn't say much, watching the time until it was mealtime.

"Let's go, let's go to the canteen to eat."

The four of them answered in unison.

At this time, the advantage administrative staff had over workshop workers was being closer to the canteen; the canteen was located diagonally behind the main building.

Administrative cadres could line up for food first; basically, by the time the administrative staff finished, the people from the workshops could come over.

Li Xuewu led the four of them into the canteen, naturally attracting a crowd of gazes.

A tall man in a crisp police uniform with a scarred face, followed by four young men in police uniforms—the noise in the canteen suddenly quieted down.

In the factory area, only the Public Security Section wore police uniforms, which were on file at the bureau. The Security Section wore dark cotton-padded clothes and military cotton hats, naturally without collar tabs or cap badges; only the squad leaders had red armbands.

Li Xuewu led the four of them and naturally lined up at the back of a queue, and the noise around them vanished.

When it was Li Xuewu's turn to get food, he saw Liu Lan serving dishes at the window, and Seeing Sha Zhu selling steamed buns at the window next to it.

Seeing Sha Zhu spotted Li Xuewu at a glance.

"Hey! Brother, you went to the Security Department's Public Security Section!"

Li Xuewu smiled and nodded at him, saying softly, "There's a queue behind us, let's talk after work."

Li Xuewu then said to Liu Lan, "Thanks for your hard work, four steamed buns, and two liang of each dish," handing over the lunch boxes as he spoke.

Liu Lan had first seen Seeing Sha Zhu greeting Li Xuewu and took a careful look; this young man looked a bit frightening, and wearing a police uniform made him even more intimidating.

Because of this fear, even the canteen's traditional, perfected "Parkinson's serving method" was cured.

Li Xuewu didn't know yet that he had become a healing-type boy... man...

Li Xuewu glanced at Liu Lan, carried the lunch boxes to a corner table, and sat down.

Han Yating and the other three followed Li Xuewu's lead, all being men of few words, and after getting their food, they sat at the same table as Li Xuewu.

Usually, wearing police uniforms made them quite reserved, but today, seeing Li Xuewu's imposing stride and cold expression, they looked very impressive.

The five people at this table only ate, unlike other tables where people chatted while eating, making them look even more intimidating; even if there were people at the surrounding tables, they all spoke in low voices.

Not far from the Public Security Section's table sat the camp of women and young ladies from the Personnel Section of the Personnel Department; these young ladies were only stealing glances.

Middle-aged women like Sister Xie had no such reservations, eating and chatting while watching.

"Hey, Old Xie, isn't that the young man you took to report this morning? He's a bit unrecognizable in a police uniform."

Sister Xie turned her head, looked at Li Xuewu, and said, "This young man is upright, right? A proper military officer who transferred to civilian work, high school graduate, and he even came down with medals. His family conditions don't look good right now, but within three years, he'll be top-tier. Don't blame me for not looking after the younger sisters in the section—first come, first served, I'm telling you."

"Supreme Spirit Chaos Art"

Upon hearing this, several young ladies instantly lost their hunger, and their gazes toward Li Xuewu became a bit more evaluative.

An older sister from the office wasn't convinced: "There are at least eight or ten demobilized soldiers received every year, why is it first come, first served?"

Sister Xie smiled and didn't respond.

At this time, the tall and thin woman in charge of archives said: "There are levels to demobilization and transfer. This young man's file is really beautiful, especially the comments given by the local neighborhood office, plus he performed meritorious service in the south. He's now in a cadre position, earning 37.5 yuan as soon as he starts work. Have you seen that?"

Upon hearing the 37.5 yuan salary, the eyes of those young ladies were about to spark with electricity.

Seeing Sha Zhu, who had been cooking in the canteen for over ten years, only had a salary of 37.5 yuan, and the worker girls were still rushing to chase after him.

Of course, the administrative girls might not necessarily look up to a canteen cook, but a 19-year-old earning 37.5 yuan was worth looking at.

The older sister from before curled her lips and said: "So what if he's a cadre? How many young people who transfer here aren't missing a few parts? Didn't you see that big scar on his face?"

Everyone saw Li Xuewu eating with a cold face, his cheeks bulging, and that scar looked even more terrifying, like a centipede crawling on his face.

The middle-aged sister's words were like a basin of cold water poured onto the hearts of the few interested young ladies. Yes, it was too frightening; it wouldn't matter after the lights were out at night, but it wouldn't look good to take him out during the day.

At this time, Sister Xie chuckled and said: "What man doesn't have a scar? Besides, that was brought back from the front line. The personnel comments didn't even dare to write that his appearance was ugly. Besides, why do you need a man to be so good-looking? Are you raising a pretty boy?"

The sister from the archives office said: "His family background is also good; his father is a doctor. Can this family background be bad?"

Feng Juan, an accountant in the Finance Office who was listening to the sisters chat, said with a smile to the sister from the archives office: "Big sister, introduce him to me. I don't mind the scar on his face; I actually think he's safe and reliable."

The sister from the archives office smiled and said: "I'm not familiar with him; what I said is all written in the file. But if you want to get to know him, go ask your Sister Xie."

Seeing Feng Juan turn her head to look at her.

Sister Xie said: "The young man is deep. If you want to chase him, go do it yourself; I'm not helping anyone."

Seeing the glowing eyes of the young girls in her department, Sister Xie wouldn't offend anyone for no reason.

At this time, the people from the workshops came over to get food. The First Uncle Yi Zhonghai, the Second Uncle Liu Haizhong, Liu Guangtian, Qin Huairu, and others all heard Seeing Sha Zhu talking about Li Xuewu at the serving window while they were getting their food.

Several people looked at the small group eating quietly in the corner with strange gazes, especially at Li Xuewu.

The night before last, everyone rumored that Li Xuewu had entered the factory, but they all thought he would be assigned to a workshop and were guessing which one.