[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji":3,"chapter-the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-chapter-35":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Siheyuan: Food, Love, and Family in 1960s Beijing",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2314085,4526,"Chapter 35: Chief, Don","the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-chapter-35",35,"\u003Cp>Wang Jindong halted his steps, cast a venomous glance back at Li Xuewu, then left the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The office was eerily quiet; Han Yating and the other person said nothing, still stunned by the exchange between the Section Chief and the Department Head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How did it come to this? Wasn’t everything peaceful this morning during the handover?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Jindong met the Warehouse Director and the factory office staff as he descended the stairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Warehouse Director was Gu Ke; Gu Ke pointed at Wang Jindong and roared, “Wang Jindong, what the hell are you trying to pull?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Jindong sneered, “The real boss is upstairs—I’m done with this. If you’ve got guts, go find him yourself,” then walked out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Warehouse Director Gu Ke led Secretary Liu Wensheng upstairs and found all three in the office reviewing case files; he immediately recognized Li Xuewu as the newly arrived Section Chief of the Public Security Section.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Ke, strutting with arrogance, scolded Li Xuewu: “You’re the new Section Chief Li Xuewu, right? My nephew was framed—how can you possibly subject him to torture? That’s inappropriate!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Secretary Liu entered the room but said nothing, merely watching the two.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu didn’t bother replying—a sack of finished copper parts claimed to have been stolen from the workshop? Even a fool wouldn’t believe that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Do you think the Quality Inspection Section is stupid? These items must have come from the warehouse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, why would the Warehouse Director rush over in such a panic?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pulled out a case closure report, wrote “Suspected theft—do not release” beneath the conclusion, then turned it around and shoved it toward Gu Ke, pointing at the signature line: “Sign here. Go get Wang Jindong’s signature, then Dong Chuzhang and Fu Chuzhang’s, then yours. What? Factory Office? Then you sign too.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu kept writing, saying, “Once all signatures are done, come to me to collect the prisoner.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Ke slammed the desk and shouted, “What’s this? Abuse of power? Is this what you call a Public Security Section Chief? Liu Secretary, look at this!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Secretary adjusted his glasses, picked up the case closure report, glanced at it, then placed it back on the desk and said calmly, “The Director only asked me to understand the situation—I can’t sign this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu ignored Liu Secretary entirely, kept writing, and said nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After ranting for a long time and seeing Li Xuewu unmoved, Gu Ke finally snapped, “I’m going to report you—I don’t believe there’s no justice in this world!” and stormed out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then did Li Xuewu look up, pull out a Daqianmen cigarette, and offer it to Liu Secretary; Xu Ning hurried over to light it for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu watched as Liu Secretary took the cigarette and said, “The case is starting to show some leads—it’s complicated. I hope you understand.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Secretary took a drag and replied, “I’m only here to gather information. I’ll report back to the Director. If that’s the case, I won’t delay your work—I’m leaving.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu saw Liu Secretary off to the office door, shook his hand, and watched him leave the building.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu knew in his heart he had only one week—he had to deliver results, or the factory leadership’s attention window would close, his purpose for joining the Security Section would spread, making it hard to establish himself, and Wang Jindong would grow wary of him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu finished his cigarette at the stairwell corner, then returned to the office.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The curses downstairs had stopped; only moans remained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No other leaders came by the whole afternoon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just before shift end, Li Xuewu arranged for Wei Tong and the other on-duty officer to swap shifts so they could go eat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu himself brought his lunchbox to the canteen, got a meal from the window, told He Yuzhu to pass a message home—he was on duty tonight and would sleep in the factory dormitory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The canteen served one evening meal for on-duty staff, so few people were around; He Yuzhu had time to chat with Li Xuewu, learned he was now an official earning 37.5 yuan, and, envious, told him factory gossip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After finishing his meal, he got a second portion, carried it back to the Guard Team dormitory, placed the lunchbox on the shelf beside the stove, and saw the team members clean and seated on the kang, chatting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All the team members stood up as Li Xuewu entered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu waved them down, set down his lunchbox, and said, “I’ll sleep in this room tonight.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He went outside to the pull-up bar, saw Wang Weidong shivering and listless, hanging limply; Li Xuewu didn’t waste words, unlocked his handcuffs, and pointed toward the gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching Wang Weidong reluctantly grab his bundle and trudge out the gate, Li Xuewu returned to the office building.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first floor was silent now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu walked to the window and saw Hu Jinbu hanging on the wall like a dead pig.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu whispered to Liu Fusheng, who stood guard at the door: “I’m sleeping in the factory tonight. If he confesses before nine, come to me on the second floor. After nine, find me in the Guard Team dormitory.” Then he went upstairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the second floor, Han Yating and the other person were packing up to leave; they both said to Li Xuewu, “Section Chief, we’re leaving,” then exited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu reviewed the Public Security Section’s theft case files on the second floor until nine, rubbed his eyes, descended, waved to Wei Tong, and left for the dormitory to sleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Li Xuewu entered the dormitory, the team members had finished washing and were preparing for bed; he grabbed a basin, mixed cold water with hot water from the stove, washed his face and feet, then crawled into bed and fell asleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The team members had grown accustomed to Li Xuewu’s decisive manner and had heard he was a demobilized military officer; they no longer feared him—now they respected him, quietly lying down one by one to sleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The kang was truly hot—that’s why Li Xuewu refused to sleep in the duty dormitory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though there was still the stench of sweaty feet and snoring rose and fell, it was no different from his old university dorm—Li Xuewu’s snoring was louder than anyone else’s.\u003C\u002Fp>",1052,"2026-06-20T13:46:54.288Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","b05240888ad556696fcb325a80a03dd91df754a20f3232e280be90ffa81ac545","the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-chapter-36","the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-chapter-34",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-cover.jpg"]