The train driver in the courtyard

"A leak!"

It really happened!
It happened at this crucial moment!

Li Aiguo took a deep breath and tried his best to calm himself down.

The core technology of small motorcycles is the twin-cylinder, four-door engine.

If this technology is leaked, Red Star Motorcycles' advantage will be reduced by more than half.

However, Li Aiguo was not too worried. The meteorological station had already developed a complete response procedure for the factory's leak.

Li Aiguo tried to remain calm as he asked, "Were emergency measures taken according to procedure?"

"I sent people to surround all the gates of the steel rolling mill, blocked the railway, and cut off the steel rolling mill's telephone lines to the outside world."

Li Aiguo nodded.

As long as the steel rolling mill is sealed off in time, even if there is a leak, the other party will not be able to transmit the information.

"Let's go and take a look."

On the way to the steel rolling mill in the jeep, Captain Liu explained the whole story.

The leak occurred in the office of the technical team responsible for assembling engines in the steel rolling mill's technical department.

After finishing lunch, Wang returned to his office to prepare for work and discovered that the sealed bag on his desk had been touched. He immediately reported the situation to Captain Liu, who was on duty.

Captain Liu sent men to seal off the technical department while simultaneously sealing off the steel rolling mill according to established procedures.

However, the steel rolling mill now has a fleet of transport vehicles and some workers who want to leave the factory, so they are all gathered at the gate.

In order not to affect normal production, the duty leader of the security department of the steel rolling mill hoped to release the vehicle as soon as possible.

Who is the duty supervisor at the steel rolling mill?

"Hu Deli, the deputy head of the security section."

At this time, a large crowd had gathered at the gate of the steel rolling mill, with one group inside and another group outside.

Inside were the security officers from the steel rolling mill, the employees preparing to leave the factory, and several transport trucks.

There were only four young meteorologists outside, all wearing gray Zhongshan suits, each clutching a pistol and looking alert.

"Deputy Section Chief Hu, we are following orders, and we hope you can cooperate." Seeing that more and more people were coming in, the meteorologist worried that something might happen and tried to persuade Deputy Section Chief Hu again.

"Leaders, we understand your work. We also have our own jobs. These parts urgently need to be sent out, otherwise it will affect the production of downstream factories." Deputy Factory Director Hu, with his large pregnant belly, smiled but his tone was somewhat firm.

Several young workers nearby also joined in the commotion.

"Yes, now they check IDs every time I go to work. If you didn't know better, you'd think this was a military base."

"You are deliberately making things difficult for us."

“There was no leak in our steel rolling mill, so don’t try to frame us.”

The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became tense.

If it weren't for their fear of the gray Zhongshan suits, those workers would have already rushed out by now.

Just then, a jeep drove up from a distance and slammed shut in front of the gate, blocking the way.

Deputy Section Chief Hu was about to curse when he saw the young man in a Zhongshan suit getting out of the jeep, and a fawning smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Comrade Aiguo, how did you get involved? This is a small matter, you can leave it to our security department to handle."

"A trivial matter?" Li Aiguo's face turned cold: "If the technology is leaked, not only will you, the deputy section chief, be in trouble, but even the factory director will be affected."

"Yes, yes, yes," Deputy Section Chief Hu's forehead was covered in a thick layer of sweat.

Before he could continue speaking, Li Aiguo looked around and said seriously, "The factory is already closed, so what's with all these people gathered here?!"

Deputy Section Chief Hu quickly waved inside and shouted, "Hurry up and go in! What kind of order is it to be all huddled here? We need to cooperate with the comrades in the confidentiality work."

"You go in too."

"Ah?! Yes, yes, yes."

Deputy Section Chief Hu took a few small steps and obediently retreated inside the factory gate.

The meteorologists secretly breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.

Fortunately, the train driver arrived in time and calmed the situation down; otherwise, things might have really gone wrong.

These people are not the real Dieter, and they are unwilling to use weapons unless absolutely necessary.

Deputy Section Chief Hu wasn't angry after being disciplined; instead, he jokingly asked Li Aiguo what instructions he had.

There are no instructions.

Only commands!

Li Aiguo straightened his back and said decisively, "Deputy Section Chief Hu, according to the authorization document from the higher-level leaders, I now order: the entire steel rolling mill shall immediately enter a state of first-level combat readiness. Everyone, including the factory leaders, shall be strictly prohibited from entering or leaving. All contact with the outside world shall be immediately cut off except for the dedicated line to the confidential room."

If there is resistance, arrest immediately! This order will continue until I rescind it. This is not a drill. Repeat it again.

"Sir, we still have so many trucks to transport supplies." Deputy Section Chief Hu's reaction today was clearly abnormal; even at this point, he still wanted to persist.

A young man in the crowd muttered quietly, "Da Mao, has Lao Hu gotten himself into a frenzy today?"

Xu Damao laughed: "What do you know? Leaking secrets is a big deal. Once you're involved, you'll suffer greatly. The best way is to deny that the leak happened."

"deny?"

"If they can't find out, it's as if it never happened!" Xu Damao boasted, then nodded to Lu Shichang: "Apprentice, learn from this in the future, so you don't get wronged and don't even know why."

Lu Shichang remained as respectful as ever, appearing very eager to learn.

We were chatting idly when something unexpected happened.

A leader stepped out from the crowd while repeating Li Aiguo's orders.

"Reporting to the leader, I am Ma Baoquan, the head of the security section. I await your instructions!"

Li Aiguo had dealt with Ma Baoquan a few times and knew that he was a retired veteran with a straightforward personality.

"You immediately lead the security officers to seal off the gate, and divide the remaining security officers into five-person patrol teams to patrol along the wall. All security officers must obey my command from now on. Give them your orders."

Veterans are always trustworthy. Ma Baoquan turned around and, in his capacity as section chief, issued the order.

The security officers at the factory gate acted swiftly and set up a defensive line.

Deputy Section Chief Hu was surprised by Li Aiguo's decisiveness, and even more surprised by Ma Baoquan's cooperation.

“Old Ma, I’m doing this for the good of our factory. If those factories don’t get any materials, they’ll definitely complain. And the Red Flag Commune is waiting to see what happens. Let’s see how you explain this to the villagers in the commune!”

"I'm just following the rules," Section Chief Ma said firmly.

Deputy Section Chief Hu's face immediately fell. He was the leader in charge of this confidentiality work, and if something really went wrong, he would definitely be the one to suffer the consequences.

However, the front gate locomotive depot had already taken control of the situation. Knowing that things were beyond saving, he waved his hand, telling the people gathered at the factory gate to go back quickly, and the trucks also reversed back.

The crisis at the factory gate was quickly resolved. Li Aiguo led his men to investigate the technical department. Looking at the trucks that were about to leave, he suddenly turned to look at Captain Liu.

"Based on your speculation, how might the blueprints have been stolen?"

"The original drawings were not lost. The other party either copied the drawings, but that would take a long time."

The technical office was only truly empty for about ten minutes, making it impossible to complete. Another method was to use a spy camera to take pictures.

"So our goal is film."

"should be."

What do you think Dieter would do after shooting the film?

"Either hide or run away. He definitely knows we're investigating. Even if we hide, we'll be found out. The best way is to send the film out as soon as possible."

As he spoke, Captain Liu turned to look at the trucks, his expression changed, and he quickly ran over and blocked their path.

"Stop everything and submit to inspection!"

The truck driver was confused and quickly slammed on the brakes, and several workers leaving the factory also stopped.

Section Chief Ma ran over and asked, "Aiguo, do you think there's something wrong with them?"

"It's hard to say right now; we'll only know after we investigate." Li Aiguo is a man of action and always prefers to get things done first.

Although Section Chief Ma couldn't figure out Li Aiguo's intentions, he still led the security officers to call the truck driver down. First, they checked the truck, then the driver, and finally the employees waiting to leave the factory.

Captain Liu and a meteorologist were also present, keeping a close eye on things and conducting a thorough inspection.

The truck's chassis was almost dismantled, the fuel tank was drained, and every item of cargo was inspected.
He opened all the cigarette packs in his pockets, broke the cigarettes in half, and checked if there was any film inside.

It can be said that, after this examination, even a guy missing a testicle was found out.

The entire inspection process was nothing short of inhumane.

The result was nothing.

Deputy Section Chief Hu was also among those being inspected. He rubbed his aching buttocks, burning with anger.

He always felt that the security officer in charge of the inspection was settling a personal score.

"Comrade Patriot, I will report this matter to higher authorities! Also, I strongly suspect that this leak was orchestrated by you all, just because you don't like our steel rolling mill."

Deputy Section Chief Hu was spouting nonsense, but Li Aiguo didn't pay any attention to him. Instead, he kept scanning the trucks and employees with his eyes.

Could it be that I guessed wrong, and Dieter wasn't in a hurry to send out the blueprints?
That shouldn't be the case; it doesn't make sense.

"Bring the list over here, I want to look at it again." Li Aiguo was still a little worried, so he asked Captain Liu to bring the list.

According to the list, the five trucks were delivering steel components to an agricultural machinery factory in the suburbs of Beijing, and all five drivers were experienced drivers with good family backgrounds.

This kind of person is unlikely to get involved with Dieter.

One of the factory workers was a purchasing agent who planned to go to the countryside to buy eggs.

Such people either possess a spatial ability or carry a farm with them, capable of feeding the entire capital. Even if an investigation were conducted, nothing could be found. They should be forced to surrender at gunpoint.

There are also legitimate reasons for buying groceries at the cafeteria or delivering documents to ministries.

Xu Damao is also preparing to show movies in the countryside.

and many more.

Movie?

Li Aiguo put down the list and asked, "Is Xu Damao the same person?"

"He took on an apprentice, whose name was Lu Shichang."

"Bring them here."

“I personally checked the two of them and found no problems.”

"Bring it here."

"Yes!"

Xu Damao was squatting on the ground, slurping his lips.

He originally thought that performing a rectal examination would be very difficult, but to his surprise, the burly security guard on duty bravely took on the challenge.

Upon seeing Li Aiguo, Xu Damao's first words sounded particularly aggrieved: "Brother Aiguo, are we going to have to undergo another examination? I really can't take it anymore."

Li Aiguo's gaze swept over Xu Damao and Lu Shichang.

The two pushed a bicycle with a metal box containing film hanging on the back and a generator on the seat.

"Comrade Xu Damao, going to the countryside to show movies?"

“Yes, the Red Flag Commune is still waiting. You can investigate all you want, so why don’t you just let us through?” Xu Damao said while slurping.

Lu Shichang nodded hurriedly: "My master is your neighbor, how could he be a bad person, sir, don't you think?"

Li Aiguo ignored him, pointed to the metal box behind him, and asked, "What movie?"

"The Battle of the South and the North" is a war film.

"Can I take a look?"

"See a movie?"

"Ah."

"Now?" Xu Damao rubbed his ears.

"Yes."

Xu Damao's eyes nearly popped out. He asked twice more before he was sure he hadn't misheard.

"There is no rule against showing movies."

Deputy Section Chief Hu initially thought Li Aiguo had found the suspect, but after understanding the situation, he laughed: "Comrade Aiguo, we're all investigating Dieter right now, isn't it inappropriate for you to be watching a movie here?" "Hey, work is too tiring, it's time to relax."

After replying, Li Aiguo ignored him and waved to Section Chief Ma, telling him to get ready.

Holding the imperial sword, do I need to explain myself to you?
Deputy Section Chief Hu blushed deeply on the spot, and could only spit inwardly, determined to report the matter to his superiors after today's events were over.

These days, showing movies is actually very simple; all you need to do is hang up a screen and set up a projector.

Xu Damao is now considered a master craftsman, skillfully setting up the projector and adjusting its height.

However, his assistant, Lu Shichang, was very slow, which was a bit strange.

Seeing his apprentice Lu Shichang carrying the metal box and not opening it for a long time, Xu Damao got a little angry: "How many times have I told you to be quick and efficient? Why are you dawdling here?"

"Master, I..." Lu Shichang's condition was clearly not right at this moment; his hands were even starting to tremble.

Just as Xu Damao was about to ask him if he was sick, a hand took the metal box from his hands.

"I'll do it."

"Brother Da Mao, I've wanted to learn how to project movies from you for a long time. You have to teach me later."

“That’s easy to say.” Xu Damao immediately beamed with delight. “Brother Aiguo, showing movies seems simple, but there are quite a few tricks involved.”

“We use the Jiefang 103 16mm bag-handling machine. The take-up disc of this machine is prone to problems and cannot be rotated to take up the film. Sometimes we have to take up the film by hand.”

"And this gasoline generator, it breaks down all the time."

While busy, Li Aiguo said, "Gasoline generators must be expensive, right?"

“Who says otherwise? Every time we go to the countryside to show a movie, the fuel cost alone is three yuan. When the logistics quota runs out, we have to buy pigeons from the pigeon market at a high price.” Xu Damao connected the generator to the circuit.

“Remember the bicycle generator at Uncle San’s house? Ask Liang Ladi to modify the generator’s power so it can power the projector,” Li Aiguo suggested.

He remembered that when movies were shown in the past, there was a kind of pedal generator that was modified from a bicycle frame.

The device is shaped like a bicycle frame with a 12V, 100W generator mounted on it. When showing a movie, people need to sit on the seat, grab the handlebars, and pedal hard with their feet.

The principle is similar to the generator at the old man's house.

Xu Damao was stunned: "So, in the future, when I go to the countryside, I only need to bring Uncle San with me."

Taking care of the three old men is much more comfortable than taking care of a generator.

Give him a dollar at most, and you can save the rest of the money. Most importantly, Uncle San can help with the work.

Even if you encounter wild wolves, Uncle San is still very useful—as long as you can outrun Uncle San, you'll be fine.

Xu Damao thought about it more and more and it seemed feasible.

"Okay, I'll submit an application to my supervisor."

The atmosphere at the scene was very harmonious; if you didn't know better, you might think it was a private movie screening.

But no one noticed that Captain Liu's eyes were fixed on Lu Shichang.

After the projector was assembled, Li Aiguo pulled the gasoline generator, and with a roar, the projector's turntable began to spin, and a dim light appeared on the screen.

This was followed by a line of large characters: 【Southern Expeditions and Northern Wars】

This is a classic war film, mainly about (100,000 words of filler text), with actors including (3,000 words of filler text), and everyone was deeply moved at the end of the film (100,000 words of filler text).

The movie was very long, more than two hours long, and as the movie drew to a close, no one noticed anything unusual, so everyone frowned.

What is Li Aiguo up to?
"Master, it's finished. Let me help you put away the tape." Lu Shichang stepped forward to turn off the projector.

Before his hand could even touch the switch, Li Aiguo pushed it away.

"Watching a movie should be a complete experience. Look, they're starting to announce the cast now. We should show our respect for their hard work."

"Yes, yes." Cold sweat instantly streamed down Lu Shichang's forehead, and his face paled.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the screen.

After the series of subtitles ended, nothing was found. Just as Deputy Section Chief Hu was about to raise his hand, his expression suddenly changed.

Suddenly, new images appeared on the previously blank screen, covered with dense lines and dimensions.

"This, this is a blueprint?"

"The engine blueprints! I recognize them."

"Why are the engine blueprints on the disc?!"

Everyone turned their attention to Xu Damao.

He was the projectionist, responsible for keeping the film reels safe.

Cold sweat immediately streamed down Xu Damao's forehead: "I don't know, I don't know anything."

“Of course you don’t know, because someone tampered with things behind your back.” Li Aiguo stood up to face Lu Shichang and said coldly, “You still won’t admit it?”

Lu Shichang, who had been panicking, was now somewhat calmer. He sighed deeply, shook his head with a wry smile, and said, "I really didn't expect that the plan I spent two months devising would fail."

Upon hearing this, the onlookers took several steps back, staring at Lu Shichang with disbelief.

Since joining the steel rolling mill, this young man has been particularly proactive, has a good relationship with his coworkers, and is very respectful to his superiors.

The factory was planning to make him a permanent employee, but they never expected him to be Dieter.

The one who found it most unbelievable was Xu Damao.

"Why did you do this! How could you do such a thing!"

Xu Damao ran over and grabbed Lu Shichang by the collar. His eyes were red: "You are my apprentice. How could you do such a thing?"

“Apprentice? Bah!” Lu Shichang raised his chin and said disdainfully, “With your amateurish projection skills, you dare to call yourself my master? Do you believe me? I could project a movie better than you even with my eyes closed.”

"I only became your apprentice to take advantage of you, you fool!"

Xu Damao was struck dumb, and couldn't help but take two steps back before plopping down in a chair.

He always thought he was an excellent master, more respected by his apprentices than Liu Haizhong and Yi Zhonghai, but he never expected to be taken advantage of.

"Xu Damao, disassemble the film reel and find the last few frames of film," Li Aiguo ordered, having someone keep an eye on Lu Shichang. He then shouted at Xu Damao.

Xu Damao snapped out of his frustration and realized that Li Aiguo was helping him, so he quickly picked up a screwdriver and got to work.

Old-fashioned black and white film has a black coating to prevent exposure and wear, similar in function to a slide.

Later, skilled technicians were able to engrave text directly onto the film, creating subtitle effects.

This type of film can be opened without a darkroom environment.

After opening the film reel, Xu Damao put on gloves and quickly pulled the film to the very end. Sure enough, he saw that the last five frames of film had been glued on.

The film is exactly the same as movie film, so it must have been shot with a special camera and processed.

"This is incredible." Xu Damao had never seen this kind of film before.

Li Aiguo removed the five sections of film and put them into a bag; now the evidence was in his hands.

The next step is to find out who Lu Shichang is and why he stole the engine blueprints.

"Take him away and interrogate him immediately."

Captain Liu and several meteorologists rushed forward, tied Lu Shichang up tightly, and were about to push him away.

Lu Shichang stopped and turned to look at Li Aiguo: "How did you know I hid the film in the reel?"

"The best way to hide a needle is to throw it into a pile of needles," Li Aiguo replied calmly.

Hearing this, Captain Liu was overwhelmed with emotion. He had always felt that Li Aiguo's request to watch a movie was suspicious, but he never expected that he had already seen through Lu Shichang's tactics.

No wonder the veteran meteorologists at the weather station all spoke highly of Li Aiguo.

They simply have that kind of strength.

The men escorted Lu Shichang to a jeep and sped away from the steel rolling mill.

Since the leak process is not yet clear, and it is unknown whether Lu Shichang had accomplices or backup film, the blockade order on the steel mill has not been lifted to avoid any accidents.

Xu Damao, several people in the propaganda department who had handled the discs, and Wang, the technician involved, were all temporarily detained.

"Good job catching them. Dieter was right under their noses, and they didn't even notice. Maybe they have something going on too," Deputy Section Chief Hu nodded in agreement.

Li Aiguo pointed and said, "Lock him up too."

"Huh?!" Deputy Section Chief Hu didn't expect Li Aiguo to dare arrest him. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "What are you doing? I'm the deputy section chief of the security section, not a bad guy. Li Aiguo, this is retaliation!"

"I'm asking you, I'm asking you, wasn't it you who was in charge of keeping the secrets?" Li Aiguo stepped forward and said coldly.

Deputy Section Chief Hu visibly shuddered, hesitated for a moment, and nodded: "Yes, but this has nothing to do with me."

“Since you are the supervisor, you have to take responsibility now that something has gone wrong,” Li Aiguo waved his hand to interrupt Deputy Section Chief Hu.

Deputy Section Chief Hu may have felt wronged, but that's just how the organizational procedures are.

In addition, Li Aiguo also suspected that Lu Shichang's ability to enter a highly classified area was related to the inadequate work of Deputy Section Chief Hu.

Upon hearing this, Deputy Section Chief Hu tried to argue, but was dragged away by several security officers.

After the group was taken away, Section Chief Ma learned that the factory closure would continue and became somewhat worried. "If the factory closure cannot be lifted in a short time, the workers in the factory will definitely cause trouble."

Li Aiguo had Section Chief Ma notify the main leaders of the steel rolling mill to hold a short meeting.

"As you all probably know, a serious leak has occurred at the steel rolling mill, and the incident is still under investigation."

"Since Director Yang is hospitalized and Deputy Director Li, who is in charge of daily operations, is not in the factory, we are now taking over the entire factory. The deadline is to investigate the entire case thoroughly."

"After you return to the workshop, please do some ideological work with the workers."

After saying that, Li Aiguo placed his hands on the table and looked around: "Does anyone have a problem with that?"

The scene was quiet.

They had already heard that Dieter had been caught, and it was a certainty that Dieter was inside the steel mill.

Whoever steps forward now will inevitably be suspected of being Dieter.

A deputy factory director raised his hand: "Don't worry, we will definitely cooperate."

"Yes, the workers will definitely understand."

"Our steel rolling mill is fully cooperating with the higher-level leaders."

After the meeting.

These factory leaders and workshop leaders all returned to the workshops.

The workshop was in complete chaos, with everyone speculating about why the factory was shut down.

Since the steel rolling mill became a joint state-private enterprise, it has never been shut down.

Some people thought it was a visit from higher-level leaders.

Some people think something happened at the factory.

There is no consensus.

Inside the steel rolling workshop, several young men started yelling and shouting, and the workshop became chaotic.

Jia Dongxu, unusually, jumped onto the table and raised his fist: "They've locked us up here to starve us to death!"

At that moment, the workshop director walked in, and the workshop instantly fell silent.

Workshop director: "."

Jia Dongxu: "."

Workshop director: "."

Jia Dongxu: "."

Workshop foreman: "Get down here."

"Okay, sure." Jia Dongxu jumped down obediently.

"Dieter has been found in the factory, and an investigation is underway. We hope everyone can cooperate." The workshop director had no interest in pursuing Jia Dongxu's responsibility and simply explained the situation.

After understanding the whole story, the workshop fell silent instantly.

Even Yi Zhonghai, who rarely speaks, changed his expression slightly, stood up, and couldn't help but ask, "Director, who is it?"

"I heard it was a movie projection apprentice. We still don't know for sure. Let's all keep working and pretend nothing happened."

"An apprentice showing a movie?" Yi Zhonghai frowned. "Could it be Lu Shichang?"

"Xu Damao's apprentice?" Jia Dongxu exclaimed excitedly, "Xu Damao, you bastard, you're in trouble!"

(End of this chapter)