Siheyuan: The Era of Struggle

Chapter 438 Operation 425 (Part 2)
He Yuanchao stood by the table for a while, and seeing that the files on Wang Jibin's table were piling up more and more, he knew that there would be no results for a while. He whispered a few words to Li Weizhong and then quietly left the conference room.

This was He Yuanchao's first time at the No. 1 factory. He was unfamiliar with the area and wandered around for a while before finally finding a group of security personnel who were checking for explosives with all sorts of tools.

He Yuanchao glanced around and, seeing that Li Jiefang wasn't among the workers, stepped over to stand behind Ding Liangcai, who was squatting beside the machine inspecting it.

"Section Chief Ding, how's it going? Any discoveries?"

Hearing the noise, Ding Liangcai turned around and saw that it was He Yuanchao. He then stopped what he was doing and stood up, saying:

"Nothing has been found yet, but please rest assured, Deputy Director He, if there are any explosive devices in the factory, I will definitely be able to find them."

"I have faith in Section Chief Ding's abilities."

He Yuanchao nodded and responded to Ding Liangcai, then added, "By the way, Section Chief Ding, where is Officer Li? Is he disobeying orders?"

Ding Liangcai realized that He Yuanchao was asking about Li Jiefang, and quickly explained:

"Deputy Director He, please don't misunderstand. Officer Li is very proactive in his work. Because he is not familiar with the factory area, he took the initiative to lead people to inspect the perimeter of the factory."

……

After exchanging a few words, He Yuanchao noticed that the security guards from the nearby branch factory kept glancing in their direction. He then left without any ill intentions and followed Ding Liangcai as they searched the workshop for explosives.

Time flies when you're working. After inspecting one workshop, He Yuanchao glanced at his watch and realized an hour had passed.

He was still concerned about Wang Jibin, so he didn't go to the next workshop. He gave Ding Liangcai a few instructions and then turned to walk towards the conference room.

Thinking of Li Jiefang on the way, He Yuanchao felt uneasy. After thinking for a moment, he turned and walked towards the factory gate again.

After inquiring at the security office at the main gate, and with the directions of the guards at the gate, we quickly found Li Jiefang by the wall outside the factory area.

Seeing He Yuanchao walking over in a hurry, Li Jiefang thought things had made progress and immediately left his colleagues to greet him with great excitement:
"Chief, have we found a lead and are we going to make an arrest?"

"If I find any clues, I can come back to you."

He Yuanchao glared at Li Jiefang with annoyance and said, "I was worried about you here, so I came to check on things. How is it? Have you found anything?"

Upon hearing this, Li Jiefang's face immediately fell, and he kicked the weeds on the ground twice, saying:

"There's nothing but grass, nothing to see!"

As soon as Li Jiefang finished speaking, Zhou Hongjun, who had moved closer to the two of them, immediately chimed in:

"Yes, Director, we've been circling the factory wall for almost two hours, and apart from bugs and rats, we haven't found a single explosive device."

He Yuanchao ignored Zhou Hongjun's complaints, glanced at the guards still searching for explosives along the wall, and turned to Li Jiefang solemnly:

"Liberation is a matter of great importance, so don't be careless. You must investigate carefully. If anything goes wrong, I don't think I can protect you."

After "winding up" Li Jiefang, He Yuanchao turned to the awkwardly standing Zhou Hongjun and said:
"Now that you're here, do your job well. Don't be like you were at home, always so unserious. I arranged for you to work under Officer Li so that you can learn more skills and not let me down when I need you in the future."

After He Yuanchao poured out that bowl of chicken soup, Zhou Hongjun instantly perked up. "Director, don't worry, I will definitely learn skills from Brother Li. If you need anything in the future, just call me and I promise I won't hold back."

After Zhou Hongjun finished his triumphant promise, he seemed to remember something, glanced around, and then leaned close to He Yuanchao, saying mysteriously:

"Director, when I came here at noon, I heard something from a security guard at the First Factory. Would you like to hear it?"

He Yuanchao was preoccupied with the investigation and assessment, and had no time to play games with Zhou Hongjun.

"Say it or don't, I don't want to hear it anyway."

After saying that casually, He Yuanchao ignored Zhou Hongjun and turned to walk towards the gate of the No. 1 factory.

Seeing this, Zhou Hongjun quickly stepped forward and followed He Yuanchao, saying, "Director, don't worry, I'm sure you'll be interested in this."

"If you want to say something, just say it. If you don't want to say anything, go do what you're supposed to do and don't talk nonsense with me."

Seeing that He Yuanchao was about to frown, Zhou Hongjun dared not make excuses anymore. He glanced around and whispered:
"Director, do you know that the First Branch Factory lost a lot of metal raw materials and scrap parts a while ago? I heard that there were at least a hundred pounds of copper blocks alone. Before we came here, the security department of the First Branch Factory was investigating this matter!"

Upon hearing this, He Yuanchao's heart stirred, as if he had grasped something, but it was still vague and unclear. So he stopped and looked at Zhou Hongjun, saying:

"Tell me the specifics of what happened."

Seeing that He Yuanchao was interested, Zhou Hongjun was extremely pleased and immediately told him everything he had heard from the security guards at the No. 1 factory.

“Since the beginning of April, the security department of the first branch factory has been receiving notices from the factory every day about missing scrap parts. Later, not only scrap parts, but also finished parts started to go missing. The security department blocked all the exits 24 hours a day, but they couldn’t find out who was responsible. Because of this, the head of the security department, Ding Liangcai, was criticized by their factory director a lot.”

At this point, Zhou Hongjun looked disdainful.

“If this happened in our factory, you wouldn’t even need to get involved, Director. Brother Li and we would definitely be able to get it done.”

He Yuanchao was preoccupied with the missing parts at the factory and had no intention of paying attention to Zhou Hongjun. He gave a few perfunctory replies and hurriedly went back to the conference room.

As soon as He Yuanchao entered the room, he saw that Wang Jibin's desk was piled with several thick stacks of files.

After walking to the table and chatting briefly with Wang Jibin, He Yuanchao learned that there were still no leads. He then went to Li Weizhong, who was smoking nearby, and quietly inquired about the missing parts from the factory.

Li Weizhong paused for a moment when He Yuanchao asked about the theft at the factory, then looked around before lowering his voice and saying:
"Yuanchao, where did you hear about this?"

"Secretary Li, no matter where I heard about this, just tell me the details."

Seeing He Yuanchao's serious expression, Li Weizhong thought for a moment and then stopped hiding anything, recounting the entire theft in detail. He concluded by adding a word of advice:
"I've already told you about the aid to Korea, but you absolutely mustn't let it slip to Secretary Liang."

"Don't worry, Secretary Li, I definitely won't tell Secretary Liang about this."

After He Yuanchao finished speaking, he pulled Li Weizhong's arm and walked to a secluded corner, saying seriously:
“Secretary Li, I suspect that the person who wrote the threatening letter is the same group of people who stole parts from the factory.”

(End of this chapter)