Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 212 211 Mike's Investigation

Feng Xiuhu didn't stay long.

Borrowing the power of shadows against the sun, his magic power began to show red lights again.

So he quickly slipped away to the upper city.

……

After running around everywhere, Mike finally finished his work for the day and returned home tired.

He lived in a townhouse on Coconut Street in Uptown.

The whole street is full of buildings like this. The environment is not very good, but it is not bad either.

Mike is a tenant here. In order to save money, he only rented a small apartment with one bedroom and one living room, but because it was on the top floor, it also came with a terrace.

The reason I chose to live here is not only because the rent is reasonable, but also because it is close to the newspaper office.

It’s worth mentioning that Mike is not actually a native of Sail City.

He came from a small town two days' walk from Sails City, where he was spotted by the priest and became a deacon.

Considering Mike's future promotion opportunities, the old priest wrote him a letter of recommendation and asked him to come to Fancheng for development with the letter.

After entering the house, Mike took off the butler robe he was wearing and walked into the kitchen.

There was still some stew left in the pot from last night, and he was tired and too lazy to make it today, so he decided to just make do with it.

Feng Xiuhu walked out from the shadows in the corner and asked, "Is this what you're going to eat?"

Mike was startled, but he was used to it and quickly returned to normal: "Want to eat together?"

Feng Xiuhu shook his head: "I've eaten."

After saying that, he handed over an iron lunch box.

Mike took it and opened it. There was white rice covered with braised pork and fried fish, which was still steaming slightly.

Mike couldn't help but ask: "Where did it come from?"

Feng Xiuhu picked his teeth with a toothpick and replied casually, "I got it from the government office—you know what, the chef in the government office's kitchen is really good at cooking."

Mike stared blankly at the iron lunch box in his hand: "Whose lunch box is this?"

Feng Xiuhu replied: "It belongs to Shen Yanzhi. I'm borrowing it for a while."

The aroma was so fragrant that Mike swallowed hard.

He wanted to complain, but hunger finally got the better of him and he walked to the table and started eating.

While Mike was eating, Feng Xiuhu picked up the newspaper on the table.

It's today's morning paper.

Well, the front page clearly read: A great hero has fallen! A mad tiger actually did that to the Duke's wife!
Feng Xiuhu was so angry that he crumpled the newspaper into a ball and threw it at Mike's head.

Mike looked back with the fish tail in his mouth: "?"

Feng Xiuhu asked him, "What did you find out today?"

Mike replied, "Remember what Cheng Aimei said about the workers' situation? Pah."

Feng Xiuhu nodded: "Yeah, the workers are making quite a commotion."

Mike then said, "It's worse than he said, ugh."

"The increasingly heavy workload, coupled with mental stress, has led to more and more workers falling ill and engaging in violent clashes, even affecting female workers. Ugh—in the past few days alone, there have been several cases of female workers being raped."

"These are just internal pressures. The factory also faces pressure from the government. The government uses environmental issues as an excuse to demand inspections. Or the Maritime Affairs Bureau deliberately seizes supplies bound for the factory. In short, they find all sorts of excuses to shut down the factory."

"And I also heard that it's not just Fancheng that's facing this situation. Many factories across the country are experiencing problems."

Feng Xiuhu asked in confusion, "Were the Owl People from other places also detained?"

Mike waved his hands: "It's not because of this, it's an illness, ugh."

Feng Xiuhu stared at him: "...you can't spit out all the fish bones in your mouth, right?"

Mike chewed his words, swallowing them all in one gulp. "Perhaps it was the combined physical strain of long-term hard work and the harsh environmental factors that erupted simultaneously. Workers in many places became bedridden, causing factories to cease operations." "As you can imagine, this was a disaster for the Duke of Daguo."

Feng Xiuhu held his chin in his hand. "Simultaneous outbreaks across the country? Isn't that too much of a coincidence?"

Then he shook his head again: "But this has nothing to do with what I want to investigate. Has Konate Chen made any moves?"

"Cough cough."

Mike cleared his throat. "It's not completely unrelated."

"Well, Konate Chen instructed Mao Dali's Wrench Gang to expand their influence, and this is going very smoothly."

"Well, the reason it went so smoothly was due to the internal pressure within the factory. There were a lot of workers who were dissatisfied with the factory, and when the Wrench Gang expanded, these workers decisively joined in."

Feng Xiuhu nodded thoughtfully. "The workers hope to leverage the power of the Wrench Gang to put pressure on the factory... This is a desperate measure."

"The Wrench Gang has grown stronger, and Konate Chen has gained an even more powerful choir... That's it?"

"Ahem." Mike raised a finger. "No, Konate Chen gained the most."

“He has the workers’ voice, not all of it, but enough of it.”

Feng Xiuhu's eyes lit up: "Your throat is uncomfortable?"

Mike scratched his neck: "A fishbone is stuck."

Feng Xiuhu didn't care - it wasn't him who was stuck anyway.

He stroked his stubble and said, "Konate Chen's behavior is too obvious. Isn't he afraid that the Duke of Daguo will cause trouble for him?"

Mike kept turning his neck. "You underestimate him. Konate Chen has already found a legitimate reason for himself."

"After the war, he wants to seize the port area for the church. Therefore, as a choir, the expansion of the Wrench Gang is necessary and also a very reasonable thing to do."

……

at the same time.

As night fell, the atmosphere in the mourning hall became depressing.

The three Mazi brothers, Miao Gensheng and other owl people were all there. They didn't know why Shunzi chose to give in today, so they couldn't help feeling resentful.

But Shunzi did not explain and just sat in the mourning hall until evening.

Seeing that the time was almost up, he stood up and said, "I'm going back to my room first."

No one responded.

Shunzi went to the backyard by himself. Seeing that no one followed him, he climbed over the wall from the corner.

Shunzi bypassed the Wrench Gang members guarding outside the house and headed straight for the port area.

Shunzi tried his best to avoid pedestrians along the way, and soon arrived outside the Zhenshui Division camp.

He took out the certificate left to him by Feng Xiuhu from his arms and explained his purpose. Then the guard took him to see Hong Shenghuo.

It's still the same office.

Hong Shenghuo closed the door and asked, "Who asked you to come?"

Shunzi took out the pass - this pass was the one that Hong Shenghuo had given to Feng Xiuhu before.

Shunzi said, "My eldest brother told me about your situation. He's a man of loyalty, and I'm not any less loyal. So, from now on, I'll do what he hasn't finished for you."

Hong Shenghuo stared at him for a long time: "I'm looking for your elder brother because I like him - but that doesn't mean anyone can get in touch with me."

Shunzi said, "My brother found a clue, but he didn't have time to tell you."

He raised his eyes to look at Hong Shenghuo: "So do you want it or not?"

Hong Shenghuo couldn't help but laugh: "It seems that you are as capable as your brother."

PS: If a bear hides in a tree hole and refuses to come out, just stab it on the butt and see if it will move.

(End of this chapter)