Flip the table and divide the family property! Take his wife and daughter into the mountains and eat

Liang Tiejun reached into his pocket, pulled out a half-empty box of Daqianmen cigarettes, took one out, and handed it over.

Zhao Shanhe took the slightly dry Daqianmen cigarette with both hands.

Instead of lighting it, he casually took out a box of matches from his pocket, struck one with a "snap," and first leaned over to light Liang Tiejun's cigarette. Then, using the flame that was almost burning his fingers, he lit his own cigarette as well.

Pale blue smoke rose between the two, slightly diluting the herbal scent in the room.

Zhao Shanhe watched the man opposite him quietly through the smoke.

The former director of the Red Star Machinery Factory, who used to stand ramrod straight, now sat in a wooden chair with his back uncontrollably hunched over, like an old, hard bow that had been forcibly bent.

The hair that was originally only gray at the temples is now mostly white.

His eyes were sunken, his cheekbones were high and prominent, and the veins on the back of his hand holding a cigarette were bulging, revealing a deep-seated weariness.

Zhao Shanhe paused, his fingers holding the cigarette between his fingers.

"Director Liang, you've aged so much in just half a month."

Liang Tiejun's fingers, which were holding a cigarette, trembled slightly.

He took a deep drag of his cigarette, waved his hand dismissively, and gave a self-deprecating laugh in a hoarse voice.

"It's already quite good that you can sit here smoking without any injuries."

Liang Tiejun flicked off his cigarette ash, his eyes revealing an unyielding sense of vicissitude: "In the solitary confinement cell, you never see the sun. You're kept up all night, with bright lights shining in your eyes. The moment you close your eyes, a bucket of cold water is poured over your head. You're not given a chance to sleep at all."

He paused for a moment, and his eyes reddened slightly.

"I'm alright, at least I got out of there. Before I left, I went to see Old Zhang."

"He was so thin he looked emaciated, his eyes were so sunken, he couldn't even walk. Two officers had to drag him out by the arms. Even so, he still had to stay inside to continue cooperating with the investigation..."

The room quieted down, with only the soft bubbling of the earthenware pot simmering medicine on the stove.

Zhao Shanhe remained silent for a long time.

He stared at the flickering cigarette butt between his fingers, his voice heavy: "Director Liang, I want to apologize to you and Deputy Director Zhang on behalf of Da Niu. It's all because..."

"Alright."

Before he could finish speaking, Liang Tiejun raised his rough hand and stopped him in mid-air.

He took a deep drag on his cigarette, his gaze honestly fixed on Zhao Shanhe: "We're all doing this for the factory. Old Xu and Tiezhu have risked everything for the factory, and they're still in the hospital now. It's just that none of us have it easy."

Liang Tiejun leaned forward and changed the subject.

"Let's not talk about that. How did your trip go? What about that Soviet expert we talked about? How's the process going?"

Zhao Shanhe nodded.

"They should have arrived at the city guesthouse by now, they came through the proper channels."

He took a drag of his cigarette and slowly exhaled, his brows furrowing into an unsolvable knot.

"But given the current state of the factory, you and Deputy Director Zhang have both been dismissed. Gao Wenbin is now in charge. When I came back, Ergazi told me that Gao Wenbin is going to sell all the factory's machinery as scrap metal."

Zhao Shanhe looked at Liang Tiejun through the smoke, his tone revealing an extreme sense of suppressed frustration.

"They've practically emptied the company of its resources. Even if the experts really came, what could they do against this empty shell that's about to have its machines taken away and sold off?"

Liang Tiejun opened his mouth, as if to say something, but not a single word came out.

His hand holding the cigarette froze in mid-air, letting the long piece of ash fall onto his trouser leg with a "plop".

This tough guy, who used to be the undisputed leader in the workshop, now seemed to have had his last bit of energy drained away. He was hunched over and completely silent, as if dead.

Seeing Liang Tiejun looking so drained of energy, Zhao Shanhe felt bad too.

He took a deep drag of his cigarette, suppressing the turmoil in his eyes, and asked in a low voice, "Director Liang, did Director Li say anything when he got you out?"

Liang Tiejun slowly shook his head.

He sighed, his voice terribly hoarse: "Director Li only said... to wait."

"What are you waiting for!"

The monkey that had been clenching its teeth suddenly erupted.

He suddenly kicked over the broken wooden stool next to him, and the loud crash was particularly jarring in the quiet room.

The monkey's eyes were bloodshot, veins bulged on its forehead, and it roared out in a voice that sounded like it was being torn apart.

"Why did Brother Shanhe come to this run-down Red Star Machinery Factory back then? It was all because of him!"

"We brothers listened to him and worked day and night for the factory. How much did we sacrifice? And what was the result?"

The monkey suddenly took a step forward, pointing outside, his hands trembling: "Director Liang, you and Deputy Director Zhang were arrested and tortured like this, and Da Niu was also taken in and skinned alive. What did Director Li do? He didn't do anything!"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, his eyes bloodshot as if they were about to bleed. He ripped open the buttons on his collar and gasped for breath.

"I think he's no different from that bastard Gao Wenbin!"

"Those high-ranking officials, they talk a good game all day long, saying all sorts of nice things! But when it really comes down to taking responsibility, they all make us the ones to step up!"

"They just talk the talk, ordering us around, but once we've risked our lives, they don't care about the lives of their men at all!"

The monkey suddenly turned its head to look at Zhao Shanhe, its hands clenched into fists so tightly that its nails almost dug into the flesh of its palms, its voice choked with sobs, revealing an unyielding bitterness.

"Brother Shanhe, this is so frustrating!"

"If you hadn't brought us to this godforsaken place, what could we brothers have done outside that would be better than this? If we hadn't come here, we wouldn't be like this today, being trampled on in the mud like rags!"

The monkey's words were like a knife piercing through the last layer of paper in the room.

"Yeah, Brother Shanhe!"

Old Hei clenched his fists tightly, his eyes were frighteningly red, and he roared out in a rough, hoarse voice.

The dozen or so rough men from Kaoshantun inside the house all had bloodshot eyes at that moment.

Two of the younger brothers behind couldn't hold back any longer. They lowered their heads, raised their rough hands, and vigorously wiped away their tears, but the more they wiped, the more tears flowed.

"If we'd known it would end like this, we might as well have gone back to the village and dug in the dirt!"

"They won't even leave us a way to survive here!"

Hearing his brothers' suppressed sobs, Liang Tiejun felt a tightness in his chest, as if his heart was stuffed with a wad of waterlogged cotton.

He sighed, his tired face filled with helplessness.

He wanted to say something on behalf of his superiors, but he spoke dryly: "Monkey, Old Black, don't get too worked up. Director Li... probably has his own difficulties..."

"He has difficulties, but don't we have ours?!" The monkey gritted his teeth, tears streaming down his face and falling onto the floor tiles.

The room fell silent again, with only the heavy breathing of the men remaining.

Zhao Shanhe remained silent.

He took a deep drag on his cigarette, letting the acrid smoke fill his lungs, then threw the cigarette butt, which was almost burning his fingers, on the ground and crushed it out with his toe.

Zhao Shanhe stood up, his gaze sweeping from Monkey and Lao Hei down to the faces of every brother from Kaoshantun in the room.

These brothers, who had followed him through thick and thin and trusted him unconditionally, now had faces filled with unyielding despair and grievance.

Zhao Shanhe's Adam's apple bobbed.

He suddenly took a step forward, put his legs together, straightened his back, and without uttering a word of nonsense, bowed deeply to the group of men from Kaoshantun in the room.

"Brother Shanhe!"

Old Hei and the monkey were startled and hurriedly tried to help, but Zhao Shanhe reached out and pressed down on their shoulders.

Zhao Shanhe maintained his bowing posture, his voice deep yet exceptionally firm.

"It is I, Zhao Shanhe, who have let everyone down."

"I was the one who brought you out of Kaoshantun back then."

"Today, my brothers have suffered so much humiliation, bloodshed, and tears because of me. This is what I, Zhao Shanhe, owe you."