Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 610, Part Two

The rain was getting heavier and heavier. Although it wasn't the kind of torrential downpour you see in the north, it was still quite heavy. At this point, it was definitely not an option to go without an umbrella.

Xiao Wei and the others walked with umbrellas to the path on the hillside. Fortunately, the path was paved with bluestone in sections, otherwise it would have been impossible to walk.

At Chang'an Factory, one of the five people from the Mechanical and Electrical Department stood guard in the gatehouse while the other four braved the wind and rain to walk toward the factory building.

After entering the factory office building, the group found the restroom on the first floor, went in to take care of their personal hygiene, washed their faces, and since their outer clothes were already wet, they simply took them off and carried them in their hands.

The leader straightened his hair and said, "There's too much rain here in Chongqing; the climate really doesn't attract anyone. Are you ready? Head straight to the factory manager's office. He'll call people over, and once they arrive, arrest them immediately. The interrogation will be in the factory guesthouse. We'll requisition several rooms in a bit. Understand?"

The three of them nodded in agreement.

The leader led the way out of the bathroom, and the four of them went upstairs.

The factory director's office is on the third floor, on the east side, opposite the secretary's office.

The leader pointed to the secretary's office, pushed open the door to the factory director's office, and went inside. Then someone else went over, opened the secretary's office door, and invited the secretary in.

"Hello. I'm Liu Xiangdong from the Second Division of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Machinery and Electronics Department." Liu Xiangdong, his hair still dripping wet, took out his work ID and opened it in front of Director Song.

Factory Director Song glanced at the work badge, stood up, and extended his right hand: "Hello, Comrade Liu, what brings you here? Are you on a mission?"

Liu Xiangdong put away his work ID and said, "Please call Yang Xu from the sales department immediately. Also, arrange for him to stay on one floor of the guesthouse."

Factory Director Song paused for a moment, seemed about to say something but held back, nodded, sat down, picked up the phone and dialed, saying, "Please sit down."

After calling Section Chief Yang and arranging rooms at the guesthouse, Factory Director Song finally took out cigarettes to offer and asked, "May I ask what's going on?"

Liu Xiangdong took the cigarette, lit it himself, and said, "I will inform you afterward. Please keep it a secret for now."

Factory Director Song nodded.

A few minutes later, Section Chief Yang knocked on the door and walked in: "Factory Director, you wanted to see me?" He was just a small section chief under the sales department, and he rarely had the chance to see Factory Director Song, let alone speak to him. Now that the factory director was calling him, he was quite excited.

Factory Director Song nodded, glanced at Section Chief Yang, pointed at Liu Xiangdong, and said, "These comrades are looking for you. Be serious and cooperate fully."

Liu Xiangdong looked at Section Chief Yang and asked, "Yang Xu?"

Section Chief Yang nodded. Liu Xiangdong said, "Please show me your work ID and national ID card."

Section Chief Yang turned to look at Factory Director Song, took out his work ID from his pocket and said, "This is my work ID, but I didn't bring my ID card." Back then, ID cards weren't very useful, you didn't even need them to go to the bank, so nobody carried them around.

Liu Xiangdong took Section Chief Yang's work ID, opened it, and looked at it carefully. He then turned to Factory Director Song and said, "Factory Director Song, is Yang Xu the only person in your sales department?"

Factory Director Song said, "I really can't remember the section chiefs below me. Let me ask." He picked up the phone and called the personnel department, then nodded to confirm, "Yes, it's Yang Xu, the section chief of the third section of the sales department."

Liu Xiangdong nodded and said, "I'll take that person with me first. There will be a report on the case later." He then nodded to the secretary sitting to the side, waved his hand, and two of his men came over to support Section Chief Yang and walk out the door.

Section Chief Yang was completely bewildered. He struggled a few times but couldn't break free, saying, "Who are you? What right do you have to arrest me? Factory Director, Party Secretary, what's going on?"

Factory Director Song said, "Don't struggle, just cooperate."

In the finance department director's office, Director Jing stood at the door, glancing in this direction. He squinted for a moment, watching several people escort Section Chief Yang downstairs before striding towards the factory director's office. He pushed open the door and entered: "Factory director, the Party Secretary is here too. Factory director, was that Yang Xu just now?"

Factory Director Song nodded with a troubled expression. He was quite displeased that they had come to arrest him without any prior notice, especially since he was a deputy minister.

With an "I knew it" expression, the section chief asked, "Did they say what the situation was?" The finance director was the factory manager's confidante, and they were quite close, so he spoke much more casually.

Factory Director Song shook his head, tossed a cigarette to Section Chief Jing, and said, "They came suddenly, their heads soaked. Looks like they came straight from the airport. They didn't say anything, just that they received a notification from behind."

The section chief nodded slowly and said, "I roughly know what's going on."

Factory Director Song looked up at Section Chief Jing: "What's going on?"

The section chief then explained the situation and what had happened when Xiaowei and his group arrived, saying, "That's how it is; this person will be coming down today."

Factory Director Song gasped a few times; his tooth ached. He waved his hand and said, "Call Old Fu over here."

The section chief said, "You can't call him. Factory director, you can't get involved before this matter is reported to us."

The Party Secretary chimed in, "Yes, Xiao Jing is right. Let's pretend this never happened. Everyone should continue with their lives as usual and wait for the official report. If there's a problem, we'll discuss it; if not, I'll go to the ministry and make a scene."

In companies, the Party Secretary is usually a mascot, but he has enough rank to get by with his superiors.

Over there, Section Chief Yang was taken to the Chang'an Factory Guesthouse. At this time, all state-owned factories had such guesthouses, mainly for entertaining people from other units. They were basically built together with the staff dormitory and canteen, and meals were eaten in the staff canteen.

The weather was bad today, it was raining the whole time, and there weren't many people on the road, so bringing Section Chief Yang here didn't cause any impact on the factory.

Enter the room.

After throwing the apprehensive Section Chief Yang into a room, Liu Xiangdong and his men took a shower, changed their clothes, and drank some water before feeling a bit better and beginning the interrogation.

"Yang Xu, do you know what we do?"

"Who are you? Is there some kind of misunderstanding?"

"We are from the Second Discipline Inspection Division of the Ministry of Machinery and Electronics Industry. This is our Director Liu. Yang Xu, your only way out now is to honestly confess your problems. This way, you can still benefit yourself in the final judgment. Continuing to resist will only result in a heavier punishment."

"Boss, I really haven't done anything wrong. I've been working diligently every day, obeying your orders and following instructions. I haven't done anything wrong."

"Yang Xu, let me give you one more piece of advice. Since we've come all the way from Beijing, do you think we don't have evidence? I don't need to emphasize the principle of leniency for those who confess, do I?"

Section Chief Yang fell silent, head bowed, seemingly lost in thought. Liu Xiangdong gave him a wink, then turned and left the room. Although he didn't know why he'd suddenly been given this assignment, judging from Section Chief Yang's reaction, Liu Xiangdong, with his extensive experience in handling cases, knew this trip hadn't been in vain. The only question was just how big this fish really was.

Section Chief Yang had no idea that his sudden silence had revealed his secrets.

After lighting a cigarette, Liu Xiangdong sat on the bed, pondering the ins and outs of the matter. As a subordinate, he had to understand his leader's intentions.

(End of this chapter)