I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

The atmosphere in Li Jing'an's office in the steel rolling mill building was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

Li Jing'an sat silently in his office chair, flipping through two reports. Opposite him sat Yi Zhonghai, Xiao Ma, and Xu Damao.

After a long silence, Li Jing'an picked up one of the reports, shook it, and looked up at Yi Zhonghai: "Master Yi, you mean the accident was caused by a chain reaction due to insufficient strength of a component, right?"

"Yes, yes, Director Li." Yi Zhonghai quickly stood up. "Yesterday afternoon, I took my team to disassemble the equipment and inspect it carefully. It was indeed caused by insufficient thickness of a part."

Li Jing'an nodded, waved for him to sit down, and then picked up another report.

"This is Xiao Ma's interrogation record of the suspect, which also mentions that core component." Li Jing'an tapped his fingertips on the table, his tone meaningful. "This is interesting. The report says that the man surnamed Wang said that the component was made to standard specifications, and it's not the same one that was disassembled yesterday. Moreover, he remembers very clearly that he demonstrated it to many people after it was finished that day."

Yi Zhonghai's heart jumped into his throat.

"Is what this report says true?" Li Jing'an turned to ask Xiao Ma.

"Director Li, I asked about this yesterday, and this morning I had a surprise interrogation with Team Leader Xu from the special task force, and the answers were consistent," Xiao Ma replied truthfully.

"Really? In that case, this matter is far from simple." Li Jing'an leaned back in his chair, his fingers interlaced. "It's highly likely that a conspiracy is brewing in our steel mill, using the National Day parade as an opportunity to create chaos and undermine the Party and government's prestige and image at this crucial juncture!"

Yi Zhonghai, who was still feeling uneasy and wondering if he could take this opportunity to explain to Li Jing'an that he had accidentally mixed up the parts, almost collapsed into his chair when he heard Li Jing'an directly characterize the matter as a "conspiracy gang." This was escalating the situation! This was going to be fatal!

Xu Damao's eyes lit up, and he immediately stood up, patting his chest excitedly, saying, "Yes, yes, yes! Director Li, you're absolutely right! There's definitely a group of people plotting something! Leave this to me, and I guarantee I'll get to the bottom of it within three days and won't let any of the bad guys get away!"

As he spoke, he gave Yi Zhonghai a sinister look, cursing inwardly: "Old bastard, you're in my hands now, aren't you? Even if you're not full, I'll stuff some in your pants to make you a damn nuisance!"

Li Jing'an nodded at first, then frowned. He glanced at Yi Zhonghai mentioned in the report, then at Xu Damao, whose face was full of excitement, and his lips twitched: Could it be that Xu Damao is trying to use this as an excuse to settle personal scores?

"Da Mao," Li Jing'an said slowly, "you don't need to worry about that. Have you finished what you were doing?"

"Director Li, don't delay my business! I can handle both things at the same time!" Xu Damao was anxious. He knew that Li Jing'an was referring to the vice minister, but he really didn't want to miss this excellent opportunity to get rid of Yi Zhonghai.

"Don't you know which is more important?" Li Jing'an's tone turned serious. "You can leave now; this is none of your business."

Xu Damao, filled with resentment, slowly walked out, giving Yi Zhonghai a hateful glare as he left. Yi Zhonghai noticed that gaze and smiled bitterly to himself: he was already involved in this whole affair, and now Xu Damao had his eye on him too.

After Xu Damao left, Li Jing'an rubbed the report in his hand and suddenly had an idea.

"Master Yi," he said with a smile, "your character and reputation in the factory are well-known. I'd like to ask you for a favor, is that alright?"

Seeing Yi Zhonghai about to stand up, he quickly waved his hand to stop him and continued, "This matter is of great importance. The relationships among the people in the workshop are complicated, and the political task of the National Day float cannot be stopped. I'd like to establish a special investigation team to investigate this matter. To gain the trust of the factory workers, I'd like you to be the team leader and take the lead. What do you think?"

"Director Li, I'm just a laborer, I can't do these things!" Yi Zhonghai hurriedly declined, inwardly lamenting: Isn't this asking me to investigate myself?

"Don't worry, Master Yi," Li Jing'an said, as if he could read his mind. "I will have Deputy Team Leader Gou from the security team cooperate with you. You will be responsible for finding out whether the parts were replaced, who replaced them, and what their purpose was; as for the interrogation of the suspect, Deputy Team Leader Gou will be in charge."

He paused, then added, "Of course, if you're unwilling, I won't force you. In that case, let Xu Damao take on the extra work and serve as the head of the investigation team."

After saying that, he looked at Yi Zhonghai with hopeful eyes.

Yi Zhonghai initially wanted to decline again, but upon hearing the name "Xu Damao," he froze as if struck by lightning. If Xu Damao were to lead the investigation, what good would it do him? The consequences were unimaginable!

"Well... I'll give it a try." He gritted his teeth and agreed.

Xu Damao, who had just left the office building, was indignant, muttering under his breath, "What a great opportunity! It even involved Yi Zhonghai. If I were to preside over the interrogation, he wouldn't be able to escape! What a pity!"

Just as he was fretting, a burst of laughter interrupted his thoughts.

He turned his head and saw a group of beautiful girls walking over from the side, including Liu Yuanyuan! Xu Damao immediately forced a smile, his eyes darting left and right, wishing he could stick his eyeballs on them.

As he approached, he quickly greeted her, "Yuanyuan, where are you going?"

"Hello, Team Leader Xu!" Liu Yuanyuan replied with a smile, "We're going to the club to prepare for the assessment."

"Hey, I told you just call me 'brother,' why are you calling me 'team leader'?" Xu Damao said, but being called "team leader" in front of so many girls still made him incredibly proud, and his chest involuntarily puffed out. "Yuanyuan, I've already talked to Director Li about your matter. If you need anything at the factory in the future, just come find Brother Damao!"

"Hey, Yuanyuan, who is that? What kind of group leader is he?" After Xu Damao left, several girls surrounded Liu Yuanyuan, chattering and asking questions.

"He's my neighbor in the backyard. I think he's the head of some special task force or a member of the Revolutionary Committee," Liu Yuanyuan quickly explained.

"Really? Well, you've got a powerful backer now! That's not very nice of you, you're still keeping it a secret!" the girls teased.

Wang Manqi glanced at Liu Yuanyuan discreetly, then looked at Xu Damao's departing figure.