◎ First update ◎ 

When Chen Yong recognized his son’s voice, his face froze and he quickly looked at Secretary Xiao Fang. 

Secretary Fang had followed him for many years, and he understood what he meant with just one look. He quickly left the canteen and ran to the radio station. 

But the sound from the loudspeaker continued, and Chen Siming’s furious voice was transmitted to all parts of the State Cotton Factory: “I have money now, you know? So what if I’m no longer the director of the purchasing office? It doesn’t matter to me! I have money now—five thousand yuan, a full five thousand yuan!” 

Upon hearing this amount, everyone who was eating in the cafeteria gasped. Chen Yong’s face turned pale and he clenched his fists tightly. The factory leadership team and the Revolutionary Committee opposite him remained silent. 

“I can now be considered half a ten-thousand-yuan household. What can’t I buy in the future? Just by signing a contract for inferior cotton, I can get this much money. What can’t I buy? How much can one earn working in the factory for a month? I wonder who would dare to look down on me now!” Chen Siming vented his anger and looked at Liang Baozhen, who was standing aside with an indifferent expression. He felt angry. This person seemed to have no idea how powerful he was. He actually chose a worker. “ba…” 

“Mm…” Secretary Fang rushed all the way to the radio station, stepped forward, covered his mouth and dragged him out of the radio station. Then he went back inside and looked around for the switch button. 

He didn’t say anything but signaled Liang Baozhen to moved with his eyes. Liang Baozhen was already very satisfied, so she didn’t delay and moved her index finger forward, flicked it lightly, and finally turned off the microphone. 

The faint sound of electricity disappeared quietly as the microphone was turned off. At the same time, the previously silent canteen erupted into whispers.” 

“Is it over?” 

“Goodness, did I hear right? Five thousand yuan?” 

“Did Chen Siming really accept a bribe?” 

“Didn’t they say that there would be an investigation meeting this afternoon? I heard it wasn’t him but a purchasing staff member who was punished. Why is he admitting it on the broadcast now?” 

“What else could it be but a scapegoat!” 

Chen Siming’s broadcast confession was heard by everyone in the State Cotton Factory. The leadership team, who had just finished an investigation meeting, looked at Chen Yong’s face. 

Everyone was silent, they are waiting for Chen Yong to speak. 

Finally, it was the deputy factory manager Wu Bingnian who broke the silence. He expression look normal except for a hint of a smile in the corner of his eyes. “Everyone, let’s eat the dishes before they get cold.” 

Chen Yong swallowed hard, closed his heavy eyelids, and when he reopened his eyes, they were filled with fierce determination. He spoke slowly, “Purchasing Office Director Chen Siming knowingly committed a crime by accepting bribes and damaging the interests of the State Cotton Factory. After the incident, he pushed all the responsibilities onto others and deceived the leadership team that trusted him. This is extremely bad. Let the Revolutionary Committee and the Public Security Bureau handle this matter.” 

In a decisive move, Chen Yong weighed the advantages and disadvantages within minutes and concluded that he had no choice but to sever ties with his own son. 

*** 

The State Cotton Factory has been in turmoil recently. Since the beginning of the new year, it has encountered frequent problems. First, the equipment kept having problems, and then Chen Siming was reported. Originally, the person who was arrested was a purchasing staff member from the Purchasing Office, but in the end, Chen Siming was caught recounting his crimes one by one on the radio. 

The workers have been eating too much melon seeds these days, and the first thing they ask when they meet is, “Have you heard?” 

“Sister Baozhen, have you heard?” Wang Xin came to the factory office to do some work and just took the opportunity to catch up with Liang Baozhen. The factory office must be more informed than the workshop. “Chen Siming was really taken away by the Revolutionary Committee and the Public Security Bureau. They said they would conduct a strict investigation.” 

“This time the factory director has no way to save him.” 

“Sister Baozhen, why was he at the radio station that day?” Wang Xin, like many other workers, was puzzled as to why Chen Siming said these words at the radio station. 

Liang Baozhen had already prepared her speech. “I was preparing a report on this matter that day. Comrade Chen Siming was upset and felt that it was too embarrassing to announce his dismissal to the whole factory, so he had an argument with me. Later, I don’t know what happen, but he started talking to himself like crazy. He looked very agitated. I guess he accidentally turned the microphone switch on in the confusion.” 

“Ah!” Wang Xin was immersed in Chen Siming’s shamelessness for a while and then felt that he deserved it! “Anyway, it’s a good thing in the end. Now I’m just waiting for him to be punished for doing such unscrupulous things! I just don’t know how he will be dealt with.” 

Guo Mingli, Chen Siming’s mother, was also equally uncertain about how her son would be dealt with. 

Upon learning that her second son had been arrested for taking bribes, Guo Mingli slumped on the sofa and rushed over to Chen Yong when she saw him returning home. 

“Chen Yong, you can’t even protect your own son?” Guo Mingli knew that taking bribes was a serious crime, and five thousand yuan was not a small amount. She feared Siming would be in great trouble this time! Thinking that her son, an ambitious young man, would become despised as a criminal by everyone, she felt a pang of pain in her heart! 

The look in her eyes when she looked at her husband was also filled with resentment. 

“How could Siming be arrested? You have to save him!” 

Chen Yong, feeling irritated, tugged at his shirt collar to get some air. He had planned everything to rescue Chen Siming and ensure his safety, but this incompetent fool had ruined everything! 

“Why don’t you ask your son what good deeds he’s done?” Chen Yong’s voice was seething. “Bribery is bad enough, but he didn’t even do it skillfully and got caught! I had arranged everything for him, but this idiot went and blurted everything out on the broadcast! How can I save him now?” 

If he didn’t cut ties now, it would only drag him down! 

Chen Yong believed he was making the right decisions. 

Guo Mingli looked at Chen Yong with a bitter smile. “So what? Are you really going to abandon Siming? He’s your son!” 

“Father! Please save Siming!” Dong Jiayan can’t believe what’s happening at this moment. She couldn’t believe that Chen Siming, who had such a glorious past life, would be taken away by the police in this life. How could she hold her head up in the future? Her good days were over, and she would be looked down upon by the villagers in the future! 

Dong Jiayan, who usually didn’t dare speak to her father-in-law, now pleaded with him alongside her mother-in-law. 

“Siming must have realized his mistakes. Please save him, Father!” Dong Jiayan cried out as she stood in front of Chen Yong while she bended slightly. 

Hearing the commotion from the two women, Chen Yong felt a headache coming on. The noise was unbearable. He pushed Dong Jiayan aside and snapped at Guo Mingli, “This is the result of your indulgence. It’s better he learns a lesson this time!” 

After saying that, he stormed out of the house. 

“Chen Yong, you are so vicious. You don’t even care about your own son?” Guo Mingli’s face was covered with tears, and she looked at the man’s back as he left resolutely. 

“Mother.” The eldest son Chen Sixian watched for a long time and finally couldn’t bear to see his mother so heartbroken. 

“Sixian!” Guo Mingli seemed to have grasped the last straw and tightly held her eldest son’s arm. “Please save your brother. How can Siming go to jail? Sixian, you can’t just stand by and do nothing.” 

Chen Sixian felt his mother’s tight grip on his arm and his heart ached. He nodded. He wondered if his mother would be so desperate and ask for help from others if he and his brother switched places and he was the one taken to the police station today. 

“Okay! Sixian, now neither mother nor your brother can be relied on. I can only rely on you!” 

There was a rare hint of kindness in Guo Mingli’s eyes as she looked at her eldest son. 

Chen Yong left the cadres’ family building of the State Cotton Factory and walked through several alleys to a secluded place. 

As the night deepened, a residential building on the outskirts of the city exuded an air of loneliness. 

This is his other residence. 

Chen Yong climbed up the wooden stairs to the top floor and pushed open the door to find a beautiful woman lounging on the sofa. 

When Chen Yulian heard the door open, she just opened her eyelids to take a look, then went back to playing with the telephone cord in her hand. 

Chen Yong calmed himself and prepared to deal with the revolutionary committee and the police the next day. Chen Siming’s case was serious, but there was still room to negotiate the severity of the punishment, though the process would be much more troublesome. 

Corruption and bribery were now severe crimes, and Chen Siming might end up in prison. For the sake of the Chen family’s reputation and his own future, Chen Siming couldn’t be sentenced to jail. 

After four dinners and stuffing a wad of bribes inside a pack of cigarettes, Chen Yong heard that his eldest son, Chen Sixian, was also busy. 

The father and son have different approach. Chen Sixian seems to have hooked up with the city leaders, which surprised Chen Yong. 

*** 

A week later, the news that Chen Siming was sent to labor reform spread throughout the State Cotton Factory. 

The workers who were eating in the canteen heard the report from the broadcaster Liang Baozhen. 

“Comrade Chen Siming, director of the purchasing office of the State Cotton Factory, accepted bribes and purchased inferior cotton. He was dismissed from his post and handed over to the Revolutionary Committee and the Municipal Public Security Bureau for handling. Considering that he was deceived and had a good attitude in admitting his guilt, he was finally sentenced to two years of labor reform. I hope that all employees will take this as a warning. The State Cotton Factory will resolutely protect the interests of the factory and all employees and will never tolerate such bad behavior.”

Sitting in his office and hearing the broadcast from outside the window, even someone as tough as Chen Yong sighed deeply at his son’s downfall. 

Once things settled, Chen Yong remembered that Chen Siming had confessed on the radio about his crimes. 

He asked Secretary Fang, “Xiao Fang, who was at the radio station that day? Why did Siming say those words, and how did they get broadcast?” 

He had been drinking heavily these past few days, and the revolutionary committee members were no pushovers. They had pressured him, and now his temples throbbed with pain. 

“Director, when I arrived at the radio station that day, only Siming and the broadcaster Liang Baozhen were in the room. According to Liang Baozhen, Siming went to harass her, and he went crazy and talked nonsense, and even touched the radio switch…” 

“Liang Baozhen?” Chen Yong repeated the familiar name, recalling her connection with Chen Siming and his family. He rubbed his temples and felt something was wrong. 

“Come and get her here. I’ll ask her what’s going on.” Chen Yong’s eyes flashed with ruthlessness. “If someone is plotting against Siming on purpose, we will definitely not let them off easily.” 

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