Chapter 14

Song Guanshu gave a slight nod and said softly, “I heard from my colleagues that something happened at the warehouse. I’ve finished the work I had on hand, so I came over to take a look, just in case there’s anything I can help with.”

“With that level of awareness, Brother Song, there’s really nothing more to say. If every employee at your factory had this kind of sense of ownership, this case would’ve been solved long ago.”

Officer Hong was examining the scene when he suddenly noticed that his apprentice was nowhere to be found. He searched everywhere and finally found him outside the warehouse. This kid, who was supposed to be involved in handling the case, was actually chatting idly with someone.

Xie Lang’s father had once served as the director of the Revolutionary Committee, and before the tide receded, he had successfully stepped down with honor and smoothly became a member of the leadership team.

Xie Lang was too unruly, not at all in line with Officer Hong’s expectations for an apprentice. Officer Hong was the captain of the criminal investigation unit, and it was only out of respect for Xie Lang’s father that he agreed to take him on as a disciple.

There was a trace of impatience in Officer Hong’s voice. “Didn’t I say we were supposed to examine the scene? What are you doing over here?”

“I’m questioning the factory workers. This guy here is from the Technical Section. He’s really impressive—one of the first batch of chemical engineering students at Beicheng University after the college entrance exam was reinstated. Funny thing is, I put down the exact same choices for my college entrance exam back then,” Xie Lang scratched the back of his head. “But my scores were way off from Beicheng University. I didn’t get in the first time I took the exam. If any of our colleagues have technical questions they don’t understand, they can always ask him.”

Everyone respected knowledge, and they respected college students too. Upon hearing that he had studied at Beicheng University, Officer Hong did temper his attitude and gave a polite nod. “Nice to meet you.”

Song Guanshu smiled with a hint of harmlessness. “Xie Lang is too kind. I wouldn’t call it technical guidance. I majored in chemical engineering, and after graduation I joined the daily chemical factory to do research in this field. If the public security officer happen to encounter a problem during the course of their work that I can help with, I would be honored to assist you.”

Officer Hong had worked in the field for many years and possessed an exceptionally sharp intuition. Although the young man before him behaved with perfect decorum and seemed appropriately composed, his instincts told him that this person was not as harmless as he appeared. This was someone extremely skilled at putting on a facade.

“Thank you very much, then.” He spoke to Song Guanshu with noticeable politeness, but when he turned to speak to someone else, his tone grew rather impatient. Still, the difference in closeness was plain as day. “Quit yapping and get back to examining the scene.”

This apprentice of his might be a bit slow-witted, but at least he was better than a hypocrite.

He was someone who dealt with matters in a straightforward manner and had no patience for deceitful tricks.

Xie Lang waved at Song Guanshu. “I’ll come find you on the third floor when I’m done.” The Technical Section was located on the third floor of the office building.

All the raw materials had been destroyed. In the workshop, only a small amount of leftover materials from the previous day remained. There wasn’t much, and after working for just over half an hour, the workshop had used it all up.

The Purchasing Section had received instructions from the factory and hurried off to procure raw materials from out of town. However, the procurement process would still take a few days.

As a result, the production line in the workshop came to a halt. The workshop director went to consult the factory leadership on what to do with the workers—whether to give them time off or have them stay in the workshop.

Once the director left, the workshop exploded into chaos. Some people were discussing why the chemical materials had suddenly run out, while others were chatting about their own family matters. Everyone was doing something different.

Bai Guo, a female worker who currently shared the same dorm room with Jiang Ling, thought this was the perfect opportunity to dig for some information. She approached a senior woman standing across from her, a woman known for loving to gossip and who had been at the factory for many years. Surely, she would know all the big and small happenings around the place.

Bai Guo first offered a few flattering words, then cut to the chase. “Sister Chen, do you know about the incident Jiang Ling caused a few years ago in the workers’ dormitory?”

The workshop was filled with people chatting and noisy background chatter. The other woman couldn’t hear clearly, so she raised her voice and asked, “Who did you say?”

“Jiang Ling!”

It had been so long that Sister Chen couldn’t quite recall. The woman referred to as Sister Chen was still trying to remember who Jiang Ling was, when Zhao Hongyun, who was not far from Bai Guo, overheard someone calling Jiang Ling’s name.

She moved closer and asked, “Did I hear that right? Just now, did someone mention the name Jiang Ling?”

Bai Guo and Zhao Hongyun had both joined the Daily Chemical Factory in the same batch. However, Bai Guo had graduated from a technical school and was a child of a factory worker, so after entering the factory, she became a permanent employee. Zhao Hongyun, on the other hand, had only graduated from junior high and was a contract worker.

When Zhao Hongyun interacted with outsiders, she behaved completely differently from how she was at home. Outsiders generally had a good impression of her.

Bai Guo asked, “You know Jiang Ling?”

Jiang Ling wasn’t exactly a common name. There was probably only one Jiang Ling in the entire Daily Chemical Factory—so how could anyone not know her?

Zhao Hongyun nodded. “Of course I know her. She’s my husband’s third sister.”

Zhao Hongyun had been married for less than a week, yet her colleagues were already well-acquainted with her in-laws and her three sisters-in-law.

There were the in-laws who favored the younger son, the stingy eldest sister-in-law, the troublemaking second sister-in-law, and the third sister-in-law who stirred up conflict at home.

At work, everyone was busy with their hands—and with their mouths. Some people preferred not to air their family’s dirty laundry, while others were more than willing to share their personal stories with coworkers.

Zhao Hongyun belonged to the latter group.

Someone nearby asked, “Which sister-in-law are you talking about?”

Zhao Hongyun replied, “The one who’s unfilial to her parents and loves to drive a wedge between me and my husband—the third sister-in-law.”

In Zhao Hongyun’s descriptions, the eldest sister Jiang Lian was stingy, and the second sister Jiang He liked to show off—those were just minor flaws.

But being unfilial to her parents-in-law and deliberately stirring up trouble between her younger brother and his wife—that pointed to a problem with her character.

At that moment, the surrounding coworkers also gathered around. One who had heard the whole exchange asked, “Is Jiang Ling a worker at our factory? Her name sounds really familiar.”

Zhao Hongyun quickly nodded. “She’s in the Accounting Section.”

When they heard “Accounting Section,” everyone remembered who it was. “You mean that very pretty girl in the Accounting Section?”

Zhao Hongyun answered reluctantly, “That’s right, that’s her. She may be good-looking, but she’s really difficult to get along with.”

“Yes, yes, I remember now. She got into a shouting match with her roommate in the dorm, and the dorm manager had to step in and settle things. That was her, wasn’t it?”

Zhao Hongyun didn’t know about that incident. She hadn’t been at the factory for long, and Jiang Liwen hadn’t had the chance to tell her, so naturally, she knew nothing about it.

Now Bai Guo understood what Liu Xiaojie meant when she said she should “go ask around more.” This was truly frightening—she actually got into a shouting match with her roommate?

What kind of person was that? Unfilial to her parents, meddling in her brother’s marriage, and unable to get along with her roommate too.

If someone couldn’t get along with just their roommate, maybe both sides shared some of the blame. But if they couldn’t get along with their own parents and their own brother as well, then it was a hundred percent their own problem.

Zhao Hongyun didn’t hold back at all when it came to smearing Jiang Ling’s name. Even if there wasn’t a topic at hand, she could deliberately steer the conversation toward her “outrageous third sister-in-law.” Let alone now, when everyone was already talking about Jiang Ling.

Zhao Hongyun said, “Just a few days ago, she got kicked out of the house by my father-in-law.”

Everyone was shocked. To be kicked out of the house by her own father—just how outrageous must her actions have been?

Bai Guo thought to herself, no wonder Liu Xiaojie had said that Jiang Ling used to look down on the staff dormitory, yet ended up applying for one. So it was because she had been kicked out of her home.

Zhao Hongyun remembered that Jiang Ling had already registered her marriage, and that there was no longer any chance between her and the director’s son. There was no need to keep anything secret for her anymore.

With a mysterious expression, she asked the others, “Do you know why she was kicked out of the house by my father-in-law?”

The other workers urged her to get to the point and stop keeping them in suspense.

“She secretly registered her marriage with someone and didn’t tell my in-laws. Only after getting the marriage certificate did she bring the man home.”

Zhao Hongyun’s coworkers were all stunned. They had lived more than half their lives and never heard of anyone’s child secretly getting married.

Zhao Hongyun asked Bai Guo, “Why are you asking about Jiang Ling? Did she bully you or something?”

Since nothing had happened, Bai Guo couldn’t make things up. She answered truthfully, “Jiang Ling is going to move into our dorm soon. I was just curious about her character and wanted to ask around in advance.”

So Jiang Ling had been away from home for days, and yet the Jiang family still thought she was living with Song Guanshu? So that wasn’t the case?

She would rather move into a dormitory than live with Song Guanshu. Most likely, their relationship wasn’t good.

Having come to that conclusion, Zhao Hongyun felt quite pleased. So what if Jiang Ling was pretty? So what if she had plenty of powerful admirers? In the end, she still married a poor guy with no parents.

A woman whose marriage life wasn’t happy—she might as well not be alive.

Someone like that, just newly married and already living separately from her husband, probably wouldn’t have her marriage last very long either.

Zhao Hongyun was weighing in her mind whether she should mention this matter to her in-laws.

Having Jiang Ling back at the Jiang house meant someone constantly getting in her way, which was no good for her. But if Jiang Ling returned to being single, then Zhao Hongyun could start introducing her to new prospects. There were still quite a few widowed factory leaders around. If Jiang Ling could marry one of them and become a leader’s wife, that would be perfect.

Zhao Hongyun believed that she was helping Jiang Ling, not using her marriage to seek personal gain.

Jiang Ling was muddled when it came to marriage. If she didn’t step in and act fast, Jiang Ling would probably end up marrying another poor man in her second marriage.

Although she intended to find someone new for Jiang Ling, she couldn’t be too eager or obvious about it.

She would wait until Jiang Ling had trouble getting along with her dormmates in the staff dormitory and had no choice but to return home in embarrassment. That would be the moment when Jiang Ling would come begging her for help.