Read Novel Full Chapter 119
Chapter 119 : Thief
There was a thief in the agricultural machinery factory, and the warehouse storing mechanical parts was robbed. The stolen parts were not of great value, but one of the parts happened to be a key component in the latest seed drill developed by the factory.
The workers in the factory had been working overtime to finish the product, and it was about to be delivered, but at this critical moment, it was stolen.
The director of the agricultural machinery factory was furious, and all the people on the night shift in the security department were punished. The leader also ordered the security department to retrieve the parts. For a while, the atmosphere in the entire security department became tense.
On the day of the theft, it was not the second team led by Qi Shaoqiang that was on duty, but two young men from the first team. One of them accidentally dozed off, and the other went to urinate, and during this time, the parts disappeared.
Chief Niu of the Security Department had questioned the person repeatedly over the past two days but had not gotten any results. The door of the warehouse was intact, and the lock was not broken, so how could the parts be missing?
After being scolded, Guard Zhao walked out dejectedly and was stopped by Qi Shaoqiang.
“Guard, who did you meet the night before your shift?”
Zhao Weibing didn’t want to bother with Qi Shaoqiang at first. This guy was parachuted into the security department, and the position of team leader of the second team, which originally belonged to him, was given to Qi Shaoqiang. He was so angry that he openly and secretly quarreled with him. “What does it have to do with you! It’s your turn to watch my fun here!”
“We are all from the security department. If something is lost, we are all responsible.”
Qi Shaoqiang’s calmness made Zhao Weibing calm down. “Chief Niu has asked this question several times. I didn’t see anyone the night before my shift. I was alone at home.
The alley where we live was robbed, and everyone went to catch the thief. I didn’t sleep well all night, and I fell asleep while on duty the next day.”
Qi Shaoqiang secretly took note of this. After work, he went to Siyanjing Hutong where Zhao Weibing lived and walked around it several times, asking the people living nearby.
Everyone said there had been a robbery at night, but no one had seen the thief.
Qi Shaoqiang had asked enough people, and it was getting dark. As he was leaving the alley, he ran into an acquaintance.
“Captain Qi, what are you doing here?”
The person who greeted Qi Shaoqiang was from Team 3. His full name was Wu Yuchi, and his nickname was Bathhouse.
He was older and usually quiet in the team, so few people noticed that he also lived in Siyanjing.
Qi Shaoqiang took a quick look and saw that he was wearing a half-new security uniform and riding a tattered bicycle. He smelled strongly of alcohol and food.
The two exchanged a few casual pleasantries, and Wu Yuchi watched Qi Shaoqiang leave the alley and breathed a sigh of relief.
That night, Wu Yuchi was sleeping soundly when the door to his house was kicked open. Before he could react, he was pressed to the ground.
Wu Yuchi, who was dragged out, resisted fiercely. “What are you doing?”
“You are an outsider who stole public property. Why did you arrest me? I didn’t expect you to be so silent in the bathhouse. You’re ruthless when you act.”
“What the hell are you talking about!” Even though the money was turned out, Wu Yuchi still refused to admit it. “What does it have to do with me if something is lost in the factory?”
Qi Shaoqiang threw the unearthed evidence in front of him, including the spare key to the warehouse and several stacks of big unity notes.
“People at the state-owned restaurant have seen you eating with a divorced female worker from the Second Agricultural Machinery Factory several times. You are courting her, aren’t you?”
“So what? I didn’t cheat on anyone, why do you care?”
“You didn’t steal anything, but in order to please this female worker, you stole parts from the factory and sold them to the Second Agricultural Machinery Factory under her arrangement.
These proceeds, which exceed your salary, and the spare key to the warehouse are evidence.”
“The night before you stole the items, you first tried to invite Zhao Weibing to dinner. When Zhao Weibing refused because he couldn’t leave his pregnant wife, you came up with another plan. You cried ‘Catch the thief’ and made a scene in the alley all night. As expected, Guard Zhao was in bad spirits and fell asleep the next day during his shift. When the other person on duty went to pee, you used the key you had prepared to open the warehouse door and stole all the parts.”
“According to what you said, I did have a plan. What if Zheng Chun hadn’t gone to pee? How would I have succeeded?”
Qi Shaoqiang replied, “Zheng Chun’s biggest shortcoming is his greed. He’s had several fights with colleagues because he stole their food. Everyone in the team knows about his bad habit. You, as an old employee in the factory, should know it too.
But you deliberately left half a can of malted milk in the duty room, how could he resist drinking it secretly?”
In fact, Zheng Chun not only drank it secretly, but he drank several bowls, which made him have to go to the toilet frequently.
After hearing this, Wu Yuchi finally stopped struggling and allowed himself to be taken away by the security personnel.
It was already late at night when he returned home. After washing up, Qi Shaoqiang hugged his sleeping wife and sighed. The matter was finally resolved.
Before the summer vacation, Teacher Ye brought good news: Jiang Li won first place in the art competition. Holding the hot remittance slip, Jiang Li returned home excitedly and saw that Qi Shaoqiang had already prepared a table of delicious dishes.
The couple looked at each other, and Qi Shaoqiang spoke first, taking out the salary he had just received. Jiang Li took the thick envelope and was surprised, saying, “Why is there an extra 500 yuan?”
“I helped catch a thief last time, and the factory gave me this as a bonus.”
After being scolded by Section Chief Niu, Wu Yuchi not only revealed the location where he had hidden the parts, but the factory also recovered the parts and delivered the goods on time.
The factory director was so pleased that he promoted Qi Shaoqiang and gave him a raise. Now, Qi Shaoqiang is the deputy section chief.
Jiang Li also took out the remittance slip and said, “I have one here too.”
The two didn’t have time to eat. They first counted their savings. With the unexpected 1500 yuan, they now had a total of 2500 yuan, which was enough to buy a small shop along the street that Jiang Li had taken a liking to.
But if the shop is to be opened in time for the start of school, it must be renovated as soon as possible. In addition, Teacher Jiang Li introduced a job for her, painting murals for a wealthy family’s yard so Jiang Li couldn’t leave for the time being.
After discussing it, the two decided that Qi Shaoqiang would take a leave to go home to pick up his mother-in-law and the old lady, while Jiang Li would stay in Haicheng.
On the day Qi Shaoqiang arrived home, Chen Xianyun, who had been looking forward to it, found that his daughter-in-law had not come back, and couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had almost packed everything at home. The vegetables, chickens, and ducks that were difficult to carry had been sold, and the grain and furniture were sent to Haicheng with the convoy.
The family house was lent to the cousin’s family, who had always been close to the Qi family. The family cemetery was also entrusted to the cousin’s family for care. Lin Huaihua and Liu Yue also followed the Qi family this time.
Liu Lixin and Qin Xiaoting were carrying two children and couldn’t leave at the moment, so they asked Qi Shaoqiang to help pick them up.
Leaving the place where she had lived for decades, Chen Xianyun couldn’t help but shed tears.