Chapter 131 I love to listen

He smiled.

"She's not that petty. I can talk to her about it."

He paused for a moment.

"Go ahead and get to work. The sooner you catch these pests, the better you'll be doing for the country."

Deputy Director Zhang laughed when he heard the analogy.

"interesting."

Soon, Yu Li's younger brother was brought in.

This coward—or rather, this boy—almost burst into tears as soon as he came in.

Snot still dripped from his nose, and he kept sniffling. His eyes were as red as a rabbit's; he must have been crying for a long time.

"Officer, this really has nothing to do with me!"

He shook his head vigorously, his head bobbing like a rattle drum.

"I don't know, I really don't know! I was just sleeping at home. Is sleeping illegal?"

Seeing his expression, Deputy Director Zhang lost all interest in conducting the interrogation.

I asked him a few questions casually. He stammered, cried for a bit after every few words, and was incoherent. When I asked what he ate yesterday, he said he didn't know. When I asked who Yu Li had been seeing lately, he said he hadn't seen her. When I asked where the pile of money at home came from, he shook his head vigorously, saying he didn't know, he really didn't know.

However, from his incoherent words, it was clear that he genuinely didn't know.

Even the money incident was something he stumbled upon by chance. One night, he got up to use the bathroom and saw his mother squatting by the stove counting money. He was so startled that he thought he was dreaming.

After asking a couple of questions, they had someone take him out.

Then Yu's father was brought in.

He didn't say much from beginning to end.

He glanced at Deputy Director Zhang and then at Li Jianguo before lowering his head. His eyes, however, continued to move, scanning the room and its furnishings from the corners of his eyes.

He looks sly and mischievous.

As the old saying goes, a dog that bites doesn't bark.

Seeing him like this, Deputy Director Zhang, unusually, became serious. He straightened up, rested his hands on the table, and stared at him.

"You didn't know these things?"

Yu's father's eyes darted around quickly.

Finally, he shook his head vigorously.

"It was all my wife's doing. It has nothing to do with me."

The voice was muffled, squeezed out from the chest cavity.

"I don't know. I really don't know."

He distanced himself from the situation incredibly quickly. Like a knife cutting tofu, he cleaned himself up cleanly and efficiently.

"I didn't say it had anything to do with you, why are you so anxious?"

Deputy Director Zhang had the utmost contempt for this kind of person. He gave a cold laugh.

"You suddenly have so much more money at home, don't you feel anything at all?"

Yu's father kept his head down.

His eyes were still moving.

He definitely knows something. But he just won't say it.

"have no idea."

He shook his head.

"How should I know? She's the one holding all the money. As long as there's food, I don't care about anything else."

He spoke so naturally, as if it were the truth.

But Li Jianguo noticed something unusual about him when he lowered his head—his Adam's apple moved slightly as he lowered his chin, and he swallowed.

He whispered to Deputy Director Zhang, "He probably knows something. His eyes looked off just now."

Deputy Director Zhang nodded.

"Don't worry. I can get him to admit to everything he did as a child, even the bedwetting."

He glanced at Li Jianguo and Factory Director Yang.

"The interrogation is quite boring. You don't need to stay with me the whole time."

The two of them were indeed fine, so they went out.

They went straight to Li Jianguo's room.

The room wasn't big. There was a bed, a table, and two chairs. Books and documents were piled on the table, along with several enamel mugs. A thermos, painted green, stood in the corner, several pieces of it chipped off.

A few days ago, Li Jianguo had some free time, so he made some spicy dried meat.

They were hanging outside the window to dry, strung together with wire. The north wind blew them dry quickly. There was still a little bit left on the string, so he took them down, put them on a plate, and served them at the table.

It tastes good. Director Yang tried a piece, and it was so spicy that he kept slurping his lips, but he couldn't resist reaching for a second piece.

The two drank some wine and casually chatted about their upcoming projects.

Starting a project from scratch involves a lot of preparation.

Factory buildings, equipment, materials, personnel—you have to worry about every single one of them.

Director Yang has already arranged the framework. With support from above, it shouldn't be too difficult.

However, Director Yang is not an expert in personnel allocation and details, so he has to listen to Li Jianguo.

Li Jianguo took a piece of paper and wrote names on it with a pencil. He wrote one, drew a line, thought for a while, and then wrote another.

Based on the projects the factory engineers are working on and their respective areas of expertise, the team should be assembled as soon as possible.

The two chatted about the list while eating.

After they had finished talking, Deputy Director Zhang finally came in from outside.

A blast of cold air wafted in as the door was pushed open.

Seeing the two men eating meat and drinking alcohol, Deputy Director Zhang chuckled.

"You guys are living the good life. You have meat and wine."

He took off his hat, and a few snowflakes clung to the brim. They melted as he went inside, leaving a small dark patch.

"Deputy Director Zhang, sit down and have something to eat. You've had a long day, take a rest."

Li Jianguo moved over to make room for him.

Deputy Director Zhang didn't stand on ceremony. He sat down and downed a glass of wine. He tilted his head back and slurped it down with a loud gulp. Afterwards, he exhaled and rubbed his hands together.

"That old bastard is still trying to keep it a secret."

He slammed his wine glass down on the table.

"In the end, I had to ask him. There really was a problem."

After downing a glass of wine, he began to talk about the interrogation.

He placed his hand on the table, tapping his index finger on the surface.

"That old bastard secretly approached those people a few times. He even threatened them and demanded money. And he actually got it."

He shook his head.

"I don't think these spies are very bright."

He wanted to laugh when he talked about this.

"Judging from their work style, they must be from the west. They always pay to pave the way for everything. They certainly have money."

Li Jianguo thought about it.

He held the wine glass in his hand and twirled it around. The wine clung to the glass for a moment before flowing back down.

"Do they have a large sum of US dollars?"

"It should be. Otherwise, they wouldn't have given it to the Yu family so readily."

"When we buy experimental equipment, we have to submit so many reports to the higher-ups. It's such a hassle."

Li Jianguo put down his wine glass and looked at Deputy Director Zhang.

"Since they have money, why don't we—make a quick buck?"

Upon hearing this, Director Yang's eyes lit up.

He's always the one who comes up with the solutions when it comes to buying equipment for the factory. He's been worrying about this a lot. Several strands of his hair have even turned white.

"If only we had our own money..."

He moved forward a little.

"I'll ask a friend abroad. Maybe next time we can skip the procedures and just bring the stuff back."

"Director Li, tell me. How can we get the money?"

Li Jianguo thought about it for a moment.

His fingers tapped lightly on the table. Once, twice, three times.

"Have the Yu family send them a message. Say they obtained a very important document from me and hope for their support, directly asking for money."

"No!"

Factory Director Yang refused without saying a word.

He slammed his hand on the table, making the wine glass jump.

"You're selling out national assets!"

His face turned red. He stared at Li Jianguo.

"You designed this thing, but it belongs to the country! You can't sell something so important for a pittance. Do you know you're making a mistake?"

Factory Director Yang was furious. He was angry at Li Jianguo for being so insensible.

"Who said it was for real?"

Li Jianguo looked at him with amusement.

"I'll give them a half-true, half-false version. The first part, the less technically demanding parts, can be given some truth; they probably already know it anyway. The core part, I'll give them a fake one. If they follow it, they'll be the ones who suffer."

As Li Jianguo spoke, a wicked smile appeared on his lips.

Factory Director Yang was taken aback.

He laughed too.

He shook his head repeatedly.

"Director Li, that's a really underhanded move. They spent a lot of money to buy a fake product. If the higher-ups find out, those guys are going to be in big trouble."

Do you think they can go back?

Li Jianguo uttered these words with a smile.

The three people exchanged a glance.

lol.

The laughter hit the wall and bounced back. A dog outside the window barked twice in response.

"I like hearing that."

Deputy Director Zhang raised his glass.

"With us here, these people won't be able to escape."