Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

"That damned Liu Haizhong! I'll teach you to curse our Dongxu! You old bastard, your mouth is full of filth, it's all fake! It's all fake!"

The courtyard of the siheyuan instantly erupted into chaos. Jia Zhangshi, like a mad tigress, scratched Liu Haizhong's face repeatedly with her nails, leaving it covered in scratches. Liu Haizhong, who was already round and chubby, couldn't dodge easily, and his cheeks and neck were covered in bloody scratches, making him howl in pain.

He wanted to fight back, but hesitated because the other party had just lost her son and was a woman, so Liu Haizhong didn't make a move and could only awkwardly block with his arm.

"You're insane! Jia Zhangshi, you're really insane! Anyway, I've already delivered the message, go or don't go if you want!" Liu Haizhong shouted as he dodged, his voice full of grievance and anger. Fortunately, his wife, Wu Ma, stepped forward to help in time, and he barely managed to fight Jia Zhangshi to a draw.

The neighbors gathered around, some wanting to break up the fight but afraid of incurring Jia Zhangshi's wrath, so they could only stand there and discuss it amongst themselves. The courtyard was in complete disarray, with dust flying everywhere.

Before long, another worker came back with news. The Jia family hadn't arrived at the factory for half a day, and the factory thought Liu Haizhong had encountered some trouble on the way and was delayed.

Now the Jia family finally believed it. Madam Jia Zhang rushed out the door, crying and wailing, followed closely by Qin Huairu, carrying Xiao Dang, her face ashen and her steps unsteady. In the blink of an eye, the Jia family disappeared from the central courtyard, leaving only Liu Haizhong standing there alone, his face streaked with blood, his hair disheveled. He touched his wounds, wincing in pain, "What the hell did I do to deserve this? I just delivered a message, why did they hit me?"

"I didn't kill Jia Dongxu, I'm innocent!"

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Meanwhile, in the steel rolling mill workshop, the roar of the machines had ceased, leaving only the heart-wrenching cries of the Jia family. Jia Dongxu's body lay on the cold cement floor, covered with a white sheet, stained with blood. The doctors had just finished their examination. Qin Huairu collapsed onto the sheet, trembling with sobs. Her coworkers nearby couldn't help but sigh—what a tragedy…

Yi Zhonghai stood aside, his face so gloomy it could drip water. In the chaos just now, Jia Zhangshi rushed up and slapped him several times without asking any questions, scolding him for not keeping a good eye on his godson.

"Yi Zhonghai! I entrusted Dongxu to you, and this is how you watched him go?" Jia Zhangshi wailed, slapping her thigh. Her voice was shrill and piercing. "He's gone right in front of you all! My son is gone just like that? You owe me my son! You owe me my son!"

Yi Zhonghai was suffering in silence. He had invested in Jia Dongxu for over a decade, hoping to rely on this godson for his old age. But who could have imagined that the man who had been smiling and shouting "Godfather, I've made it!" a moment ago would fall into the still-running machine the next. The sound of the machine's gears meshing still echoed in his ears, leaving him with lingering fear.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Jia Dongxu made an operational error. The factory's rules and regulations clearly state that the machine must be completely shut down and the power must be safely disconnected before a worker can pick up a workpiece to show to the examiner, and then have it handed over to the coworker responsible for handing over the workpiece.

But now the man is dead, the machine is broken, and most strangely, after repeated examinations by the factory doctor, it was clearly stated that Jia Dongxu showed no signs of poisoning, ruling out the possibility of homicide and poisoning.

Suicide? That's even more impossible!

Yi Zhonghai knew that although his godson wasn't the most capable, with his godfather, a former seventh-grade worker and now a fourth-grade worker with the strength of an eighth-grade worker, no one in the factory dared to bully him.

Moreover, Jia Dongxu cherished his life. Qin Huairu was pregnant with their third child, and they already had a son and a daughter. They had two rooms in their house, and he was about to be promoted to a third-level worker. Their lives were about to get better, and they had a bright future—there was no reason for Jia Dongxu to seek his own death.

But in full view of everyone, no one pushed him, and no one saw him slip; he just inexplicably fell forward and plunged headfirst into the machine. It was so bizarre that the workers present looked at each other in bewilderment and began to discuss it amongst themselves.

Police officers from Jiaodaokou Police Station also arrived. Chen Guangliang, along with Lao Mo and Xiao Li, carefully examined the scene. There were no signs of a struggle on the ground, no hidden weapons such as pebbles or nails were found around the machine, and the electrical circuits were intact, with no possibility of leakage.

Technicians from the technical department also came to verify and confirmed that the machine had undergone a rigorous inspection before operation and had no malfunctions.

"Director Chen, this is strange." The technician leaned close to Chen Guangliang and said in a low voice, "The machine is fine, and the deceased didn't suffer any external injury. It's like he threw himself on it."

Chen Guangliang frowned, his face grave. With such a murder occurring in the factory, not only could they not explain it to the Ministry of Metallurgy, but they also couldn't give the victim's family an explanation; the case could never be closed. He glanced at Jia Zhangshi, who was weeping uncontrollably, and Qin Huairu, whose eyes were vacant, and felt a headache coming on.

Qin Huairu sat on a chair in the corner, holding Xiaodang, her eyes glazed over, muttering repeatedly, "Why... how could Dongxu do this..." She was filled with despair; how could her once happy family have suddenly collapsed?

Jia Zhangshi continued her tantrum, sometimes grabbing her coworkers' clothes and crying, sometimes rushing to Li Huaide, Factory Director Yang, and Secretary Nie, demanding compensation from the factory and Yi Zhonghai. "My son can't have died in vain! You have to give me an explanation! Either pay me money, or catch the murderer and pay with your life!"

The factory leaders were also in a state of panic. Factory Director Yang could only patiently persuade her, "Sister-in-law Jia, calm down. The factory will definitely find out the reason and give your family an explanation. The compensation you deserve will not be less." But Jia Zhangshi wouldn't listen at all and continued to cry and make a scene.

This is no longer a matter of saying "please accept my condolences" or "take care of things as they are." It's about whether this counts as a work-related injury, how the person died, who will compensate for the machine, how to report to the higher authorities, and how to close the case.

This person's death was far too bizarre.

Outside the workshop, Sha Zhu, Xu Damao, and several other workers from the courtyard were gathered there, trying to find out what was going on. Xu Damao had just returned from showing a movie, and when he heard that Jia Dongxu was dead, his eyes lit up. He leaned close to Sha Zhu and whispered, "Zhu Zi, do you think Jia Dongxu offended someone? His death is too bizarre."

Sha Zhu looked annoyed and snapped at him, "Stop talking nonsense! Maybe it was just an accidental misoperation." Even so, he felt something was off. How could a perfectly healthy person fall into the machine for no reason?

In the crowd, an older worker lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "I think the Jia family might have attracted some unclean spirits, otherwise, how could such a strange thing happen?"

The room fell silent for a moment after those words were spoken. Chen Guangliang, Li Huaide, and Yi Zhonghai, who were in the conference room, happened to hear them.

"Something unclean?" Yi Zhonghai muttered to himself, his expression changing. He then looked up at the same time as Jia Zhangshi, Qin Huairu, and Chen Guangliang.

"Zhang Dabiao!"