Siheyuan: I will never tolerate gambling and drugs!

It was the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, and it was still pitch black.

As soon as the rooster crowed for the first time in Qinjiacun, Xu Lin was already dressed and started the jeep in the yard.

The engine coughed twice in the cold winter before roaring to life, spewing out a cloud of white mist from the exhaust pipe. Qin's parents and Qin Tieniu's family, all wrapped in cotton-padded coats, stood at the door. Qin's mother, her eyes red, forced two boiled eggs and a jar of pickled radish strips into Qin Huairu's hand.

"Mom, that's enough, there's no more room in the car."

"There's room! The back seat is empty!"

Qin Jingru was also squeezed into the crowd, her hands gripping Qin Huairu's sleeve tightly, her big eyes blinking as she stared at the jeep.

"Cousin, I'll come visit you after the New Year! Don't lie to me!"

Qin Huairu flicked her forehead: "What's the rush? Let's talk about it after the Lantern Festival. Your older brother will take you to the city then."

Xu Lin honked the horn twice from the driver's seat and waved to the window: "Dad, Mom, Second Uncle, let's go back, it's cold."

The jeep turned around and drove out of the village, crunching over the icy dirt road. In the rearview mirror, the Qin family members' figures grew smaller and smaller in the morning mist until they disappeared completely after rounding the row of poplar trees.

Qin Huairu leaned against the passenger seat, wrapped in a military overcoat, and fell asleep in less than ten minutes.

She was pregnant with twins, which made her sleepier than usual. Although the kang (heated brick bed) was warm last night, it wasn't as thick as the cotton mattress in the city, and she tossed and turned without sleeping well. Now, with the car swaying along, she soon drifted off to sleep, her head lolling to one side.

Xu Lin glanced at her, kept his speed below 40 miles per hour, slowed down when he encountered potholes, and didn't honk the horn once the entire time.

Two and a half hours later, the GAZ-69 came to a steady stop at the entrance of Nanluoguxiang.

Xu Lin escorted Qin Huairu back to her house, told her not to move heavy things, and then drove the car to the steel rolling mill.

-

At 8:00 a.m. sharp, Xu Lin pushed open the door to his office.

The room was spotless. The radiators were scorching hot, jasmine tea was brewing in the teacup, and four stacks of documents were neatly arranged on the desk, each labeled with a category: "Pending Signature," "Pending Reading," "Pending Forwarding," and "Construction Department Project."

Chen Xueru stood in front of the filing cabinet, wearing a gray-blue Lenin suit, her hair neatly tied up. She turned around when she heard the door open.

"Director Xu, we've accumulated quite a few documents over the past two weeks. I've sorted them for you according to their urgency. This stack is the most urgent; it's the construction department's material allocation form for the beginning of the year, which requires your and Director Li's signatures."

Xu Lin took off his military overcoat and hung it on the hanger. He sat down, flipped through the stack of "pending signatures," and picked up his pen to begin reviewing each document.

Chen Xueru refilled his tea, then returned to her small table, sat down, and picked up a document to copy.

The room was quiet for about twenty minutes.

After Xu Lin finished signing the last transfer order, he put down his pen and stretched his wrist. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Chen Xueru's state—the pen tip paused on the paper several times, and she would look up at him after writing two words before quickly looking down again.

He opened his lips twice, but no sound came out.

Xu Lin didn't look up and continued flipping through the next stack of documents.

Five more minutes passed.

"Speak your mind."

Chen Xueru paused, as if she had been waiting for these words for a long time. She put down her pen, stood up, and walked to Xu Lin's desk, her voice very low.

"Director Xu, this morning I took the material allocation form to Director Li for his signature..."

"Um."

"His office door was locked. I knocked for a long time, but there was no response."

Xu Lin's hands never stopped flipping through the documents.

Chen Xueru swallowed hard and continued, "Later, I waited... about seven or eight minutes before the door opened. Director Li said he was organizing documents. But..."

She paused for a moment.

"But Secretary Su is also inside."

Xu Lin finally raised his head and glanced at Chen Xueru.

Chen Xueru's expression was subtle—it was hard to tell if it was the excitement of gossip, a deliberate attempt to guide the conversation, or genuine hesitation about whether or not to talk about it. Her fingers unconsciously twisted her sleeve.

Xu Lin closed the documents in his hand and leaned back in his chair.

"Isn't it normal for Factory Director Li and Secretary Su to be working overtime in the office early this morning to handle important pre-holiday business?"

Chen Xueru was stunned for a moment.

"There's a lot going on at the factory, and things have piled up a lot lately, so it's perfectly reasonable for Secretary Su to come early to help Director Li sort things out."

Xu Lin's tone was so calm, as if he were just saying the weather was nice today.

"As a secretary, don't go around speculating about the boss's work arrangements. If word gets out, it won't be good for anyone. Understand?"

Chen Xueru opened her mouth, then finally nodded: "I understand."

Xu Lin pushed the signed documents over.

"Send it to where it should be sent."

"Yes." Chen Xueru quickly left the room with the documents in her arms.

The office fell silent again.

Xu Lin picked up his teacup and took a sip, his gaze falling on the hazy sky outside the window.

Repeating something three times makes it as bland as water. He'd already had the security department investigate Su Wanqing's background, and although they hadn't found anything, he'd reminded Li Huaide more than once. But if a man can't control himself, even a god can't stop him.

Li Huaide eventually followed the same old path.

Greedy and lustful.

Xu Lin put down his teacup, got up, grabbed his coat, and went out to inspect the factory.

He didn't intend to remind him a third time.

......

The steel rolling mill's plant area has nearly doubled in size compared to six months ago.

Xu Lin walked around the main road, first checking the operation of the steelmaking workshop and the chainsaw production line, and then went to the brick-making workshop to check the mold wear.

In the last few days before the Lunar New Year, most workshops had entered a semi-rest state, but the brick-making department was still rushing to complete a batch of orders for the new year, with the machines roaring non-stop.

When Zhou Shouyi and Meng Deshun saw Xu Lin arrive, they quickly came over to report on the production output. Xu Lin listened, nodded, didn't find fault, and patted the two men on the shoulder, reminding them to pay attention to safe production.

After leaving the brick-making workshop, Xu Lin walked to the vicinity of the south gate of the factory area and stopped.

The Red Star Bathing Beach is just outside the South Gate.

Despite the freezing weather in December, the bathhouse was incredibly busy. Dozens of people lined up at the entrance, and steam billowed out of the bathhouse's ventilation openings, filling the entire street with the smell of soap and sulfur.

But Xu Lin frowned.

The flow of people around the bathhouse was indeed about what he had expected. But in addition to the citizens who came to bathe, there were also vendors selling candied hawthorns, roasted sweet potatoes, and even a few peddlers pushing carts selling miscellaneous goods, which occupied half of the road.

Accidents are more likely to happen in crowded places.

What concerned him even more was that the south side of the bathhouse was right next to the warehouse wall of the steel rolling mill. That section of the wall was low, and beyond it was an open-air storage yard for raw steel materials. With people coming and going, if a few dishonest individuals were to sneak in, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Xu Lin immediately sent someone to summon the head of the security department.

Ten minutes later, a lean man in his early forties, wearing an old cotton-padded jacket, jogged over.

Ji Ping, Director of the Security Department

"Director Xu, you wanted to see me?"

Xu Lin pointed in the direction of the bathhouse.

"Are you familiar with the security situation in the South Gate area? The bathhouse has only been open for two days, but the number of transient residents around it has increased several times over. The wall around the warehouse is also low, posing a significant security risk. My suggestion is that the security department allocate a team to set up a fixed post between the South Gate and the warehouse, and also arrange mobile patrols to cover the area from the perimeter of the bathhouse to the warehouse."

After hearing this, Ji Ping's expression became somewhat complicated.

He rubbed his hands together, hesitated for a long time, and then said, "Director Xu, the security at the bathhouse... is not under my jurisdiction."

Xu Lin looked at him.

Ji Ping lowered his head and then said to Xu Lin shyly.

"The security at the bathhouse was specially arranged by Director Li, and Li Yuemin was in charge. Although Li Yuemin held the title of deputy director of the security department, his operations were run independently by the construction department and the bathhouse. He made all the decisions regarding personnel allocation and sentry post arrangements... To be honest, as the director, I couldn't really get involved."

Li Yuemin. Li Huaide's nephew.

Xu Lin didn't speak, his gaze sweeping from the long line at the bathhouse to the warehouse wall, and then back again.

Ji Ping stood to the side, not daring to breathe.

After a silence of about half a minute, Xu Lin looked away and patted Ji Ping on the shoulder.

"I understand. As for the South Gate sentry post, submit a plan as I suggested. I'll coordinate the manpower allocation with Director Li."

"yes!"

Ji Ping felt a great weight lifted off his shoulders.

Xu Lin turned and walked towards the factory office building.

Li Huaide had been planting his own people in the factory for a long time, and Xu Lin was well aware of this, but he didn't say much. However, to put such a crucial security position with a nephew who only obeyed his orders, rendering the actual director a mere figurehead—this was simply too blatant.

Xu Lin stopped at the entrance of the factory office building.

He looked up at the window of Li Huaide's office on the second floor. The curtains were drawn, so he couldn't see what was happening inside.

Xu Lin withdrew his gaze, pushed open the door, and went upstairs.

At the office door, Su Wanqing was carrying a thermos when she came out and met Xu Lin.

She paused for a moment, then gave a polite smile.

"Director Xu is back? You must have had a long journey."

"Um."

Xu Lin nodded, walked straight over, and knocked on Li Huaide's door.

Li Huaide's voice came from inside the door—

"Come in."