Siheyuan: At the beginning, I can integrate everything!

The security officer pushed open the door to Workshop No. 1, and a cold wind carrying snowflakes rushed in.

"Yi Zhonghai! Factory Director Yang wants you in his office right now!"

The leader of the group had a stern face, a cold and hard voice, and his eyes scanned him up and down as if he were a thief.

The roar of the machines in the workshop instantly subsided, and the workers turned to look at each other, whispering among themselves.

Yi Zhonghai was polishing parts with a file when he heard this, and his hand suddenly trembled.

The file tip made a screeching noise as it scraped across the iron block, and sparks flew onto the back of his hand, burning a red spot.

He didn't even notice the pain.

My heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition crept up my spine like a venomous snake.

"Hey... I'm coming, I'm coming."

Yi Zhonghai suppressed his panic, hastily wiped his hands on his apron, and followed the security guards step by step.

Along the way, he tried several times to get some information out of the other person.

But the two officers sandwiched him like iron towers, their faces so dark they could drip water, and they didn't respond at all.

We arrived at the factory manager's office.

The door wasn't closed properly.

Yi Zhonghai had barely stepped inside when he heard a girl's suppressed sobbing coming from inside.

His heart skipped a beat; the voice was all too familiar.

He Yushui!

Yi Zhonghai forced himself to open the door and called out, "Director Yang."

"Snapped!"

A thick kraft paper folder slammed down hard onto the terrazzo floor at his feet, accompanied by a whoosh of wind.

The pages inside were scattered all over the floor.

Those were the bottoms of dozens of neatly arranged, yellowed postal money order slips, each clearly stamped with a red postmark.

"Yi Zhonghai! Look at the mess you've made!"

Director Yang stood behind his desk, trembling with rage, and roared at Yi Zhonghai.

"Wearing a human skin but doing human things!"

"You're a senior, eighth-grade worker! How dare you embezzle the life-saving money your old coworker sent back to his children!"

Yi Zhonghai felt as if a thunderbolt had exploded in his mind.

He stared intently at the remittance slips, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.

The crooked signature above is indeed his name, Yi Zhonghai!

How is that possible?

He did it so secretly that no one knew what was going on.

The person I knew at the post office was transferred a long time ago. How did these receipts end up being found and sent to the factory manager?!

"An old man..."

He Yushui stood up from the sofa, her eyes swollen like walnuts.

She pointed at Yi Zhonghai, her whole body trembling, her voice filled with unbearable despair and hatred.

"Before my dad went to Baoding, he clearly said that he would send fifteen yuan back every month."

"Over the years, I thought he didn't want us anymore..."

"I was so hungry I had to pick up leftover vegetable scraps. My brother even dropped out of school to work as an apprentice in the cafeteria to support me!"

"You take the money my dad sends you every month, watch me go hungry, and you still come to give me political lectures every day!"

"Is your heart black?!"

He Yushui became increasingly agitated as she spoke, nearly collapsing.

Standing to the side, Sha Zhu looked like a lion that had been completely enraged.

His eyes were bloodshot, veins bulged on his forehead, and he was breathing heavily.

If the head of security hadn't been holding him down, he would have rushed up and torn Yi Zhonghai to pieces long ago.

"Yi Zhonghai! You old beast!"

Sha Zhu roared, his voice so shrill it chilled people to the bone.

"I've treated you like my own father! You've been treating the He family like fools!"

The evidence was irrefutable, and the perpetrators were caught red-handed.

Yi Zhonghai's legs went weak, and he knelt down on the scattered remittance slips with a thud.

That mask of sanctimonious virtue, painstakingly cultivated for decades.

At that moment, it was completely torn to pieces and trampled into the mud.

His face was ashen, and large beads of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.

"Factory manager... I was confused... I made a mistake in a moment..."

He pleaded hoarsely, trying to grasp at the last straw.

"I was worried that Zhuzi was too young and would spend money recklessly... so I'm saving it for them..."

"Bullshit!"

Sha Zhu suddenly broke free from the security chief's hand and kicked Yi Zhonghai in the shoulder.

Yi Zhonghai rolled twice on the ground like a gourd before crashing into the sofa leg.

"Stored it? Where did you store it?!"

"If it weren't for this letter of accusation, you'd probably be keeping it in your coffin!"

Factory Director Yang stared coldly at Yi Zhonghai lying on the ground.

According to factory regulations and the law, embezzling or misappropriating thousands of yuan from others is a crime punishable by death.

but.

Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill is currently at a critical juncture in the nation's "secrecy campaign" for heavy industry.

The precision components for several important military orders cannot be handled without a skilled fitter.

If Yi Zhonghai were sent to prison at this point, the factory's production tasks would be completely disrupted.

If the higher-ups blame him, he, as the factory director, will also suffer the consequences.

Factory Director Yang took a deep breath and suppressed his anger.

"Pillar, rainwater."

He turned to look at the angry brother and sister, his tone softening.

"The factory will definitely give you justice in this matter."

"But the factory is short-staffed right now and can't function without people..."

Factory Director Yang paused for a moment and then proposed a compromise.

"How about this, let's settle this privately?"

"Make Yi Zhonghai return all the money he's embezzled over the years, with interest, in one go, to compensate you!"

"If he dares to shortchange me even a penny, I'll personally hand him over to the police station!"

Although Sha Zhu was a fool, he knew that he couldn't fight city hall.

If Yi Zhonghai is really sent to jail, then the money might be wasted.

Moreover, Yushui is about to graduate from high school, and if a neighbor who has been shot causes a big fuss, it will be bad for Yushui's political background check.

"Okay! Factory manager, I'll do as you say!"

Sha Zhu gritted his teeth and glared fiercely at Yi Zhonghai.

"If he's short even a penny, including interest, I'll chop him up with a knife!"

Upon hearing that he wouldn't go to jail, Yi Zhonghai felt as if he had been granted a pardon and kowtowed repeatedly, rolling and crawling on his hands and knees.

"I'll give it all! I'll give it all! I'll sell everything I own to give it to you!"

However, while the death penalty may be avoided, punishment is inevitable.

Director Yang walked to his desk, picked up a pen, and scribbled a few lines of large characters on a disciplinary document.

He turned around and slammed the document down in front of Yi Zhonghai with a thud, his voice icy cold.

"Yi Zhonghai, you are morally corrupt and have seriously violated factory rules and regulations!"

"The factory committee has decided:"

"You're immediately dismissed from your position as workshop supervisor!"

"From a Grade 8 worker, he was directly demoted to a 'Grade 2 worker with a criminal record'!"

"All allowances and bonuses are suspended. He is placed under observation at the factory and will be subject to the supervision and reform of all factory workers!"

These words were like sharp knives, each one piercing Yi Zhonghai's vital points.

The eighth-grade worker has been downgraded to a second-grade worker!

My salary was cut from ninety-nine yuan to just over thirty yuan!

This is worse than killing him!

But he dared not utter a single word of rebuttal, and could only press his red handprint onto that shameful document with trembling hands.

After half an hour.

The factory office's announcement broadcast resounded throughout the entire Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill.

Yi Zhonghai hunched over, looking like a thief.

Amidst the pointing fingers and curses of all the factory workers and neighbors in the compound, he was escorted back to Workshop No. 1 by the security department.

His former apprentices looked at him with disdain.

He was forever branded with shame.

He could only suffer scorn and misery in this place where he once held sway, a place where life was worse than death.

at this time.

In the east wing of the front yard.

Zhang Huaimin leaned against the warm kang (a heated brick bed), listening to the faint sound of a loudspeaker coming from outside.

The system panel quietly lit up in my mind.

[Ding! Detection indicates that the core villain Yi Zhonghai has been severely punished; host's prestige has increased!]

[Congratulations, host! You have successfully unlocked the advanced technical trait: 'Nano Welding Technology'!]

Looking at the icon that was flashing with a dark blue technological light.

A cold, mocking smile curled at the corners of Zhang Huaimin's lips.