Era: A college student came to the courtyard house

"It's fine if you admit it's your sack, but now do you want me to explain it to you or should I make it clear for you?"

Fang Yuan walked up to Niu Dazhuang, patted his flustered face, and asked.

"What sack? I don't know? Don't wrong an innocent person!" Niu Dazhuang said, then closed his eyes and pretended to be dead.

Fang Yuan calmly took out his notebook from his pocket and began to read aloud the contents of his notes.

"On June 9th, 15th, and 22nd, you sold copper parts for fifteen yuan, thirty-five yuan, and twenty yuan respectively at a bicycle shop and a garbage recycling station in Dongcheng District, totaling seventy yuan." After reading this, Fang Yuan slammed the notebook on the table with a "bang" and questioned Niu Dazhuang, "The evidence is conclusive. Now you dare to do it but not admit it?"

When Niu Dazhuang heard Fang Yuan report the date and amount so accurately, his eyes widened in shock, and he leaned against the wall in fear and unease.

Fang Yuan pressed his advantage, tapping the table with his fingers and saying, "Honestly confess everything. We've always been lenient towards those who confess."

Niu Dazhuang said, trembling, "I admit it, I admit that I stole these parts and sold them."

Fang Yuan slammed his hand on the table, interrupting with a loud "bang!": "Who the hell asked you that? You stole something, that's undeniable, the evidence is irrefutable."

Luo Qingfeng then walked up to Niu Dazhuang, raised the handcuffs even higher, and said fiercely, "Aren't you going to confess?"

"I'll tell you everything, I'll cooperate with the organization, but you're asking me questions!" Niu Dazhuang shouted, standing on tiptoe, feeling utterly alone.

Fang Yuan demanded sternly, "Who is behind this? Who is protecting you in the shadows? If you don't tell, you'll have to bear the blame for sabotaging the steel mill's production."

Upon hearing the charge of disrupting production, Niu Dazhuang instantly forgot the pain in his wrist.

Before doing something, he made a point of researching it. If someone like him were caught, the charges could be serious or minor.

At the very least, this could be classified as petty theft due to ignorance of the parts' value. In such cases, a fine, a written apology, and a reduction in wages would suffice to gloss over the matter. Given the current status of workers, they wouldn't be easily dismissed.

To put it more bluntly, it constitutes disrupting production, and the penalties for that are virtually unlimited.

These days, production is king. Anyone who sabotages production is a sinner to the entire factory, and it wouldn't be unjust to label them a spy.

"Disrupt production? No, I didn't. I was just responsible for helping them transport it out. They are the real bloodsuckers. I just secretly took some out and sold it on the side."

Fang Yuan thought to himself: It's good that you sneaked around like this. Without your sneaky actions that stirred up the butterfly effect, this whole operation might never have been discovered.

Before Niu Dazhuang could react, Fang Yuan pressed on, asking, "Who are you talking about? Stop beating around the bush. We'll ask you a question, you answer it."

"Liu Xiangnan, the director of Workshop 3; Jiang Cong, the deputy head of the security department; and their head, Song Qinkuai." Niu Dazhuang was clearly trying to expand the scope of the case and wanted Song Qinkuai and the others to share the burden of punishment, so he didn't care about hiding anything anymore.

Upon hearing this, Fang Yuan thought, "That makes sense."

Otherwise, how could someone like Niu Dazhuang not be discovered by the workshop director, and how could he have repeatedly and openly left the factory gate?

"Who else can say it all in one go?"

After watching Wang Qian finish writing down the names of several people, Fang Yuan, wanting to make the first move even if there were no immediate results, asked another question.

"And another thing, I really don't know. There are three of us workers. Every time we transported the goods out of the factory, we would put them in an abandoned house near Dongzhimen."

Fang Yuan then asked, "How long have you been working on this?"

Niu Dazhuang was now completely uninhibited and said very readily, "It's been almost a year. I was thinking that since things hadn't been exposed, I started to have some ulterior motives. Starting this month, I secretly took some out to sell myself."

"Take a look, are you sure there's no one else here?" Fang Yuan showed the interrogation record to Niu Dazhuang. The people involved included Liu Xiangnan, Song Qinkuai, Jiang Cong, and three workers, Niu Dazhuang.

"Oh right, there was another person. Once, after we put our things in the warehouse, I forgot to take my own things with me. When I went back, I found two people talking inside. But before I could even enter, Section Chief Song blocked me outside, so I didn't get a good look at what they looked like."

"Since you say you didn't see clearly, how can you be sure that person wasn't Liu Xiangnan and Jiang Cong?"

"It's definitely not them. Judging from the figure in the window that day, that person was much taller than the two of them."

"Think carefully, what else did you see or hear?" Fang Yuan pressed.

"I remember now, when I went in, that person said, 'There...there...someone's here.' After he said that, Section Chief Song came out and stopped me outside."

After confirming that there were no other details, Fang Yuan wrote "unknown tall accomplice" on the interrogation record.

Seeing that Niu Dazhuang had given up what he needed to give up, Fang Yuan stopped pressing the matter.

"Sign and put your fingerprint on it. You'll stay here for the time being. If you remember anything else, report to me. That will be considered meritorious service, and your punishment may be reduced."

Then, Luo Qingfeng was instructed to handcuff Niu Dazhuang back to the chair. Even if he were released now, he probably wouldn't dare to leave the house.

Niu Dazhuang shook his wrist, which had been marked with a red welt, and obediently signed and pressed his fingerprint.

Put away the interrogation record.

Fang Yuan had Gu Weijie and Wang Qian take turns keeping an eye on Niu Dazhuang at the door, while he went up to his office on the fourth floor, picked up the internal department leaders' phone book, found Sun Daxing's number, and dialed it.

Sun Daxing answered the phone quickly, and after Fang Yuan finished reporting the situation, his tone showed no surprise: "Have the interrogation records been signed?"

"Niu Dazhuang signed and pressed his fingerprint."

"Alright, proceed according to procedure. Arrest those who should be arrested, and make sure to find all the embezzled funds belonging to Song Qinkuai and his associates."

"clear."

As soon as Fang Yuan finished speaking, he immediately added, "Section Chief, this involves quite a few people, and our section is short-staffed."

Fang Yuan has already assigned tasks to everyone in the office.

Jiang Quan followed Mu Wenbin to keep an eye on Song Qinkuai, while Gu Weijie and Wang Qian would stay in the office and keep an eye on Niu Dazhuang, respectively. At this point, he had no one else available.

Furthermore, Song Qinkuai and the others are all armed, and given that they dared to do such a thing, who can guarantee that there aren't any live firearms in the warehouse?

"Wait a moment," Sun Daxing said, hanging up the phone.

"Old folks, the fish's taken the bait."

Returning to the dining table, Sun Daxing addressed Wang Qingling and Zhao Wu, who were sitting opposite him.