Chapter 26 Rats in the Factory
Chu Xuange and Pei Hening secretly observed the factory from a distance.
"The factory was rebuilt on the original site and expanded, but there are very few employees."
Chu Xuange pointed out the inconsistencies.
Pei Hening saw an elderly woman sweeping the town and went over to her.
"Grandma, how long have you lived here? Do you know anything about this factory?"
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The old lady waved her hand: "You young people should go out and find work. You'll have a better future outside. Don't even think about working in this factory."
Pei Hening took the old lady's broom and helped her sweep: "Grandma, you seem to know a lot about this factory, why don't you tell us about it?"
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Chu Xuange silently cleaned the house with her.
Seeing their curiosity, the old lady told them anyway.
"In the first few years after the factory was built, it hired a lot of employees, giving priority to the townspeople in our small town. The recurve bows manufactured by the factory were famous far and wide, and many foreigners came to visit."
The old lady sighed: "My son heard about the changes in the town and came back to work. But the good times didn't last long. In 1952, a fire broke out in the factory, which destroyed the factory and killed Mr. Hobbes and his family of four."
The old woman wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes: "Mr. Hobbs was preparing to move away from De Saint-Mar the day before the fire. He was worried about the equipment in the factory and insisted on staying one more day. Who would have thought that he would be killed like this! Mr. Hobbs was a good man, and his whole family of four were great people!"
Pei Hening handed the old lady a tissue, patted Chu Xuange on the shoulder, and took out a photo of Mayor George and the handsome man from his pocket: "Grandma, can you help me identify him? Is this Mr. Hobbs?"
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The old lady shakily took out her reading glasses from her pocket, put them on, and carefully looked at the group photo.
"It's him, it's Mr. Hobbes."
Pei Hening asked, "Grandma, I read in the report that Mayor George was the most responsible mayor in the history of De Saint Mar. What happened later that caused the factory to become what it is today?"
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The old lady remained silent for a long time before saying, "After the fire, Mayor George's younger brother, Mr. Andre, who was in charge of factory safety, fell seriously ill with guilt and died at home. Mayor George has been living in the shadow of his brother's death ever since."
——
Chu Xuange took Pei Hening to visit the factory.
They evaded the patrolmen and sneaked into the factory's archives.
"How come I didn't know you could pick locks?"
Pei Hening watched his skillful lock-picking movements with great curiosity.
"One year we went to an amusement park together. You asked me to buy you milk tea, and you secretly sneaked into the Ferris wheel. But the lock on the gondola broke, and you were trapped for two hours. You cried..."
"Stop, stop, I understand."
Chu Xuange's dark eyes lit up with a smile as he found the factory's records.
[20480312]
Mayor George decided to build a factory.
[20480508]
Mayor George wrote to Mr. Hobbs, the master recurve bow maker, inviting him to serve as the factory's technical consultant.
[20480510]
After the factory was completed, Mr. Hobbs came to the factory and took a commemorative photo with Mayor George.
[20490101]
The recurve bows manufactured in the factory are of very good quality, but they have sales problems because other people are unwilling to buy "three-no products" (products without manufacturer's name, address, or production date).
[20490302]
The factory is operating at a loss, and the sales channels have not been resolved. Mayor George said that if the sales channels are not resolved, the factory can only survive for two more months at most.
[20490315]
Mr. Hobbs and Mayor George held a day-long meeting and came up with a solution: to create a representative figure for the town, preferably the champion of the recurve bow competition.
[20490512]
Mayor George's son won the recurve bow competition, a reporter came to interview our town, and news about the factory made the newspaper.
[20490522]
Orders are pouring in.
...
[20490626]
The factory needed to be expanded, and Mayor George invited his brother Andrei to take charge of the factory's finances and security.
...
[20490909]
Overwhelming orders, layoffs.
...
[20521121]
Mayor George and Mr. Hobbs had a fierce argument, and Mr. Hobbs wanted to leave the factory and resign as technical advisor.
[20521128]
During the holiday, Mr. Hobbs scheduled a personal interview for December 1st, as he expected to leave the factory in early December.
[20521201]
Mr. Hobbs and his family moved to the outskirts of the factory for two days, during which time young Hobbs was taken to the hospital with fractures in both of his fingers.
[20521202]
The interview did not come. Mr. Hobbs went to the factory alone to inspect the equipment. That night, a fire broke out. Mr. Andre and 13 security personnel went to check the situation. Mr. Hobbs and his family of four perished in the fire.
Pei Hening: "13 security personnel? Are they the 13 people Gardner said died this month?"
Chu Xuange nodded: "Possibly, check the employee files."
After searching for a long time, the two found the dusty employee files under the table.
Chu Xuange pulled out the personal data of employees who worked in the security department before December 2052, shook off the dust, and put it into the folder containing the factory's history. He would have to take it with him when he left.
"Let's go."
The two left the archives room, intending to take another look at the area that had been deliberately left blank in the construction drawings, passing by the recurve bow finished product storage room.
A loud shout echoed throughout the entire floor: "Who's there!"
Chu Xuange grabbed Pei Hening's hand and pulled her into his arms. His dark eyes were fixed on the stairwell, and even though he deliberately concealed his sharpness, he still faintly revealed a chilling aura: "Baby, don't be afraid!"
The patrolling security guards approached gradually, wielding stun guns.
Pei Hening's heart was pounding. Chu Xuange put his arm around her waist and comforted her, "It's alright."
The security guard thrust his stun baton behind the door, letting out a harsh, cold laugh: "Let me see if there are any rats hiding here!"
"How can there be no one here!"
A security guard, rushing up from another floor, demanded angrily, "Walker, what's wrong with you? Why are you shouting when no one's around?"
Walker looked puzzled. He had indeed heard footsteps. Could he have misheard them?
"Maybe I misheard?"
"Although rats often try to escape and expose us, this building is so far from where the rats are kept, how could they possibly get here?"
Walker scratched his head: "Yeah, never mind, let's go."
As their footsteps faded into the distance, Pei Hening realized just how intimate their actions were—they were hiding inside the closet, he was holding her hips, keeping her firmly in his arms, and she could feel the frequency of his breathing and the speed of his heartbeat.
She kissed him on the spot, saying, "Go check on the rat they're talking about?"