Siheyuan: I just came across and wanted to chase me away

The leaders exchanged glances, none of them speaking. It was clear this matter was beyond their jurisdiction; Yi Zhonghai had brought it up to their superiors, even affecting the fairness of the senior engineer evaluation process—this wasn't something that could be smoothed over with a few kind words.

Seeing that they remained silent, Deputy Factory Director Li felt even more uncertain. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead, and he could only pray silently in his heart—that old bastard Yi Zhonghai mustn't say too much. Once this matter is over, he'll push all the responsibility onto him, saying that he was jealous of Gu Nan's good skills and high position, and deliberately spread rumors to cause trouble and undermine the unity of the factory!

In the office, the superior sat in his chair, looking at Yi Zhonghai who was standing awkwardly in front of him, unsure of what to do with his hands, and asked first, "I wonder what position this gentleman holds in the steel rolling mill? How many years has he worked here?"

Looking at the leader in front of him, Yi Zhonghai thought to himself—this must be someone hired by Deputy Factory Director Li, deliberately putting on this show so that he could expose all of Gu Nan's "dirt," thus bringing him down legitimately and allowing him to be promoted to an eighth-grade fitter. He immediately straightened his back, feigning a wronged and angry expression, his voice trembling as if he had suffered a great injustice: "I used to be an eighth-grade fitter in the technical department of our steel rolling mill, a key technical member of the factory! But ever since Gu Nan became deputy factory director, he has targeted me at every turn, disliking me. Within a few months, he found a pretext to demote me to a fifth-grade fitter, and he's constantly making things difficult for me, assigning me only hard and dirty work. This is clearly an abuse of power to suppress veteran workers!"

He paused, wiped away non-existent tears, and then went on to embellish the story of Gu Nan's "abuse of power" and "using connections" to pass the senior engineer exam after becoming deputy factory director. He added details such as "someone helped him during the assessment" and "he copied the theory test," pushing all the blame onto Gu Nan and insisting that he used his position to bully them, the old workers who had worked there their whole lives.

After listening, the superior remained expressionless, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. He calmly said, "This matter is actually easy to handle; there's no need for a fuss. Master Yi, we'll contact the Municipal Technical Assessment Committee immediately and have them send an expert team to conduct a surprise assessment of you and Gu Nan. They'll test everything from theoretical knowledge to practical skills, and the entire process will be open to the public, with all the factory's veteran workers as witnesses. The results will clearly show who has the real skills and who is lying."

The method was simple and direct, but Yi Zhonghai's heart skipped a beat—something wasn't right! Logically, since they were invited by Deputy Factory Director Li to help, shouldn't they be directly helping him deal with Gu Nan? Why the surprise assessment? He immediately started to have doubts, and sweat broke out on the back of his neck—his skills had long since deteriorated over the years, how could he withstand a real test? But seeing the serious expression on his leader's face, he didn't dare to ask any more questions, and could only bite the bullet and reply, "Okay...okay, assessment it is, what am I afraid of! I don't believe that Gu Nan really has that much ability!" In his heart, however, he was already panicking, like a rabbit running around in his hand.

The municipal leader, holding an enamel mug emblazoned with "Serve the People," lightly tapped the rim with his fingertips, causing tiny ripples in the tea inside. He glanced at Yi Zhonghai's barely suppressed eagerness, as if he were carrying some incredible evidence to present, and a faint smile played on his lips, though it didn't reach his eyes: "Alright, the assessment will begin immediately. We'll let the results speak for themselves. Let's put them to the test and see who has real ability and who's just a charlatan."

Yi Zhonghai wanted to add a few more points about Gu Nan's shortcomings, such as his youthful arrogance and lack of respect for veteran workers, and his overly autocratic management of the workshop. But before he could finish speaking, his words were cut off by the leader's raised hand.

"That's enough." The leader put down his enamel mug, the bottom of which made a soft "clang" as it hit the table, a sound that was particularly clear in the quiet office. "Go and call Gu Nan over. I want to see if this young Comrade Gu, who has become the deputy factory director, really has the ability to shoulder this responsibility."

Yi Zhonghai was seething with anger. "Hmph," he thought, "when the leaders personally test his skills later, I guarantee Gu Nan will be embarrassed! At that point, forget about being a senior engineer; he might not even be able to keep his position as deputy factory director." He turned and walked out, his steps lighter, as if he were walking on cotton. Just as he reached the door, he bumped into Gu Nan coming this way, holding a neatly printed stack of assessment details, the edges of the pages trimmed to a perfect degree.

Yi Zhonghai was angry, but his face was as stiff as an iron plate, and his tone was as hard as if he had been pulled out of an ice cellar: "Deputy Factory Director Gu, the leader wants you to come in."

Gu Nan nodded, pushed open the door and entered, his posture as upright as a pine tree, with a calm smile on his face, as if he had long expected this "test".

As soon as the door closed, Deputy Factory Director Li grabbed Yi Zhonghai's arm like a chick and dragged him to the corner of the corridor. His face was ashen, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

Yi Zhonghai was pulled so hard he almost bumped into the wall. Once he regained his balance, he became anxious and raised his voice: "Deputy Factory Director Li, this isn't right! Didn't we agree to deal with Gu Nan? Why are we being given a test instead, and why are they asking me so many questions about Gu Nan? What's going on? Has the plan changed?"

Deputy Factory Director Li glared at him, his eyes practically spitting fire, as if he wanted to burn a hole through him: "Are you stupid?!" He lowered his voice, gritting his teeth, spittle flying onto Yi Zhonghai's face, "How many winks did I give you in the room just now? My eyebrows were practically pointing to the sky, were you blind? These are the city's inspection team, here to check factory discipline, not my own people! You still dare to rush in, do you want to die even faster?"

Yi Zhonghai was struck dumb, frozen in place, his eyes wide like saucers, his mouth agape, unable to utter a word, as if a wad of cotton was stuck in his throat. After a long while, he finally asked in a trembling voice, "What...what did you say? These leaders weren't invited by you? Then...what should we do? I just...I just said a lot of bad things about Gu Nan, saying that his senior engineer position was obtained through dishonest means, that he got it through back channels during the assessment..."

"What did you say?!" Deputy Factory Director Li suddenly grabbed his arm with such force that he almost crushed his bones, causing Yi Zhonghai to grimace in pain.