Chapter 79

The scorching sun had already begun to set, but the intense heat of midsummer still showed no signs of abating. The administrative building of the Wuhu Distillery, directly exposed to the afternoon sun, felt like a steamer. Even with the fans on their highest setting, the air they blew out was still warm, offering no relief from the heat.

In the factory manager’s office, everyone felt a chill after listening to Yang Li’s words. Old Zhao had confidently stated that he had mentioned the theft in the technical room to Wang Guixi a few days ago, but Yang Li was equally certain that Wang Guixi had never mentioned it to him.

Either one of them was lying, or something had happened to Wang Guixi. After hearing Yang Li’s account, Yang Hua fell silent for a moment before turning to Deng Xiancheng and said firmly, "Arrange for someone to go to the village and detain Wang Guixi’s brother, Wang Bo. His motives for coming to Wuhu Village are far from pure."

"Factory Manager Yang, based on what Master Zhao and Yang Li have said, there is likely a mysterious person hiding within the Wuhu Distillery. This person is trying to steal the formula for the functional liquor, and he may be directly involved in Wang Guixi’s death. Therefore, I hope the distillery will cooperate with us. Until the murderer is caught, no employee should be given leave. Please hand over all the employees’ files to the criminal investigation team for a thorough investigation," Yang Hua said, under the pressure of solving the case within a deadline, he had to follow every lead.

Deng Xiancheng, upon hearing Yang Hua’s order, immediately stood up, saluted, and with a determined look, walked out of the office to personally lead the team to the village to detain Wang Bo.

Yang Xinhua was very cooperative with the police. After hearing Yang Hua’s request, he nodded and instructed Yang Li to hand over all the employees’ files to the police, and asked the security department to fully cooperate with the investigation.

"Master Zhao, from now on, no one should enter the technical room. I will immediately arrange for technical personnel to collect fingerprints and other useful information. Please cooperate," Yang Hua, with his calm and composed demeanor, efficiently organized the tasks.

Old Zhao nodded quickly after hearing Yang Hua’s words.

Seeing that everything was arranged, Yang Hua said, "Factory Manager Yang, Secretary Jiang, the county has set a deadline for solving the case. Time is tight and the case is complex, so I won’t keep you here. You can continue your conversation."

Yang Hua then left the office, taking Old Zhao and Yang Li with him toward the technical room.

Yang Jie was not idle either. Xiao Liu was continuously replaying some filtered phone recordings for him, including calls from the police, calls from Wuhu Village, and some pager messages.

After listening to the calls and messages, Yang Jie felt somewhat disappointed. The intercepted information did not provide any direct help to the case.

Seeing Yang Xinhua and Jiang Yi chatting, Yang Jie found an excuse to leave the office.

Outside the distillery’s bottling workshop, Yang Xihé had just found a shady spot to cool off. Seeing Yang Jie come out of the administrative building, he hurriedly got up to leave, but Yang Jie called him, and he reluctantly stopped to wait.

"Why do you always run away when you see me? Did you steal more liquor again?" Yang Jie looked at Yang Xihé with a half-smile, his expression calm but his words stern. The serious gaze made Yang Xihé feel uneasy.

"Uncle Jie, don’t blame me, I didn’t steal any more liquor," Yang Xihé quickly defended himself. Seeing that Yang Jie still didn’t believe him, he swore, "I really didn’t, whoever did is a dog."

"Uncle Jie, I know stealing liquor is wrong, but don’t always hold it against me! Can I make up for my mistakes?" Yang Xihé’s attitude was very humble, and this made Yang Jie curious.

After sizing up Yang Xihé, Yang Jie said sternly, "Tell me, how do you plan to make up for your mistakes?"

Hearing this, Yang Xihé’s face lit up with a hint of joy. He leaned closer to Yang Jie, half-covering his mouth and looking around nervously, as if afraid of being seen.

Yang Jie frowned slightly, feeling impatient, but then he heard Yang Xihé say, "I’m reporting Zhang Bo. I’ve seen him loitering around the technical room these past few days, and when I got close to him, he smelled of liquor. He must have been stealing from the technical room."

In the Wuhu Distillery, only the bottling workshop and the technical room had finished liquor. The original liquor in the technical room was mainly used for developing new products, so any loss would not be counted in production. Therefore, if a few dozen pounds of liquor were missing from the technical room, no one would notice.

Yang Jie’s expression changed when he heard this. The situation was serious.

The technical room had been burglarized recently, and based on the circumstances, it was likely an inside job. Yang Xihé, who was unreliable in the village, was now confidently telling him that Zhang Bo had been loitering around the technical room and stealing liquor. This made Yang Jie doubt the reliability of Yang Xihé’s information.

"Xihé, this is a serious matter. If Zhang Bo really stole something, he will be fired. Are you sure you didn’t see wrong?" Yang Jie’s expression was very serious, his tone heavy, and his gaze fixed on Yang Xihé.

"Uncle Jie, I know I have a bad reputation in the village, but what I’m saying is true!" Yang Xihé, seeing that Yang Jie still didn’t believe him, stomped his foot, bit his lip, and hesitated for a moment before admitting, "Actually, I also planned to go to the technical room to get some liquor at night, but when I saw Zhang Bo go in first, I didn’t dare to go in."

Yang Jie was somewhat amused and at a loss for words. It was as if the thief had failed and now became the one catching the thief. However, from Yang Xihé’s micro-expressions, Yang Jie could tell that although he was ashamed, he was not lying about this matter.

"You are a security guard responsible for the factory’s safety. Why didn’t you stop Zhang Bo when you saw him stealing liquor?" Yang Jie asked, looking at Yang Xihé, who was pretending to be innocent.

"I was caught stealing liquor twice, and he didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t want to betray him," Yang Xihé admitted, causing Yang Jie’s face to twitch.

Yang Jie didn’t dwell on Yang Xihé’s theft, as his tendency to take small advantages was well-known in the village. He was the only son of the old village party secretary, who had helped Yang Jie’s family a lot when Yang Xinhua was away in the military. Yang Jie’s grandparents were buried with the help of the old secretary.

Therefore, after Yang Xinhua returned from the military, he remembered the old secretary’s kindness and gave Yang Xihé a job at the distillery. He usually turned a blind eye to his minor misdeeds.

Yang Jie knew this, which was why he didn’t call Yang Li to handle Yang Xihé’s theft.

Despite his lazy and greedy nature, Yang Xihé’s constant presence in the village and the factory made him well-informed about local affairs. However, because he was unreliable, people didn’t take him seriously and often ignored him.

"Was Zhang Bo on duty last night, delivering goods to Fuxin Tungsten Mine?"

"Yes! Zhang Bo and Dai Xiaqiang delivered the goods together, using two vehicles. Zhang Bo went to Fuxin Tungsten Mine, while Yuan Qiuhua delivered to Lansi Village." Yang Xihé, after saying this, added with some confusion, "A few days ago, Zhang Bo’s Jiangnan motorcycle disappeared. I thought it was stolen, but he said he lent it to someone. I haven’t seen it returned yet."

"What? Zhang Bo has a motorcycle? I didn’t know that," Yang Jie, who had been away from the factory for a long time, was genuinely unaware.

"He bought it after the New Year, it cost over 8,000 yuan. He didn’t send the money home, and he even bought a motorcycle. I heard he has a girlfriend in the county, probably to make it easier to visit her," Yang Xihé said, but when he saw Yang Jie turn and walk away quickly after hearing about Zhang Bo’s girlfriend, he was left puzzled.

If he hadn’t impulsively stopped Yang Xihé, Yang Jie wouldn’t have known about Zhang Bo’s situation. After hearing Yang Xihé’s words, he recalled a pager message Xiao Liu had shown him, which read, "Remember to refuel the car, Bo."

By tracking the phone number that sent the pager message, Xiao Liu confirmed it was from Wuhu Village, and the registered address was a small store outside the distillery.

The car, refueling, Zhang Bo’s trip to Fuxin Tungsten Mine yesterday, and his presence in the technical room a few days ago—all these pieces of information seemed to form a thread, a thread related to Wang Guixi’s death. Yang Jie’s confusion was now clear.

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