The deaf old woman panicked when she saw this: "Director Wang, I've already said it's all my fault, why did you still arrest Zhuzi and Zhonghai?"
"Whether they've done something wrong or not, we'll only know after interrogation. We won't wrong an innocent person, nor will we let a guilty person go free. If they haven't done anything wrong, we'll release them," Director Wang said with righteous indignation.
"Good," "Great!" "Well done!" Everyone immediately applauded when they heard Director Wang say that.
Director Wang was somewhat helpless at this point. This was indeed his dereliction of duty; ultimately, it was due to the subdistrict office's inadequate implementation. It seemed the subdistrict office would need to conduct a comprehensive survey of the alleyways, as this was probably not an isolated incident. Hopefully, he could make amends!
After Director Wang and his group left, the residents of the courtyard immediately gathered in small groups and began to chatter amongst themselves.
Qin Huairu scolded Xu Damao with a hint of helplessness, "Xu Damao, are you happy now?!"
Hearing Qin Huairu say this, Xu Damao nodded happily: "That's right, Sister Qin, seeing Sha Zhu in trouble makes me happier than if I found money, hahahaha!"
"You," Qin Huairu stomped her foot in anger at Xu Damao.
Seeing that no one was watching, Xu Damao immediately whispered to Qin Huairu, "Sister Qin, Shazhu's gone, but I'm still here. Same place tomorrow! Hahahaha!"
Without waiting for Qin Huairu's reply, Xu Damao headed straight home. Today was so much fun, even more enjoyable than Chinese New Year!
Qin Huairu watched Xu Damao's departing figure, her eyes full of calculation.
Although Sha Zhu and his friends were indispensable clowns in the courtyard, it turned out that the courtyard could function without any of them. Time flew by, and before they knew it, it was another new day.
As usual, Ma Hua finished washing up and eating before heading straight to the steel mill. Before Ma Hua could even brew his tea, he saw Liu Lan rushing into the canteen. Upon seeing Ma Hua, she immediately ran towards him, saying, "Ma Hua, come here, come quickly!"
"What's wrong, Sister Lan?" Ma Hua was speechless, internally screaming, "Let go! Don't let anyone see!"
"Silly boy, come here, I have something to tell you," Liu Lan ignored Ma Hua and dragged him into the private room. After pushing Ma Hua into the room, she glanced outside to make sure no one was there before closing the door.
When Ma Hua saw Liu Lan's actions, he immediately pretended to be scared and tightened his muscles, saying, "Sister Lan, please don't do anything reckless. I'm not a casual person."
"Get lost! What are you thinking!" Liu Lan laughed and scolded Ma Hua when she saw him say that, but she still looked Ma Hua up and down and thought that it wasn't impossible!
"Ahem, Sister Lan, what's wrong?" Ma Hua felt a chill run down his spine under Liu Lan's gaze and hurriedly asked what was wrong. He was a young, unmarried man, after all.
Although I'm just a theoretical master, I also want to find someone like me—someone to grow together from clumsiness to proficiency. I can't afford to lose my integrity here.
"I heard your courtyard house was quite lively yesterday. Tell me about it," Liu Lanbai glared at Ma Hua, and said dismissively.
"Oh, is that all?" Ma Hua scoffed, "I thought it was something else."
When Liu Lan saw that Ma Hua was actually mocking her, she immediately got angry: "You little brat, if you don't tell me, believe me, I'll call all the aunties in our cafeteria to come and see what you're up to."
"No, no, Sister Lan, I was wrong, I'll tell you, okay!" Ma Hua hurriedly explained the whole story.
After listening, Liu Lan looked at Ma Hua with surprise. Ma Hua, feeling a little uneasy under Liu Lan's gaze, subconsciously asked, "What's wrong, Sister Lan? Aren't you handsome today?"
"Pah, you've got a black heart, kid." Liu Lan looked Ma Hua up and down and said jokingly.
"I didn't do it! I'm so wronged!" Ma Hua immediately protested, claiming he was only trying to protect himself.
"Alright, enough gossip. Let me tell you something: be more careful in the future." Liu Lan's playful expression vanished, replaced by a serious look as she looked at Ma Hua.
"What's wrong, Sister Lan? Did you hear something?" Ma Hua looked at Liu Lan in surprise.
"Hey, you're still too young. Do you know why Sha Zhu can run rampant in our cafeteria?" Liu Lan didn't answer Ma Hua, but instead asked him a question.
“Good cooking skills, and with Director Yang looking out for him,” Ma Hua said subconsciously.
"You're still too young. Do you really think the factory doesn't know that Sha Zhu is stealing things from our canteen? Ma Hua, you don't think the leaders can't tell the difference between half a chicken and a whole chicken, do you?" Liu Lan said to Ma Hua with a look of melancholy.
"I understand." Ma Hua nodded, just as he had expected. The leader knew, but what did Liu Lan mean by telling him this now?
"Hey, it's only because we have a good relationship. If it were that idiot Zhu, I wouldn't care. You should know who I am, right?" Liu Lan stared intently at Ma Hua.
Ma Hua nodded: "Yes, I know..."
"You know that's good. How have I treated you, Sister Lan?"
"good."
"Okay, you know that's good," Liu Lan said, relieved to hear Ma Hua say that.
"Alright, go out now. Remember what you said." After saying that, Liu Lan let out a long sigh of relief, as if she had completed a task.
Ma Hua was a bit confused; what did Liu Lan mean by that? It seemed rather inexplicable.
Afterwards, the tedious work in the canteen made Ma Hua put all of that aside, deciding to focus on her work first and deal with the rest later.
When Director Wang of the canteen saw Ma Hua's busy figure, he immediately nodded in satisfaction. Ma Hua is much better than Sha Zhu, who is nothing but acts like a big shot in the canteen every day.
“Ma Hua, come out here for a moment,” Director Wang called out to Ma Hua.
"Oh, you're here," Ma Hua stopped what she was doing and followed Director Wang of the cafeteria outside.
"Ma Hua, Director Yang needs to speak with you," said Director Wang of the canteen, looking at Ma Hua with a complicated expression.
"Um, can't we talk about this later? It's almost lunchtime," Ma Hua said, somewhat surprised. Why did Director Yang want to see him?
"Just go when I tell you to," Director Wang said impatiently. What could he do? Director Yang was, after all, the head of the entire factory.
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