Chapter 3
Originally, it was thought that Li Muxue and Xu Chen would spend their carefree childhood peacefully, and that the Li and Xu families would continue to live in harmony. However, a sudden change completely shattered this peaceful life.
In the late autumn of 1987, the red-brick residential buildings of Huaxing Machinery Factory were shrouded in a gray morning mist. Qiao Kexin had just put the porridge on the table when she heard a commotion downstairs. She peered out the window and saw a group of people pointing and gesturing in front of the bulletin board.
"Look! Li Junsheng embezzled 30,000 yuan in subsidies and has been dismissed!" came an exclamation from downstairs. Wang Lili's heart skipped a beat, and she grabbed her husband Xu Zhenguo and ran downstairs. In front of the bulletin board, the words "Decision on the Handling of Comrade Li Junsheng's Serious Violations of Discipline" were so large they hurt the eyes.
In the crowd, Qiao Kexin collapsed to the ground, crying her heart out. When her husband, Li Junsheng, the director of Workshop Three, was taken away by security, he exchanged a glance with Xu Zhenguo. In that look, there was regret, resentment, and above all, relief.
A month later, in early winter, Wang Lili saw Qiao Kexin returning from the market with a shopping basket. The basket contained only vegetables and tofu; the usual ribbonfish and pork were nowhere to be seen. The two exchanged a glance before quickly looking away. A cold wind swept across the red brick walls of the apartment building, intensifying the early winter chill and deepening the scars left by time.
Life went on, and the various cacophonies of Huaxing Machinery Factory continued to blare out on schedule. But every night, Qiao Kexin would think of Xu Zhenguo's report to the factory leaders, of her husband Li Junsheng's ten-year prison sentence, and of the shattered relationship between the two families. Some cracks, like water stains on a wall, leave a lasting mark even after they dry.
A thorough investigation revealed that Li Junsheng hadn't embezzled public funds, but rather misappropriated them—a desperate act born of desperation. The reason was simple: as a dutiful son, he couldn't bear to watch his elderly father, over seventy years old, abandon treatment and die at home because of medical expenses. He even wrote an IOU, clearly stating in black and white that he would repay the subsidy in full to the factory once his father recovered! Unfortunately, in the 1980s, with particularly harsh penalties for economic crimes, the IOU had very little legal validity; even if it was misappropriation, a ten-year prison sentence was the minimum.
Xu Zhenguo, Li Junsheng's former closest coworker, disregarded their long-standing friendship and reported the matter to the factory for a simple reason: his wife, Wang Lili, the factory's accountant, had suddenly become restless and unable to eat or sleep for two months. She discovered that a subsidy payment had been clearly disbursed to the largest workshop (Workshop 3) with the most workers, but her husband, who also worked in Workshop 3, insisted that the subsidy hadn't been distributed to the workers. The usually cautious Wang Lili became terrified, even anxiously asking her husband, "Zhenguo, what if that money is really lost? Will the factory find out about me? Do you think they can fire me?"
Xu Zhenguo slapped his forehead: "I remember now! Director Li's father-in-law recently fell ill and was on the verge of giving up treatment. But unexpectedly, he's suddenly recovered. Do you think it could be..."
(To be continued)
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