Old Li took a few more deep drags on his cigarette and said quietly, "The knitting factory didn't actually go bankrupt because of poor management, but because several people died and the boss lost all his savings, including his funeral money."
"What?" I stared at Old Li with wide eyes when I heard his words. Several people had died. Such a big thing, why had I never heard of it before?
Old Li glanced at me, probably not expecting such a strong reaction. He took another puff of his cigarette and slowly said, "To tell you the truth, I was working as a security guard there when the processing plant opened. The processing plant was owned by a woman named Zhao Lijuan, a fat woman. She ran it with her husband, Fang Lei. He was a gentle-looking man, a few years younger than his wife. He was a live-in son-in-law, and had no status at home or in the factory."
"Although the factory is not very large, it has hired dozens of people, has plenty of orders, and has made a lot of money."
"But then a lot of things happened, which made everyone in the factory panic, and several more people died. That's how the factory went bankrupt."
As Old Li spoke, he went back into the inner room, poured out a glass of water, and drank several large gulps.
I really wanted to know what happened next, but I knew that even if I didn't ask, Old Li would tell me, otherwise he wouldn't have brought it up. What I didn't understand was that Old Li looked very pained when he talked about the old factory.
After drinking some water, Old Li lit another cigarette, took a puff, and continued, "In the end, it's all Zhao Lijuan's fault. That fat woman is a cancer. The factory was doing just fine, but she messed things up and it got out of control."
My curiosity grew, and I couldn't help but ask, "Uncle Li, what exactly did Zhao Lijuan do to cause the factory to go bankrupt?"
"Oh, what a tragedy." Old Li sighed deeply before slowly saying, "At first, Zhao Lijuan worked very hard to run the business, doing everything herself. But later, she started having affairs with the young workers in the factory. Although Zhao Lijuan was not good-looking and was very fat, she was rich. Some of the young and strong men in the factory couldn't resist the temptation of money and started having affairs with Zhao Lijuan."
At first, I was very hesitant and lacked confidence, but thinking about it, it's not surprising. This kind of thing happens everywhere. Wealthy male or female bosses like to try new things, which leads to many families breaking up.
Old Li took another drag of his cigarette and said, "Zhao Lijuan was having affairs with those workers in the factory, and her husband Fang Lei knew about it. But as a son-in-law who married into the family, he didn't dare to make a fuss. I remember one night, Fang Lei couldn't hold back anymore and called Zhao Lijuan a slut. Zhao Lijuan got furious and brought her lover. The two of them teamed up and beat Fang Lei up in the factory. After that, Fang Lei never dared to interfere with Zhao Lijuan's affairs again, and Zhao Lijuan became even more unrestrained. She started having affairs with other workers in the factory as well. Those who couldn't resist the temptation of money basically all slept with Zhao Lijuan. Especially the first guy who was with Zhao Lijuan, I think his name was Zhang Xiaolin. This guy was no pushover either. He wanted to drive Fang Lei away, so he deliberately spread rumors in the factory, saying that Fang Lei was a coward, a three-second man, and couldn't satisfy Boss Zhao at all. He said that Boss Zhao and Fang Lei had been together for so long, and apart from the first half centimeter, the inside was like new."
"Soon, these rumors spread throughout the factory. Zhao Lijuan heard about them, but she did not stop them at all. Instead, she looked at Fang Lei with increasing disgust."
"When the factory workers saw Fang Lei, they started pointing and whispering behind his back, which eventually escalated into open mockery."
"Fang Lei finally couldn't take it anymore. After leaving a letter written in blood, he hanged himself in the factory's tool shed."
"Yes, it's that little hut behind the courier station that's locked with a brass padlock."
I stared at Old Li with wide eyes, my voice hoarse, "You mean Fang Lei committed suicide in that little house?"
"Hmm." Old Li nodded and said, "Fang Lei hanged himself with resentment and unwillingness all over his life. How could the matter end there? After Fang Lei died, the police came and determined it was suicide, and that was how the case was closed."
"After the factory was shut down for a month, it resumed operations. Zhao Lijuan acted as if nothing had happened and continued to have affairs with the factory workers as before. But a few days later, an accident occurred at the factory. Zhang Xiaolin, who had been having an affair with Zhao Lijuan, suddenly died while at work. His death was extremely gruesome. At Zhang Xiaolin's workstation, the overhead fan suddenly fell and hit his head. Zhang Xiaolin fell face-first onto the knitting table. For some reason, his mouth and nose were densely sewn with needle and thread, and his face was covered in blood. It was terrifying."
"Later, the police and doctors came, but they didn't give a clear explanation. They just determined it was a production accident. After Zhao Lijuan paid a large sum of money in compensation, the matter was settled."
"After the factory was shut down for half a month, it resumed operations. Zhao Lijuan seemed to have forgotten what had happened before and was still having affairs with the factory workers. However, her good fortune did not last long. A few days later, another accident occurred at the factory. This time, the accident was more serious, with two people dying in a row. Both were production accidents, and both were men. There were also rumors that both men had affairs with Zhao Lijuan. After paying a large sum of money in compensation, the factory was ordered by higher authorities to rectify the situation and was not allowed to resume operations until the safety hazards were resolved."
"And so, the factory was shut down for half a year. Zhao Lijuan lost most of her savings, and was fined a lot by her customers for failing to complete orders on time. Zhao Lijuan sold her house to raise funds to start over. But things didn't end there. When the factory reopened, most of the workers were women. Few men dared to come. The factory operated for half a month without incident, and the men gradually returned to work. But then another accident happened. A male employee fell to his death inexplicably while going to the toilet, and his head was facing the direction of the small room, in a kneeling posture. Not only that, some workers said they saw Fang Lei when they left work that night. Rumors spread, and the factory was ordered to shut down because of the death. Zhao Lijuan could no longer hold on and announced the factory's closure."
"But the matter did not end there. For some unknown reason, the male workers who had affairs with Zhao Lijuan all ran back to the factory and died mysteriously. Even my son... sigh, I won't go into details."
I saw the look of grief on Old Li's face, and then I remembered that he also had a son. Could it be that he also died in the factory?
However, since Old Li didn't say anything, I didn't feel comfortable asking. Instead, I changed the subject and asked, "So many people died in that factory, why have we never heard about it?"
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