UGB Chapter 106 Xu Damao frames someone, but gets caught red-handed.
Chapter 106 Xu Damao frames someone, but gets caught red-handed.
Less than two days after the Yan Bugui account book scandal subsided, the morning mist over the Hongxing courtyard was still lingering when it was shattered by a series of hurried footsteps. Xu Damao, dressed in a faded blue work uniform with the cuffs casually rolled up, clutched a crumpled piece of paper in his hand as if it were a lifeline. He rushed into the central courtyard, shouting as he did so, kicking up pebbles that landed on the pickled vegetable jars drying in the Jia family's yard.
"Come and see! Come and judge for yourselves! Lin Chen is making dirty money by cheating the public, secretly selling scrap steel from the workshop to the scrap yard. This is speculation and profiteering! He's undermining socialism!" He stood on the millstone in the courtyard, tiptoeing to hold the paper high, spittle flying everywhere with his shouts, startling a flock of sparrows under the eaves into flight.
Qin Huairu, who had just carried the iron pot out to pour water, suddenly trembled, spilling most of the half-pot of rice-washing water onto her trousers. She frowned and glanced at the millstone, noticing that what Xu Damao was holding looked like an "agreement." Her heart skipped a beat—just a few days ago, Lin Chen had helped her get the wholesale price for fabric and advised her to do business honestly. How could he do something like this? But she didn't dare to speak rashly. She simply put the iron pot on the stove and quietly shrank back into the crowd.
Hearing the commotion, Yan Bugui from the front yard rushed out, clutching his newly completed vegetable expense ledger, his face still smudged with ink. He'd just been humiliated in the yard for spying and bookkeeping, and was worried about getting revenge. Seeing Xu Damao pointing the finger at Lin Chen, his eyes lit up instantly. He leaned closer and said sarcastically, "Master Xu, you can't just say things like that! Master Lin is a key technical worker in the workshop, helping the factory with innovations. How could he do something like this? What kind of receipt do you have? Show it to everyone!"
Xu Damao, who was just worried about having no one to talk to, immediately shoved the "agreement" into Yan Bugui's hand and slapped his thigh, shouting, "Look! This is a transaction record I secretly copied from Old Wang at the scrap yard. It even has Lin Chen's signature on it! Yesterday, I went to the suburbs to pick up a movie projector and saw him and Old Wang acting suspiciously at the back door of the scrap yard. He was carrying a heavy cloth bag, which must have been filled with the proceeds from selling scrap metal!"
The neighbors who had gathered around immediately erupted in a commotion. Liu Haizhong, in the backyard, with a pipe dangling from his lips, squatted on the doorstep, squinting at the "agreement," oblivious to the sparks from his pipe burning his fingers. He had just developed a much better impression of Lin Chen because Lin Chen had helped Liu Guangtian secure an apprenticeship, but now he frowned: "If there really is a signature, this is a serious matter. Speculation is a serious crime these days; it could land you in jail!"
"That's right!" Xu Damao straightened up even more when he saw someone agreeing with him. "I've known for a long time that something was wrong with him! He's always messing around with those scraps in the workshop, saying he's doing technological innovation, but I think he's just taking the opportunity to steal things from the factory to sell for money! Last time he even helped Old Wang get some recycling paperwork done, I think that was just to make it easier for him to steal and sell them!" He became more and more agitated as he spoke, and simply jumped off the millstone, ready to go to Lin Chen's house and bang on the door.
Just then, Lin Chen's door creaked open. He was wearing a brand-new pair of work clothes, holding a freshly polished precision caliper in his hand. His face showed no sign of panic, but rather a somewhat amused expression: "Master Xu, are you in the yard so early complaining about your grievances? Were you bitten by mosquitoes and couldn't sleep last night while watching the movie, or are you plotting how to splash dirty water on someone again?"
Xu Damao was momentarily speechless, but then he stubbornly rushed forward again: "Lin Chen, don't play dumb! The evidence of you stealing and selling scrap steel from the workshop is right here, everyone saw it! I'll take you to the factory office for a confrontation right now, and let the factory director see the true face of this 'technical backbone'!" As he spoke, he tried to grab Lin Chen's arm.
Lin Chen easily shook off his hand, his gaze sweeping over the "agreement" in Yan Bugui's hand. A cold smile curled at the corner of his lips: "Master Xu, your agreement is quite well-made, but unfortunately, it's full of loopholes. You say this is my transaction record with Lao Wang, then let me ask you, the transaction date written on it is the fifteenth of last month, but that day I was in the workshop with Director Zhou, debugging the new forging molds. I didn't leave the workshop from eight in the morning until ten at night. There are more than twenty coworkers who can testify to that. How could I have made a transaction with Lao Wang?"
Xu Damao's face paled, but he forced himself to remain calm and said, "You...you must have conspired with Lao Wang beforehand! Don't think I don't know, you and Lao Wang are very close!"
"Whether they colluded or not, we'll find out by asking Old Wang, won't we?" Lin Chen clapped his hands. Old Wang from the scrap yard walked in through the gate, carrying a bulging canvas bag, followed by two quality inspectors from the workshop. As soon as Old Wang entered, his face turned red with anger. Pointing at Xu Damao, he cursed, "Xu Damao, you despicable bastard! Lin and I are recycling scrap according to the proper procedures. You secretly copied my ledgers, and then you forged an agreement to frame Lin! What were you up to?!"
When Xu Damao saw Lao Wang, his legs started trembling, but he still forced himself to say, "You...you're in cahoots with Lin Chen, your words don't count!"
"Whether they're in cahoots or not, the evidence will tell." Lin Chen took a ledger from Old Wang, opened it, and handed it to the surrounding neighbors. "This is Old Wang's official recycling register. It has the workshop foreman and quality inspector's signatures. Every scrap recycling transaction is recorded. Transactions that have nothing to do with me don't have my signature on them. But Master Xu, you secretly took three scrap steel pipes from the workshop on the 20th of last month and sold them for half a jin of liquor. Should we have the quality inspector talk to you about that?"
The two quality inspectors nodded immediately. One of them, who was wearing glasses, said, "That's right. When we did our inventory last month, we found that three scrap steel pipes were missing. After checking the inventory records, we found that Mr. Xu took them under the pretext of 'repairing a projector,' but he didn't use them for repairs at all. Instead, he sold them to a small scrap yard on the outskirts of the city, and the money from the sale is still in his paycheck."
Xu Damao's face turned deathly pale instantly, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. He hadn't expected Lin Chen to know about such a thing, and for a moment he was incoherent: "I...I was confused for a moment, but it's true that Lin Chen stole and sold scrap steel, and this agreement has his signature on it!" He stared intently at the "agreement" in Yan Bugui's hand, as if it were his last lifeline.
Lin Chen walked over to Yan Bugui, picked up the "agreement," pointed to the signature, and said, "Everyone, look at this signature. I usually sign my name as 'Lin Chen' in cursive, with the stroke of the character 'Chen' being longer. But in this signature, the character 'Chen' is written as a simplified form of the character 'Chen,' which is clearly a forgery. Moreover, Xu Damao doesn't know that I just registered a new signature style with the factory last month for technical document approval, which is completely different from this forged signature."
He paused, then took a small metal box from his pocket. Inside was a simple handwriting comparison tool—which he had made using a system-fused magnifying glass and a transparent ruler. He placed his technical approval documents underneath, then laid the forged agreement on top. With a simple comparison using the tool, the differences in handwriting were immediately apparent.
"And there's the most crucial point," Lin Chen's gaze sharpened, "Xu Damao wrote in the agreement that I was selling 'scrap steel from the forging workshop,' but I was transferred to the precision forging group three months ago, responsible for precision parts processing, and I don't handle scrap from the forging workshop at all. He didn't even know which workshop I was in, yet he dared to forge the agreement. Isn't that full of loopholes?"
The neighbors suddenly realized what was going on and started pointing at Xu Damao, gossiping. "So it was Xu Damao who stole and sold the scrap steel himself, and then tried to frame Master Lin!" "You can never judge a book by its cover! He looks so slick and handsome, but he's so malicious!" "No wonder he got warned by the factory last time; I think he deserved it!"
Yan Bugui looked at the "agreement" in his hand, and then remembered how Lin Chen had caught him red-handed last time. His face flushed red and then turned pale. He quietly stuffed the agreement back into Xu Damao's hand and took two steps back, afraid of being implicated again. Liu Haizhong stood up and kicked the millstone: "Xu Damao, you bastard! Master Lin helped our Guangtian find a job, and you framed him. I think you deserve a beating!" He was about to step forward to attack.
Xu Damao was so frightened that he stumbled backward, accidentally bumping into a pickled vegetable jar behind him. With a crash, the jar shattered, scattering pickled vegetables all over the ground. Seeing the neighbors gathering around him, he knew he was in deep trouble. Suddenly, his legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground, crying and shouting, "I didn't mean to! Yi Zhonghai made me do this! He said Lin Chen had ruined his retirement plan, and he wanted me to frame Lin Chen and get him fired from the factory so he could reinstate my special projectionist allowance!"
The courtyard fell silent instantly upon hearing this. All eyes were fixed on the tightly closed gate of Yi Zhonghai's house. Yi Zhonghai, who had been frowning yesterday because of his suspension, was now peeking through the crack in the door at the commotion outside. Hearing Xu Damao implicate him, he trembled with anger and nearly smashed the teacup in his hand on the ground.
Lin Chen had long suspected that Yi Zhonghai was behind this, so he wasn't surprised. He simply said coldly, "Master Xu, you can't just say whatever you want. Uncle Yi is a highly respected eighth-level fitter. How could he let you do such a thing? If you can't produce evidence, you're just framing an innocent person."
Xu Damao slapped his thigh anxiously: "I have evidence! Last time when I discussed it with him, he gave me five yuan as activity funds, and I haven't spent it all yet; the money is still in my pocket! Moreover, when I was talking to him, Grandpa Wang in the backyard overheard us; he can testify to that!"
Everyone then looked at Grandpa Wang in the backyard. Grandpa Wang coughed twice and nodded: "That day I did hear Yi Zhonghai and Xu Damao talking about 'bringing down Lin Chen' and 'taking care of him in his old age' in the yard. At the time, I thought I had misheard, but I didn't expect it to be true."
Things had come to this point, and Yi Zhonghai could no longer hide. He abruptly pushed open the courtyard gate, walked out with a livid face, and pointed at Xu Damao, cursing, "You ungrateful wretch! When did I ever ask you to frame Lin Chen? That five yuan was a loan you gave me, saying it was to buy nutritional supplements for your wife. How did it become 'activity funds'? You made a mistake yourself, and now you want to drag me down with you!"
"I didn't lie!" Xu Damao jumped up in a panic. "You clearly said that as long as Lin Chen was kicked out of the factory, you would plead with the factory manager to reinstate my special allowance and even help me solve my wife's job problem! Why are you denying it now?"
The two argued heatedly, each blaming the other and causing chaos in the yard. Lin Chen stood by, calmly observing the scene, knowing this was a perfect opportunity to break up the alliance between Yi Zhonghai and Xu Damao. He said to the two quality inspectors, "Gentlemen, please report back to the factory headquarters truthfully about Xu Damao stealing and selling scrap steel from the workshop, and about him forging an agreement to frame me. As for the dispute between Uncle Yi and Xu Damao, I think the factory headquarters and the neighborhood committee will investigate thoroughly."
Two quality inspectors nodded and stepped forward to take Xu Damao back to the factory. Seeing this, Xu Damao struggled and shouted, "I'm not going! We'll all go together! Yi Zhonghai was involved too!" Yi Zhonghai, his face pale with anger, stepped forward to hit Xu Damao, but was stopped by the neighbors.
Just then, Sha Zhu returned from outside carrying a lunchbox. Seeing the chaotic scene in the yard and hearing the neighbors recount what had happened, he immediately flew into a rage, pointing at Yi Zhonghai and yelling, "You, Yi Zhonghai! I was blind! I used to treat you like my own father, but I never imagined you could be so vicious. You framed Lin Chen so that I would take care of you in your old age! How could you face me? How could you betray the factory's trust in you?"
Looking at Sha Zhu's angry eyes, Yi Zhonghai felt a chill run down his spine, but he still stubbornly insisted, "Sha Zhu, don't listen to Xu Damao's nonsense. I didn't frame Lin Chen. He made it all up himself."
"Whether it's fabricated or not, we'll find out by checking with the factory management!" Sha Zhu said, pulling Yi Zhonghai towards the factory office. "Today I'm going to show the factory manager the true face of this 'model worker'! You withheld apprentice welfare subsidies from the Jia family, and now you're framing key technical personnel. You don't deserve to be an eighth-grade fitter at all!"
Yi Zhonghai was stung by Sha Zhu's words, and his face turned deathly pale. Although he had been discreet in withholding apprentices' benefits, many of the older workers in the factory had heard about it, but no one dared to speak out. If Sha Zhu really made a scene at the factory administration, he would definitely lose his model worker title, and might even lose his job.
Seeing that the time was right, Lin Chen stepped forward and stopped Sha Zhu: "Sha Zhu, let it go. Uncle Yi was probably just confused for a moment. Let's wait for the factory's investigation results. But I believe that justice will prevail, and whoever does wrong will be punished." He knew that Yi Zhonghai was now deserted by everyone, and even without his own intervention, the factory's investigation would make him pay the price.
Although Sha Zhu was still furious, he had no choice but to give up after hearing Lin Chen's words. He just glared fiercely at Yi Zhonghai: "You better pray that the factory finds out you're innocent, or I won't let you off!"
Two quality inspectors led Xu Damao away from the courtyard, and the neighbors gradually dispersed, but everyone's gaze towards Yi Zhonghai was filled with contempt and disdain. Yi Zhonghai stood alone in the courtyard, feeling the strange looks coming from all directions, his heart filled with regret and resentment. He knew his good days were over; the dignity of an eighth-grade fitter and the halo of a model worker had now become a joke.
Lin Chen returned to his room, opened the system panel, and smiled as he saw the 500 new points added to his account. This thwart of Xu Damao's framing not only cleared his name but also ruined Yi Zhonghai's reputation, completely dismantling their alliance—a double win. He used the points to exchange for a bottle of "Mental Energy Recovery Potion," as he had stayed up late last night optimizing the handwriting comparison tool in preparation for today's counterattack, consuming a considerable amount of mental energy.
Just as Lin Chen drank the recovery potion, there was a knock at the door. He opened it to find Qin Huairu standing there, holding a bowl of freshly cooked steamed egg custard. "Master Lin, thank you so much today. Otherwise, who knows what the consequences of Xu Damao's framing would have been. Please eat this steamed egg custard while it's hot." Qin Huairu's voice was full of gratitude. Through their time together, she had become increasingly certain that Lin Chen was a trustworthy person.
Lin Chen took the steamed egg custard and said with a smile, "Sister-in-law Jia, you're too kind. I just did what I was supposed to do. But how's your sewing stall business? If you're having any difficulties, just let me know."
Mentioning the sewing stall, Qin Huairu smiled: "Thanks to you, business is pretty good. Yesterday I bought another batch of fabric, all at the wholesale price you mentioned, which saved me a lot of money compared to before. Jia Dang also comes to help after school, and it's much more reassuring to work together as a mother and daughter."
Lin Chen nodded: "That's good. Earning money with your own hands is better than anything else. By the way, has Jia Geng stopped stealing anything lately?"
Qin Huairu quickly said, "No, no, ever since you talked to him last time, he hasn't stolen anything again. He even helps me fetch water and chop wood. I plan to let him learn a skill from you when he's a little older, so he can make a living with his skills in the future."
"No problem, as long as Jia Geng is willing to learn, I will definitely teach him well." Lin Chen readily agreed. He knew that Qin Huairu genuinely wanted to live a good life now, and helping her would also make the atmosphere in the courtyard more harmonious.
After Qin Huai left, Lin Chen sat at the table, eating steamed egg custard while pondering his next plan. Yi Zhonghai and Xu Damao were temporarily unable to cause any trouble, and Yan Bugui had also toned down his behavior considerably; the struggle within the courtyard had come to an end. Now, he could focus more on technological innovation in the workshop, striving to complete the trial production of the military order as soon as possible, thus accumulating capital for his future entrepreneurial endeavors.
He opened the drawer and took out a completed mold drawing. This was an optimized version of the "high-efficiency forging mold" blueprint provided by the system, using a new alloy material that could greatly improve production efficiency and part precision. If this mold could be successfully trial-produced, it would not only ensure the timely completion of military orders but also further solidify his position in the factory.
Just then, the system suddenly popped up a notification: "The system detected that the host has successfully thwarted Xu Damao's framing and dismantled Yi Zhonghai's alliance, completing the 'Counterattack Against the Retirement Group's Conspiracy' mission. Reward: 1000 points, unlocking the 'Advanced Materials Analysis' function."
Lin Chen was overjoyed. The "Advanced Materials Analysis" function could more accurately analyze the composition and properties of various materials, which would greatly benefit his research and development of new molds. He immediately used the new function to analyze the alloy material of the mold and found that the proportion of one component could be optimized to further improve the wear resistance of the mold.