mchenry-crisis.org Chapter 64 Double Kill!
Chapter 64 Double Kill!
After a tirade, no one in the ward dared to offer any more advice, and they all fell silent, especially Zhang Chengfei, who huddled in the corner like a quail, looking pitiful.
Old Tian finally seized a chance to speak, struggling to prop himself up on his arms, trying to get out of bed: "Section Chief, please don't criticize Comrade Zhang Chengfei. I... I can work despite my injury; it won't affect my work."
Old Ma's forehead vein throbbed, and he hurriedly refused: "That won't do. If you're in a cast, people will think that I, Old Ma, don't care about my coworkers and bully my comrades."
Old Tian struggled to sit on the edge of the bed, his feet on the ground, held his breath, and stammered:
"No, no. I'll tell everyone that it's my own fault for not being able to let go, for not being able to let go of my work... and my injured leg and hands can still work, it won't affect anything..."
Zhang Chengfei rushed over and pressed him down on the bed, saying, "Brother Tian, please don't force yourself. If anything happens to you because you got out of bed early, I will never forgive myself for the rest of my life."
Old Tian pushed his hand away: "Chengfei, let go of me. I, I'm fine. I'm really okay."
To show that his fracture was not serious, Lao Tian ignored Zhang Chengfei's advice and got out of bed again. Just as he was about to take a few steps to prove that he was not sick,
Old Tai, who was standing nearby, brought over a cup of hot tea. Somehow, his hand slipped, and the entire cup of boiling water spilled onto Old Tian's right hand.
Old Tian cried out in pain and reflexively tried to jump up, but his injured right foot couldn't support his weight, and he fell to the ground again...
……
Ten minutes later, they were still in the hospital room.
"The patient has suffered a second fracture in his right leg and severe burns to his right hand. His condition is very serious. I'm not saying this to be mean, but how have you been taking care of him? How come you've made his condition worse?" The doctor in the white coat looked at the group with a stern face. "If you don't know how to take care of him, let the family come. Don't make things worse here."
The group of people were so ashamed after being reprimanded that they lowered their heads and remained silent.
Old Tian, his cast reapplied in his hospital bed, was still unwilling to give up: "Doctor, can I...can I go to work tomorrow?"
"What time is it? Still thinking about going to work?" the doctor scolded.
Old Tian tried to explain: "Doctor, you don't know, our department has a very important project right now..."
"Can a project be more important than people?" The doctor looked at Old Ma, who had just been the loudest, "His official position isn't high, but his ability to exploit people is quite impressive..."
Seemingly fearing that he would continue to "exploit" Lao Tian, the doctor scanned Lao Ma from head to toe: "I'll remember you, Section Chief Ma of the Machinery Factory's Technical Department, right? If you dare to forcibly drag my patient to work, we'll see each other at the union!"
After saying that, he strode away.
Old Ma was secretly overjoyed, but his face was dark. He plopped down on Old Tian's hospital bed.
"Old Tian, although I really want you to work, look at your hands and legs in this state... and the doctor just said that, you should just focus on recovering."
Old Tian wanted to say something more, but seeing Old Ma's dark face, Zhang Chengfei's extremely guilty look behind him, and Old Tai's expressionless face, he ultimately swallowed his words.
The group sat in the ward for a while longer, and Old Ma continued to ramble on, criticizing this person and that person.
Zhang Chengfei pretended to be a coward and kept quiet, Xiao Ke, though a chatterbox, was also good at reading people's expressions, and Lao Tai, being one of the murderers, remained silent.
In the end, it was the straightforward Liu who stepped in to smooth things over again, saying that Brother Tian needed to rest, so we should leave first and let him get some sleep.
Old Ma's mouth was dry from cursing, and he had long wanted to run away, so he took the opportunity to leave with the technical department and everyone else.
About half an hour after they left, the ward door was pushed open again, and a dark figure darted in.
"What happened?"
"He fell off the ladder while installing a heater for someone."
The figure paused for a moment: "Are you sure it was an accident, or that you were set up after being discovered?"
Old Tian shook his head: "I saw the scene; there was no sign of it being staged. And that Zhang Chengfei..." A hint of contempt crept into his voice, "He's just a fresh graduate, what could he possibly know?"
"But that Tai Jinyan," Old Tian said through gritted teeth, "that bastard was deliberately retaliating, he intentionally splashed hot water on my hand!"
He was certain that Lao Tai knew he was talking about his background behind his back and was afraid that he would stand out in the trial production, so he deliberately took this opportunity to retaliate against him and prevent him from participating in the trial production of the mini-tiller.
"Comrade Teacher is right. If we're not from the same class, we can't be called comrades. We must always be vigilant!" Old Tian concluded through gritted teeth.
The shadowy figure was momentarily speechless at his words, wanting to question him: "You've already betrayed your mission and become a spy, so why are you still pretending to be a big shot?"
And you dare say that, comrade? If the comrade knew you had betrayed your class background, you'd be the first one shot!
"You couldn't get the blueprints for the mini-tiller, and now you can't participate in the trial production... Peony is very disappointed in you and is asking what your next steps are?" he asked.
Upon hearing the word "peony," Lao Tian's expression shifted. As if to prove he was still useful, he said eagerly, "Zhang Chengfei promised to visit me every day from now on. I'll try to pry some inside information out of him."
The shadowy figure stared intently at him: "I hope you can do it. After more than ten years of infiltration, you've only completed one task—the trenching machine. She and I are already very disappointed in you..."
After saying that, he turned and left.
Old Tian clenched his scalded hand, staring at the now-closed hospital room door: "I won't let you down again!"
……
After parting ways with the others, Zhang Chengfei wandered around the steel rolling mill for a while before finally strolling to the security department, the large office he had visited before.
Since joining the task force last time, he's been considered a semi-official member of the security department. When Old Wu saw him coming over, he patted him on the shoulder with a cheerful smile:
"You actually came up with the idea of breaking Lao Tian's leg so he couldn't work. You're a real genius."
Zhang Chengfei said in a serious tone: "Brother Wu, you are a good comrade. Don't be as rude as our section chief, who uses three mothers in one sentence."
Old Ma knew he was being subtly mocked, and looked up from his documents: "I was just trying to make my acting more convincing, wasn't I?"
"You're really putting on a convincing act. It seems like you're the one getting scolded." Zhang Chengfei plopped down on a stool. "A broken bone takes a hundred days to heal. Old Tian will be unable to work for at least a month, and three months. Isn't that enough time?"
Old Ma waved his hand dismissively: "We can close the net in half a month."
He told Zhang Chengfei that he originally wanted to knock Lao Tian unconscious and lock him up, but the other party, who was keeping an eye on the engineer's task force, insisted that they should not alert the enemy.
"Your method may be clumsy, but it does meet their requirements."
Zhang Chengfei glanced at him: "You have to belittle me while I'm doing you a favor? If you're so capable, why don't you do it yourself!"
He stood up: "I'm leaving, I can't be bothered to argue with you."
"Why are you leaving? Stay! Old Wu bought some hot-cooked meat; let's eat some together later," Old Ma urged.
Zhang Chengfei shook his head: "The pigs used to make high-temperature processed meat are all diseased or dead. I don't eat them. I advise you to eat less of them too."
Old Ma thought he was making a fuss over nothing: "No matter what disease a pig dies of, after being exposed to high temperatures, the bacteria on its body will be completely eliminated."