"Who would co at this hour?"
In the countryside, there aren’t many entertainnt options in the evening. Usually, people go to bed early after dinner.
So families, like hers, that have a TV, don’t like to waste electricity. They at most watch it for a short while and not too late.
Basically, before eight o’clock in the evening, everyone turns off the lights and goes to bed.
This routine placed in modern tis would make people envious.
"Mom, I’m full. You sit, I’ll go see who it is."
Su Xiaoxiao saw Liu Cuilan about to get up and hurried to stand up first.
She jogged to the gate of the courtyard and shouted outside, "Who is it?"
Outside, a familiar male voice quickly responded, "Xiaoxiao, it’s ."
Su Xiaoxiao didn’t expect that it was actually her elder brother Su Wenbing’s voice.
But... isn’t it the weekend or a holiday? Why did he suddenly co back?
She didn’t have ti to think much and quickly opened the courtyard gate.
She saw Su Wenbing standing at the door, carrying a big bag and holding a package in his hand.
Usually, when he ca back, he would at most bring clothes. Why did he bring the bedding back this ti?
Looking again, his face was pale, his lips a bit chapped, and his eyes had dark circles; he looked utterly listless.
Su Xiaoxiao suddenly felt a pang in her heart, could sothing have happened?
She quickly took the package from Su Wenbing’s hand and shouted into the house, "Mom, it’s my big brother who’s back."
Inside, Liu Cuilan heard the voice, put down her chopsticks, and hurried out.
Seeing Su Wenbing in that state, she sensed sothing was wrong.
"Eldest, why are you back now? Did sothing happen?"
Seeing his mother, Su Wenbing, a grown man, suddenly had slightly red eyes.
Liu Cuilan quickly invited him inside and poured him a full enal mug of sugar water.
Su Wenbing gulped down the water and wiped his mouth: "Mom, I lost my job."
"What’s going on? You were doing well. How did you lose it?"
Liu Cuilan hurriedly poured him another glass of water and asked.
Su Wenbing hesitated for a long ti before saying, "A few days ago, a batch of steel was stolen from our factory. I was the last one to leave that day, but I rember clearly that when I locked the door, the steel was still there."
After saying that, Su Wenbing began to doubt himself, "Could it be that the lock was broken, and I didn’t notice?"
Su Xiaoxiao thought to herself, her brother has always been cautious and surely couldn’t make such a mistake. It must be soone framing him.
Imdiately she said, "Brother, did you report this to the police?"
"No, the workshop supervisor decided it was who stole it and fired directly..."
Not rushing to find the lost item and firing soone instead, there’s sothing fishy about this.
"It’s all my fault. If I had confird it twice before leaving, it wouldn’t have happened."
Su Wenbing still felt guilty, thinking if he had checked again at that ti, perhaps there wouldn’t be an issue.
"Brother, let’s do this. Tomorrow, I’ll go with you to the city police station to file a report. We need to figure out whose fault it is. If it’s our fault, we admit it. But if it’s not, we can’t just take this without a fight."
"Xiaoxiao, can we do that? Should I call the factory first and let them know?"
Su Wenbing, being an honest person, first thought of the factory.
Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t help rolling her eyes. Her big brother was excellent in every way, just overly straight-laced.
If they didn’t plan a surprise and notified them directly, wouldn’t the real thief have already destroyed the evidence?
Now that big brother got fired, the other side probably thinks it’s over and might let their guard down, not dealing with the evidence, giving them just the opportunity they need.
She said, "Brother, listen to . Let’s take the police directly. What if you notify the factory in advance and the real thief escapes?"
Thinking for a mont, Su Wenbing realized she was right. Why hadn’t he thought of that?
All he could think about was how to explain his job loss to the family and didn’t even consider finding the thief to clear his na.
While they were talking, Liu Cuilan had already gone to the kitchen, cooked a large bowl of noodles, and brought it over, with a golden fried egg on top.
Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, it looked delicious.
Having been stressed, unable to eat or sleep well these past few days, hearing what Xiaoxiao said suddenly gave Su Wenbing a sense of reassurance.
Slling the aroma of noodles in the air, he finally felt hungry.
He imdiately picked up the bowl and began slurping the noodles in big bites.
After the family finished eating, Su Wenbing still felt uneasy, "Xiaoxiao, you said if I take the police directly to the factory and don’t inform the supervisor, isn’t that bad?"
Su Xiaoxiao stood on tiptoe and patted his shoulder: "Big brother, don’t worry. If you find the thief, the supervisor will be grateful to you, let alone bla you. You’d be helping the factory avoid losses."
Thinking about it, Su Wenbing realized it made sense, and he felt a lot more at ease.
He finally went back to his room to sleep, reassured.
Su Xiaoxiao lay on the kang, holding the watch Song Weidong gave her today, looking at it over and over again, wondering how to repay such a big favor.
The next morning, Su Xiaoxiao first went to the departnt store to take leave before taking Su Wenbing to the city police station to file a report.
They were received by a middle-aged male officer, who listened to their account and said promptly, "Alright, now I’ll go with you to the factory to investigate."
He called a younger officer to join him, and the four of them headed straight for the city’s steel plant.
The steel plant was in the suburbs; she realized it was her first visit to where her brother worked.
From afar, the scale of the factory seed quite large.
When they arrived at the entrance, the old man at the gate recognized Su Wenbing imdiately and frowned, "Why are you back here? Didn’t the factory already fire you?"
The old man’s tone wasn’t friendly, and for the man rumored to have stolen from the factory, his tone was particularly harsh.
Thus, his previously polite attitude towards Su Wenbing instantly turned abrasive.
Su Xiaoxiao stepped forward and slipped two cigarettes into the old man’s hand: "Uncle, here’s the thing. My brother was wronged; he didn’t steal anything. We’re here to catch the real thief. If you don’t believe it, you can ask the officers behind us."
Looking back, the old man unexpectedly saw two uniford officers and imdiately believed Su Xiaoxiao’s words, his expression softening.
He quietly slipped the cigarettes into his pocket and said, "I thought so. Comrade Xiao Su always seed quite honest and capable. How could he do sothing like that?"
Taking the man’s cue and with a relatively good impression of Su Wenbing, the old man let them all in.
"Brother, where’s the factory manager’s office? Let’s go directly to the manager."
Suddenly, Su Xiaoxiao said.
Su Wenbing was still a bit puzzled: "Aren’t we looking for the workshop supervisor?"
Su Xiaoxiao thought, maybe the supervisor is in cahoots with the thief. What’s the point of finding him?
Scratching his head, Su Wenbing looked at the officers behind him. Seeing them nod, he led the three of them to the manager’s office.
As soon as they got to the manager’s office door, they could hear voices inside.
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