Chapter 12#
Qiming Manufacturing Factory#
Chen Ziqing’s mind went blank.
Although he was gay, he had never experienced anything. This was the first time his face had been pinched by someone, by a man, a handsome man who was tall, good-looking, but just had a sharp tongue.
It was even closer than the last time he pinched his philtrum, so close that their breaths mingled. He could clearly see the wrinkles on the other person’s eyelids and the lines around his eyes, as well as his own reflection in his pupils. It was more than ambiguous, more than intimate.
It could stir up a little bit of…
If he weren’t straight, he would really have started thinking in the wrong direction.
Zong Huaitang saw the person under his eyes changing expressions, not knowing what game he was playing. Just as he was about to tease him a bit, he suddenly realized what he was doing and quickly withdrew his hand to create distance.
Chen Ziqing rubbed the place on his face that had been pinched: “Rolling my eyes is my personal freedom. I didn’t provoke you, right? Technician Zong, aren’t you being too domineering?”
“Irrational arguments.” Zong Huaitang looked down at his fingertips, rubbed them, and thought strangely, Am I sick? I pinched a man’s face.
I am sick.
Lack of sleep? Ate too much? Both are possible.
Zong Huaitang turned his head. In his field of vision was the earthen wall next to the bamboo forest not far away. Earth bees were flying, and his gaze fell on them boredly.
Chen Ziqing spread his legs and supported himself with both hands, exhaling heavily: “Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell people about you pretending to be your brother here?”
Zong Huaitang got sleepy as soon as he said he was sleepy, his eyelids drooping: “Funny, who doesn’t know?”
Chen Ziqing: “…”
True, it was famous. Since the factory director himself didn’t stop it, what could outsiders like them say?
After all, no trouble had occurred so far. Even if they had thoughts, what could they do? They couldn’t find a leverage point to make a fuss.
Chen Ziqing said: “But it’s fine if you pretend to be him for entertainment in private, but it’s inappropriate for serious matters, right? You are two people, two perspectives, two identities. What you are doing is interference.”
Zong Huaitang stretched his left leg to exercise: “Master Xiang makes sense. I will convey your words to your omnipotent factory director and ask him to write a report to you on this matter another day, okay?”
Chen Ziqing twitched his mouth. What’s with the sarcasm?
The bright sunlight sprinkled in the garden, paved on the cement road, and drilled into the cool shade of the trees. Zong Huaitang closed his eyes and fell asleep, but spoke in the next second: “Our Master Xiang is responsible for the blackboard newspaper in the labor union. Any notices or activities in the factory are written by you. How come you make mistakes in common characters now?”
Chen Ziqing’s heart skipped a beat: “Who doesn’t have moments of carelessness?”
Zong Huaitang crossed his left leg over his right leg and smiled leisurely: “So this is the sincerity you talked about.”
Chen Ziqing didn’t want to continue this topic with him anymore, afraid of revealing a basket of flaws.
“I’ll rewrite it.” Chen Ziqing took the apology letter and put it in his pocket.
Zong Huaitang lifted his eyelids slightly and stared at him through that narrow slit: “Please be serious.”
Chen Ziqing perfunctorily said: “OK.”
Zong Huaitang sat up straight, looking like he had a big reaction: “Yo, foreign language.”
Chen Ziqing: “…”
Zong Huaitang turned the glass on the heavy wooden table: “When did Master Xiang drink foreign ink? It’s not good to eat alone and make progress secretly without bringing comrades along.”
Chen Ziqing was speechless, very speechless.
Silence returned under the shade of the tree.
Smelling the rich fragrance, Chen Ziqing pulled the locust flowers above his head, picked a bunch that was about to bloom but hadn’t yet, and ate a flower with his teeth. It was sweet. He suddenly blurted out: “I haven’t seen your brother pretend to be you.”
Zong Huaitang said indifferently: “He can’t act like a cripple.”
Chen Ziqing choked: “I can’t imagine the factory director pretending to be you. He is mature and steady, not so… um… like you.”
“Um what?” Zong Huaitang smiled indifferently, “Frivolous and unreliable?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Hmph.” Zong Huaitang peeled open the newspaper and covered his face, leaning back a bit against the chair back to take a nap.
Chen Ziqing walked out of the shade and stood in the sun eating locust flowers. Zong Linyu had nothing to do with the mission and didn’t involve those five markers, so there was no need to specially approach him. He wasn’t the original owner Xiang Ning, who had that kind of blind admiration.
The factory was so big. If the factory director didn’t look for him, he wouldn’t look for the factory director. It was normal not to meet for several days or even a week.
Unless there was a general assembly, or he was called over individually.
It seemed that Zong Linyu went out for a few days last month, and there hadn’t been a single general assembly since then.
With Zong Linyu’s style of doing things, if there was no official business, it was impossible for him to chat with any employee.
So far, he hadn’t seen the real Zong Linyu.
Whether it was the big brother or the scene where the twins appeared at the same time, it was only in the original owner’s memory.
This wasn’t important. He only cared about the mission target.
“I’m leaving.” Chen Ziqing finished eating a bunch, then pulled another bunch of locust flowers and shook them in his hand. The white and chubby flowers hung shyly.
In the warm breeze, a lazy voice vaguely asked: “How do you say goodbye in foreign language?”
Chen Ziqing didn’t stop walking and was about to turn the corner. He was a bit ashamed of his pronunciation that had run to his grandma’s house. He recited it silently a few times before shouting: “Goodbye——”
Zong Huaitang dragged out the tone: “Gu… de… bai…”
Chen Ziqing found comfort from his mouth and was in high spirits: “Gu De Bai!”
.
On an ordinary evening, groups of people gathered here and there in the yard, stretching their legs, twirling hula hoops, and strolling to digest food.
Chen Ziqing was washing his lunch box at the sink. The grease stuck to his hands. He borrowed some toilet paper from someone to scrape and wipe the corners of the lunch box. Music came from outside; it was Director Liu’s third apprentice, Bai Rong, playing the accordion.
Relaxed footsteps shuttled through the corridor from time to time. Some people came back with hot water, some were going. They stopped to chat for a while when they met. If someone joined in, they chatted together.
The scene downstairs was much the same.
Sun Chengzhi came back from wandering somewhere. He left his bicycle in front of the building, touched the crossbar, his khaki octagonal cap pressing down on his greasy bangs. He clearly had thick eyebrows and big eyes, but his expression was sweet and wretched.
The workers squatting in a row on the steps roared with laughter.
“Master Sun, which girl sat on the crossbar?”
“Hahaha, what did you wipe on it? Such a strong wind didn’t blow the fragrance away.”
“That must be vanishing cream!”
“Smells so strong, right?”
“Master Sun’s soul has been hooked away by the vanishing cream.”
“Get lost.” Sun Chengzhi sang a song and entered the dormitory building, in crooked Cantonese, “Long ban, long lao, man lei tou tou…”
“Sai gan xi… tou tou ya pin qiu lao”
“Xi hei, xi sao…”
He scratched his armpits twice, put his hand in front of his nose to smell, and entered a dormitory while singing.
The worker who was often ransacked by him surrendered upon seeing him: “I don’t have any food here.”
Sun Chengzhi walked around the dormitory, smelling wherever he went.
“Really none, stop smelling!”
“Don’t even think about hiding anything from me.” Sun Chengzhi grabbed the quilt he had padded on the bed, found a bag of beef jerky hidden very secretly, and left triumphantly amidst the other party’s howling while slapping the sole of his shoe.
Some time after dark, the lights in the dormitories went out one after another, leaving only the lights in the corridor.
After an unknown amount of time, someone shouted hoarsely.
“Caught him——”
“Come out and look! The person pulling the electric wires has been caught!”
Chen Ziqing didn’t even take the jacket on the quilt. He ran out wearing a white tank top.
The power in the east corridor went out and was connected again. Many people gathered together, and the noise was very intense. Chen Ziqing squeezed into the crowd. Before seeing the captured person, he had always imagined a small and agile figure.
Because the walking was light, like a cat, no footsteps could be heard.
Only when he saw him did he realize that he was of normal build, and looked clumsy and ordinary.
Chen Ziqing stopped the thought of getting closer. He looked at the worker squatting on the ground with his head in his hands across some people. There were no matching clips in the original owner’s memory, obviously no intersection.
Belonged to the type with no presence in the factory.
Facing everyone’s angry pointing, the worker denied it.
“I went to catch the person.”
“Bullshit, I saw you at the interface.”
“I heard footsteps, so I thought it must be that guy pulling the wires again, so I went out.”
“Then why did you hide when I called you?”
“I was wondering where the person went. You suddenly shouted, and I was scared!”
Chen Ziqing was watching. He knew his own weight. His insight and observation skills were not stronger than the people here, and might not even reach the passing line, so he chose to let everyone pry open the worker’s mouth.
Those with extroverted and impulsive personalities couldn’t hold back anymore. They took turns interrogating. The worker repeated it over and over again, and no one asked anything else.
How could Sun Chengzhi’s temper endure this? He cursed loudly and looked fierce. Zhong Ming held him back. When the violence was about to break out, Director Liu came. He glared at his second apprentice who needed a beating again, and signaled his eldest apprentice with his eyes to keep a close watch on him.
Seeing Director Liu was like seeing a savior for the worker, he shouted out Dou E’s misery: “Director Liu——”
Director Liu said gently: “You get up first.”
After that, he advised the crowd who were filled with righteous indignation and wanted him to take charge: “Comrades, calm down. We have to ask carefully before we can pin the crime. Don’t frame our family members.”
The worker wiped his snot with his sleeve: “It really wasn’t me.”
“I didn’t see anything, but there were really footsteps passing by outside my window. There was really someone.”
“I clearly chased after him as fast as I could. When I chased to the main line interface at the east stairs, the power went out. How could the person disappear? I didn’t hear the sound of going downstairs either. I was wronged. I can swear.”
The worker said with tears and snot: “If I did it, I won’t be able to get a wife in this life, nor in the next life or the life after that!”
This oath was quite vicious.
The cursing in the corridor instantly subsided somewhat.
Chen Ziqing asked in his heart: “System Lu, are you there? Are you asleep?”
System: “Speak.”
Chen Ziqing was silent for a moment. So cold. His guardian system was as devoid of human touch as ever.
“I want to ask you, how many times can I answer?”
System: “Once.”
Chen Ziqing said: “I’m a novice. Can’t a novice be given a chance for trial and error?”
System: “No.”
Chen Ziqing felt the feeling of a heart attack. Only one chance to answer, so he could only submit the answer when the evidence was conclusive.
The people on the second floor had been made irritable by the person causing trouble behind the scenes these days. Section Chief Li was not there, and Director Liu alone couldn’t soothe their emotions. It was only when people from the police station came and took the worker away that the incident paused.
Everyone was blowing the cool breeze in the yard waiting for the result. They believed in the ability and fairness of the police.
However, the police’s result was: No bad behavior.
Well, wronged the person.
Disappointed, those who had accused and scolded that comrade hurriedly went to apologize to him, otherwise their conscience wouldn’t let them sleep tonight.
Chen Ziqing returned to the dormitory. He suspected that the footsteps tonight were deliberately revealed.
Didn’t they say on TV? Criminals generally have a histrionic personality and a desire to perform.
The mission target felt that it was boring that no one had discovered him for so long, so he found new fun.
Chen Ziqing stood in front of the washstand. He scooped a handful of cold water from the washbasin and splashed it on his face, wrung out the towel, and closed his eyes to wipe his face.
At this moment, he felt as if…
There was a person standing in front.
The hair on his back stood up instantly.
Chen Ziqing’s blood flowed backward. He braced himself and took off the towel.
No, in front was the closed door.
He didn’t know if it was because he lived alone in a double dormitory room. It was too quiet, so quiet that even listening to his own breathing sounded creepy.
Chen Ziqing put the towel back into the washbasin, moving lightly for fear of disturbing something. He tiptoed to the bedside, and in one go, scooped up the hanging bed sheet and stuffed it under the quilt.
After the bottom of the bed was exposed…
The feeling of cold bones didn’t decrease.
Although he knew everything was an illusion, he needed a roommate. He couldn’t do without a roommate!
This thought grew wildly. Chen Ziqing ran to find Zhong Ming in a panic.
Zhong Ming was about to sleep. He closed the dormitory door and walked a short distance, stopping by a railing in the corridor to ask Chen Ziqing, his voice a bit hoarse from scolding his second junior brother: “What do you want with me?”
Chen Ziqing whispered: “Master Zhong, move back to live.”
Zhong Ming didn’t expect these words and said in astonishment: “What do you mean?”
“I don’t mean anything else.” Chen Ziqing improvised a reason on the spot, “Your room being empty is a waste of resources.”
Zhong Ming’s expression returned to normal: “The dormitory I live in now is quite good. I won’t change.”
Chen Ziqing said: “It’s not really changing, just moving back.”
Zhong Ming was unmoved: “I won’t move.”
Before the curve of Chen Ziqing’s mouth could unfold, a sentence came from above his head: “I don’t want to share a dormitory with you.”
Words had come to this point. Anyone with a bit of face should know when to retreat.
But Chen Ziqing was not someone who would give up easily, especially on this matter. He still wanted to fight for it: “Because of Zhong Gu?”
Zhong Ming was silent. Just when Chen Ziqing thought he had found the right route and planned to let him move back according to Zhong Ming’s wishes first, a basin of cold water was poured on his face.
“Purely because I hate you.” Zhong Ming said.
Chen Ziqing smiled dryly, put away his smile and pursed his lips: “Alright.”
He had been here for less than a month. The time was short. Among the men he had more contact with, Ma Qiangqiang was the one he trusted most and was most familiar with, but Ma Qiangqiang was even more timid than him and couldn’t give him a sense of security.
He had to find someone with strong yang energy to suppress his panic.
There was no hope with Zhong Ming.
Chen Ziqing settled for the second best and went to find Zong Huaitang. This time his language was much more perfect than when facing Zhong Ming, using a helpless and weak persona asking for help.
Zong Huaitang wasn’t asleep and was in good spirits. He was sitting at the table by the window assembling a wooden sailboat model, not knowing if he listened or not.
Chen Ziqing had to say it again.
Zong Huaitang finally stopped the movement in his hands, looking at him with a smile in his eyes: “You came to me first?”
Chen Ziqing nodded immediately: “Yeah.”
Zong Huaitang said lightly: “I’m not your second choice?”
Chen Ziqing: “…”
“No, no, no.” His wide eyes were full of sincerity, “You are my first choice.”
“Clang.”
The slightly exquisite small part was casually thrown onto the table by two fingers. Zong Huaitang supported himself on the table and stood up. He walked towards Chen Ziqing with his lame leg.
A sense of oppression came with danger. Chen Ziqing retreated step by step.
Zong Huaitang cornered him: “Who are you fooling here, Xiang Ning? Do you think I didn’t hear you begging Zhong Ming?”