Comfortable life in Siheyuan

"Liu Haizhong, do you know where this is? Ah! Tell me, how much money did you pay to become a cadre?" Hearing this, Liu Haizhong was so scared that his face turned pale.

"I, I, I didn't spend any money, and I'm not an official! Who is wrongly accusing me?" Liu Hai knew clearly in his heart that Cui Dake would never say that he had given money to the leaders, and it was impossible for him to report this matter.

"Be honest with me. Cui Dake has already confessed that you gave him money and planned to give it to the leader to replace him as deputy director. Is that true?"

Hearing this, Liu Haizhong's calves trembled. He said tremblingly: "Leader, Cui Dake has returned all the money to me. He didn't give it to me at all? This can't be considered a bribe!"

"So you do have this idea, don't you?"

"At that time, Cui Dake told me that he was familiar with Deputy Factory Director Liu, and that he had connections if I wanted to get promoted, so I gave him money. I was a worker who hadn't even graduated from elementary school, so how could I understand all this? It was Cui Dake who deceived me, even though I had been so nice to him before."

"Okay, just reflect on yourself there first." After saying that, the interrogator left, leaving Liu Haizhong alone in the interrogation room to reflect on himself.

The door on Cui Dake's side was opened again.

"Cui Dake, Liu Haizhong said that you were the one who brought this up. Is it true?"

Cui Dake was relieved now and began to defend himself: "I am sick. I asked her for money to smooth the way, and then lied to her and said that I could not smooth the way and return the money to her. Am I just bored?"

"Pay attention to your attitude. We are the ones asking you, not you asking me."

"I'm sorry, I was a little excited just now. There is really no need for me to cause trouble for myself. You can ask around his family and you will know that my master is a power-hungry person. He only wants to be an official. Everyone around him knows it." Cui Dake explained in a low voice.

"We will investigate this. What happened to your job? Why were you transferred to the purchasing department?"

"It's like this. I came to the factory by delivering a big fat pig. I originally had a good relationship with several township communes below. This time, it was Deputy Director Liu who came to me and said that the supply of materials was difficult recently, and asked me to go down and find a way. Only then was I transferred there. My salary has not increased, and if I don't do a good job, I might be transferred back. Do I need to give gifts?" Cui Dake said with disdain.

The interrogators looked at each other and nodded. One of them said, "Okay, let's stop here for today. But both of you can't leave for now. Wait until we have investigated this thoroughly." After that, the two men left the room.

Liu Haizhong and Cui Dake stayed in their rooms, feeling uneasy. They didn't know what the investigation results would be, nor did they know whether they would be punished.

Time passed by minute by minute, and finally, the door was opened again. The interrogator walked into the room, looked at them seriously, and said: "After our investigation, the matter is clear. Liu Haizhong, you did not bribe, but you tried to seek a position through improper means. This behavior is immoral, and we will criticize and educate you. Cui Dake, we have also visited and investigated your case, and there is indeed no problem, but your behavior is a bit rash, so you should be careful in the future."

After hearing this, Liu Haizhong and Cui Dake finally felt relieved. "Thank you, leader, for your keen insight." "Thank you, leader." The two of them hurriedly thanked him.

"Okay, you go back first!"

The two of them left the house without any delay, as if staying any longer would bring bad luck.

"Master, your report is meaningless, right?" Although Cui Dake called him master, there was no respect in his expression.

"If I really want to report it, do you think you can get out of this? Also, don't call me master in the future. I don't deserve it. Remember, return the remaining fifty yuan to me when you go back tonight! Let's not have any contact with each other anymore." After saying that, Liu Haizhong turned his head away and walked towards the workshop.

Cui Dake stopped walking, his face darkened, and he was thinking in his heart: "Besides Liu Haizhong, who else would report it? It must be someone from the courtyard. Only the people in the courtyard know about this. The only one who was offended during this period was the Jia family. Could it be Qin Huairu?"

After thinking for a while, Cui Dake was still confused and had no idea what was going on. He shook his head helplessly and turned back to the purchasing department.

After get off work, when Cui Dake stepped into the courtyard, he happened to run into Liu Haizhong in the front yard. Liu Haizhong just snorted coldly and walked into the house without looking back. At this moment, in the backyard of the courtyard, Xu Damao was looking at Cui Dake and Liu Haizhong who had just returned home from get off work in surprise. He wondered in his heart: "I clearly saw the two of them being taken to the security department, how could nothing happen? Could it be that these people in the security department were so scared when they saw the leaders that they dared not move?" Thinking of this, Xu Damao couldn't help but curse inwardly.

At the same time, Liu Haizhong hurriedly took out two bottles of wine from home and walked straight to Yi Zhonghai's house. Not long after, Yan Bugui, who received a notice from Liu Guangfu, also came to Yi Zhonghai's house. The three of them sat together, and the atmosphere seemed a little solemn...

"Old Liu! What do you want to talk to us about? And you even brought some wine." Yi Zhonghai said with a smile.

"Yes! Just tell me what's going on and we'll discuss it together." Yan Bugui also spoke up.

"I'm not afraid of you laughing at me when I tell you this. It's about my evil disciple Cui Dake. I think we can't let this guy stay in this compound. He's too insidious." Liu Haizhong said angrily.

"I noticed it last time, but I did it for your sake! I didn't say anything!" Yan Bugui said calmly.

"How did you figure that out? How come I didn't know?" the old man asked puzzledly.

"In the last incident with the Jia family, there was definitely something fishy about his IOU, but Jia Zhang was a fool and fell into the trap!" Yan Bugui said in a low voice.

"About this matter! I guess it's about the same as yours, but it's not easy for him to take the Jia family's money, so let's just leave it at that." Yi Zhonghai said with a smile.

"That was really Cui Dake's attempt to deceive us, right?" Liu Haizhong asked in surprise.

"How could a young man who just came to the compound and has no relationship with the Jia family lend her ten dollars? Is your apprentice so stupid?" Yan Bugui said affirmatively.

"This guy is too calculating. We can't let him stay in the yard anymore. I plan to drive him away after he pays me back." Liu Haizhong said angrily.

"Old Liu, what's going on between you two? What's the situation here?" Yan Bugui asked in a low voice.

"I'm not afraid of being embarrassed to say it out loud. The thing is, I was just muttering at home that I wanted to become an official. The position of deputy director in our workshop has been vacant for a long time, so I had some ideas! I even went to find Qingshan, but he rejected me." Liu Haizhong said dejectedly.

"Then how did you find Cui Dake?" Yi Zhonghai turned to look at Liu Haizhong and asked.

"He told me that he knew Deputy Director Liu of the factory and they had known each other for many years, so he asked him for me," Liu Haizhong explained.

"Then why did you spend money again later?" Yan Bugui continued to ask.

"He told me that he wanted to buy some things to test the waters first, and then he told me to give him some gifts. In total, he asked me for more than 200 yuan. In the end, I didn't become a cadre, but he was transferred to purchasing. I had a quarrel with him and asked him how he did things," Liu Haizhong said angrily.

"He told you that the matter is over?" Yi Zhonghai said puzzledly.

"He said that I failed the investigation and that my son had run away from home and I was not suitable to be an official." Liu Haizhong's face turned green when he said this.