A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Chapter 752 Little Jiang, please hurry up to 1 o'clock...

Squad Leader Ru's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but perhaps because there were many unfamiliar faces around, he spoke somewhat vaguely, becoming a "riddler."

These words immediately drew several suspicious glances, all directed at Factory Director Xiong. Xiao Gu, who had just picked up a juicy piece of meat to put in his mouth, froze upon hearing this, abruptly stopping his craving and scrutinizing the meat with suspicion.

"Alright, stop overthinking. Sergeant Ru is talking about what's happening over there!" Jiang Xia picked up a piece of meat, pointed to the direction of the still noisy crying outside the window, then straightened up and looked at Sergeant Ru. "Just say it. Everyone here is a trustworthy comrade."

Squad Leader Ru chuckled at Factory Director Xiong, no longer trying to hide anything: "Something's not right. The family members and those two are vehemently protesting their innocence, insisting they know nothing."

Although the security personnel at Factory 615 were tough, they kept demanding that the two men "confess honestly," without mentioning whether the gold had been found or how they specifically determined that the two men were responsible.

Among the onlookers, some workers were discussing the matter, saying that the two men usually behaved well and didn't seem like the type to do something like this... and, judging from their tone, it seemed the gold hadn't been found yet!

"The man has been caught, but the stolen goods haven't been found?" Old Wang's pupils contracted slightly, and he nodded at Jiang Xia.

In that era, while some investigative procedures might not have been as standardized as in later periods, major cases involving national strategic materials typically required catching the perpetrators red-handed or at least having a very solid chain of circumstantial evidence. Now, the perpetrators are arrested and paraded through the streets, but the most crucial stolen goods—the gold—remain unaccounted for?

This is so against common sense!

Old Wang whispered an explanation to Jiang Xia: Even if it's work done in the "old nest," at the very least, there should be some evidence. And in this matter, it seems...

Either the security department handled the case poorly and arrested the wrong person, while the real thief is still at large...

Either...

There's more to this than meets the eye! Perhaps this isn't a simple theft at all?

"Wait a minute," Jiang Xia suddenly realized a crucial point, "The factory security department is arresting people? Didn't they send an investigation team down from above? How come the factory security department is leading the arrests and parading people through the streets?"

He raised this point of doubt.

Squad Leader Ru shook his head, indicating that according to the information he had gathered, those who came forward to arrest people and organize the parade were indeed from the factory's security department.

At this moment, Director Xiong, who had been listening with a furrowed brow, suddenly slapped his thigh and scratched the stubble on his chin: "Hey! So it's all about Factory 615! You asked me! Honestly, you're right here in my territory, why are you asking me all this nonsense!"

He leaned closer, his voice lowering: "The gold has been missing for about half a month. Factory 615 manages that batch of gold, which they call 'Product No. 100,' and it was originally intended to be used to pay off debts. On the day it went missing, the warehouse manager was doing inventory when he opened the wooden crates and was stunned. He immediately reported it to the police."

Factory Director Xiong counted on his fingers: "At first, the local police and the security department of Factory 615 investigated together. There were only two clues at the scene—a few size 42 cloth shoe prints and a claw hammer. The fingerprints on the hammerhead had been wiped clean long ago, so it was obviously done by an experienced person. They investigated for almost ten days but found nothing. Later, the higher-ups sent an investigation team down."

"As soon as the investigation team arrived, they immediately concluded that it was an inside job?" Jiang Xia pressed.

"After the investigation team arrived, they examined the traces at the scene and, based on the findings of the previous investigation, preliminarily determined that it was done by someone familiar with the situation, an 'insider'."

Now, the two people who were the first to discover the theft and report it to the police are highly suspicious! They were immediately detained for questioning.

But no matter how much they interrogated them, these two were incredibly stubborn and refused to confess. Their homes and relatives' homes were searched several times, but they found nothing, let alone gold.

The office fell even quieter after those words. Old Chen from Institute 607 adjusted his glasses and said softly, "No stolen goods, no confession, shouldn't we release them first?"

"They should have been released!" Director Xiong said with a hint of dissatisfaction. "But then a section chief named Liu Shicai from the security department of Factory 615 jumped out and patted his chest, saying, 'These two won't admit it until they're faced with death! Parade them through the streets, make them lose face in front of all the workers in the factory, and they'll be scared and confess.' The investigation team was persuaded by him, and that's how this happened today."

"Surname Liu?"

"Liu Shicai?"

Jiang Xia and Lao Wang spoke almost simultaneously, their voices filled with disbelief.

Old Wang abruptly sat up straight in his chair, his previously relaxed shoulders instantly tensing, his eyes widening in shock. The two men exchanged a glance, both seeing the same level of astonishment in each other's eyes.

Squad Leader Ru also realized what was going on, his brows furrowing: "So, this Liu Shicai might be connected to Project 113?"

Factory Director Xiong, oblivious to the others' odd behavior, continued to grumble, "That Liu Shicai is always so loud and boastful, always claiming he 'knows how to solve cases.' He's probably trying to use this case to climb the ranks! But then again, if the gold isn't found, parading him through the streets won't help; in the end, we'll still have to..."

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Xia interrupted him.

"Uncle-Master, do you know where Liu Shicai is now? Is he still at Factory 615, or did he go somewhere else?"

Factory Director Xiong was taken aback before realizing something was amiss: "What do you want with him? Does this kid have something else to say?"

"No, I was just curious. Since it was suspected to be an inside job, weren't the security personnel searched?"

"I don't know that. They must have checked!"

It seems that this is all the knowledge my uncle knows, and further questioning will likely yield little result. Jiang Xia gave Lao Wang a subtle wink, and Lao Wang understood, quietly slipping out of the office with his notebook.

So, Jiang Xia changed the subject and mentioned to Director Xiong that he was going to convene a technical meeting for researchers at Factory 112.

Upon hearing that it was about the serious matter of the Il-28 refit, Director Xiong immediately patted his chest and assured him, "Leave this to my uncle! Have the administrative department clean the meeting room beforehand, and prepare tea, scratch paper, and plenty of blackboards!"

Having been in the business for many years, Director Xiong naturally has excellent judgment.

He noticed that Jiang Xia's group was acting unusually, and knew that his nephew must have important business to attend to. So he didn't linger any longer and laughed heartily, "Then I won't keep you from doing your business! I'll come back this afternoon and bring you something substantial!" With that, he cupped his hands in farewell.

The two engineers from Institute 607 also stood up, showing great tact.

Old Chen clutched the stack of initial radar component diagrams tightly to his chest, the edges of the pages slightly roughened from his fingertips. As he reached the door, he suddenly stopped, his right hand lightly bracing against the doorframe, his knuckles turning bluish-white from the force, while his left hand instinctively pressed hard against his abdomen.

The movement was so light and quick, it was as if he had just dusted himself off. No one noticed that his Adam's apple bobbed slightly, as if he was suppressing something.

"Young... Engineer Jiang, when would you be available to take a look at that batch of radar test data I mentioned earlier?"

He adjusted his old glasses on the bridge of his nose, a hint of urgency in his eyes, which he deliberately suppressed, not daring to show it too obviously. He only dared to glance quickly at Jiang Xia before quickly lowering his head, as if afraid of disturbing her.

"Hey Lao Chen, what's the rush!" Xiong Huoyan was walking ahead when he saw Lao Chen lagging behind. He turned around and tried to pull him back.

“Young… Engineer Jiang,” Old Chen was pulled a few steps by Xiong Huoyan, but turned back to look at Jiang Xia, his voice lower than before, with a barely perceptible hoarseness, “Regarding the radar test data I mentioned earlier, if you’re busy, I can leave the design drawings here for now? You can take a look when you have time, no rush…”

When he said "no rush," he secretly raised his eyes, quickly glanced at Jiang Xia, and then quickly lowered his head, his gaze falling on the toes of his well-worn cloth shoes.

It was as if she was afraid of being discovered, or as if she was afraid that Jiang Xia would actually say, "We'll talk about it later."

"Hey Lao Chen, what are you doing!" A large hand habitually patted his shoulder.

As the hand landed, he realized that the man's shoulders were so thin they were uncomfortable to hold. Old Chen's body swayed almost imperceptibly, but he immediately froze like a nail, even managing to force a brief and laborious smile at Director Xiong.

"Didn't you see how red Xiao Jiang's eyes are these past two days? He needs to catch his breath!" Director Xiong didn't think too much about it and casually put his arm around Old Chen, trying to lead him outside. "I'll keep an eye on your data for you, it won't get lost! Once he's done with this, I'll personally supervise him as he reviews it!"

"Old Xiong!" Old Chen interrupted Factory Director Xiong, panting. Then, as if all his strength had been exhausted, his shoulders slumped slightly, and his voice became low and hoarse again, "I...I'll just put it here..."

As he spoke, he struggled a bit, trying to put the folder of documents on the nearest chair by the door.

Jiang Xia, who was preoccupied with Liu Shicai's matter, instinctively rushed forward upon hearing this and took the heavy document bag from Engineer Chen's hands.

"Engineer Chen! Your project is of great significance! I'll contact the Beijing Academy of Sciences as soon as possible and find a way to add an 'external plug' to your radar to make it see more clearly and accurately!"

Upon hearing this, Engineer Chen gave Jiang Xia an extremely bright, even somewhat childlike, smile.

"Really!"

"OK!"

"Okay...okay! Engineer Jiang, thank you...I'll wait for your reply!"