Chapter 75: Is the Rescue Just a Ruse? Chen Dazhu’s Scheme Begins!

The next morning, Chief Zhou’s car arrived at the entrance of the machinery factory. Suddenly, an elderly woman, likely in her sixties or seventies, rushed over and threw herself in front of the car, staging a fake accident.

“Oh dear! Oh dear! Someone’s been killed! Someone’s been hit by a car!” she wailed, sprawled on the ground, her cries drawing bewilderment from Chief Zhou.

His car hadn’t even touched her—what was this old woman trying to do?

“Come and see! Look here, everyone! A leader’s hit someone with his car!” she kept shouting, attracting a crowd of factory workers who stopped to gawk, pointing at Chief Zhou.

Chief Zhou stepped out, frowned, and spoke coldly to her, “How can you slander me like this, madam? I didn’t even touch you. You fell on your own!”

He suspected the woman might be mentally unstable.

She shrilled back, “The ground’s filthy—do you think I’d lie here for fun? You hit me and don’t even care if I’m hurt, you’re just making excuses!”

The bystanders, unaware of the truth, began to side with her. “The world’s really gone downhill, can’t even admit to hitting someone.”

“That’s right—he dresses up like a big shot, drives a fancy car, but his character is rotten!”

Chief Zhou was at a loss, unable to defend himself. Just then, Chen Dazhu appeared and came to his rescue.

“I saw it clearly—she threw herself in front of his car. He never touched her!”

“How can you try to extort him? Get out of here! If you don’t leave, I’ll call the police!”

At the mention of the police, the old woman’s expression changed instantly. She hesitated, then scrambled up and hurried away. Chief Zhou’s trouble was solved with surprising ease.

The onlookers realized they had misunderstood Chief Zhou, but none bothered to apologize—they simply left, looking embarrassed.

Chen Dazhu immediately turned to Chief Zhou with concern, “Are you all right, Chief Zhou? I never expected to see you here!”

“Who are you?” Chief Zhou didn’t recognize him.

Chen Dazhu smiled, seizing the moment. “I’m the one who came looking for you yesterday, but you were busy and didn’t have time for me.”

Chief Zhou’s memory cleared; yes, Chen Dazhu had come to see him the day before.

In truth, Chief Zhou had deliberately ignored him yesterday, preferring to chat about trivial matters with others in the office. He hadn’t expected Chen Dazhu would help him out today.

Although the situation was a bit suspicious, without Chen Dazhu’s intervention, Chief Zhou would still be wrongly accused, unable to explain himself.

“Oh, now I remember! I’m terribly sorry—so much happened yesterday, I neglected you. Please don’t mind.”

Chen Dazhu smiled, inwardly thrilled that Zhou had taken the bait, though outwardly he remained as ingratiating as ever.

“To be honest, Chief Zhou, I was planning to come see you again this afternoon.”

“Is there something you needed?”

Chen Dazhu laughed, didn’t answer directly, and glanced about. Chief Zhou understood.

“...Well, let’s head inside. We can talk in my office.”

Thanks to Chief Zhou, Chen Dazhu enjoyed a ride in a sedan and entered the factory openly.

In the car, Chen Dazhu couldn’t wait to explain his purpose: he wanted to do business with Chief Zhou, buying factory scrap.

Chief Zhou was surprised, never expecting Chen Dazhu’s interest was in the factory’s waste materials.

Meanwhile, Li Junsheng had called Qin Yong’s trucking team to the warehouse to prepare for loading. He had timed it to coincide with Chief Zhou’s arrival, hoping to get a certificate from him.

Unexpectedly, he saw Chief Zhou and Chen Dazhu walking into the office together. Li Junsheng was astonished that Chen Dazhu had already found Chief Zhou—and it seemed Chief Zhou had accepted him.

Watching their backs as they entered, a flash of ruthlessness gleamed in Li Junsheng’s eyes.

“Perfect—now I can deal with Chen Dazhu and that wretched woman together.”

...

“Chief Zhou!” Li Junsheng hurried to catch up.

“Hey? Old Chen, you’re here too?” Chen Dazhu’s expression changed visibly.

“You know each other?” Chief Zhou asked in surprise.

Li Junsheng nodded and explained with a smile, “Yes, we’ve been friends for years. He’s actually my wife’s savior. I only left the factory early so I could transfer my job to his son.”

“All these years, Old Chen never made any unreasonable requests of my wife. He just wanted his son to have a good job to get married, so my wife asked me to transfer my position to his son.”

Chief Zhou immediately sensed something odd in Li Junsheng’s words, and his impression of Chen Dazhu shifted.

“Well, Mr. Chen, thank you for your help today. I’ll consider what you asked and let you know. Go home and wait for my reply.”

Chen Dazhu grew anxious! Chief Zhou’s words—“wait for my reply”—most likely meant a refusal.

“Chief Zhou, it’s not as he said, about the job…”

He was unwilling to give up and tried to explain, but someone came over to report something just then.

Chief Zhou had to attend to the matter and left, waving the pair away.

Chen Dazhu watched Chief Zhou’s departing figure, swallowing the words he’d meant to say.

Damn Li Junsheng!