Xu Baoshan asked around and found two volunteers. One was his apprentice, Ma Liang. The other was an old technician named Han Delin.
Ma Liang wanted to advance his career. The old technician had plenty of sons at home, so they didn't need him for shucking corn, but he needed money for their weddings.
And so, the two technicians were assigned to the camp, while Zhao Jun and the others continued their training at the main farm.
On August 18th, the Forest Farm posted a notice. The task was assigned on the 19th. Construction on the New Logging Camp began on the 20th and was completed on the morning of the 24th. That same afternoon, Ma Liang and Han Delin packed their bags and moved in.
But just a few days later, on Monday the 31st, the two of them returned from the Logging Camp.
Once production started, inspectors didn't get days off. What's more, the two hadn't notified anyone before coming back.
At that moment, the entire inspection team was in a study session led by Xu Baoshan. When Ma Liang and Han Delin pushed the door open, Xu Baoshan was sitting facing the entrance, with Zhao Jun and the other inspectors seated on either side.
So, the first person to see Ma Liang and Han Delin was Xu Baoshan.
Xu Baoshan froze when he saw them.
'The New Logging Camp is bustling with activity, and the new production manager is clearly determined to make his mark. Why are you two running back here instead of doing your jobs? Aren't you just asking for trouble?'
But a second later, when Xu Baoshan got a clear look at them, he flew into a rage. As Zhao Jun and the others turned to look at the door, Xu Baoshan shot up from his seat, raised the study manual in his hand, and slammed it down on the desk!
"Who did this?" Xu Baoshan's roar echoed through the room. Only then did Zhao Jun see that Ma Liang and Han Delin were bruised and swollen, with several boot prints stamped on their work clothes.
"Master!" Seeing Xu Baoshan, Ma Liang looked as if he'd found his family. He rushed toward Xu Baoshan and cried out, "Those haulers... they beat me!"
The moment Ma Liang said this, the entire inspection team erupted.
In the entire history of the Yong'an Forest Farm, no one had ever dared to strike an inspector.
Haulers daring to beat up inspectors—this was absolutely unheard of and utterly shocking!
"Elder Han!" the oldest inspector, Chen Xingwang, roared furiously. "Who hit you? We'll go find them! This is outrageous!"
Hearing this, Xu Baoshan instantly collected himself. He pushed Ma Liang back slightly, then pointed to the room and barked at the others, "Stop studying! Listen to what happened!"
Then, Xu Baoshan took a step back, plopped himself down on the edge of the desk, and said to Ma Liang and Han Delin, "What happened? Tell me."
Ma Liang started to speak, but Xu Baoshan held up a hand to stop him. He jutted his chin toward Han Delin and said, "Elder Han, you tell me."
Ma Liang was young, after all, and prone to being rash and impulsive. But Han Delin was different. He was a veteran of the inspection team and had a great temperament; he never even argued with anyone.
But today, his face wasn't just red—it was swollen.
With a miserable expression, Han Delin said to Xu Baoshan, "Chief, I don't know either. Ma Liang and I were over there measuring logs, and we didn't make any mistakes. Since last week..."
At this point, Han Delin paused to think, then asked Ma Liang beside him, "It was Friday, right?"
"Right!" Ma Liang nodded. "It was Friday. Starting last Friday, they've been complaining..."
Han Delin pressed Ma Liang's arm, stopping him from saying more. He then continued explaining to Xu Baoshan, "One group of haulers claimed that for the logs they brought in, there were four logs we didn't measure or record for them."
As he spoke, Han Delin gestured to Ma Liang beside him. "Neither of us, me or Liangzi, knew what was going on. We never even saw the logs they were talking about. How are we supposed to measure logs that aren't there?"
Xu Baoshan's face filled with rage. He barked, "They beat you just for that?"
"Yeah!" Han Delin nodded heavily. "Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then this morning—they said we've been shorting them for four days straight.
Then, just a little after nine o'clock, that Leader, the one surnamed Zhao, came over and started cursing us out. The guy's mouth was filthy, just talking all kinds of shit, insisting we were deliberately shorting their measurements and not inspecting their logs properly.
We don't have any beef with him, and we really never saw his logs, so how could we measure them? Liangzi barely said two words before his whole crew jumped us. They snapped our measuring poles and tore up our logbook!"
"Goddammit!" Xu Baoshan exploded. He shot up, kicked a wooden stool in front of him into the corner, then turned back to the inspection team and roared, "Let's go! All of you, with me! We're going to that Logging Camp, grabbing the Gui Ling pikes and cant hooks, and we're gonna fuck them up!"
With that, Xu Baoshan kicked the door open and stormed out, with the rest of the inspection team scrambling to follow.
Zhao Jun, following in the crowd, was utterly astonished. 'Haulers daring to beat up inspectors... He'd never heard of such a thing in two lifetimes.'
Xu Baoshan had just led his men out of the inspection team's office when he saw a jeep parked out front, as if it had been waiting for them.
Xu Baoshan stopped short. The entire Forest Farm only had three jeeps. Zhou Chunming had one, Dou Baoguo had one, and the last one was shared among the other farm managers, available for whoever needed it.
Before Xu Baoshan could even check the license plate, the rear door opened.
Dou Baoguo was sitting inside. Without even getting out of the vehicle, he looked at Xu Baoshan and demanded, "Your inspection team is supposed to be studying. Where do you think you're going?"
Xu Baoshan took two steps forward to the car door and explained to Dou Baoguo how Ma Liang and Han Delin had been beaten. Then, he called the two men over and had Han Delin repeat the story for Dou Baoguo.
After listening, Dou Baoguo frowned. He looked at Ma Liang and Han Delin and asked, "You two, were you following our inspection regulations to the letter?"
"Yes!"
"Yes?" Dou Baoguo raised an eyebrow and asked coldly, "Since you went there, you haven't done a single thing that bent the rules? You followed the standards perfectly?"
The moment Han Delin heard this, he shut his mouth and subtly tugged on Ma Liang's sleeve. On the Forest Farm, work often got done in whatever way was most convenient or fastest. It was impossible to follow every single regulation with absolute strictness.
'Besides,' Han Delin thought, 'from the way Dou Baoguo is talking, it sounds like he's just looking for trouble!' He knew that while they hadn't made any real mistakes, there were indeed parts of their procedure that didn't strictly follow the regulations. If they kept talking, and Dou Baoguo was really determined to find fault, they would definitely be the ones to suffer. It was better to just stand firm now!
Seeing the two of them fall silent, Dou Baoguo snorted. "It takes a strong hand to forge iron. You have your own problems, yet you blame the haulers for hitting you? I had you all organized for training. What have you been learning all this time?"
At this, seeing both men with their heads down, Dou Baoguo turned to Xu Baoshan and berated him. "Xu Baoshan, I told you to lead your team in studying, and this is the result? You can't do your jobs properly, and now you want to start a fight with the haulers? Have you no shame?"
At that moment, Xu Baoshan's jaw was clenched tight, his face flushed crimson!
'If even Han Delin could see what was happening, how could Xu Baoshan not? Dou Baoguo was clearly here to make trouble. He ignored the fact that the haulers assaulted them and was using the regulations to pick a fight. He was obviously out to get them.'
Seeing that Xu Baoshan also remained silent, Dou Baoguo snorted again. "What are you all standing around for? Get back inside and study! If you can't learn properly, then don't bother going down to the Logging Camp. If it really comes to it, I'll just hire a new batch of technicians. There are plenty of people who want this job!"
With that, Dou Baoguo slammed the car door shut. The driver started the engine with a roar, and the jeep sped away, leaving a cloud of dust.
Xu Baoshan let out a long breath, his chest heaving. Today's events had left him absolutely furious.
Zhao Jun watched this unfold and understood. 'Dou Baoguo is targeting Zhou Chunming. He's going after Zhou Chunming's trusted men. But he's doing it under the guise of official business, taking the moral and disciplinary high ground. No one can do anything about it.'
Ma Liang and Han Delin could no longer go back to the New Logging Camp. Suppressing his rage, Xu Baoshan assigned two of the most senior and oldest inspectors to go: Chen Dewang and Xu Zhenghua.
That same day at noon, without even stopping for lunch, the two men grabbed their tools and some rations and hurried off to the New Logging Camp.
Before they left, Xu Baoshan repeatedly instructed them to follow the regulations to the letter once they reached the New Logging Camp, even if it slowed them down. And, most importantly, they were to find out what relationship the Leader of the troublemaking haulers had with the new production manager, Dou Baoguo.
The next day at noon, when Zhao Jun and Ma Liang went to the Forest Farm's canteen to get food, they suddenly heard a piece of news.
That morning, during a regular meeting for the Forest Farm's mid-level and senior managers, Dou Baoguo announced that he had received an anonymous letter accusing Zhou Jianjun of the logistics team of misappropriating the Forest Farm's supplies.