Emerging from Warehouse No. 1, the two walked toward the archives room.
The archives were located in the factory administration building, but accessing them required not only a work permit but also a letter of introduction.
Shao Le had remained silent for a while because Li Ying was ignoring him, leaving Lu Qiaoge to do all the talking.
On the way, Shao Le couldn't hold it in any longer. He leaned closer to Lu Qiaoge and lowered his voice: "...The difficulty with Master Liu's family situation is the lack of witnesses. It's impossible to convict someone of murder based solely on the memory of a fourteen-year-old child about something that happened when they were three. However, I think Li Ying is lying. She definitely didn't raise Liu Yu properly. For starters, if her own son were tied up by Master Liu, do you think she could eat in peace?"
Lu Qiaoge moved a little further away from him. They were in the factory compound; acting like they were gossiping with a best friend would lead to misunderstandings.
Shao Le felt it and scratched his head sheepishly.
He then began to walk properly.
Just then, a cat suddenly leaped down from a wall.
With a few bounds, it perched itself on Lu Qiaoge's shoulder.
"Isn't this your Hua Hua? How did it get here?"
Lu Qiaoge hadn't let the tabby follow her. This morning, she had told it to go to the lakeside to learn how to catch fish, but the cat refused; it followed her every day. Its nose was incredibly sharp, as it could almost always find her exact location.
Moreover, it was starting to forget its primary duty.
It was currently reporting to Lu Qiaoge with excitement: 【After you left, I sat on the roof of Warehouse No. 1 and heard Li Ying muttering to herself, 'Find my ass, you won't find anything even if you work yourselves to death.'】
Lu Qiaoge raised her hand to rub its chin and said softly, "Mhm. I still have to go to the archives. Don't always play around in the factory compound; be careful not to get caught by the sentries."
【Then I'll go check around Master Liu's house,】 the tabby volunteered.
To Shao Le's ears, however, it was just the beautiful little tabby meowing incessantly.
Shao Le also wanted to pet the cat, but as soon as he reached out a hand, he realized the tabby was on Lu Qiaoge's shoulder and quickly withdrew it.
The tabby was also very alert; it leaped off Lu Qiaoge's shoulder and vanished in a flash.
It was just a cat, so no one paid it much mind. Shao Le asked Lu Qiaoge, "After checking the archives, do you want to go see Master Liu? Li Ying's stance is that it has nothing to do with her, and the child was taken from Master Liu's hands anyway. Should we just ask Master Liu who he gave the child to?"
Lu Qiaoge was not optimistic.
"Nowadays, most households have many children. Our military factory is relatively better, but in the countryside, it's quite common for families with many children to give them away."
Most of those given away were girls, and it was usually done through intermediaries. Once a bit of money was paid, the transaction was considered settled, and the parties involved wouldn't provide contact information.
The reason this wasn't treated as a primary investigative question was likely because everyone considered it a normal occurrence.
Lu Qiaoge continued, "But if the recipient was someone from the military, as long as we know the date, we should be able to check the records of who entered and exited the family compound."
Shao Le's eyes lit up. That's right, why hadn't he thought of that?
But he immediately felt a bit discouraged: "Sigh, even if we find out which family they went to, it might not be of much use."
Lu Qiaoge glanced at him. "If it was a normal adoption, it might not be very significant. But what if the child was sold?"
Before Shao Le could respond, they encountered several girls from the factory's broadcasting station walking toward them.
Lu Qiaoge naturally didn't know they were employees of the broadcasting station.
The girls working here were basically the children or relatives of factory leadership. Even if they grew up in the same large residential compound, they didn't play together; they belonged to two different social circles.
Thus, these girls did not recognize Lu Qiaoge.
However, several of them recognized Shao Le and were quite familiar with him, especially one girl with a round face who looked to be in a bad mood.
Lu Qiaoge was sharp; without even looking at Shao Le's awkward demeanor, she knew that the round-faced girl with the sour expression was likely Shao Le's partner.
She had heard that Shao Le's partner worked at the factory administration.
She also learned that these girls, who clearly came from privileged backgrounds, were from the factory's broadcasting station.
Every day, they would passionately broadcast news, recite articles, or make announcements.
It was the most coveted position for the girls in the residential compound.
Lu Qiaoge watched the girls, who were winking and gesturing at each other, with interest. She said grandly, "Director Hu is in a hurry for some documents, so I'm heading to the archives first."
As Lu Qiaoge turned to leave, she was unexpectedly blocked by a girl wearing a floral print dress.
The girl sized Lu Qiaoge up from head to toe and asked in a condescending tone, "So you're Lu Qiaoge?"
Lu Qiaoge glanced at her and smiled slightly. "That's right, I am Lu Qiaoge."
The girls stood by the roadside, stealing glances at her. A breeze brushed through Lu Qiaoge's hair, and the morning light washed over her porcelain-white face, her crow-feather lashes casting small shadows beneath her eyes.
The calm, composed, and picture-perfect Lu Qiaoge was not what they had expected.
Instead, the hostility in the eyes of the girl in the floral dress was impossible to hide.
"They say one should be forgiving. What benefit do you get from making such a huge scene? Lu Qiaoge, with someone like you, how can you even work at the neighborhood office? Can you actually act as a mediator with a fair mindset?"
Under the large tree by the roadside, everything suddenly went silent.
Lu Qiaoge lifted her eyelids indifferently. Was this someone Shen Yun or Liang Aishu knew?
Shao Le stopped acting awkward; his face flushed red, and he was about to speak when his partner, Chen Zhi, grabbed him and shook her head.
Lu Qiaoge gave Shao Le a faint glance before looking back at the girl in the floral dress. "When accusing others, shouldn't you politely introduce your name and workplace?"
The girl in the floral dress opened her mouth and said righteously, "My name is Cai Xiaohe, and I work at the factory broadcasting station. What, is Lu Qiaoge some kind of special person who can't be spoken of?"
Lu Qiaoge smiled slightly. "Then, when you accuse someone, can you clarify exactly why you are accusing them?"
Cai Xiaohe choked for a moment, then said sarcastically, "Don't play dumb. Isn't everything involving you, Lu Qiaoge, about Liang Aishu and Shen Yun?"
Lu Qiaoge: "And what does that have to do with you?"
Cai Xiaohe: "If it has nothing to do with me, does that mean I can't speak up for justice?"
Lu Qiaoge gave a gentle smile. Over there, Shao Le felt that things were going south, but he knew all too well the temperament of the "Four Flowers" of the broadcasting station.
It would be better to stay silent; if he interjected, there was no telling what kind of mess would be made.
Shao Le was also unhappy; with a dark expression, he shook off Chen Zhi.
Chen Zhi's eyes reddened, and she looked as if she were about to cry.
Another girl nearby hurriedly held her and shook her head.
Lu Qiaoge smiled faintly. "What a fine display of 'speaking up for justice.' Would you like me to tell you in detail what Shen Yun and Liang Aishu were doing by the lake the day I fell into the water that caused my agitation and anger? Or why Shen Yun's pulling caused me to fall into the water with her? And after I broke off my engagement, why Shen Yun and Liang Aishu wouldn't let it go and instead spread rumors about me and my family? Would you like to hear it first, so you can decide exactly whose side you should be 'speaking up' for?"
Cai Xiaohe: "..."
Her mouth hung open, momentarily unable to react.
Mainly, she had never met a girl who spoke like Lu Qiaoge.
In her mind, the most Lu Qiaoge could say was to angrily retort: "What does this have to do with you? Mind your own business!"
(End of Chapter)