The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

Gu’er had a restless night.

She tossed and turned on her bed. One moment, scenes of thick, rolling smoke and soaring flames flashed before her eyes. The next, it was the image of a charred human figure. Then, it was Lin Shan and the others conducting their inspection but finding nothing, followed by the explosion happening anyway, with Liu Yuan collapsing amidst the blast.

Gu’er didn’t want to think about these things, but the images kept forcing their way into her mind.

She had already told Liu Yuan to take the next couple of days off from work. Although Liu Yuan didn’t understand why, he saw how serious she was and promised her he would request leave.

But even with his promise, she couldn’t feel at ease.

The next morning, Gu’er left without even eating breakfast. She went to the Sun Family’s home first, where they were in the middle of their meal.

Gu’er hastily took a couple of bites and told Sun Jiaming about Lin Shan’s inspection today.

"Liu Yuan might have gone to the factory today," Sun Jiaming said. "Let’s go to the Liu family’s place first. If he’s already at the factory, we’ll head straight there. Grandma, Auntie, if Li Zhi and Dingzi show up, just tell them to meet us at the factory."

As Sun Jiaming spoke, it occurred to Gu’er that with the factory undergoing an inspection, the management probably wouldn’t approve any leave requests.

Sun Jiaming took Gu’er to the Liu family’s home on his motorcycle.

This wasn’t the first time she had ridden on a motorcycle with Sun Jiaming; it was his second time giving her a ride. But she didn’t have the same feeling as the first time, because her heart was heavy with worry.

Still, as the motorcycle hummed along, Gu’er couldn’t help but marvel. ’A year ago, I hadn’t even been reborn. After I was, I still remember how excited and envious I was when I first saw the bicycle Sun Jiaming bought. Now, just over six months later, we’ve already upgraded from a bicycle to a motorcycle.’

When they arrived at the Liu family’s home and asked, they were told that Liu Yuan had left for the factory early in the morning. Apparently, the factory had called him late last night, telling him to report to work at five a.m.

It was just as she’d feared. Gu’er and Sun Jiaming exchanged a look, and he immediately drove her toward Liu Yuan’s factory.

Just as they arrived, they saw a Toyota pull up. Gu’er knew it was Li Zhi and Dingzi.

Sure enough, the car came to a stop, and Li Zhi and Dingzi got out, waving at Gu’er and Sun Jiaming.

Sun Jiaming rode his motorcycle over and parked it next to Li Zhi’s car.

Unsure if Lin Shan and his group had arrived, they went straight to the factory’s main gate. However, the old man at the gate refused to let them in, saying that officials were coming for an inspection and no outsiders were allowed.

They argued for a long time to no avail. Even when they said they were looking for Liu Yuan, the man wouldn’t let them in or even call for him. He insisted that his orders came from above and that any business would have to wait until after the inspection was over.

The four of them had no choice but to return to the car. They couldn’t just force their way in; that wasn’t their goal.

"Let’s just wait. My dad and the others should be here soon."

Gu’er knew it was useless to be anxious. ’Even if we get inside, I don’t know where the problem is,’ she thought.

"Don’t worry. My dad is with them, so they’ll definitely come together. When the time comes, we can just follow them in," Li Zhi reassured Gu’er, adding that he had successfully persuaded his father to help.

After a short wait, they saw several cars approaching in the distance. Gu’er immediately straightened up. She knew it had to be Lin Shan and his group.

Sure enough, a number of people got out of the cars. It looked like several officials, accompanied by their aides and subordinates.

Gu’er spotted Lin Shan.

"That’s my dad," Li Zhi said, pointing him out to Gu’er.

Li Zhi’s father was in his forties and wore a police uniform. Li Zhi bore a strong resemblance to him, though his father looked much more mature and imposing.

As the group of officials walked over, they noticed Gu’er and the others. It was hard not to; the parked car stuck out like a sore thumb.

Li Zhi shot a look at Gu’er and the others, then followed the group.

He overheard someone ask who they were. Lin Shan and Li Zhi’s father, Li Quanyou, whispered a few words in response. They said something about how their own disobedient and disappointing children were always idle and never serious about anything. They hoped that by taking this opportunity to let them see the factory, learn from the master workers, broaden their horizons, and settle down, they might one day contribute to the country. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

After this explanation, the other officials naturally had no objections and could only agree. Someone even praised Li Zhi and Gu’er. Gu’er and Li Zhi pretended not to hear and just followed along at the back.

This was Gu’er’s first time visiting a factory. It was a little like what she had seen on TV, but also a little different.

They followed the group on a full tour, seeing plenty of equipment and workers, but they didn’t discover any problems.

The inspection tour was about to end, and still, no issues had been found. Gu’er started to panic. If they left just like this, although nothing would happen to Lin Shan, the local district chief and party secretary would surely think he was being meddlesome and overreaching his authority. She didn’t want her father to earn that kind of reputation, and she didn’t want the tragedy from her past life to repeat itself.

’But where exactly is the problem? Why does everything look so normal right now? No, that’s not right. There must be something we haven’t seen.’

Gu’er remembered seeing on TV how some companies, in order to pass inspections, would make arrangements in advance to present a good facade while hiding anything unflattering.

’That’s it! I haven’t seen Liu Yuan. That means we haven’t seen the entire factory.’

Seeing that they were about to step out of the factory building, Gu’er couldn’t hold back any longer. She took a few quick steps forward and called out to Lin Shan.

Lin Shan nodded apologetically to the officials beside him. Although finding nothing today could have a negative impact on him, he didn’t blame Gu’er. For her to call out to him now, it had to be for a good reason. He knew his daughter wasn’t a tactless person.

"Dad, I didn’t see Brother Liu Yuan. His mother said he came to the factory early this morning, but we haven’t seen him at all. I’ve heard that when higher-ups come for an inspection, some factories and workplaces make arrangements beforehand to hide the bad parts."

Gu’er explained her thoughts, unwilling to let the inspection end so hastily.

Lin Shan looked deeply at Gu’er. He was not unaware of what she was saying; many organizations engaged in this kind of window dressing. It was an open secret, and often, people would just turn a blind eye. Unless the issue was particularly severe, no one wanted to offend anyone else—after all, you never knew who was backing whom.

Gu’er looked back at Lin Shan, her eyes filled with resolve. She didn’t understand much about politics. All she knew was that if they didn’t conduct a thorough inspection, then after they left—maybe today, maybe tomorrow—an explosion would happen here. She couldn’t accept Liu Yuan being killed in the blast. She thought of that grief-stricken, half-mad old woman, and she truly did not want such a tragedy to occur.

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Thank you to wenzhouzzp, Sidney Liu, and FF722 for the monthly tickets, and thank you to Xiao Wangsu for the rating ticket. Thank you all for your support. There will be another update tonight.