The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

The determination and resolve in Gu’er’s eyes shook Lin Shan. He never imagined she possessed such bone-deep persistence.

"Okay, I understand."

Lin Shan nodded at Gu’er.

Gu’er watched Lin Shan walk back over to the others and say something. The expressions on several of their faces turned ugly, and one even raised his voice at Lin Shan.

But Lin Shan held his ground.

"District Chief Lin, don’t forget, this isn’t your district. When have we ever demanded an inspection in your area? We have to work together. Don’t push things too far, or things could get awkward between us down the road." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

A slightly balding man said to Lin Shan. Judging by his tone, he was likely the top or second-in-command of this district.

"District Chief Yu, since we’re already here, a comprehensive look is just being responsible for the factory’s safety. If we find nothing, isn’t that even better? It would just prove what capable leaders Secretary Chen, you, and Director Bai are. We should all be learning from you. As for Yonghong District," Lin Shan said with a chuckle, "we welcome you all to visit and inspect us at any time."

He held firm, despite his light tone.

"You’re really not giving us any face here, District Chief Lin. If we go over everything again and still find nothing wrong, I’d like to see what you have to say for yourself then."

Yu, the District Chief, said indignantly.

"Finding no problems would just prove your work is up to par, something we can all learn from. All right, let’s stop arguing and just take another look. Come on. After this, it’s my treat. We’ll go for some pork bone and pickled cabbage stew."

This came from Li Zhi’s father, Li Quanyou, who had stepped forward to speak. His words sounded conciliatory, but their content clearly sided with Lin Shan.

Gu’er and her friends followed along, her heart pounding in her chest. It wasn’t that she *wanted* the factory to have problems; she was just certain that it did, and she didn’t want Lin Shan to be humiliated over this.

"Dingzi, can you help me see where Liu Yuan is? And keep an eye out for anything we might have missed."

Gu’er whispered to Dingzi.

Dingzi nodded at Gu’er. His senses and powers of observation were far beyond those of an ordinary person.

Li Zhi thought Gu’er was being a little too tense, but now he also found himself hoping they’d discover something. Otherwise, Lin Shan would be in a very awkward position, especially since they’d already done one inspection.

Without needing to be told, Sun Jiaming was already scanning their surroundings. But the group ahead was moving quickly; the moment they fell behind, someone would hurry them along. This only strengthened Gu’er’s conviction that the factory definitely had a problem—they just hadn’t found it yet.

"Gu’er. I found a blocked-off door over there."

Dingzi reported in a low voice after returning to her side. His heart had jumped when he’d first spotted the door; it seemed there really was a problem.

"Come on, let’s go take a look."

Gu’er’s heart leaped into her throat. ’Maybe this is it. We’ve found the problem.’

As the four of them headed over, a young man spotted them and immediately shouted in alarm.

Gu’er pretended not to hear, picking up her pace to follow Dingzi. Sun Jiaming and Li Zhi immediately moved to flank her, protectively boxing her in.

The group ahead heard the shouting and turned around. One look was all it took for Lin Shan and Li Quanyou to understand. ’They must have found something.’

They started heading over as well.

The expressions on the factory director and foreman soured, but they were powerless to stop anyone. ’We made sure to lead them away from there, so how did they still find it?’

When Gu’er’s group reached the spot, they found a door hidden behind a large wooden plank. You would never have noticed it unless you came this specific way and looked very closely. It was a good thing they had Dingzi; otherwise, they would have missed it completely.

With swift movements, Dingzi had already pulled the plank aside. Someone rushed over to grab him, but he easily evaded them. A door was now exposed.

Everyone filed in. They discovered a smaller workshop, connected to the main one they had already toured. It was dim inside, but the space itself wasn’t tiny. It contained equipment, workers, and a large amount of the factory’s stock.

As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, Gu’er spotted Liu Yuan.

Liu Yuan stared back at them, astonished, clearly confused as to why Gu’er and her friends were there.

"This is just another one of our workshops. The lighting isn’t great, and we were afraid our esteemed leaders would be uncomfortable, so we didn’t invite you in."

The workshop foreman, his head beaded with sweat, stammered out an explanation.

"Well, since we’re here, let’s have a look," Lin Shan said, taking a step forward.

The workers stood there stunned, unsure whether they should stop what they were doing.

Now that they were inside, there was no stopping the inspection. And it immediately became clear that there were, in fact, serious problems. The equipment here was severely outdated—practically obsolete—yet it was still being used around the clock to maintain a high production volume.

The inventory in the other workshop had been stored within acceptable limits. But when combined with the stock piled up here, the total volume was anything but normal. It far exceeded safety limits, and the storage method violated regulations, creating a situation ripe for disaster.

Upon questioning the workers, they learned that the small workshop was usually piled several times higher with goods than it was now. Sometimes, there wasn’t even room to stand, and they had to lean against stacks of product just to operate their machines. The faces of the officials in the inspection party grew grim. Substandard equipment, round-the-clock shifts, excessive and chaotically stacked inventory... any small mistake could trigger an explosion. And an explosion of this magnitude would be no small matter.

Now, it wasn’t Lin Shan who looked pale, but Yu, the District Chief, and his entourage. Problems had been found. If an accident were to happen, every single one of them would be held responsible.

"What kind of operation are you running here?! Why hasn’t this equipment been reported and taken out of service? Stacking things like this is just asking for an accident to happen! Fix it! Fix this immediately!"

Yu, the District Chief, his face a mask of fury, roared at the workshop foreman.

Everyone filed back outside. Wiping sweat from his brow, the workshop foreman hastily ordered the workers to start moving the goods out.

As the goods were being moved out, Lin Shan and the others didn’t leave. They stood in the courtyard, listening as the factory director explained how he would resolve the issues.

Gu’er let out a small sigh of relief. ’As long as they fix the problems here and eliminate the hidden dangers, the explosion from my past life won’t happen. And since the problems were here, Dad won’t be held responsible for anything.’

But before she could fully exhale, she suddenly heard a deafening BOOM, a sound so powerful it felt like the earth itself was shaking.

A tremor ran through Gu’er. It wasn’t just her; everyone standing there flinched. The noise had been immense.

Gu’er’s heart shot into her throat. ’An explosion. That was an explosion!’ She could see thick smoke billowing up.

"Oh no! It’s bad! The stuff inside exploded!"

Someone came scrambling out of the workshop, screaming as they ran.

"Liu Yuan."

Gu’er cried out, her body swaying. ’Even though I was reborn... even though I had Dad and the others come inspect... they found the problem, they were already fixing it... but the explosion still happened. Does that mean Liu Yuan’s death is still inevitable?’

Thinking of that exceptionally handsome boy, Gu’er felt a piercing ache in her heart. ’Why didn’t I pull Liu Yuan out just now? Why did I assume the explosion wouldn’t happen? Why wasn’t I more careful?’

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A bonus Chapter for our Alliance Lord, Karl King. Three more Chapters will be released tomorrow. Another bonus Chapter will be unlocked at 60 monthly tickets.