“Eldest , go to the police station now and call the police!” Father Xu ordered. He turned to Xu Ruhua. “You and I will go to the old house.”
” Big Brother, I’ll go with you!” Xu Ying shouted, quickly getting into the car. She followed Big Brother Xu towards the county town. Xu Ying didn’t know much about what happened back then, so in the car, she asked Brother Xu many questions. Only then did she learn that Xu Shengshun had been brilliant in elementary school and even graduated from high school. If college hadn’t been canceled, he would have surely gone. Later, Xu Shengshun, using his own skill, got a job directly in the human resources department of the food factory. Such a job was incredibly rare back then, especially a high-ranking one like that. What should have been a great joy turned into a sudden disaster.
“Brother, you go to the Public Security Bureau first. I’ll go to the food factory,” Xu Ying said. Then, she ran towards the food factory. She arrived at just the right time. Factory Manager Sun was leaving, having arrived late himself. When he saw Xu Ying, his face lit up with surprise, then a wide smile. He had made a lot of money lately thanks to her duck products. But the sales area was too small, only in their county and nearby cities. He’d heard that her duck products were famous in other provinces. If they could sell there, they would surely make even more money. “Little Xu, what new food have you made?” he asked eagerly.
Xu Ying shook her head. “Director Sun, I have a favor to ask you.”
“What is it?” Director Sun asked, curious, with no sign of annoyance.
“My cousin, Xu Shengshun, got a job in the human resources department of our food factory. But because of some accidents, he couldn’t come to work. I want to know how this job was handled?” In those days, buying and selling jobs was common, and some people would do anything to get work.
When Director Sun heard this, he smiled. “Usually, if someone can’t come, their family takes the job, or it goes to the next person on the list.”
Xu Ying took a deep breath. “Director Sun, can you help me find out who took that job?”
Director Hong frowned. The secretary next to him looked even more angry. “Countless people join us every year. Our factory director is very busy. How can he have time to check this for you?”
“Secretary Zhang, this is a member of our factory’s research and development department. She created the duck products. Please be polite to her,” Director Sun snapped, glaring at his secretary and directly telling him Xu Ying’s important role. Secretary Zhang, sharply put in his place by the director, instantly became more well-behaved.
Xu Ying saw Director Sun’s willingness to help. She quickly told him the year her cousin got the job. Hearing this, Secretary Zhang unwillingly returned to the office and started working extra hours. Usually, jobs in the human resources department were excellent. No regular factory worker would quit, let alone someone in human resources. So, the human resources department hired very few people, only every few years.
As soon as Xu Ying told him the year, Secretary Zhang quickly found the old records. He looked at it strangely, then quickly told Director Sun, “This Xu Shengshun did come to work.”
At these words, Xu Ying’s face turned pale. She knew there was no such thing as a coincidence. Her cousin was hurt that day, and her sister-in-law was hurt too.
Director Hong looked surprised. “Little Xu, are you sure your cousin didn’t come to work?”
Xu Ying fought back her anger. She tried very hard to stay calm. Her voice was flat, without warmth or anger. “Director Hong, when my cousin got the job in your factory, it was a huge cause for celebration. It happened on the same day my cousin and his wife got married. But on their wedding day, my cousin suddenly fell in an accident and broke his head. The injury was very serious, and he was taken straight to the hospital. He almost died. My second uncle and second aunt were so busy caring for my cousin that they had no time to worry about this job. I want to meet this person named Xu Shengshun.”
How could Director Sun say no? If what Little Xu said was true, then this matter was very serious. Someone had pretended to be someone else, and had worked in their factory for many years! Director Hong was not a fool. If something like this happened, he would be held responsible. He felt a surge of anger. He waved his hand towards Secretary Zhang. “Go and get Xu Shengshun from the personnel department!”
Secretary Zhang saw the anger on the director’s face and ran to get the person quickly, afraid of getting into more trouble. Not long after, Secretary Zhang came back with a short man.
“Director Hong, are you looking for me?” The short man, Xu Shengshun, didn’t know what was happening. He looked up at the director, his eyes full of questions.
“Liu Haile, I don’t know when you became my cousin?” Xu Ying looked at the familiar man in front of her and said with a sharp, mocking tone.
The man, whose messy bangs seemed to shift, jumped when he heard Xu Ying call his real name. His whole body trembled, but he still tried to deny it. “Girl, what are you talking about? What Liu Haile? My name is Xu Shengshun.” The man looked up and was a little surprised to see Xu Ying’s face, but then he felt a bit familiar.
Xu Ying sneered. “My cousin, Xu Shengshun, is not like you. He doesn’t have such an evil and tricky look. Everyone knows my cousin was the best student in the county high school and had excellent grades. Many people have met my cousin. How about we find those people to prove it, one by one? Liu Haile, we have met. You are Liu Haiyun’s younger brother, aren’t you?”
The moment Xu Ying said this, Liu Haile knew he couldn’t hide it anymore. He fell to his knees with a loud thud. “Director Hong, I didn’t mean it! Someone came to me before. He and Xu Shengshun are good friends. He said that Xu Shengshun couldn’t work anymore. So he sold this job to me, and I paid him a full eight hundred yuan!”
Xu Ying looked at him with disgust. “Since you said you bought your job, you could have changed your name then. Why did you use my cousin’s name?”
Liu Haile’s face was filled with panic. Impersonating someone and taking over a job from a family were very different things. He was so scared he could die. At that time, he hadn’t thought about it at all. He only cared about getting a job. “It was Zhang Guoqing who said that Xu Shengshun didn’t have time to transfer the job to me, so I kept using his name. Really, I swear!” Liu Haile said, his face pale.
Zhang Guoqing. It was him again.
“Liu Haile, we have already called the police about this. You better have proof that what you said is true, otherwise, it’s illegal to pretend to be someone else.”
“Proof? It’s been so many years, where can I find proof? And I gave him the money directly!” Liu Haile was about to cry, but no tears came.
Xu Ying’s face was grim. “Liu Haile, why did you give him the money? Why should you pay him for my cousin’s job? Or is there something shameful between you two?” She pressed on, step by step, asking several questions in a row that made Liu Haile panic. “Also, you were a student at the time. How did you get so much money to buy this job?”
A layer of sweat appeared on Liu Haile’s nose. “My sister gave me that money. My brother-in-law has a job, and he can make money, so he gave it to me.”
“Liu Haile, if I remember correctly, your brother-in-law only started working in recent years. His job only pays thirty yuan a month. Your sister dresses up every day. Eating meat every day… can they save much money from a monthly salary of over thirty yuan?”
Liu Haile was incredibly anxious, his face turning even paler. He glared at Xu Ying, full of anger.