Chapter 145: Hidden Arrows Are Hard to Guard Against

"Yes, in the future, we will definitely be stronger than them!" Cui Yue said, rubbing his hands together.

Old Qin chuckled. This kid was quite confident!

"Alright, you handle the cleanup. I've already dismantled the circuit board; just screw it directly into place when you reassemble it later."

Cui Yue nodded. This kind of work was already second nature to him, completely familiar.

"I'll go check on the starter switch by the screening cylinder." Old Qin muttered, holding a screwdriver and humming a little tune as he walked away.

Cui Yue composed himself, evenly coating the gears with grease, adjusting the clearance, and narrowing his eyes to carefully double-check everything.

In the factory office, Feng Tao looked through the glass window at Cui Yue in the distance, his expression unreadable as he silently lit a cigarette.

"Hey, Liu Cheng, are you playing or not? I'm still waiting to make my move."

Liu Cheng's face was plastered with paper strips, scratching his head in anxiety.

"What's the rush, you ancestors! It's not like I want to sit on a winning hand with nowhere to play it!"

The skinny monkey beside them spat on the ground. "With the little junk you're holding, I could win with my eyes closed!"

Liu Cheng was about to flare up when Feng Tao barked, "What are you all arguing about? You can't even get the simplest things done."

The group immediately fell silent, not daring to take a deep breath.

"Brother, why are you staring at that eyesore? Aren't you just asking to upset yourself?" Liu Cheng walked over. Ever since he suffered a hidden blow from Cui Yue last time, he never dared to stir up trouble easily again—that kid was too ruthless, and he didn't want to humiliate himself again.

"Shut up! Every time I think of him, it makes my blood boil! If I don't get rid of him, my last name isn't Feng!" Feng Tao stubbed his cigarette out fiercely in the ashtray, a fierce glint in his eyes.

Liu Cheng stared thoughtfully at the pile of parts in Cui Yue's hands, and an idea suddenly struck him. He leaned into Feng Tao's ear and whispered a few words.

The gloomy look on Feng Tao's face gradually gave way to a sinister smile.

"Good, let's do it that way. Though your body is useless, your brain still works well. Once I become the workshop director, you'll be the deputy director."

Hearing this, Liu Cheng beamed with joy. "Thank you for cultivating me, Brother Feng!"

He turned back and instructed the skinny monkey with a few more words. "Alright, go quickly."

The skinny monkey's eyes rolled, and he nodded, immediately dropping his cards and scampering out of the workshop with a feigned expression of urgency.

After carefully cleaning the grease off his hands, Cui Yue lifted the dismantled circuit board and placed it back in position. He adjusted the wiring harness master switch and just picked up his screwdriver.

He heard someone shouting at the top of their lungs outside the workshop.

"Cui Yue! Cui Yue! Someone's looking for you!"

"Calling me?" Cui Yue muttered, putting down the screwdriver and walking out of the workshop doors.

Seeing Cui Yue step outside, Feng Tao stealthily crept over to the dismantled machine, a vicious smile spreading across his face.

"Cui Yue, the Party and Government Office asked me to bring back these study materials. Make sure you hand them directly to Master Qin later." The skinny monkey shoved a stack of documents into Cui Yue's arms with a fake expression.

Suspecting nothing, Cui Yue carried the stack of documents back into the workshop, huffing as he piled them onto Old Qin's desk and letting out a long breath.

He returned to his workstation, quickly screwed in the remaining bolts, and checked them one by one to make sure everything was correct before securing the machine's fairing. Job well done.

Feng Tao and the others watched the busy Cui Yue with cruel smiles at the corners of their mouths. *Enjoy it while you can; you'll have plenty of reasons to cry in a minute!*

"Little Master Qin, is this big guy all maintained now?" shouted Sister Liu from Production Group One.

"All set, Sister Liu. Just call me Cui Yue; I'm no master, please don't make fun of me."

"Oh, getting modest now, are we?" Sister Liu grinned, casually pushing the knife switch upward. "Alright, let's get an early start. We're still behind on today's quota, or else we'll be stuck working overtime again."

"Okay, you go ahead and get busy, Sister Liu. I'll go check on Master Qin."

Sister Liu nodded, placing her finger gently on the green start button and pressing it.

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

Several sharp alarm sounds echoed from the control cabinet. The machine's transmission gears barely began to turn before grinding to a halt, and electric sparks suddenly erupted from within the fairing...

A series of crackling sounds filled the air.

A small tongue of flame, accompanied by black smoke, suddenly leaped out!

"Oh no!"

Cui Yue's first reaction was that an accident had occurred. He rushed forward in two strides and pulled down the knife switch.

Disregarding the danger, he ripped off his own work uniform and began beating out the flames on the fairing.

Sister Liu's thumb remained foolishly pressed against the start button. Staring at the machine still venting black smoke before her, her face turned ashen white, and she nearly fainted.

Feng Tao was now slapping his thighs in glee and hurriedly grabbed Liu Cheng.

"Quick, go! Go to the administrative building right now and tell Liu Laisheng that something major has happened in Production Workshop One!"

Liu Cheng scratched his head, not understanding. "What's the point of telling Liu Laisheng about this?"

Enraged, Feng Tao slapped Liu Cheng across the head. "Stop talking nonsense! I told you to go, so go! Telling Liu Laisheng is the same as telling the factory director! I just praised you for being smart, so why are you acting so utterly brainless right now?"

Hearing this, Liu Cheng instantly understood Feng Tao's intention: the bigger this incident blew up, the more miserably Cui Yue would die!

Feng Tao waved his hands excitedly, signaling Liu Cheng to hurry. Once the factory director arrived, this was not something Production Workshop One could easily sweep under the rug.

Fortunately, the flames were small and Cui Yue handled the situation properly, extinguishing them within moments.

Gazing at the steaming machine before him, Cui Yue was at a loss, his vision going dark.

This was the crown jewel of the entire factory, and now it was practically scorched and still venting steam...

Sister Liu finally snapped back to reality and burst into a wail, tears and snot streaming down her face. "Wah... Wah... What, what on earth is going on here? I just pressed it once, why, how did it end up like this?"

She turned and collapsed onto the workstation, howling uncontrollably, completely impervious to anyone's attempts to comfort her.

The workers from Workshop One gathered around, wide-eyed and staring, none of them daring to utter a sound.

Cui Yue took a deep breath. What must come cannot be avoided; he braced himself to step forward.

Suddenly, a figure rushed over frantically, parting the crowd to force a way in.

"What's going on? What happened?"

Old Qin, who had finally squeezed his way through, saw the machine before him and felt his blood pressure skyrocket, nearly losing his footing.

"This, what is the meaning of this?" Old Qin asked in a trembling voice.

"I, I don't know. After I finished inspecting it, I put the fairing back on, but as soon as I pressed the start button, it, it..."

Cui Yue's voice grew fainter and fainter. Old Qin's piercing gaze made it impossible for him to lift his head.

He knew he had messed up—made a catastrophic mistake. The factory's most prized possession had been ruined right in his hands.

"What is it with 'it'! What actually happened?!"

Old Qin roared in fury, his anger now thoroughly ignited.