Siheyuan: tomb robbing? I am serious about hunting.

Chapter 421: Stop pretending to be stupid!

Sha Zhu was determined to make Li Huaide feel the same way. While he was busy in the cafeteria, he would secretly pay attention to Li Huaide's every move, trying to find an opportunity to take advantage of him.

One day, Sha Zhu heard that an important production project that Li Huaide was in charge of was about to face a critical inspection from his superiors, and the success or failure of this project would have a significant impact on Li Huaide's career. Sha Zhu's mind moved and a plan came to mind.

He privately found an old worker who was in charge of the logistics of the project. This old worker had met Sha Zhu several times before. He was honest and kind, and was quite dissatisfied with Li Huaide's tyrannical behavior. Sha Zhu whispered his plan to him. The old worker hesitated after hearing it, but after Sha Zhu's repeated persuasion, he finally gritted his teeth and nodded.

It turned out that Sha Zhu was planning to tamper with the key links of project equipment maintenance. He knew that although these equipment seemed to be operating normally, the key components of several core machines were close to the limit of wear and tear. With just a little tampering, they could fail at a critical moment without being easily detected as human-caused.

With the cooperation of the old workers, Sha Zhu sneaked into the equipment maintenance workshop under the cover of night. Relying on his daily understanding of machinery, he carefully fine-tuned the parts of the machines, causing them to wear out further, but still maintain the illusion that they could barely operate.

After doing all this, Sha Zhu's palms were already full of sweat, but the corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing a barely perceptible sneer: "Li Huaide, just wait and see."

The inspection day was approaching, Sha Zhu was still busy in the cafeteria pretending to be calm, but in his heart he was always paying attention to the developments on the project side. Li Huaide knew nothing about this, and was still complacent about the upcoming inspection, dreaming of seeking credit and reward.

Finally, the day of the superior inspection arrived. Sha Zhu was busy in the cafeteria absent-mindedly, but his ears were always paying attention to the movements outside.

With the roar of cars, the superior's motorcade slowly drove into the steel mill. Li Huaide greeted them with a smile on his face, and his flattering look made Sha Zhu feel disgusted.

After the inspection began, everything seemed to be going smoothly. Li Huaide led the leaders to shuttle between the workshops, introducing the progress and results of the project incessantly, with a confident smile on his face.

However, when the leaders came to the key equipment that Sha Zhu had tampered with, an accident occurred. A machine suddenly made a piercing noise, followed by billowing black smoke, and the entire workshop fell into chaos.

Li Huaide's face turned pale instantly. He looked at everything in front of him in horror, his mind went blank. The leaders' faces also turned very ugly, and they all frowned.

"What's going on? What did you do?" a leader scolded angrily.

Li Huaide was so scared that he was shaking all over and stammered, "I... I don't know either. Everything was fine before the examination."

At this time, Sha Zhu quietly came to the corner of the workshop, looking at Li Huaide's embarrassed appearance, and felt secretly proud in his heart. But he also knew that now was not the time to expose himself.

After the technicians’ emergency repair, the fault was temporarily under control, but the accident had already brought a great negative impact on the entire inspection. The leaders had serious doubts about Li Huaide’s work ability, and the project that was originally expected to succeed was also in trouble.

Li Huaide returned to his office dejectedly after being reprimanded by his superiors. He sat on a chair with a hollow look in his eyes and a heart full of anger and regret. He knew that he had completely failed this time, but he couldn't figure out what went wrong.

Sha Zhu returned to the cafeteria and continued to work as if nothing had happened. He knew that his plan had succeeded, but he also knew that Li Huaide would not give up. In the days that followed, he had to be more careful to avoid being discovered by Li Huaide that he was behind the scenes.

As expected, after experiencing this major work mistake, Li Huaide did not sink into despair. He began to ask around for information, trying to find out who was behind him, and he felt that Sha Zhu was a big suspect.

Sha Zhu also noticed Li Huaide's suspicion, and he became more low-key, but on the surface he pretended to be indifferent. He went to the cafeteria to work as usual every day, but when he met Li Huaide, his eyes would inadvertently reveal a hint of imperceptible provocation.

One day, Li Huaide called Sha Zhu to his office. The atmosphere in the office was so depressing that it was suffocating. Li Huaide sat behind his desk, looked at Sha Zhu with cold eyes, and said straight to the point: "Sha Zhu, I have been thinking recently, are you behind all the things that happened in the factory?"

Sha Zhu was shocked, but his face was full of innocent smiles: "Director Li, what are you talking about? How can I have that ability? I am just a cook in the cafeteria. Every day I think about how to make good meals and make everyone satisfied. I dare not get involved in these big things."

Li Huaide snorted coldly: "Don't play dumb with me! Don't think I don't know what you are thinking. From today on, you better be careful. If I catch you, you will be in trouble!"

Although Sha Zhu was a little scared, he still said, "Director Li, you can't wrongly accuse a good person. I, Sha Zhu, am upright and I am not afraid of your investigation." After saying that, he turned around and left the office.

After returning to the canteen, Sha Zhu realized that his situation was even more dangerous. He found Ma Hua and a few trusted co-workers, told them what had happened, and told them to be careful and not to be caught by Li Huaide.

At the same time, Sha Zhu also began to think about the next countermeasures. He knew that it was not enough to just make Li Huaide look bad at work. If he wanted to completely get rid of his entanglement, he had to find a way to solve the problem fundamentally.

So Sha Zhu began to collect evidence of other violations of Li Huaide's work, including his falsification of accounts and acceptance of bribes. He used his connections in the factory to secretly inquire about every possible clue and carefully preserved all the evidence.

Li Huaide also secretly stepped up his surveillance of Sha Zhu. He placed spies in the cafeteria to keep an eye on Sha Zhu's every move. The two sides were caught in a silent contest, and the atmosphere in the entire steel mill became increasingly tense.