OBS Chapter 642 Are you trying to fish?
Chapter 642 Are you trying to fish?
Several figures rushed into the workshop at the same time, and the lights turned on instantly, but the workshop was empty.
"Where is everyone?" Old Zhang looked around. "I clearly saw someone come in just now."
Li Xiangyang frowned, carefully observing the situation inside the workshop. There were several wet footprints on the ground, leading all the way to the back door. Clearly, Zhang Xiaowei had escaped through the back door after hearing the commotion.
"Boss, look at this," a security guard said, pointing to a packaging machine.
Li Xiangyang went over and saw that the control panel of the packaging machine had been pried open, and the circuit board inside showed obvious signs of damage. Several screws and a small screwdriver were scattered on the ground.
"That bastard!" Old Zhang said angrily, "I'm going to settle the score with Zhang Xiaowei tomorrow!"
"Don't rush," Li Xiangyang stopped him. "If we go to him now, we'll only alert him. We need to figure out why he's doing this."
Wang Ergou picked up the screwdriver from the ground and examined it: "This tool is professional; it doesn't look like something someone would just grab casually. Looks like this guy planned this all along."
Li Xiangyang nodded. Zhang Xiaowei's ability to precisely destroy the critical parts of the equipment indicated that he either had the relevant technical background or had someone guiding him in doing so.
"Old Zhang, you guys go back and rest first. Go to work as usual tomorrow, just pretend nothing happened," Li Xiangyang instructed. "I'll figure out how to handle this."
After the security guards left, Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou stayed in the workshop to continue their inspection.
"Ergou, tomorrow you casually go and chat with Zhang Xiaowei, see if you can get anything out of him."
"Okay. What if he notices something?"
“Then let’s lay it all out.” Li Xiangyang’s tone turned serious. “I want to see who’s behind this.”
The factory started work as usual the next morning. But Li Xiangyang could clearly sense that something was off. The workers, who were usually talkative and cheerful, were all rather silent, especially when passing by the malfunctioning packaging machine, where they would subconsciously glance at it a few more times.
Zhang Xiaowei came to work as usual, behaving no differently than usual.
Around 10 a.m., Wang Ergou walked up to Zhang Xiaowei's workstation and casually said, "Xiaowei, how did you sleep last night? You don't look too well."
Zhang Xiaowei was visibly taken aback for a moment, then forced a smile and said, "It's alright, just a bit of insomnia."
"Are you worried about equipment malfunction?" Wang Ergou continued, trying to probe further. "But don't worry too much, the boss won't blame us workers."
"What...what am I worried about?" Zhang Xiaowei's voice trembled slightly. "This has nothing to do with me."
Wang Ergou keenly noticed his unusual behavior, but didn't press the matter. Instead, he patted him on the shoulder: "Yeah, this kind of technical issue really has nothing to do with us. Okay, you go ahead with your work, I'll go take a look elsewhere."
During lunch, Wang Ergou told Li Xiangyang what he had observed.
“He’s definitely feeling guilty,” Wang Ergou said. “And I noticed he’s been secretly observing his surroundings all day, like he’s on guard against someone.”
Li Xiangyang pondered for a moment: "It seems he didn't intentionally cause trouble; he was probably threatened or bribed."
"Should we just talk to him directly?"
“Wait a little longer,” Li Xiangyang shook his head. “I want to see if anyone else is involved besides him.”
Around 3 p.m., Li Xiangyang was processing documents in his office when he suddenly heard a commotion outside. He quickly went out to check and found that there was a problem in the finance department.
"What's going on?" Li Xiangyang asked Xiao Chen, the finance manager.
"Boss, someone has tampered with our ledgers," Xiao Chen said, his face pale. "Today I came to organize last month's financial statements and found that several ledgers had been moved. Although no data is missing, it's obvious someone has looked through them."
Li Xiangyang's mood immediately became even heavier. The equipment being damaged was troublesome enough, but now someone was even spying on the financial records. This meant that the other party's goal wasn't just sabotage, but also to obtain information about the factory's operations.
"Besides the ledgers, has anything else been touched?"
Xiao Chen thought back carefully: "The safe showed no signs of being opened, but my desk drawer seemed to have been rummaged through. However, it only contained some unimportant documents, so it should be fine."
"Starting today, financial documents must be handled more securely," Li Xiangyang instructed. "Important documents should be placed in the safe, and you should keep the key with you at all times."
"Okay, boss."
Back in his office, Li Xiangyang felt increasingly uneasy. The fact that the other party both sabotaged equipment and stole financial documents clearly indicated an organized and premeditated operation. Furthermore, the fact that they could target multiple departments simultaneously suggested there was more than one inside agent.
"Ergou, come here for a second." Li Xiangyang picked up the phone on the table.
A few minutes later, Wang Ergou walked into the office.
"The situation is more serious than we thought," Li Xiangyang told him about what happened in the finance department. "I suspect that Zhang Xiaowei isn't the only mole in the factory."
Wang Ergou's expression also turned serious: "Then what should we do? Investigate them one by one?"
“No, that would be too easy to expose us.” Li Xiangyang thought for a moment. “I have an idea, but I need your cooperation.”
"you say."
"Tonight, we'll deliberately spread the word that an important client will be visiting the factory tomorrow, and we need to prepare some materials overnight. Then we'll see who's particularly interested in this news."
Wang Ergou's eyes lit up: "You want to go fishing?"
"Yes. If there really is an inside agent, they will definitely find a way to spread this news. Then we can follow the clues and find out who's behind it all."
"That's a good idea!" Wang Ergou nodded. "I'll go arrange it now."
Before leaving get off work that day, Wang Ergou deliberately mentioned to his employees that a major client would be visiting the next day, and specifically mentioned that the client might inspect the financial situation and production processes. Sure enough, the news quickly spread throughout the factory.
At 8 PM, Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou pretended to work overtime, but were actually secretly observing the situation. They had installed several hidden cameras in the office building, specifically to monitor areas that might be problematic.
By 10 p.m., the factory was mostly quiet. Only the security guards on duty were patrolling the factory area, and the occasional sound of footsteps could be heard.
Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou took turns watching the surveillance footage, afraid of missing any clues.
"Boss, do you think they'll take the bait?" Wang Ergou asked in a low voice.
"Even if they take the bait, they're probably not the mastermind. We need to be patient."