Fusion System: Rebirth in a Courtyard - Bird Fighting Chronicles

Chapter 101 A Conspiracy in the Cold Night, Shadows Sprout

The winter solstice of 1963 came earlier than usual. Just past dusk, leaden clouds swallowed the last rays of sunlight, and the blue bricks and gray tiles of the Hongxing Courtyard were quickly permeated with cold. When Lin Chen returned from the steel rolling mill in the twilight, the icicles on the eaves had already grown to an inch long, gleaming coldly in the dim kerosene lamplight. He had just stuffed the technical reports from the precision forging group into his canvas bag when he caught a glimpse of a hunched figure flashing past the west corner of the central courtyard. The half-face hidden in the collar of his cotton-padded coat was none other than Jia Zhangshi, who should have been sent to a labor camp at the quarry.

Lin Chen paused, his fingertips subtly touching the system detector in his pocket—a makeshift device he'd fused from old radio parts and a metal detector, capable of detecting metallic movements within five meters. The device made no sound, indicating the other person wasn't carrying any metal, but their furtive demeanor still sent alarm bells ringing in his mind. Memories of his past life—of Jia Zhangshi's failed attempt to steal grain and subsequent false accusation—surfaced. He stealthily slipped into the shadows beside the public water tank, using the water pipes as cover to observe the situation.

Jia Zhangshi moved along the wall of Yi Zhonghai's house, her withered fingers tapping a secret signal of three short taps followed by one long one on the door. A moment later, the side door creaked open a crack, and Aunt Yi peeked out. Seeing her, her face instantly darkened: "Why are you back? Weren't you supposed to stay for the full three months?" Jia Zhangshi crouched low and slipped inside, whispering, "I asked my distant nephew at the brick kiln to get me a sick leave certificate, saying my asthma had flared up and I needed to rest. If I stayed any longer, my family would drive Qin Huairu to her death!"

Lin Chen silently circled around to the back window of Yi Zhonghai's house. The window paper here had been torn by the cold wind last winter and replaced with a new layer of hemp paper. He could vaguely hear the conversation inside. He took out a thin piece of glass from his canvas bag—this was a "sound amplification lens" after the system integration, which could amplify faint sounds several times. After sticking it on the window paper, the argument inside the house came through clearly.

"You're courting death!" Yi Zhonghai's voice was filled with suppressed anger. "The neighborhood committee just finished registering the list of reform-through-labor inmates, and you've run back without permission. If you're discovered, I'll be implicated too!" "Being implicated is better than starving to death!" Jia Zhangshi's voice sharpened, then she hurriedly lowered it. "That girl Qin Huairu is completely unresponsive now, Sha Zhu has stopped sending us supplies, and our rice jar is almost empty. Jia Geng stole half a cornbread from Aunt Li yesterday and almost got caught. If we don't find a way, our Jia family line will end!"

After a clatter of bowls and chopsticks, Aunt Yi sighed, "Old Yi, what she said makes sense. Qin Huairu is now doing landscaping work in logistics, and her monthly salary is only twenty-seven yuan and fifty cents. She has to support three children and also pay your 'filial piety money,' so she really can't keep up. Besides, that kid Lin Chen is riding high in the factory right now. He can replace the leader of the precision group without hesitation. If he continues like this, we'll have no place to stand in the factory at all."

Lin Chen frowned slightly. He hadn't expected that his promotion to a key technical position would make Yi Zhonghai so wary. As he listened intently, he suddenly heard light footsteps behind him. He turned around abruptly and saw Liu Guangtian standing behind him with a toolbox, his face full of tension: "Master Lin, my dad asked me to bring you some freshly forged drill bits. I saw you here..." Lin Chen made a shushing gesture and pointed to the window. Liu Guangtian immediately understood and tiptoed closer.

The conversation inside had gotten down to business. "If it weren't for that brat Lin Chen, would I have been publicly criticized by the factory?" Yi Zhonghai's voice was filled with resentment. "Last time with the high-precision gears, I deliberately made Qin Huairu his assistant, hoping he'd mess things up. I never expected him to create some kind of special mold, which actually made him the hero! That kid is our nemesis; we have to kick him out of the factory!"

"How can we get rid of him? He's Director Wang's favorite now, winning one technological innovation award after another." Jia Zhangshi's voice was timid yet fierce. "If all else fails, I'll go to the factory gate and make a scene, saying he harassed my Qin Huairu!" "Nonsense!" Yi Zhonghai scolded. "Qin Huairu is a workshop employee's family member now. If you make a scene like this, you'll only make her lose her job. I've already thought of a plan. We'll target his weakness—doesn't he always secretly sell the tools he forges? We'll fabricate evidence that he's reselling workshop scrap materials, and have the factory fire him on charges of 'speculation and profiteering'!"

Lin Chen, standing outside the window, felt a chill. He had indeed disposed of his research and development samples through Old Wang at the scrap yard, all in compliance with regulations and registered with the workshop. He never expected that Yi Zhonghai would target him. Liu Guangtian clenched his fists and whispered, "Master Lin, this old bastard is too wicked. Let's go in and expose him now!" Lin Chen shook his head, signaling him to continue listening.

"Forging evidence? That's no joke." Jia Zhangshi's voice hesitated. "He caught us red-handed stealing eggs last time. What if we get caught again this time..." "Don't worry, this plan is very meticulous." Yi Zhonghai's voice was smug. "I've already had Xu Damao prepare it. He used to be in charge of propaganda in the film projection team, so he's the best at imitating handwriting. We'll get a 'reselling agreement,' and then have Yan Bugui keep an eye on his dealings with Old Wang at the scrap yard. With both witnesses and physical evidence, he won't be able to deny it!"

"Yan Bugui? He'd actually help us?" Aunt Yi asked doubtfully. "People die for money, birds die for food," Yi Zhonghai sneered. "I promised him that if it worked out, I'd help him pull some strings at the school to get the 'District-Level Outstanding Teacher' title back. Do you think I don't know what he's up to?" Just then, Xu Damao's slick voice came from the courtyard gate: "Uncle Yi, I'm here."

Lin Chen pulled Liu Guangtian into a nearby woodpile, watching Xu Damao hunch his shoulders and enter Yi Zhonghai's house, clutching a brown paper envelope. Once the light shifted to the inner room, Lin Chen quietly led Liu Guangtian away, returning to his own north wing. As soon as they closed the door, Liu Guangtian exclaimed anxiously, "Master Lin, we can't just sit here and wait to die! Xu Damao is a master at spreading rumors, and Yan Bugui is cunning. If they join forces, they can definitely fabricate false evidence!"

Lin Chen didn't answer immediately, but instead opened the system panel. After this period of accumulation, his system level had risen to level 5, unlocking the "Skill Fusion" function, which allowed him to combine and enhance the core elements of two different skills. Looking at the "Handwriting Identification" and "Material Analysis" skills on the panel, he selected to fuse them. A pale blue light flashed, and a new "Evidence Tracing" skill appeared in the skill bar, with a note indicating that it could pinpoint the forger's information through traces of handwriting, paper, and ink.

"Don't panic, their plan is full of loopholes." Lin Chen pointed to the system panel and explained, "Yi Zhonghai only knows that I have dealings with Lao Wang, but he doesn't know that there is a scrap registration form in the workshop for every transaction; Xu Damao imitates my handwriting, but he doesn't know that I developed the habit of writing with sharp angles in the forging workshop, which he can't imitate; as for Yan Bugui, he cares most about his reputation. As long as we find a handle on him accepting benefits, he won't dare to act rashly."

Liu Guangtian was still a little worried: "But if they team up to make false accusations, the people in the institute might believe them. After all, Yi Zhonghai used to be an eighth-level fitter, and Yan Bugui is an instructor. Their words carry more weight than ours." Lin Chen smiled and rummaged through the storage room to find a tin box containing evidence he had collected—photos of Liu Haizhong beating and scolding his children, records of Yan Bugui secretly tutoring students and collecting eggs, and copies of Yi Zhonghai's ledgers deducting apprentice benefits. These were all irrefutable pieces of evidence photographed or copied by the system.

"We don't need to confront them head-on." Lin Chen took out a pen and paper and quickly wrote down a plan. "After you go to the workshop tomorrow, try to get as many leave slips as Xu Damao wrote before; the more the better. I'll go to the scrap yard to find Old Wang and have him prepare all the transaction receipts. Also, I need to go to the neighborhood committee to report to Director Li about Jia Zhangshi's unauthorized escape from the labor camp. Let's cut off their escape route first, and then see how they perform."

Just then, there was a soft knock on the door. Lin Chen asked warily, "Who is it?" Qin Huairu's hesitant voice came from outside, "Master Lin, it's me. I... I have something I want to tell you." Lin Chen opened the door and saw Qin Huairu standing there holding a mended cotton-padded coat, her face full of conflict, with Jia Dang following timidly behind her. "Come in and sit down," Lin Chen said, stepping aside to let them in and pouring them a cup of hot water.

Qin Huairu took the water glass, her fingers trembling slightly. "Master Lin, my mother... my mother-in-law is back. She just went to Uncle Yi's house. I heard them saying they were going to scheme against you, saying they'd fabricate evidence and kick you out of the factory..." She lowered her head, her voice filled with guilt. "Before, they forced me to scheme against Sha Zhu. Thanks to you for enlightening me, I feel much more at ease now that I'm making a living by mending clothes. I can't watch them harm you anymore."

Lin Chen's heart skipped a beat; he hadn't expected Qin Huairu to come and tip him off. Looking at the woman before him, now stripped of her disguise, her face weary yet resolute, he couldn't help but recall the Qin Huairu of his past life, forced to lose herself by life's hardships. A wave of emotions washed over him. "Thank you for telling me all this," Lin Chen said sincerely. "Actually, I already know their plan and am trying to figure out a way to deal with it. Don't worry, I won't let them succeed."

Jia Dang suddenly tugged at Qin Huairu's sleeve and whispered, "Mom, I just saw Uncle Xu go into Uncle Yi's house with a piece of paper in his hand. It had the word 'agreement' written on it." Lin Chen's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Did you see it clearly? What else was written on the paper?" Jia Dang tilted his head and thought for a moment, "It seems to have 'scrap steel,' 'fifty jin,' and your name. Uncle Xu wrote it crookedly."

After seeing Qin Huairu and her daughter off, Lin Chen immediately activated the system's "Environmental Scan" function, inputting the location of Yi Zhonghai's house. A simplified structural diagram of the house's interior quickly appeared on the system panel, marking the locations of several metal objects and pieces of paper. One of these, located in a drawer of the octagonal table in the main room, was labeled "Multiple layers of paper, containing ink traces." "It seems Xu Damao has already finished writing the forged agreement," Lin Chen sneered. "Since they're in such a hurry to jump into this trap, let's dig an even bigger one for them."

The next morning, Lin Chen deliberately arrived at work half an hour later than usual. As soon as he stepped out of the courtyard gate, he saw Yan Bugui standing there with a cloth bag on his back, a forced smile on his face: "Good morning, Master Lin. I'm on my way to school. I heard you've been working on technological innovations at the factory lately; you're really promising at such a young age." Lin Chen feigned surprise: "Good morning, Teacher Yan. Are you going to tutor students? Didn't the neighborhood committee say last time that private tutoring wasn't allowed?"

Yan Bugui's face stiffened instantly, and he hurriedly covered it up, saying, "It wasn't tutoring, I was delivering homework to the students. By the way, I saw you with Old Wang from the scrap yard yesterday, what were you talking about?" Lin Chen understood; Yan Bugui had started spying on him. He deliberately lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "Don't mention it. The workshop recently had a batch of scrap alloy scraps, and I talked to Old Wang to help dispose of them and exchange them for some food coupons to improve the apprentices' meals. It's all registered according to regulations, a proper procedure."

Yan Bugui's eyes lit up immediately, and he hurriedly asked, "Oh? Is that so? When is the transaction? I think Old Wang is a bit dishonest, you'd better be careful, don't get scammed by him." Lin Chen hesitated for a moment, then said, "This afternoon after get off work, at the back gate of the scrap yard. But this is a matter for the workshop, Teacher Yan, please don't tell anyone, lest it cause misunderstandings." Yan Bugui nodded repeatedly, "Don't worry, I'm very tight-lipped." Watching Yan Bugui's hurried departure, Lin Chen's lips curled into a cold smile.

Upon arriving at the workshop, Liu Guangtian was already waiting at the door, clutching several slips of paper in his hand: "Master Lin, these are Xu Damao's leave slips that I found in the workshop office, along with some drafts of the bulletin boards he used to write. Do you think they'll be useful?" Lin Chen took the slips of paper and carefully compared them. Xu Damao's handwriting was indeed crooked and messy, with dragging strokes, especially the character "Lin," where the right side, the "wood" radical, was always written too long. Lin Chen's own signature, on the other hand, was narrow on the left and wide on the right, bearing the obvious marks of a forging worker's habits.

"This is incredibly useful." Lin Chen pulled out the plan he'd written yesterday. "Go to the scrap yard and find Old Wang. Tell him to prepare fifty kilograms of ordinary scrap steel and write a proper disposal form. Have him wait for me with the form when he leaves work this afternoon. Also, go borrow a camera from the workshop logistics department. We need to 'catch them red-handed' this afternoon." Liu Guangtian took the plan, excitedly saying, "Okay, Master Lin, I guarantee I'll get it done!"

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Lin Chen informed Zhou Jianguo, the workshop director, that he needed to go to the scrap yard to dispose of scrap materials, and Zhou Jianguo readily approved his leave. As soon as Lin Chen and Liu Guangtian left the workshop, they saw Xu Damao following behind on his bicycle, peeking out from behind every now and then. "The fish has taken the bait," Lin Chen whispered to Liu Guangtian. "Proceed according to plan."

Upon arriving at the back door of the scrap yard, Old Wang was already waiting there with a burlap sack and a scrap disposal form stamped with the workshop's official seal. Lin Chen took the form, pretending to check the quantity with Old Wang, and deliberately raised his voice: "Old Wang, this fifty jin of scrap steel took me a long time to get approved by the foreman. You'd better give me enough grain coupons in return; a dozen or so apprentices in the group are waiting." Old Wang cooperated, saying, "Don't worry, you'll get your share. It's all at market price: one jin of scrap steel for two liang of grain coupons, so fifty jin is ten jin of grain coupons."

Hiding in a corner not far away, Xu Damao immediately pulled out paper and pen, quickly taking notes, and even secretly snapped a few photos with his camera. Lin Chen caught a glimpse of this out of the corner of his eye, secretly chuckling to himself. Only after Xu Damao had finished taking pictures did he complete the "transaction" with Old Wang, taking the grain coupons and turning to leave. He hadn't gone far when he saw Yan Bugui running up breathlessly, asking Xu Damao, "How did it go? I told you they'd make a deal today, did you get all the evidence?" Xu Damao proudly waved his camera: "I got it all, and the agreement is ready too. I'll send it to the factory first thing tomorrow morning, I guarantee that kid Lin Chen will be in big trouble!"

By the time Lin Chen returned to the courtyard house, it was already dusk. He had just put the grain coupons into the storage room when he heard an argument coming from the middle courtyard. He went over to see what was happening and saw Yi Zhonghai and Xu Damao arguing, with Yan Bugui and Jia Zhangshi standing to the side. "What kind of photos are these? The transaction process is completely unclear!" Yi Zhonghai shouted, holding up the photos, his face ashen with anger. "And this agreement! Look at the name you wrote for Lin Chen; it's completely different from his usual signature. The factory management can tell it's a forgery at a glance!"

Xu Damao retorted, "I've already made it very convincing! Besides, with Teacher Yan as a witness, and the grain coupons and scrap steel involved in the transaction, isn't that enough?" Yan Bugui quickly added, "I can testify. I definitely saw them make the transaction, and I even heard them say they exchanged ten jin of grain coupons." Jia Zhangshi chimed in, "That's right, as long as the four of us report them together, the factory will definitely believe us!"

Lin Chen stood in the shadows, watching them accuse each other and collude in their disheveled state, and couldn't help but shake his head. He turned and went back to his room, opened the system panel, and uploaded Xu Damao's handwriting sample and a scanned copy of the forged agreement to the "Evidence Tracing" skill. The system quickly provided analysis results, highlighting more than ten differences in the handwriting, and also detecting that the paper used for the agreement was special manuscript paper that Xu Damao had stolen from the film projection team, with the team's watermark on it.

The next morning, Yi Zhonghai and his three companions indeed joined forces to report Lin Chen to the factory administration, presenting a forged agreement, blurry photos, and Yan Bugui's "testimony," insisting that Lin Chen was reselling workshop scrap. Director Wang immediately had Lin Chen summoned to his office and also notified the workshop director Zhou Jianguo and Old Wang from the scrap yard.

"Lin Chen, they say you're reselling alloy scraps from the workshop. Is that true?" Director Wang asked sternly, pointing to the evidence on the table. Lin Chen calmly replied, "Director Wang, I did handle a batch of scrap materials, but it was all done according to proper procedures. I have the workshop's scrap registration form and the scrap yard's processing certificate as proof. The agreement they have is forged, and the photos are taken out of context."

As he spoke, Lin Chen took out the prepared scrap registration form, disposal certificate, and a handwriting analysis report printed out by the system. "Please take a look, everyone. This is a comparison between Xu Damao's usual handwriting and the handwriting on the forged agreement. There are more than ten obvious differences, especially in my name. Master Xu wrote the right side of the character 'Lin' too long, while my usual signature is narrower on the left and wider on the right. In addition, the paper on this agreement is the special manuscript paper of the projection team, which has obvious watermarks. There is no way I could have obtained this kind of paper."

Xu Damao's face turned deathly pale, and he hurriedly protested, "I didn't forge it! Lin Chen forced me to write it! He threatened to report me for having an affair with a female worker if I didn't write it!" Lin Chen sneered, took out a voice recorder—he had made it using system-fused radio parts and cassette tapes—and pressed play. A conversation between Xu Damao and Yi Zhonghai immediately came through: "Uncle Yi, I've written this agreement. I guarantee no one will be able to tell the difference..." "Don't worry, I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong. As long as you get rid of Lin Chen, you'll get your share of the benefits..."

The office was silent. Yi Zhonghai and the others looked ashen-faced. Director Wang slammed his fist on the table in anger: "So, you lot actually conspired to fabricate evidence and falsely accuse a key technical worker! Yi Zhonghai, as an eighth-grade fitter, it's one thing to be unambitious, but to resort to such underhanded tactics; Xu Damao, you haven't even corrected your conduct issues, and now you're involved in this false accusation—it's utterly lawless!"

Ultimately, the factory made the following decisions: Xu Damao was dismissed from his public office for misconduct and false accusations; Yi Zhonghai's technical allowance was revoked, he was demoted to a level seven fitter, and transferred away from the precision workshop; Yan Bugui was criticized by the school for participating in false accusations and was disqualified from being awarded honors; Jia Zhangshi was sent back to the quarry by the neighborhood committee for escaping from labor reform without permission, and her labor reform period was extended by three months.

As he stepped out of the factory office, the setting sun streamed through the window, bathing the floor in a warm golden light. Liu Guangtian ran over, excitedly saying, "Master Lin, that's great! Now they won't dare to scheme against you again!"