Chapter 19 — The Secret Pension

The past has faded into history long ago, and I have no desire to preserve a false pretense of harmony.

I spoke with icy detachment, fixing my gaze ahead. My father lived in destitution for twelve full years, and there were times my mother could barely afford the surgery she desperately needed.

And now you dare to speak of maintaining peace?

Hao Guangzhi slowly raised his eyes and looked straight at me.

Young lady, you should learn to watch your tongue and not speak with such malicious hostility.

The documents from that year have already been brought here.

His personal assistant stepped forward to unlock a weathered archive box. Right at the very top lay a severely yellowed sheet of paper. Hao Guangzhi pushed it across the polished surface of the conference table until it rested in the dead center.

The authorization form for the test run.

Signatory: Han Dexuach.

An absolute, heavy silence fell over the entire conference room. I leaned forward to inspect it closely. At the bottom of the page, my father’s name was indeed written in dark blue ink. It was not a photocopy or a digital scan. My father took only a single glance before he abruptly stood up from his chair.

This is not a permit for operation.

Hao Guangzhi asked slowly, his voice dripping with arrogance: In black and white, right before your eyes, do you still intend to deny it? My father pointed directly at the surface of the document.

The header of this form has been altered and replaced.

The signature at the bottom is the one I signed on the request form for a parameter re-examination.

I signed it explicitly to demand a machine shutdown for safety checks, not to grant permission for startup.

Han Dehai slammed his palm down onto the table without a moment's hesitation.

Brother, the older you get, the more adept you become at fabricating stories out of thin air.

The handwriting is yours, and the paper is the very same paper from those years.

I stared at the disputed document, my heart tightening anxiously in my chest. Luo Ming put on a pair of sterile gloves, picked up the paper carefully, and held it up against the bright light filtering through the window. He studied it in silence for several seconds, and his expression suddenly shifted.

This paper has a laminated layer.

Hao Guangzhi’s eyes narrowed instantly, his gaze turning dark and heavy. Luo Ming did not attempt to peel it apart. Instead, he placed the document carefully inside a transparent evidence sealing bag.

This material requires rigorous technical forensic examination.

Until the final results are officially released, this cannot be used as conclusive evidence.

Hao Guangzhi let out a cold, mocking laugh.

Have things truly reached a point where you refuse to acknowledge even the historical archives?

At that exact moment, Gao Jiandong suddenly spoke up from his corner.

Director Hao.

Back then, you stood right beside the control console and uttered a specific sentence.

Do you dare to repeat those words here today?

Hao Guangzhi turned to look at him, his expression flickering slightly. Gao Jiandong rested his hands on the arms of his wheelchair, his voice trembling slightly with age and emotion, yet exceptionally clear and resonant.

You said to initiate the startup immediately, and whatever consequences arose, you would take full responsibility.

At that critical moment, Engineer Han was not standing at the control console.

He had gone to locate the safety officer.

The conference room plunged into a suffocating, dead silence. Hao Guangzhi pressed his lips into a hard, unyielding line. The very next second, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed sharply from the corridor outside the door. A middle-aged woman burst into the room, holding a thick file folder aloft in her trembling hands.

Do not let Hao Guangzhi leave.

The materials my husband left behind before his passing can prove precisely who coerced him into altering the operational logs back then.

The woman who had broken into the room was surnamed Wei. Her late husband had served as the safety inspector during the fateful period of the accident. Less than two years following the tragedy, he had contracted a severe illness and passed away abruptly. As Mrs. Wei placed the dossier onto the table, her hands were still shaking visibly.

For all these years, I never dared to bring this out into the open.

Before he died, my husband confessed that he carried a heavy burden of guilt toward Engineer Han, and toward Gao Jiandong as well.

He said that on the day of the incident, Engineer Han had explicitly demanded a shutdown to conduct inspections, and he had originally written the accurate field logs according to standard protocol.

But shortly after, Hao Guangzhi forced him to rewrite everything.

Hao Guangzhi leaped to his feet with a start.

You are talking utter nonsense!

Mrs. Wei did not retreat an inch. She reached into her cloth handbag and pulled out a small, heavily folded piece of paper. The paper was deeply discolored with age, its edges frayed from being clutched over and over.

This is what my husband kept hidden inside his medical records.

He told me that if the day ever came when Engineer Han was driven to the absolute brink of survival, I should hand this paper over to the authorities.

Luo Ming stepped forward and took the small slip of paper. Written upon it were only a few brief lines. I falsified the operational logs, and I hold a grave debt of guilt toward Engineer Han. Before the test run, Engineer Han ordered a halt, but Hao Guangzhi urged the startup forward. Lu Jianguo retrieved the original logs, and Fang Weidong participated in supplementing the procedural paperwork. At the bottom were the signature and date of the safety officer. Every single person in the conference room sat in absolute stillness. Lu Jianguo, who had been brought in to assist with the inquiry and had been sitting quietly in the far corner, saw the note, and the color drained entirely from his face, leaving it ashen. Hao Guangzhi pointed an accusing finger at Mrs. Wei.

Are a few scribbled words left behind by a dead man supposed to be accepted as absolute truth?

Mrs. Wei’s eyes reddened with tears as she retorted: Then you explain it to us.

Why did my husband, right up until his dying breath, constantly repeat that he had wronged Engineer Han?

Why did he tremble uncontrollably every time someone mentioned the accident at the old factory?

Why did you send people to my home twice bearing money, warning me never to visit the factory offices to inquire about the old documents again?

Hao Guangzhi’s overbearing demeanor finally fractured, crumbling visibly. Han Dehai could no longer sit still in his seat.

This matter has nothing whatsoever to do with the living allowances.

We are discussing the issue of your father’s unauthorized alteration of administrative regulations.

I turned my cold gaze toward him.

It is entirely related.

You used the tragedy of the accident to blackmail my father, keeping him too terrified to ever investigate the misappropriated allowances.

And later, you colluded with Lu Jianguo and Fang Weidong to manipulate and reroute the financial accounts.

Now that the muddy waters surrounding the accident have been cleared away, what else do you possibly have left to crush him with?

Han Dehai’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Do not speak with such absolute certainty.

The money was transferred directly out of an account held under your father’s name.

If you claim I stole it, you will have to verify every single transaction record item by item.

Just at that precise moment, the bank manager arrived, having been summoned to the site. He carried authenticated copies of sealed counter transaction slips alongside a comprehensive, long-term transaction history statement.

Following a thorough internal audit conducted by our bank.

When the allowance account was originally opened, the individual who actually processed the paperwork in the archival identification photograph was not Mr. Han Dexuach.