[1960s + Siheyuan + hard-edged suspense and investigative thrills]
In the winter of 1960, Lin Jianjun was shoved into the security office of a steel mill.
Everyone in the courtyard cared about personal connections, seniority, and “the old rules of the courtyard.”
Lin Jianjun didn’t. He cared about factory regulations, evidence, handwriting analysis, and bank statements.
Xu Damao handed out fake medicine? Investigate.
Someone replaced the canteen’s lock? Investigate.
Was Jia Dongxu’s broken leg suspicious? Investigate.
Someone altered the word “ton” in the ledger? Investigate.
Yi Zhonghai slammed the table. “You really have to set yourself against the whole courtyard?”
Lin Jianjun pushed his notebook forward. “No. I’m only against people who break the law.”
Everyone in the courtyard waited for him to hit a wall.
Instead, with nothing but a stack of documents, he followed the clues from the pool in the middle courtyard all the way to the deputy factory director’s desk.
When a society ruled by personal connections meets written regulations, this battle was never going to end peacefully.
