Wu Xingde was the kind of person who could easily win people over at first glance—otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to maintain his facade for so long in the original story. Though his looks weren’t as striking as Qi Fang’s, he had a gentle smile, refined manners, and polite speech, clearly the product of a good upbringing.
Even Aunt Guo and Xu Wenli found him remarkably humble. Here was a high-ranking engineer, yet he’d come all the way to their small workshop just to thank a mechanic.
Unfortunately, his timing was off—Qi Fang had been temporarily reassigned the day before. Otherwise, Xu Wenli thought, spending more time with him would’ve surely brought them some benefits.
Xu Wenli couldn’t help feeling regretful, and Wu Xingde mirrored his disappointment. "What a shame, just two days too late. I was hoping to ask him how he came up with the solution."
"You could ask my master," one of Xu Wenli’s apprentices interjected. "It wasn’t just Qi Fang’s idea—my master put in a lot of effort too."
Yet all the credit had gone to Qi Fang—first Secretary Qu personally brought the town’s mechanics to learn from him, then he got reassigned to the county…
Wu Xingde immediately turned to Xu Wenli, who waved his hands dismissively. "What effort? I just helped out for a few days. The ideas were all Qi Fang’s."
"Still, you contributed. Sometimes experienced hands like you understand machinery better than us engineers in the research institute."
Wu Xingde had a way with words, making Xu Wenli almost embarrassed. "It’s you engineers who make the real contributions. We’re just good at fixing things."
He then recounted how Qi Fang had ended up at their small repair shop to fix the RT-12, and how he’d roped him into figuring out the repairs for the logging equipment.
Though Xu Wenli wasn’t the most articulate, he went into great detail—even mentioning how they’d hit a snag once and had to readjust their approach.
From the sound of it, the solution really had been Qi Fang’s idea, refined through trial and error with Xu Wenli—not something Qi Fang had simply pulled out of thin air.
This surprised Wu Xingde. "You accomplished all that in just a few days?"
"The forestry station was in urgent need," Xu Wenli explained. "Qi Fang practically lived at the repair shop those days, sometimes even skipping meals."
That sounded exactly like Qi Fang. Back in school, he’d been the same way—so diligent it made everyone else look lazy by comparison.
Wu Xingde smirked inwardly but pressed further. From the repair shop’s perspective, the solution had indeed been a collaborative effort between Qi Fang and Xu Wenli.
Realizing he wouldn’t get anything more useful, Wu Xingde thanked the group again. "Your hard work isn’t just solving problems for the forestry station—it’s helping our research institute and the nation as a whole."
Then he asked, "Could someone direct me to Qi Fang’s home? I have something to give him."
He pulled two books from his bag. "Technical manuals and materials on engineering machinery. I hope he keeps striving to contribute more to our country."
Books were a rare commodity in those days, and this gesture fit his identity perfectly—no reason for suspicion.
Sure enough, Xu Wenli immediately thanked him on Qi Fang’s behalf and sent an apprentice to guide him. "Someone should be home at this hour."
"Will his wife be there?" Wu Xingde asked the young man. "If Qi Fang isn’t around, would it be improper for me to visit?"
"Don’t worry, his wife’s grandmother is staying with them. There’s always someone home during the day."
"His wife’s grandmother lives with them?" Wu Xingde feigned mild surprise.
"And her younger brother too. They’re quite the capable family."
It wasn’t clear whether "capable" referred to Qi Fang supporting the whole household or Yan Xue managing to have them all rely on him.
By the time they reached Yan Xue’s doorstep, Wu Xingde had subtly extracted plenty of information. He thanked the apprentice and prepared to enter alone—Yan Xue had seen him before, and some conversations were best kept private.
Once the young man was out of earshot, Wu Xingde knocked. But after several attempts, no one answered.
Hadn’t he been told someone was always home? His knocks were loud enough to rouse the dogs inside.
He tried again, then noticed the gate was slightly ajar. Deciding to take a chance, he pushed it open.
"Hello—"
Before he could finish, two dark shapes lunged at him.
The dogs, though still young, were descendants of hunting breeds and looked plenty intimidating. The sudden attack startled Wu Xingde so badly he stumbled back, nearly losing his balance on the threshold.
Just as he steadied himself, someone hurried out and scolded the dogs. Only then did he realize they were just puppies.
"Sorry about that," a young woman said with an apologetic smile. "We were in the backyard and didn’t hear you. You alright?"
What could Wu Xingde say? He forced a gracious smile. "No harm done."
Then the woman got a good look at his face and paused. "Wait, aren’t you…?"
His pulse spiked—had Qi Fang told her about him?
Unlikely. Qi Fang was reserved and tight-lipped, especially when it came to their shared past involving their mentor. Bottling things up was more his style.
Sure enough, after a moment, she snapped her fingers. "You’re the guy who went up the mountain to find Qi Fang and got beaten up by him."
Wu Xingde had no idea how she’d witnessed that humiliating scene, but clearly she didn’t know he was Qi Fang’s senior or the history between them.
That worked in his favor. He chuckled. "Qi Fang never mentioned me? I’m his senior—we studied under the same mentor."
He was banking on Qi Fang’s silence about their past, planning to use her as a backdoor.
Yan Xue noted how well this man understood Qi Fang’s nature. If she hadn’t proven her mettle, Qi Fang would’ve suffered in silence rather than worry her.
But this man didn’t know her. She widened her eyes in feigned surprise. "Qi Fang has a senior? Then why’d he hit you?"
Wu Xingde sighed. "There’s been… misunderstandings." He glanced past her. "It’s complicated. Mind if I come in?"
Oh, the poor, misunderstood soul. Yan Xue almost laughed. Instead, she glanced at the dogs. "Fine, come in."
Two could play at this game. She was curious what he was really after.
To Wu Xingde, her hesitation read as wariness—using the dogs for courage. That aligned with his intel: cautious but uneducated, limited by her rural upbringing.
Perfect. The moment he stepped inside, he dropped his voice. "Did you know Qi Fang’s in serious trouble?"
So he was here to scare her? Yan Xue immediately bristled. "You’re the one in trouble! Qi Fang’s doing great—he just got reassigned to the county!"
"Precisely because he was seconded to the county, disaster is looming." Wu Xingde wasn’t surprised by her reaction. "Otherwise, why do you think the county insisted on having him?"
Yan Xue hesitated slightly but remained mostly skeptical. "Stop talking nonsense. Being seconded to the county is clearly a good thing."
"Do you know how our teacher died?" Wu Xingde pressed further. "Or why a college graduate like him would bury himself in this mountain ravine as a lumberjack?"
He fired one question after another. Though Yan Xue maintained a calm facade, her stiff posture betrayed her unease.
Noticing this, Wu Xingde dropped a bombshell. "Our teacher was arrested for treason and leaking state secrets."
At this, Yan Xue gripped the edge of her seat, genuine panic flashing across her face. "Really? Why has Qi Fang never mentioned it?"
"How could he dare tell you?" Wu Xingde insinuated. "Last time I came, I tried to warn him to be cautious. But he wouldn’t listen—even got into a fight with me. Now, the authorities are reinvestigating the past, and he’s in their crosshairs."
Anyone who lived through those times would tremble at such words. True enough, Yan Xue grew even more flustered, nearly losing her composure. "Then... what should we do?"
Wu Xingde had been waiting for this exact question. "Does Qi Fang have anything suspicious? If so, get rid of it—burn or destroy whatever you can."
His eyes, magnified behind his glasses, scrutinized her every micro-expression. "After all, it’s been so long. Without evidence..."
He still suspected Qi Fang had kept something hidden. Otherwise, how could Qi Fang always devise better solutions than the rest of them under the same constraints?
Perhaps Qi Fang had taken it with him when he left, which was why Wu Xingde hadn’t found it.
Outsiders might be fooled, but a spouse? Harder to deceive. She might have noticed something.
Under his gaze, Yan Xue seemed to recall something. But before he could probe further, she suddenly relaxed. "Then there’s no problem."
The abrupt shift caught Wu Xingde off guard. To his further frustration, she changed the subject. "Where are you working now, Senior Brother?"
Who cared about discussing careers? His expression froze momentarily. "At the research institute."
"Since you work with machinery, you must deal with dirt and soil a lot, right?"
Another baffling question. Wu Xingde answered dismissively, "Mostly tractors for domestic production. Bulldozers and excavators are rarer."
"But you still get exposed to dust." Yan Xue, as if finally on familiar ground, grew talkative. "I have some wood ear mushrooms—great for cleansing the lungs. Would your institute be interested?"
Without waiting for a reply, she fetched a bundle. "Home-dried. They don’t sell for much locally."
She launched into a sales pitch, extolling the benefits of wood ears and even shoving a handful at Wu Xingde, clearly hoping he’d help broker a deal.
Never mind that the institute was miles away—even if it weren’t, Wu Xingde wasn’t in procurement, nor did he have patience for her trivialities.
As Yan Xue prattled on, he steered the conversation back, reluctantly asking the price.
"Locally, it’s four yuan per pound. But since your institute is far, the price should double, right?"
Double? She had nerve. Wu Xingde couldn’t fathom what Qi Fang saw in her—just her looks, or her half-baked cleverness that made her easy to manipulate?
Too irritated to endure more, he bought five pounds out of pocket, claiming he’d take them back for sampling. Then he circled back to his original agenda, warning Yan Xue to dispose of anything incriminating.
Yan Xue snorted. "All he had was a stupid notebook, and some idiot already stole it. No idea why he treasured it so much. When it went missing, he blamed me for wanting to visit home."
The "idiot" in question, Wu Xingde: "..."
Empty-handed and forty yuan poorer, he left in a foul mood.
If even Qi Fang’s terrified wife had nothing else to reveal, was he overthinking this?
It didn’t add up. He’d studied that notebook for months. Even if he lacked Qi Fang’s genius, the gap shouldn’t be this vast...
With mounting pressure from above, he massaged his throbbing temples, pinning his hopes on progress from another angle.
After he left, Second Old Lady emerged from the opposite room, eyeing the money Yan Xue was counting. "Sold those broken wood ears?"
"Mm." Yan Xue’s eyes curved. "I’d planned to keep them for ourselves, but since he showed up, I figured I’d reclaim a bit of interest for Qi Fang."
Second Old Lady, understanding, didn’t pry. "As long as you know what you’re doing."
Yan Xue pocketed the money, her smile fading. "I’ll need to visit the county soon. Could you keep an eye on things here?"
If they were bold enough to threaten her at home, she had to check whether Qi Fang truly faced "disaster."
Besides, Wu Xingde had underestimated her—and Qi Fang. He’d spilled all that without even warning her to keep quiet.
Did he assume they were unaware of the transfer order? That even if she told Qi Fang, they wouldn’t connect the dots?
The county machinery plant had no idea they knew about the transfer. The notice had been intercepted by Qu Mingli before it could be issued.
Engineer Shen had been probing Qi Fang, testing whether he could fully patch the hydraulic system’s flaws.
But Qi Fang was a man of few words—silent, head-down, working overtime daily.
When Wu Xingde called, Engineer Shen was at his wit’s end. "This Qi Fang—is he even human?"
Luckily, he always handed cigarettes to the guards when making calls, buying privacy. Otherwise, his outbursts would’ve drawn stares.
"I know the higher-ups are breathing down our necks, calling this project useless, worse than the old transmission system. But he has to actually fix it! Do you know what he does all day? Makes parts, assembles them. Rinse and repeat. Does he even know how to do anything else?"
Engineer Shen couldn’t fathom it. "If we can’t solve it, how can a mere repairman? Are you so desperate you’ll clutch at anything? I’ve pressured him, even let rumors swirl at the plant questioning whether he’s the real brains behind the solution. He doesn’t react."
Lately, whispers had spread at the county machinery plant. If Qi Fang only assembled parts, why not borrow a technician from Chengshui Repair Factory? Why recruit him?
What they truly wanted wasn’t just reduced wear and tear—it was a permanent fix. And Qi Fang hadn’t delivered.
"Alright, alright, I'll follow your advice and provoke him more." After all, the other party was the main person in charge of the project, so Engineer Shen still gave him some face.
But when he stepped out of the guardhouse, his expression remained sour, making the apprentice who had come to fetch him hesitate before approaching.
Seeing the apprentice only worsened his mood. "What now? Did your master’s hydraulic system act up again?"
Since switching to the Jicai-50, the older tractors had been left idle. The county machinery factory had picked a few in decent condition to convert into bulldozers for road construction.
After all, compared to agricultural and forestry machinery like tractors, engineering equipment like excavators and bulldozers was in much shorter supply domestically, with many being makeshift modifications.
This was the county machinery factory’s first attempt at such a conversion, and they lacked experience. The hydraulic system kept malfunctioning—this wasn’t the first time they’d asked Engineer Shen for help.
Already worn thin from overtime, Engineer Shen was in no mood to deal with them. "I haven’t slept properly in days. Even if I go, I won’t be able to figure it out. You’d be better off asking Qi Fang."
At this point, he could barely suppress a cold smirk. "He’s full of energy, never seems to tire, and knows hydraulic systems inside out."
If he hadn’t been familiar with them, how could he have come up with the previous solution? Since Qi Fang was so capable, let him shoulder the burden. Engineer Shen was curious to see if Qi Fang could work miracles this time.
Determined to push the task onto Qi Fang, Engineer Shen left the apprentice in a tough spot, unsure how to explain it to his master.
Master Hong took one look at the apprentice’s downcast expression and hesitant demeanor and immediately understood. "Engineer Shen refused to come?"
"He said he hasn’t slept much in days and wouldn’t be able to figure it out even if he came," the apprentice admitted truthfully.
They were the ones asking for help, and from someone outside their factory at that. Master Hong had little recourse. "Forget it, then. We’ll have to figure it out ourselves."
"He also told me to ask Qi Fang—said Qi Fang’s energetic and knows hydraulic systems well," the apprentice added, clearly displeased.
Master Hong paused at that. "Then go and ask Qi Fang to take a look."
The apprentice was taken aback. "Seriously?"
"Do you have another solution?" Master Hong turned back to the dismantled machinery. "It won’t take much time, and we’re not making progress on our own anyway."
The apprentice saw the logic and went to find Qi Fang, though he wasn’t sure Qi Fang would agree.
When he arrived at Qi Fang’s workshop and explained the situation, Qi Fang actually set down the part he was working on. "Converting it into a bulldozer?"
He seemed interested, so the apprentice nodded. "But the hydraulic system keeps acting up. It works for a bit, then fails."
The old tractors had used a reliable hydraulic system for years without issues. Now that they were being modified into bulldozers, the sudden problems had to stem from the conversion.
Qi Fang was deep in thought when someone outside called, "Qi Fang, someone’s here for you!"
He turned and, in the next second, caught sight of a familiar petite figure.
Yan Xue stood at the workshop entrance, wrapped in a red-checkered scarf that accentuated her snow-white, doll-like face, both hands full of bags.
Qi Fang immediately forgot about the apprentice and strode over. "What are you doing here?"
Yan Xue, staying in character as a dutiful rural wife, replied, "I was worried about you." Then, lowering her voice slightly, "And there’s a bit of trouble at home."
But given her personality, she’d always handled problems on her own rather than traveling all this way to seek him out.
In all their time married, there’d never been an issue she couldn’t resolve without him.
Qi Fang studied her closely and, sure enough, caught her discreetly blinking and glancing to the side.
He feigned a frown. "What could possibly happen to me? You’re always overthinking things."
Qi Fang’s expression was naturally stern, and the frown made him look like he was scolding her.
Men valued their pride in public, especially young ones, and hated being fussed over by their wives. The onlookers chuckled.
"Your wife brought so much stuff—don’t leave her standing at the door," someone quickly interjected.
This was perfect. With Yan Xue here, Qi Fang couldn’t just ignore her, which meant the others could take a breather too.
Sure enough, though his expression remained stern, Qi Fang didn’t argue. He took the bags from Yan Xue and led her to the break room.
The moment the door closed, his frown vanished. His face was still impassive, but there was a newfound warmth to it.
"You said there was trouble at home. What happened?" he asked quietly, shutting the door behind them.
"We’ll talk about that later," Yan Xue deflected, playfully pressing a finger to her lips. "Are you settling in okay at the machinery factory? I brought you some food."
Qi Fang played along. "Why bother? They’ve got plenty here."
"Then how about this?" Yan Xue grinned, pulling two boiled eggs from her pocket.
Qi Fang was about to say boiled eggs were nothing special, but then he paused, his gaze locking onto her without a word.
Yan Xue’s eyes curved into crescents, shimmering in his vision. "Happy birthday, Comrade Qi Fang~"
They didn’t just shimmer in his eyes—they rippled straight into his heart, leaving his voice rough. "It’s not a big deal. I’d forgotten myself."
Before her, he’d spent even New Year’s alone in the mountain equipment shed. Why would he remember trivial dates like this?
Truthfully, Yan Xue wasn’t one for birthdays either—she didn’t celebrate her own. But when she noticed the date on the calendar and realized she’d be visiting anyway, she decided to pack him a couple of eggs.
She glanced at his work clothes. "I’ll hold onto these for now. You can have them at lunch."
"Mm." Qi Fang’s peach-blossom eyes stayed fixed on her, unblinking.
Handsome people really did look good in anything. Taking advantage of the empty break room, Yan Xue lightly traced her finger along his jawline.
The touch was feather-light and cool from the outside air, but his lips chased after her anyway. "You’re asking for it."
The three words felt like a verdict, an accusation. Still in his work clothes and careful not to dirty hers, he didn’t lean in, just braced a hand against the door behind her.
But that only made it more of a classic "wall slam." Yan Xue felt pinned by his presence and couldn’t resist teasing, "Where did you even learn this?"
Qi Fang didn’t answer. His gaze, which had been locked on her eyes, slowly dropped to her soft, pink lips.
This wasn’t even subtle anymore. Yan Xue instinctively pressed her lips together, wondering if she should remind him they were in the factory break room—when a knock interrupted.
"Um," the timid voice of the apprentice who’d been waiting piped up, "Xiao Qi, do you have time to take a look now?"
Qi Fang: Let someone else deal with it. Don’t interrupt Xiao Qi’s ‘apprentice training’!
