16 The investigation team visited the workers, inspected the scene, and surveyed the accident-damaged vehicles. The conclusion was: the situation was as reported by Lü Jiucai; it was indeed a serious major accident.
17 The Baita station stationmaster was a spirited young man with deep-set nervously moving eyes. The fake report was written by him, and he said he did it for the reputation of the branch office. Bai Fan praised him for having the brains to do so.
18 After listening to the investigation team’s report, Liu Dashan shot to his feet and, rubbing his brushy hair, said: “Bad things came out of the hands of these people! Call Baita station, have that imposter stationmaster dismissed from office…”
19 When the investigation team had left, Liu Dashan pondered what disciplinary action to take against Bai Fan. Past events flooded his heart and mind one after the other: the two of them were demobilized and assigned work together; they also squatted together in the cowshed, interacted and got along day and night, drank straight from the bottle, and talked their hearts out.
20 He remembered how Bai Fan once asked: “Old Liu, when you get out, are you still going to work the railroad? I guess I’ve done enough, worked twenty years only to end up guilty.” Liu Dashan said: “I would hate to part ways with those two iron tracks; it’s just like me and my wife, we’re inseparable….”
21 After getting out of the cowshed, Bai Fan would sometimes unbutton his clothes and show people the scars from beatings by the “rebel faction.” But Liu Dashan wouldn’t, saying: “To achieve Four Modernizations, we need stability; what’s there to see in these kinds of marks!”
