Chapter 38 Thief

Chapter 38 The Thief

Xie Xinyi was the first to notice the unusual color of the ice cream.

During the development phase, she had sampled no fewer than fifty prototypes. Moreover, the chocolate ratio for the new ice cream was a formula she and Master Liu had jointly established. So, when she saw the unusually dark "doll head" ice cream, her immediate thought was that there was an issue with the raw materials.

Initially, she dismissed it as a trick of the light. However, after circling the setting machine and observing that every doll head appeared unusually dark and glossy, as if stripped of a layer of skin, she grew concerned.

She hurried over to Xiao Jiang, who was responsible for quality control, picked up a doll head fresh from the setting machine for a closer look, then proceeded to the finished product display, randomly selected a packaged item, and unwrapped it.

The eyes were a murky grayish-black, indistinct—clearly not the chocolate ratio they had meticulously developed.

Xie Xinyi cautiously took a bite. Her uncharacteristic behavior prompted Ms. Liu, who was busy with packaging, to frown and ask, "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

Ms. Liu didn't question Xie Xinyi's actions, only the underlying issue. Trusting her, Xie Xinyi didn't hesitate. Upon tasting the off-flavor, she blurted out, "The chocolate tastes wrong. The raw materials must be faulty."

Xie Xinyi's conviction, overheard by Cui Jun who had been curious about her odd behavior, spurred him to immediately pick up a doll head ice cream and taste it himself.

"Ptooey... ptooey... ptooey...."

Cui Mama spat out several mouthfuls, squinting as she repeatedly turned the ice cream over in her hand. After a long moment, she finally managed to utter, "Why is it so bitter?"

Bitter indeed. The color and taste unmistakably pointed to inferior chocolate, a far cry from the premium blend they had carefully formulated.

Not only was it incomparable, but it also couldn't withstand close scrutiny.

Properly proportioned chocolate boasts a soft, gentle sheen, appearing smooth and inviting. This imitation, however, was not only darker but, upon closer inspection, revealed a surface dotted with tiny particles, completely lacking the original's delicate texture.

Xie Xinyi pointed to the doll's eyes and hat, explaining to Big Chen, who had arrived to investigate the commotion, "The raw materials are wrong, and the ratio is off. Look here, especially the eyes—they're much too dark."

Big Chen followed her gaze and indeed noticed the color disparity between the hat and the eyes.

Since the hat occupied a larger portion of the doll's face, its color appeared slightly lighter than the smaller area of the eyes.

Had Xie Xinyi not pointed it out, Big Chen might not have noticed.

Although both he and Xie Xinyi had participated in the doll head ice cream's development, the chocolate ratio had always been Master Liu's domain.

He was more absent-minded than Xie Xinyi, but as someone with over a decade of experience on the production line, he could still discern if the ice cream's raw materials were compromised.

Gazing at the ice cream, which appeared fine unless examined closely, he recalled that no such issues had arisen when Xiao Jiang was in charge of raw materials. Without a word, he headed directly to the warehouse.

The problem had surfaced after the job rotation. As the current person responsible for raw materials, it was his duty to uncover the source of the issue.

He strode quickly toward the warehouse, with Xie Xinyi close behind.

Upon arrival, both headed straight for the wooden boxes storing the chocolate. Due to the recent rise in temperatures, the procurement department had promptly stored the chocolate in insulated wooden boxes after purchase.

These boxes were custom-made by a master craftsman in the county town, commissioned by Master Liu. The outer layer was waterproof and heat-insulating wood, lined with a thick cotton quilt inside. The boxes were placed in the farthest corner, with a few ice pops inside to keep them cool. The lids were tightly wrapped with gauze to prevent the chocolate from melting.

This was the most popular method for preserving ice pops at the time. When Xie Xinyi first saw it, she couldn't help but admire the clever design, noting that the wooden box not only insulated but also deterred thieves. Little did she imagine that while the temperature was maintained, the theft was not prevented.

In those days, theft was common, especially in food factories.

With people often going hungry and factory inventory not strictly monitored, it was natural for some to be tempted to pilfer. Despite night patrols and guard dogs, the absence of surveillance made it difficult to apprehend culprits.

Thieves didn't need to fence stolen goods, and even if someone noticed, it was difficult to pinpoint the perpetrator. Desperate individuals took risks, willing to go to great lengths for even a small amount.

Missing items became a regular occurrence at the food factory. To mitigate losses, valuable items were usually under specialized management, and even in places like the workshop warehouse, keys were rotated among team members.

Xie Xinyi never imagined their team would harbor a thief, especially since no one would be foolish enough to go through the trouble of obtaining a key for raw materials that weren't particularly valuable.

She was confident, but the thief didn’t play by the rules.

Logically, having gone through the effort to obtain the warehouse key, the thief should have taken the most valuable items and left. Instead, this thief went through all that trouble not to steal, but to swap items.

Xie Xinyi was astonished by this maneuver. Together with Big Chen, she opened the insulated box and meticulously inspected the chocolate inside.

The raw materials had been tampered with, specifically swapped. The thief had stolen the original chocolate and replaced it with other chocolate, an act that was baffling and whose motive was inscrutable.

She held a piece of chocolate up to the light, observing that its shape appeared largely unchanged. Xie Xinyi then took another piece handed to her by Big Chen and went outside to examine it more closely. Sure enough, under natural light, the color was noticeably darker than what she had perceived in the dim warehouse.

She broke off a piece and tasted it—bitter with a cloying sweetness from inferior sugar, leaving a greasy sensation in her mouth, and a strange, rubbery texture when chewed.

Having seen countless products in her previous life, Xie Xinyi recognized this as low-quality chocolate after a single look and taste, utterly incomparable to the chocolate they had previously used.

Swapping the most critical raw material, especially before they had even compared the ice cream, suggested the thief's motives were not merely impure, but singularly focused. A little thought made it clear what they intended to do.

Knowing that chocolate was crucial to the doll head ice cream and being familiar with their team's production and cleanup routines, the thief was not only well-versed in the raw materials but also intimately aware of their work schedule.

Connecting these points, Xie Xinyi quickly identified a suspect in her mind. However, lacking evidence and given the gravity of the situation, she couldn't handle it alone. She, Big Chen, and Cui Mama reported the matter to the factory management.

"What? The raw materials were swapped?" Director Fang frowned in surprise. After hearing their account, he couldn't comprehend the thief's motive. "Do you know who did it?"

He asked Big Chen, but Big Chen, having not caught anyone red-handed, had no idea. He shook his head and looked blankly at Cui Mama standing nearby.

"No one was caught, and the warehouse key has been with Xie Xinyi the whole time."

Indeed, Xie Xinyi was so proactive in finding the thief for two reasons: first, she had participated in the new product's development, and if there was a quality issue, she felt obligated to step forward; second, it was her week to guard the warehouse key. The thief choosing this time to tamper with the raw materials, while not directly her fault, still made her uneasy.

It was true that the warehouse key had always been with her, even when she ate and slept. She was certain the thief couldn't have stolen the key from her. However, the fact remained that the thief had swapped the raw materials when no one was around. While she could prove her innocence, she couldn't simply distance herself from the situation.

The thief didn't steal but replaced the most crucial raw material—clearly targeting their Ice Pop Team. Seeing that Cui Mama also had no idea who did it, Xie Xinyi boldly voiced her suspicion when Master Liu asked if she had any guesses.

"You suspect Wu Guifen did it?"

But after her husband was sent to reform through labor, she was transferred to the Boiler Team, working grueling shifts from dawn till dusk. How could she possibly have the time or energy for this?

Master Liu was puzzled, and Cui Mama was equally confused. "...She's a temporary worker now. If she makes another mistake, she'll be fired. She wouldn't be that foolish, would she?"

Besides, there was no benefit for her. Cui Jun was just as confused, and Big Chen was completely baffled.

"Could it be that you're mistaken?"

Mistaken? But besides her, Xie Xinyi couldn't think of anyone else who would want to see their Ice Pop Team make a mistake more than Wu Guifen.

Coming from the same team, Big Chen received excellent evaluations, Xiao Jiang and Xie Xinyi gained recognition, and even Ms. Liu, around her age, received a raise. Only Wu Guifen—with her husband in reform through labor and herself demoted to a temporary worker, always at risk of being fired—was left behind.

Everyone else was doing better than her, leaving her living on edge and building up resentment.

If the team members were thriving because of the doll head ice cream, she would destroy what they were most proud of.

Xie Xinyi presented her speculation, meticulously outlining her reasoning without exaggeration or embellishment, simply explaining her analysis step by step. Finally, she proposed a method to verify her hypothesis.

"Then... shall we proceed as Xiao Xie suggested?"

Fang Mingan listened attentively but couldn't devise a better alternative. Undecided, he turned to the others for their opinions.

The new ice cream was developed by Master Liu's team, who had invested considerable effort. Given the current situation, Master Liu held the ultimate authority on how to proceed. As a member of the R&D team, Big Chen, like Xie Xinyi, was eager to catch whoever had sabotaged their work. Meanwhile, Cui Jun, as the Ice Pop Team leader, bore undeniable responsibility since the incident occurred under his watch.

Sharing a common goal and well aware of Xie Xinyi's cleverness, when Director Fang asked for their opinions, both men immediately turned to Liu Yinsheng.

Knowing that Master Liu valued Xie Xinyi's input, they entrusted the final decision to him.

Master Liu hesitated for only two seconds before resolutely concluding, without waiting for the others to react further.

"Let's do as Xiao Xie suggested!"

As always, he chose to trust Xie Xinyi. Big Chen and Cui Jun immediately expressed their full support.

They were confident that with Xie Xinyi's intelligence, she could certainly outsmart someone who was uneducated.

The group reached a consensus and agreed to forget about the matter once they left the room.

Back in the workshop, Cui Jun gave strict orders to Xiao Jiang and Ms. Liu: until the suspect was identified, they were to carry on as usual, maintaining their daily routines. Meanwhile, he and Big Chen quietly switched back to the original chocolate they had always used.

The Ice Pop Team returned to normal operations, maintaining a daily production of one thousand. The team's coordination grew increasingly smooth, and their shifts ended earlier each day.

Other workshops watched with envy—some made sarcastic remarks, while others came by just to observe the commotion. The buzz grew even louder than when the new product had first been launched. Some even deliberately leaked news of Ms. Liu's salary for the month.

Sixty-six yuan—almost equivalent to the wage of a Grade 7 skilled worker in the factory.

People marveled at the figure, and the talk grew more and more exaggerated. Within days, some were saying that Ms. Liu was about to be promoted to team leader. This infuriated certain individuals so much that one night, someone sneaked into the Ice Pop Team's storage room again.