“Oh, maybe the waiter moved it while cleaning the ashtray,” Helen Lawson said. He knew this wasn’t a big deal, but since Samuel Lawson had brought it up specifically, he had to ask about it. So he turned toward the meeting room door and called out, “Little Franklin, Ethan Franklin, come out for a moment, I have something to ask you.”

Ethan Franklin responded and came over, sweat beading on his forehead and still a bit out of breath. Earlier, when John Lewis and the others went to check the blueprints, he was helping everyone move the albums, which took quite a bit of effort.

“This is Little Franklin, a temporary worker in the logistics department. At noon, he was the one tidying up the meeting room. Actually, Old Lawson, you should know him too—he’s Old Franklin’s grandson,” Helen Lawson introduced him to Samuel Lawson.

“Old Franklin? You mean Mr. William Franklin?” Samuel Lawson asked with some surprise. William Franklin was a senior engineer at the Metallurgical Bureau of Nanjiang Province, who had worked at Krupp in Germany in his early years, and was considered an authority in the metallurgical system. Samuel Lawson had interacted with him more than a decade ago and had treated him with the respect of a student to a teacher. With all the political movements in recent years, Samuel Lawson hadn’t heard any news about William Franklin for a long time. Hearing from Helen Lawson that Ethan Franklin was William Franklin’s grandson, Samuel Lawson suddenly understood—no wonder he had found Ethan Franklin’s face somewhat familiar just now.

“That’s right,” Helen Lawson said. “Old Franklin has already passed away. He was impacted during the political movements, and just after the policies were reinstated, his health failed. Ethan came to work at the Metallurgical Bureau because of this connection.”

“What a pity,” Samuel Lawson sighed.

After finishing the topic of William Franklin, Helen Lawson turned to Ethan Franklin and asked, “Little Franklin, you were the one tidying up the tables in the meeting room at noon, right? Did you move Director Lawson’s notebook?”

Ethan Franklin looked up at Helen Lawson, then at Samuel Lawson, and nodded, “Yes, I saw that there was ash stuck under Director Lawson’s notebook, so I picked it up and wiped it off. I did the same for everyone else’s tables.”

“You didn’t open it and look inside, did you?” Helen Lawson asked again. Actually, this was more for Samuel Lawson’s benefit. If Samuel Lawson could leave his notebook in the meeting room, there probably wasn’t anything confidential in it. Not to mention, a janitor wouldn’t be interested in reading a notebook, and even if he did, so what?

“No, I didn’t,” Ethan Franklin answered firmly.

“Heh, it’s nothing, really. I was just asking. I only noticed because the ash under the notebook had been wiped away, so I figured someone must have moved it,” Samuel Lawson said with a laugh. In that instant, he had already gotten the answer he wanted. When Ethan Franklin answered that he hadn’t looked at the notebook, he exchanged a quick glance with Samuel Lawson, and Samuel Lawson felt he understood exactly what that look meant.

“Director Lawson, if there’s nothing else, I’ll get back to work. Chief Engineer Lewis and the others are waiting for me to help them find the blueprints,” Ethan Franklin said, looking completely harmless.

“Go ahead,” Helen Lawson waved his hand, as if shooing away a fly.

Ethan Franklin ran off, and Helen Lawson turned to Samuel Lawson and said, “Sigh, truly a case of a tiger father and a dog son. Old Franklin was so capable, and his son Liam Franklin still inherited a bit, but by the time it gets to Ethan Franklin, there’s not even a shadow left. This kid, he never studies, just hangs out with a bunch of youngsters smoking and drinking. Other kids who get looked after in the bureau at least get assigned to the mailroom or the library—at least that’s an office job. This one can’t even write his own name properly, so he can only do odd jobs in logistics... But, Director Lawson, don’t worry. Even though he’s not very educated, his character is good. He’d never do anything dishonest.”

“Is that so?” Samuel Lawson replied with a smile, a bit skeptical of Helen Lawson’s assessment. He hadn’t tested Ethan Franklin’s knowledge, but from his eyes, Samuel Lawson sensed a scholarly air that a truly uneducated youth couldn’t possibly have. And that look Ethan Franklin had just given him clearly hinted that he was the one who had written the “KBS-3720” drawing number, just unwilling to admit it in front of the directors. Could someone who gave him such an important clue really be uneducated?

“By the way, Old Lawson, where does Old Franklin’s family live? If it’s convenient, could you arrange for someone to take me there? I learned a lot from Old Franklin in the past, and now that he’s passed away, I really must pay my respects,” Samuel Lawson said.

Chapter Five: A Visit

“Dad, I’m home.”

In a narrow street in Xinling City, the provincial capital, stood several three-story simple buildings built in the 1950s. Ethan Franklin’s home was in one of these buildings. Ethan Franklin pushed open the door and greeted his father, Liam Franklin, who was sitting at the dining table in the living room grading students’ homework, then headed straight into the small room he shared with his younger brother, Lucas Franklin.