The Tempting Road to Becoming an Official

Qi Hui happily took out a pack of cigarettes and stuffed it into Chief Jiang's pocket.

He pleaded, "Chief Jiang, please do me a favor."

After accepting the cigarettes, Chief Jiang looked around and said in a low voice, "The audit bureau found out that Comrade Shi Zhengxiang transferred one hundred and fifty thousand into his own account."

"What?"

Qi Hui was stunned.

Such an act was, in principle, something Shi Zhengxiang couldn't possibly do.

"What was the money used for?"

Qi Hui asked.

Chief Jiang replied, "I don't know, it was transferred last night, and the money hasn't been touched in the account yet."

Last night?

Qi Hui pondered for a while, then thanked Chief Jiang profusely.

When he walked into the meeting room, everyone was whispering to each other.

Only Chen Fang remained undisturbed, without the slightest ripple.

Could it be that Chen Fang was behind all this?

That's what he was thinking.

Chen Fang cleared his throat and said, "Director Qi, with this incident, our subsequent work has been put in a difficult position. The financial work cannot be without a leader for a day; I propose we let Deputy Director Gao take charge."

No, that's not right.

The more he thought about it, the more it felt off.

Chen Fang hardly had any interaction with Gao Duan.

Moreover, he should know that Gao Duan was on his side. How could he possibly get rid of Shi Zhengxiang and then hand over the responsibility to one of his own?

That would be completely pointless.

Qi Hui, who was naturally suspicious, pondered for a moment.

He said, "Comrade Gao Duan has a lot on his plate right now, it's not appropriate to hand it over to him."

"If Director Gao is too busy, then could we trouble Director Qi to take over for a while?"

Chen Fang asked.

Qi Hui was not willing to take on this hot potato.

Financial work was quite tedious, and in such a situation, he always felt that Chen Fang had ulterior motives.

After thinking it over, he said, "Why don't we put Director Li in charge? Director Li is a female comrade and is more meticulous. If we leave it to her, I think everyone would be reassured, right?"

Director Qi had made his stance clear.

Nobody else had any objections, naturally.

Lou Aiqin was the first to say, "I also think it's more appropriate to leave it in Director Li's hands."

"I have no objections," Gao Duan added.

As everyone was stating their positions, Qi Hui kept his eyes on Chen Fang.

Seeing Chen Fang's conflicted expression, appearing very reluctant, Qi Hui knew he had chosen the right person. After all, Li Weiyang was quite a tough nut to crack, and with her high-mindedness, she wouldn't listen to anyone, not to mention Chen Fang; even if it were Pan Youde, she wouldn't pay heed. Handing it over to her, though Qi Hui couldn't control her, neither could Chen Fang.

Just as Chen Fang was about to voice his opinion,

Qi Hui quickly said, "Director Chen, since everyone thinks it's feasible, let's settle it at that. Comrade Weiyang, do you have any objections?"

Li Weiyang, with an indifferent expression, said, "I'm fine with anything."

"Alright, if Comrade Weiyang has no objections, then let's settle it at that."

Qi Hui hastily concluded the decision.

Chen Fang looked helpless.

He sighed deeply and said, "Alright then, since everyone is in agreement, I can't dictate on my own. Let's temporarily put Director Li in charge of the financial work."

Seeing Chen Fang relent,

Qi Hui felt the weight in his heart finally drop to the ground.

He even felt a sense of secret triumph.

He believed he had spontaneously thwarted one of Chen Fang's schemes.

However, he did not see that at the very moment the decision was finalized, Li Weiyang winked at Chen Fang, a subtle gesture that was so slight only Chen Fang caught the signal.

As soon as the meeting ended,

Qi Hui did not delay for a minute and went straight down the building, driving to the county government.

Pan Youde was also in a meeting at the time.

When he returned to his office, it was nearly lunchtime.

Qi Hui explained the situation in a fluster, and Pan Youde was also stunned.

He knew his nephew well; managing finances for so many years, he had never touched a penny of the unit's money. That was a red line, and he was clear about that.

What's more important was that he had just transferred the money to his own account yesterday.

Today, Chen Fang took the initiative to ask the Auditing Bureau to come.

It was not possible to say that Chen Fang wasn't playing tricks.

Upon hearing that Qi Hui had given financial control to Li Weiyang,

Pan Youde let out a long sigh and said to Qi Hui, "Well done, you acted just in time. Giving it to Li Weiyang is like diverting disaster elsewhere. I'm afraid Chen Fang doesn't know that this girl, Li Weiyang, is even more troublesome than Shi Zhengxiang. If we can intensify the conflict between them, then we really could sit back and watch the tigers fight."

"What about Director Shi's issue?"

Qi Hui asked.

Pan Youde waved his hand and said, "I'll go and give the Disciplinary Committee a heads-up and see what the situation is. But you have to be prepared. No matter the reason, misappropriation of public funds is a serious issue, and it's unlikely he'll return to the Education Bureau."

"So we just swallow this loss?"

Qi Hui felt somewhat unwilling to let it go.

Pan Youde laughed and said, "Why the hurry? He plays his games at the start, we'll play ours at the end. Do you think we would really suffer a loss at his hands?"

After speaking,

he stood up.

He asked, "Are you busy later on?"

"Not busy, what's up?"

Qi Hui asked.

A sleazy smile appeared on Pan Youde's face.

He said, "Let's go, the usual place."

Qi Hui immediately understood and asked, "Got a bite?"

Pan Youde let out a sly chuckle and said, "And it's a mermaid at that."

The two left the county government building's main entrance, hailed a taxi, and in about fifteen minutes, stopped in front of the "Grand House Hotel."

They didn't bother with check-in procedures.

They went straight to the elevator.

Arriving at the door of a room on the tenth floor,

Qi Hui took out his key card and opened the door, revealing a suite inside.

The two men had just settled on the sofa when there was a knock at the door.

Qi Hui took the initiative to open it.

A middle-aged man stood before them.

Upon seeing Qi Hui,

the middle-aged man bowed and obsequiously said, "Director Qi, hello."

Qi Hui nodded slightly, his gaze shifting to the timid woman behind the man.

The woman looked young and had a nice figure. She wore a very ordinary dress, covered by a coat, resembling a decent housewife.

However, her face was quite beautiful.

Then, the middle-aged man gestured with his hand toward the woman behind him and said, "Director Qi, I've brought her. Have a good talk, I'll wait downstairs."

"Okay."

Qi Hui nodded his head.

He opened the door wider and said to the woman, "Come in."

The woman appeared very restrained,

nodding obediently as she entered.

Qi Hui shut the door and immediately locked it behind him.

At that moment, Pan Youde was sitting on the couch, legs crossed, looking completely at ease.

Qi Hui pointed at him and said, "This is Deputy County Chief Pan Youde, who is in charge of education in Jinde County, and the former director of our Education Bureau. If you have any questions, talk to him directly."

The woman seemed to see a glimmer of hope.

She walked over to Pan Youde and knelt down before him with a thud, tears streaming down her face, and pleaded in a begging tone, "Leader, please show mercy and let our Zicheng go. He knows he was wrong and won't make the same mistake again. Could you please give him one more chance to study?"

Seeing the woman acting like this,

Qi Hui pretended to be well-intentioned and helped the woman up.

He had her sit on the couch opposite Pan Youde and said, "Zicheng's mother, what you're saying isn't right. What do you mean by letting Zicheng go? He got into a fight at school and knocked out a classmate's tooth. In such cases, expulsion is the rule."

Upon hearing this,

the woman hurriedly said, "I understand the rules, leaders, I understand."

After saying that, she took out a thick red envelope from her pocket, placed it on the coffee table, and said, "Please, would you help out with this little gesture of goodwill for the two of you."

"Zicheng's mother, what do you take us for? We called you here today to solve the problem. Are you suggesting we would use this incident for extortion?"

Seeing this, Qi Hui picked up the red envelope from the table, somewhat angrily, and threw it back into the woman's arms.