Courtyard House: Inheriting the Restaurant, the Jia Family Wants to Get It for Free

The workers were very emotional; they instinctively sided with Cheng Shuhai.

But the one he feared most was Qin Huairu.

When she heard from Section Chief Li that the focus of the investigation was the so-called "special supply raw material procurement channels," her face turned pale instantly.

Although Cheng Shuhai had made thorough preparations and legalized all procedures, she knew in her heart that the true source of those ingredients was the Blessed Land Space. This was their biggest secret, and also their most vulnerable weakness.

What if... what if the investigation team insists on getting to the bottom of things and traces the source of those "remote mountainous areas"?

She felt her heart pounding in her throat. Her first thought was to run to Cheng Shuhai and discuss a plan.

Meanwhile, at the Cheng family...

Chen Xueru also received the news, and she was equally shocked and furious.

"This is outrageous! This is absolutely outrageous!" She paced back and forth in the room, furious. "We've given our hearts and souls, and in the end, we're stabbed in the back! What kind of world is this?!"

Compared to their tension and anger, Cheng Shuhai was the calmest one in the whole incident.

He sat in a rattan chair in the courtyard, holding a purple clay teapot, leisurely drinking tea, as if the wind and rain outside had nothing to do with him.

When Qin Huai rushed into the courtyard in a panic, this was the scene that greeted her.

"Brother! How can you still sit still! Something terrible has happened!" Qin Huairu's voice was choked with sobs.

"I know." Cheng Shuhai raised his eyelids, glanced at her, and then pointed to the stone bench opposite him. "Sit down, have some tea. The sky won't fall down."

His composure, remaining unmoved even in the face of a collapsing mountain, inexplicably calmed Qin Huairu and Chen Xueru down a little.

"Brother, they... they want to investigate our procurement channels..." Qin Huairu's voice was still trembling.

"Let them investigate," Cheng Shuhai said calmly.

"But.........."

"No buts." Cheng Shuhai interrupted her, his gaze sharpening. "I'm asking you, from the time the factory was built until now, have we ever embezzled a single penny from the factory? Have we ever falsified a single account?"

"No!" Chen Xueru and Qin Huairu answered in unison.

"That settles it then." Cheng Shuhai put down his teacup, stood up, looked at the two of them, and said, word by word.

"Remember, from now on, you only have one thing to do: fully cooperate with the investigation. Provide whatever materials the investigation team asks for, and answer whatever questions they ask truthfully."

"No pulling strings, no pleading. And absolutely no settling accounts privately or giving the same story. Everything must remain as it is."

"Why?" Chen Xueru asked, puzzled. "We should find Director Wang or Brother Lou and ask them to explain this to the city..."

"It's no use." Cheng Shuhai shook his head. "Right now, people are scrutinizing us with a magnifying glass. The more we do, the more mistakes we'll make. The only way is to do nothing and lay everything out in the open."

He looked at the two women whose faces were full of worry, smiled, and said in an extremely confident tone:

"If we are innocent, we can withstand scrutiny, page by page. If we have something to hide, whatever we do now will be wrong."

"Don't be afraid, I'm here."

These four simple words seemed to possess boundless magic, instantly soothing all the panic in Chen Xueru and Qin Huairu's hearts.

Looking at the man before them, their confidence and sense of responsibility emanating from his very being made them believe that no matter how great the storm, he could withstand it.

The next morning, the new joint investigation team entered the North China Canned Food Factory.

The head of the investigation team was a deputy secretary of the municipal discipline inspection commission, surnamed Qian, a well-known "iron-faced judge." The people he brought were all business elites drawn from various departments, each with a serious expression and sharp eyes.

Upon entering the factory, they took over the finance and archives departments without listening to any reports from anyone.

"Secretary Qian, these are all the accounts of our factory..." Section Chief Li wanted to step forward and explain the situation.

"No need." Secretary Qian waved his hand, his tone devoid of any emotion. "From now on, this place is under our control. All irrelevant personnel, please leave."

The atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

Qin Huairu, as the person in charge of finance, was detained to cooperate with the investigation.

Following Cheng Shuhai's instructions, she remained calm and answered all his questions.

The investigation team's work was so meticulous it was outrageous.

Unlike last time, when they only conducted a macro-level audit, they adopted the most basic yet most effective method—checking the vouchers.

They took out all the accounting vouchers from the factory's inception, box by box, and went through them one by one.

"This purchase payment of 50,000 yuan was made to 'Hongxing Machinery Factory' for the purchase of parts. The invoice, warehouse receipt, and requisition form are all there. There's no problem."

"This 2,000 yuan entertainment expense has an invoice, the person who handled it signs it, and Consultant Cheng's approval. It complies with regulations. No problem."

The investigators, like a group of the most demanding hunters, tried to find even the slightest flaw in this mountain of papers.

However, a day passed, then two days passed...

They gained nothing.

All the accounts were clear and transparent, and all the procedures were impeccable.

Secretary Qian's brow furrowed deeper and deeper. He realized that finding problems in the routine accounts was virtually impossible.

Therefore, he shifted the focus of his investigation to the most crucial point mentioned in the whistleblower letter—"special supply of raw materials procurement".

"Bring out all the invoices related to 'targeted procurement'!"

Soon, a special file box was delivered to Secretary Qian.

He opened the box, and inside was a thick stack of documents.

He picked up the first document, an official document from the Ministry of Industry approving the North China Cannery's "targeted procurement."

Next came the purchase requisition forms for each item, specifying the name, quantity, estimated price, and intended use of the goods. The forms bore Cheng Shuhai's signature and Lou Bancheng's seal.

Then, after the purchase, there was the "Incoming Inspection Form" jointly signed by the company representative, the quality control department, and the technician.

Finally, there's the receipt signed by both Qin Huairu and the company's financial supervisor when the payment was made.

The entire process forms a perfect closed loop, leaving no room for intervention.

"Hmph, their paperwork is quite neat," one investigator scoffed. "But who knows if these so-called 'local specialties from remote mountainous areas' are genuine? What if they just bought ordinary pork from the market, issued a fake invoice, and sold it to the factory at a high price, passing it off as 'specially supplied wild boar meat'? Wouldn't that profit go straight into their own pockets?"