I slept with my sister's classmate, and she turned out to be my boss.

The next evening, Chen Dapeng returned to his residence, locked the door, and drew the curtains.

He sat down at the table, turned on the computer, plugged in the USB drive, and took a deep breath.

Last night I checked one-third of the data from 2023 and found seven discrepancies.

To be continued tonight.

He clicked on the remaining table for 2023 – “Details of Fiscal Revenue”.

The general public budget revenue reported by Liuhe Town in 2023 was 1.82 million yuan.

Chen Dapeng opened the data he obtained from the Finance Bureau and found the same indicator—1.61 million. The discrepancy was 2100 million.

He wrote it down in his notebook: The fourth anomaly is that fiscal revenue was overstated by about 13%.

"Fixed asset investment." Liuhe Town reported 4.3 million yuan, while the Development and Reform Bureau's data was 3.1 million yuan. There's a difference of 1.2 million yuan, representing an overstatement of approximately 39%.

"Investment attracted through business attraction." Liuhe Town reported 2.1 million yuan, while the Commerce Bureau's data was 1.3 million yuan. There's a discrepancy of 8000 million yuan, representing an overstatement of approximately 62%.

Chen Dapeng paused for a moment.

62%—this number is too large to be explained by "error".

He continued his investigation.

"Land utilization rate". Liuhe Town reported 85%, while the Natural Resources Bureau's data was 71%. The difference is 14 percentage points.

"Number of newly added enterprises above designated size". Liuhe Town reported 8, while the statistics bureau's data showed 4. That's exactly double.

Chen Dapeng leaned back in his chair, staring at the densely packed notes on his notebook.

He has already checked two-thirds of the data from 2023 and found more than a dozen anomalies.

For every indicator, the figures reported by Liuhe Town were significantly higher than the actual data—some by more than ten percentage points, and others by sixty or seventy percent.

This is not a "random error" in individual data, but a systemic misreporting.

Someone is intentionally embellishing the data.

Chen Dapeng rubbed his eyes and continued his investigation.

"Details of Fiscal Expenditure" - This table is more complicated than the previous ones, with dozens of sub-items, each with a corresponding amount.

Chen Dapeng looked at each item one by one and compared them with the data from the Finance Bureau.

Most of the items match, or are only slightly different.

But when he turned to the last page, his gaze stopped.

"Other expenses".

In 2023, the amount under this item was 260 million.

Chen Dapeng frowned, opened the 2022 fiscal expenditure details, and turned to the last page—"Other Expenditures," 240 million.

He then clicked on "Other Expenses" for 2021, which totaled 310 million.

Over the three years, that's 810 million.

Chen Dapeng opened the Finance Bureau's original database and searched for the item "Other Expenditures".

No.

He tried several other keywords—"other," "pending allocation," and "temporarily suspended"—but still couldn't find any corresponding funding records.

There was no trace of the 810 million in the Finance Bureau's accounts.

Chen Dapeng stared at the screen, his palms starting to sweat.

This is not a false report.

Exaggeration is exaggerating something small to make it seem large, or something few to make it seem like a lot.

However, this 810 million was an expenditure that did not exist in the Finance Bureau's accounts at all.

In other words, the financial statements of Liuhe Town show that the money was "spent," but the county finance bureau never allocated the money.

So here's the question—where did this money come from?

Where did they go this time?

Chen Dapeng went through the data from the past three years again to confirm that he hadn't made a mistake.

2021年310万，2022年240万，2023年260万，合计810万。

Each item is marked under the "Other Expenses" category, without any explanation or attachments, just a dry number.

He extracted these three sets of numbers separately, wrote them down in his notebook, and put a big question mark next to them.

At 1:30 a.m., Chen Dapeng closed his laptop, unplugged the USB drive, and locked it in the drawer.

He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, his mind filled with the 810 million.

Money doesn't disappear into thin air, nor does it appear out of thin air.

Since this money is listed as "expenditure" in the Liuhe Town report, it must have some destination.

However, the Finance Bureau has no record of the allocation—indicating that the money did not come from the county's finances.

Where did it come from?

The town's self-raised funds?

Corporate "sponsorship"?

Or is it through some other channel?

Chen Dapeng rolled over, and a new question popped into his mind—did He Ying already know something when she asked him to check this data?

When she said "until someone comes looking for you," was she referring to this?

He picked up his phone and glanced at the time—1:45 a.m.

He Ying should already be asleep.

He hesitated for a moment, then typed: "County Chief He, I've found some things. I'll report to you tomorrow."

After sending the message, he thought he would have to wait until dawn to get a reply, but the other party replied in less than ten seconds.

"What?"

Chen Dapeng typed: "There is an item called 'Other Expenditure' in the fiscal expenditure of Liuhe Town, which totals 810 million yuan over three years, but the Finance Bureau cannot find any record of the allocation."

The other party remained silent.

One minute, two minutes, five minutes.

Chen Dapeng stared at the screen, his heart pounding.

Finally, He Ying replied.

"Tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, in my office."

"it is good."

Chen Dapeng put down his phone and closed his eyes.

But he barely slept that night.

……

He got up just as dawn was breaking, washed his face, changed his clothes, and checked his laptop and USB drive three times to make sure they were in his bag before leaving the house.

When I arrived at the county government, it was not yet 7:30.

There weren't many people at the entrance of the compound. Security guard Liu was sweeping the floor when he saw him arrive so early. He paused, surprised, and asked, "Little Chen, why are you here so early today?"

"I have something to take care of."

Chen Dapeng strode up to the fourth floor, but the door to the General Affairs Department was still locked.

He took out his keys, opened the door, sat down at his workstation, took his notebook out of his bag, and turned to the page where he had written the notes from the previous night.

810 million.

Three numbers, three years, whereabouts unknown.

He stared at the page for a long time, several questions swirling in his mind: Where did this money go?

How much does He Ying know?

What will she do after receiving this material?

Footsteps echoed down the corridor.

Chen Dapeng looked up at the clock on the wall—7:50.

He recognized He Ying's footsteps; the rhythm was neither too fast nor too slow, and the sound of her heels clicking on the terrazzo floor was crisp.

He closed his notebook, stood up, took a deep breath, and walked out of the General Affairs Department.

He Ying was walking over from the stairwell, carrying a briefcase, wearing a dark blue suit jacket, and her hair was tied in a ponytail.

She looks both beautiful and capable.

When she saw Chen Dapeng standing in the corridor, she paused for a moment, her gaze lingering on his face before shifting away.

"So early?"

"Good morning, County Chief He." Chen Dapeng lowered his voice. "I brought the materials."

He Ying didn't say anything, walked past him, and took out her key to open the office door.

"Come in."

Chen Dapeng followed him inside and closed the door behind him.

He Ying placed her briefcase on the table, took off her coat and draped it over the back of her chair, then sat down and looked up at him.

She had faint dark circles under her eyes—she hadn't slept well last night either.

"Speak."

Chen Dapeng sat down opposite her, opened his notebook, and reported in detail what he had discovered the previous night.

"In 2023, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size was overstated by 2.4 percentage points, fiscal revenue by about 13%, fixed asset investment by about 39%, investment attracted by investment by about 62%, land utilization rate by 14 percentage points, and the number of newly added enterprises above designated size was overstated by 100%."

He explained each number one by one, noting that each number had a corresponding source and document number.

He Ying listened attentively and did not interrupt him, only occasionally jotting down a few words in her notebook.

"There's one more thing." Chen Dapeng turned to the last page of his notebook, his voice lowering. "In the details of fiscal expenditures, there's an item called 'Other Expenditures,' which is 310 million in 2021, 240 million in 2022, and 260 million in 2023, totaling 810 million over three years. There's no record of this amount being allocated in the Finance Bureau's original accounts."

He Ying put down her pen, looked up at him.

The office was silent for a few seconds.

"810 million, whereabouts unknown."

He Ying's voice was very soft, as if she were talking to herself.

"Yes."

He Ying leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes briefly, and then opened them again.

"Did you bring the materials?"

"I brought it." Chen Dapeng took a USB drive out of his bag and placed it on the table. "All the comparison tables for the data are in there."

He Ying picked up the USB drive, twirled it in her hand, and then locked it in the drawer.

"From now on, don't mention this to anyone."

"Director Su isn't going to say either?"

He Ying glanced at him: "I'm not going to say."

Chen Dapeng nodded.

He Ying stood up, walked to the window, and turned her back to him.

Chen Dapeng sat in the chair, watching her back, unsure of what to say.

"Dapeng," she suddenly said, without turning around.

"Um?"

Where do you think that money went?

Chen Dapeng thought for a moment: "Either it went into someone's pocket, or it was used to cover other losses. Either way, it's no small matter."

He Ying turned around and looked at him.

"You're right. These aren't minor matters." She walked back behind her desk and sat down. "But this matter can't be addressed right now."

Chen Dapeng was taken aback: "Why?"

"Because the timing isn't right." He Ying's tone was calm. "I've just arrived, and I haven't settled in yet. Fang Mingyuan has been operating in the county for over a decade, and his people are all over the place. Moving against Liuhe Town now is tantamount to going to war with him directly."

Chen Dapeng fell silent.

He understood He Ying's reasoning, but he was still somewhat unwilling—after investigating for so long and discovering such a big problem, he had to hold back for the time being.

He Ying seemed to see through his thoughts, and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly.

"Do you think I'm being overly cautious?"

Chen Dapeng shook his head: "I understand."

"Leave this document with me for now. Continue working as usual, and don't show anything unusual. If anyone asks what you've been doing lately, just say you've been familiarizing yourself with the business."

"What about Fang Zhiwen...?"

"If he knows you're investigating him, he'll definitely take action." He Ying looked at him. "What we're waiting for is his action."

Chen Dapeng nodded and stood up.

"Then I'll head out now."

"Wait a moment."

Chen Dapeng stopped and turned around.

He Ying looked at him, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she only said two words: "Be careful."

Chen Dapeng walked out of the office and gently closed the door.

The corridor was empty. He stood there and took a deep breath.