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

After sending it, he waited for a while.

Lin Chen did not reply.

He put down his phone, turned to a new page in his notebook, and began writing down what he needed to do tomorrow.

1. Continue to monitor the audit team's progress and record any issues discovered each day;

Second, try to contact Zhou Min and see if her attitude changes.

Third, have your sister continue to keep an eye on what's happening in the provincial capital, especially with the surname Nie;

Fourth, pay attention to Fang Mingyuan's reaction.

He paused when he wrote the fourth point.

He Ying described Fang Mingyuan's reaction.

When he came to her in person and asked if she had hired the audit team, she snapped at him and said, "You'll regret this."

Fang Mingyuan became anxious.

A person who is in a hurry is capable of anything.

Last time in Liuhe Town, he sent people to beat him up.

What will he do this time?

Chen Dapeng didn't know, but he could sense that Fang Mingyuan wouldn't sit idly by and wait for his doom.

He will definitely retaliate.

Where will they retaliate? The audit team? Liuhe Town? He Ying? Or themselves?

He suddenly remembered the scene of being beaten in Liuhe Town that night.

My ribs started to hurt slightly again.

The doctor said that soft tissue recovery takes time, and it's normal to feel some discomfort on cloudy days or when you're tired.

But he knew that the pain wasn't just physical; it was the frustration of being bullied without being able to fight back.

My phone vibrated.

He picked it up and saw that it was a message from Lin Chen.

"We've made some progress on the Nie guy. But it's not certain yet. I'll get back to you tomorrow."

Chen Dapeng stared at the line of text, his fingers tightening slightly.

"Okay. Be careful."

"Don't worry. Be careful over there too."

"I know."

Chen Dapeng put down his phone, turned off the light, and lay on the bed, his mind still racing with those numbers—1160 million, 500 million, 300 million, 17.5 mu, 140 million.

These numbers are like a string of codes.

Deciphering this code will open a door.

……

It was past 1 a.m.

Zhou Min lay on the bed, her eyes open, staring at the ceiling.

She turned over and pulled the blanket over her head.

I have insomnia and can't fall asleep.

Those numbers resurfaced in my mind.

200 million, 180 million, 150 million, 300 million, 130 million.

Five sums of money, five dates, one destination.

She signed "Zhou Min" on every single transfer record.

I sat up, threw back the covers, and turned on the bedside lamp.

The light was a bit too bright, so she squinted and reached for her phone on the bedside table.

The screen lit up, showing the time as 1:23 AM.

There was an unread message on WeChat from Chen Dapeng: "The audit team has uncovered several problems in three days."

She stared at the message, her finger hovering above the screen.

Type a few words, click send, and you can contact him.

and then?

What did you say?

Say she's scared? Say she can't sleep? Say she has nightmares?

Zhou Min put down her phone, lifted the covers, and got out of bed.

She walked to the wardrobe, opened the bottom drawer, and pulled out an old photo album.

She bought this the year she graduated from university; it contains photos from her four years of college.

She hasn't opened it in a long time.

Zhou Min sat on the edge of the bed, placed the photo album on her lap, and turned to the first page.

It's a photo of her when she first enrolled in school, wearing a white dress and standing at the school gate, laughing carefree.

She was eighteen years old at the time, and had just been admitted to a university in the provincial capital from a small county. She felt that the world was vast and that she could accomplish anything.

She studied accounting.

The year she graduated from university, the county was recruiting people, and she got first place in both the written and oral exams.

He rose from a clerk to deputy section chief and was then transferred to the Economic Development Zone Office as deputy director.

Others call her the "youngest cadre" and a "rising star".

Only she knows what lies behind those praises.

Zhou Min turned to the middle page of the photo album.

It was a photo of her when she first started working. She was wearing a white shirt, sitting at her desk with an open voucher in front of her, and holding a pen in her hand, writing.

In the photo, she has her hair tied in a ponytail and still looks like a student.

She stared at the photo for a long time, then closed the album and put it back in the drawer.

My phone vibrated again; it was a message from Qian Cheng.

"The audit team will be reviewing project documents from the Economic Development Zone tomorrow. Prepare in advance and only show them the 'prepared' materials. Keep the originals safe and don't take the wrong ones."

Zhou Min stared at the message, her fingers slowly tightening.

"Prepared" materials.

She knew what it was—the contract was newly printed, the paper as white as if it had just been taken out of its packaging;

The signature is fresh; the ink is still black and hasn't faded.

The dates were filled in again as required by the audit team, and every entry was "compliant".

Those are for the audit team to see.

The original document—yellowed paper, curled edges, faded ink—was locked at the very back of the filing cabinet, out of sight of the light.

Zhou Min typed two words: "Received".

After sending the message, she threw her phone on the bed and covered her face with her hands.

Over the course of seven years, she learned to falsify accounts, supplement contracts, change acceptance reports, and alter signature dates.

Every skill is a "job requirement".

No one forced her to learn.

Fang Zhiwen wouldn't personally tell her "Go and forge something," and Qian Cheng wouldn't directly tell her "Make a fake contract."

They simply assigned her tasks—"Xiao Zhou, change the date on this contract," "Xiao Zhou, get the signature on the acceptance report added," "Xiao Zhou, redo the warehousing record for this batch of materials."

It was described casually, as if it were something perfectly normal.

She did it because she didn't dare refuse.

What are the consequences of refusing?

Transferred to a less demanding position?

Marginalized?

Or will he be beaten up in a hotel in Liuhe Town, just like that kid surnamed Chen?

she does not know.

But she knew that from the day she signed that first fake contract, there was no turning back.

Zhou Min lowered her hand and looked at herself in the mirror.

Her eyes were red and swollen, and her eye bags were alarmingly deep.

She reached out and touched the mole on her left cheek.

In college, my roommate said that her mole was beautiful and called a "beauty mark".

She thought her roommate was joking.

Now she feels that it wasn't a beauty mark, but a mark, a bad mark.

Zhou Min picked up her phone and glanced at the message Chen Dapeng had sent her.

She stared at the words, her finger slowly sliding across the screen.

He typed a few words: "I've made up my mind."

It was deleted again.

Then he asked, "What do I need to do?"

It was deleted again.

In the end, she didn't send anything, put down her phone, and lay back down on the bed.

I closed my eyes, and those numbers resurfaced.

200 million, 180 million, 150 million, 300 million, 130 million.

Every penny she handled, every word she signed, and every fake contract she forged was being watched.

The next morning, when the alarm clock rang, she sat up abruptly.

I was covered in sweat.

She glanced at the time—7:10 a.m.

She hesitated for a long time in front of the wardrobe while getting dressed.

Finally, she wore a dark suit jacket over a white shirt, her hair was tied in a low ponytail, and she wore light makeup.

She looked no different from usual in the mirror.

Spirited, capable, and composed.

No one could tell that she hadn't slept well all night.

Zhou Min picked up her bag, walked to the door, and paused while changing her shoes.

She turned around, walked back to the bedside, and took a USB drive from the bedside table.

It was silver, very small, not much bigger than her thumbnail.

She held the USB drive in her hand for a moment, then stuffed it into the inner lining of her bag and zipped it up.

out the door.

……

Economic Development Zone Office, 8:30 AM

Zhou Min put her bag on the table and sat down.

In front of her were two desks placed side by side, and her desk was spotless—a file rack, a pen holder, a computer, and a water glass.

The table opposite belongs to Qian Cheng; it's piled high with files and folders, looking quite messy.

She turned on her computer, and the Windows login screen appeared on the screen.

After entering the password and logging into the system, the desktop wallpaper was a landscape photo—an aerial view of the Liuhe Town Economic Development Zone, with factories standing tall and roads crisscrossing the area.

This wallpaper was changed by Fang Zhiwen on everyone's behalf, who said it was to "boost morale."

Zhou Min stared at the wallpaper for a few seconds, then opened the file manager and found the folder.

文件夹的名字叫「项目资料-归档」，里面按照年份分了五个子文件夹：2019、2020、2021、2022、2023。

Each year's folder is further divided into two subfolders: "Originals" and "For Reference".

The "original documents" contained genuine contracts, acceptance reports, and payment vouchers—the paper was yellowed, the ink faded, the signatures were genuine, the dates were accurate, but the content was non-compliant.

The "for inspection" list contains the fake batch—the paper is brand new, the signatures are neat, the dates have been adjusted, and the content is "compliant."

Zhou Min opened the "For Reference" folder from 2023 and browsed through all the documents inside.

She made each and every one of these documents by hand.

Print, stamp, sign, scan, archive.

She did every step very carefully, so carefully that even she couldn't tell which was real and which was fake.

If it weren't for the difference in the age of the paper, she might have even thought that this batch of "for reference" materials were the originals.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor.

Zhou Min's fingers tightened slightly on the mouse for a moment, then relaxed.

She closed the folder, opened a blank Excel spreadsheet, and pretended to organize the data.

The footsteps grew closer; it was Qian Cheng.

He pushed the door open and came in, wearing a dark jacket and carrying a thermos.

He was taken aback when he saw that Zhou Min was already in the office.

"So early?"

"Can't sleep? Come early."

Qian Cheng walked to his desk, put down his thermos, and turned to look at her.

Zhou Min felt his gaze on her, but she didn't look up and continued to stare at the Excel spreadsheet on the computer screen.

"Zhou Min," Qian Cheng said.

She looked up and met his eyes.

Qian Cheng's gaze lingered on her face for a few seconds, as if confirming something.

"The audit team is coming to review the project documents today. Are you ready?"

"It's all ready. The 'supporting documents' for 2023 have been compiled, including contracts, acceptance reports, and payment vouchers, all bound by project category. They can be shown to them at any time."

Qian Cheng nodded.

"Where's the original?"

"It's safe. It's locked at the very back of the filing cabinet."

"Where's the key?"

Zhou Min's fingers tightened slightly.

"It's with me."

"Give me."

Zhou Min looked at him without moving.

"Director Qian, the original document is locked in the cabinet. I have the key, so there won't be any problems."

Qian Cheng stared at her for two seconds.

"It's not that I don't trust you. Secretary Fang said that these things must be strictly controlled, and the fewer people who know about them, the better. The key is with you, in case the audit team suddenly wants to check the cabinet. Give it to me first."

Zhou Min was silent for two seconds, then took out a bunch of keys from her bag, took one out, and placed it on the table.

Qian Cheng picked it up, looked at it, and put it in his pocket.

"Is there a backup?"

No. Just this one.

Qian Cheng nodded, turned around and walked to the filing cabinet, pulled on the cabinet door—it was locked.

He walked back, sat down opposite Zhou Min, unscrewed the thermos, and took a sip.

"Zhou Min, the audit team's visit this time is not just a formality. Secretary Fang is under a lot of pressure, so you must keep things stable."

"I know."

"You've handled the most things. If anything goes wrong, not only will Secretary Fang be finished, but you won't escape either."

Zhou Min's fingers slowly clenched under the table, but her expression remained unchanged.

"Director Qian, I know what's important."

Qian Cheng looked at her, his gaze lingering on her face for a few more seconds.

Then he stood up and patted her on the shoulder.

"Okay. I trust you to handle things."

He turned to leave, but stopped at the door without looking back.

"Zhou Min. You've followed Secretary Fang for so many years; he won't treat you unfairly. But if you have any ulterior motives—"

He didn't finish speaking before pushing the door open and leaving.

Zhou Min sat there, her fingers slowly loosening, revealing four red marks on her palm from her fingernails.

She looked down at the key on the table, one of which was missing.

Qian Cheng took the key.

He said, "It's not that I don't trust you."

He said, "You've handled the most things."

He was reminding her—you're in the same boat as us.

He said, "If you have any ulterior motives," he was threatening her—think about the consequences of betrayal.

Zhou Min stood up and walked to the filing cabinet.

She pulled on the cabinet door—it was locked and couldn't be opened.

The original items were locked inside the cabinet.

The contract, acceptance report, payment voucher, and transfer record all bear her signature.

Those were the sum of all the "fake" things she had done over the past seven years.

But now, she doesn't have the key.

Qian Cheng took the key, and with it, she took away her right to choose.

Zhou Min walked back to her seat and sat down.

She saw that the "for reference" document was still spread out on Qian Cheng's table across from her.

The brand-new contract paper was blindingly white.

She stared at the contract for a long time, then reached out and closed it.

My phone vibrated.

She picked it up and saw that it was a message from Chen Dapeng.

"Zhou Min, are you there?"

Zhou Min stared at the message, her finger hovering above the screen.

He typed one word—"Here."

It was deleted again.

He typed two more words—"I'm here."

It was deleted again.

She didn't know what to say, or whether she should say anything at all.

Qian Cheng's words were still echoing in her mind—"If you have ulterior motives."

She wasn't without ulterior motives; she had far too many.

From the day the provincial audit team arrived, she thought every night – should she step forward?

I've thought about it for days, but I still don't have an answer.

It's not that I don't want to stand, it's that I'm afraid to stand.

What is the cost of standing?

she knows.

Fang Zhiwen served in Liuhe Town for ten years, rising from town mayor to party secretary. She handled more "projects" than "contracts".

He has done countless things and has dirt on so many people.

If she steps forward, how will Fang Zhiwen treat her?

She dared not think.

Zhou Min placed her phone face down on the table, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

She remembered the USB drive in her bag.

The small silver object contained scans of all the "problematic" materials she had handled over the past seven years.

Scanned copies of the contract, acceptance report, bank transfer records, and original ledger of land acquisition compensation payments.

Every document bears her signature, every document passed through her hands, and every document serves as evidence of Fang Zhiwen's illegal operations.

She copied it secretly before the audit team arrived.

At the time, she didn't know what she was thinking—was she trying to keep something on her for self-defense, or was she planning to hand it over voluntarily one day?

She can't remember.

All she remembered was that she was alone in the office that night. She plugged in the USB drive, selected all, and then copied and pasted it.

After about thirty seconds, she went from being one of Fang Zhiwen's people to someone who "might betray him."

Zhou Min reached into her bag and touched the USB drive.

A small, cool, metallic exterior.

She held it tightly in her hand.

……

2:30 p.m., building materials warehouse in the Economic Development Zone.

Qian Cheng stood at the door, holding a bunch of keys in his hand, his hand trembling slightly.

He tried to appear calm, but beads of sweat involuntarily appeared on his forehead.

Fang Zhiwen stood a few steps behind him, hands behind his back, a standard smile on his face—

With a slight upturn of the corners of his mouth and a narrowing of his eyes, he appeared calm and composed.

But Zhou Min noticed that Fang Zhiwen's hands were clenched into fists behind his back.

The audit team consisted of seven people—Team Leader Meng, Engineer Wu, and five auditors whose names Zhou Min couldn't recall.

Chen Dapeng walked at the very back, holding a notebook in his hand. His gaze swept across the crowd, landing on Zhou Min for a second before looking away.

Zhou Min's heart skipped a beat, but her face remained expressionless.

She stood two steps behind Fang Zhiwen, side by side with Qian Cheng.

"Director Qian, please open the door."

Team Leader Meng's tone was very calm.

Qian Cheng nodded, stepped forward, inserted the key into the lock, and turned it twice.

The lock opened, and he pushed the iron gate aside.

Zhou Min followed the crowd inside.

This is a warehouse full of building materials—bundles of steel bars are stacked on the left, and piles of cement bags are piled up like small mountains on the right, leaving a narrow passageway in the middle, barely enough for one person to pass through.

The air was filled with cement dust and the smell of rusty metal, which mixed together and smelled somewhat pungent.

Team Leader Meng walked in, looked around, and didn't say anything.

He walked to the steel bar storage area, squatted down, pulled out a steel bar, looked at the label on it, and measured its diameter.

Then he stood up and walked to the cement storage area.

The cement bags were stacked very high, almost reaching the roof of the warehouse.

Team Leader Meng stood in front of the cement stack, reached out and tore open a bag of cement, then stuck his fingers inside and rubbed the powder inside.

He glanced at the production date on the cement bag, then stopped.

Zhou Min noticed the pause.

It's not the natural pause you make when flipping through materials; it's the pause your brain makes when it's rapidly processing information after discovering something amiss.

"Director Qian." Team Leader Meng straightened up, turned around, and held the torn bag of cement in his hand. "What is the production date of this batch of cement?"

Qian Cheng paused for a moment, stepped forward, took the cement bag, and glanced down at it.

His expression changed instantly.

"This batch of cement... is from last month."

Team Leader Meng looked at him without saying a word.

Qian Cheng's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

"Team Leader Meng, this... it's possible the manufacturer sent the wrong batch. Our purchase contract is for goods in 2023, but the manufacturer may have sent a new batch instead."

"Making a mistake once is understandable."

Team Leader Meng's voice wasn't loud, but every word struck Qian Cheng's heart like a hammer blow.

How many batches of cement do you have in this warehouse?

Qian Cheng opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

Without waiting for his reply, Team Leader Meng walked to the other side of the cement stack, tore open another bag, checked the production date, and handed it to Engineer Wu.

Engineer Wu took it, glanced at it, and made a note in his notebook.

Team Leader Meng then tore open the third, fourth, and fifth bags.

Every bag has a recent production date—either last month or the month before last; none of them are from 2023.

Fang Zhiwen stood at the door, his smile finally fading.

His lips slowly lowered, and the composure in his eyes was replaced by an indescribable emotion—not anger, not fear, but more like a confirmation.

It was as if confirming one thing—it was all over.

"Director Qian," Team Leader Meng dusted off his hands and turned around, "You signed the contract in March 2023, and received the goods in March 2023. But all the cement in the warehouse has the most recent production date. Where did that batch of cement from 2023 go?"

Qian Cheng stood there, his lips trembling slightly.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but couldn't utter a word.

"And another thing," Team Leader Meng said, walking to the steel bar storage area. "The labels on this batch of steel bars indicate that they were produced in February 2023. According to the normal procurement process, it takes at least a month from signing the contract to receiving the goods. You signed the contract in March, and you received the goods produced in February in March—that's faster than express delivery."

Engineer Wu chuckled softly behind him, then quickly covered his mouth.

But no one laughed along.

Because everyone knows this is not a joke.

"Team Leader Meng," Qian Cheng finally managed to squeeze out a sentence, "this project's timeline is indeed quite tight, and the deadline requirements are high, so..."

"So what?"

Team Leader Meng looked at him, his gaze like a blunt knife.

"So you received the goods before the contract was signed? What procedures were used to get these goods into the warehouse? What was the procurement process? Who signed off on the acceptance?"

He paused for a moment.

"Director Qian, the projects you're handling don't even follow the most basic procurement procedures correctly?"

Qian Cheng's face was as white as paper.

He stood there, his hands hanging at his sides, his fingers trembling slightly.

Fang Zhiwen finally spoke.

"Team Leader Meng, there are indeed some management oversights in this project. We will seriously rectify them—"

"Secretary Fang," Team Leader Meng interrupted him, "oversight and falsification are two different things."

He looked at Fang Zhiwen, and Fang Zhiwen looked at him.

Neither of them spoke.

Zhou Min stood at the back of the crowd, watching this scene unfold.

Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of her throat.

She reached into her bag and touched the USB drive.

It was cold and small.

She clutched it, her palms sweaty.

No one spoke in the warehouse.

"Engineer Wu," Team Leader Meng turned around, "Take a picture of the labels on this batch of cement and steel bars. Take a picture of each batch, make sure it's clear."

Mr. Wu nodded, took out his camera from his bag, squatted down, and started taking pictures.

"Xiao Zhao, find the purchase list in the contract." Team Leader Meng then looked at another young male auditor, "and compare it with the actual items in the warehouse. Match the quantity written in the contract to the quantity in the warehouse, bag by bag."

"Yes, Director Meng."

The audit team got busy.

Fang Zhiwen stood there, his gaze fixed on the cement bags, his face expressionless.

But Zhou Min noticed that his fingers were clenched into fists behind his back.

Qian Cheng didn't make a sound, but his shoulders were trembling slightly.

As Zhou Min watched Qian Cheng's retreating figure, a strange feeling welled up inside her.

She was thinking—what if one day the audit team uncovered all the problems, Fang Zhiwen fell from grace, and Qian Cheng went to jail?

She was the one who handled it.

She signed every contract, handled every money transfer, and created every fake document.

Qian Cheng could say "it was Zhou Min who orchestrated it," while Fang Zhiwen could say "the specific tasks were done by his subordinates."

She was the "person below".

Zhou Min pulled her hand out of her bag.

The USB drive was still in my hand, clutched tightly.

She looked down at her hands.

My fingernails dug into my flesh, making it red and a little painful.

"Zhou Min".

Fang Zhiwen's voice came from behind.

She turned around and looked at Fang Zhiwen.

Fang Zhiwen's expression had returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.

"Secretary Fang."

"Go and find the contract for Director Qian. The audit team needs to verify it, so don't waste time."

Zhou Min nodded and turned to walk out of the warehouse.

She paused for a moment as she reached the door.

Chen Dapeng stood by the door, holding a notebook in his hand.

Zhou Min didn't linger and quickly walked out.

Back in her office, she opened the filing cabinet—it was locked and couldn't be opened.

The key was in Qian Cheng's pocket.

She stood there, staring at the locked cabinet door, for a long time.

Then she went back to her seat, sat down, and opened the drawer.

At the very back of the drawer was an envelope, white and unsealed.

Inside was a document she had written.

The title is: "Explanation Regarding the Use of Funds in Liuhe Town Economic Development Zone".

She did not sign her name.

I wrote three pages listing out the "problems" I had dealt with over the years, one by one.

Each transaction has a date, amount, destination, person in charge, and approver.

She did not write Fang Zhiwen's name, but only wrote "town leader".

She didn't write her own name either, but only wrote the character "Zhou" in pencil in the bottom right corner of the last page.

She didn't know if the document would be submitted, or when it would be submitted.

All she knew was to write it first and think about it later.

Zhou Min took the envelope out of the drawer, put it in her bag, and placed it with the USB drive.

Then, she stood up and walked out of the office.