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

Friday night.

Chen Dapeng ate a simple bowl of noodles and then sat down at the table.

A pile of materials was spread out on the table—

Copies of materials submitted by Zhou Min, excerpts of Qian Cheng's bank transfer records, Fang Zhiqiang's asset information, and a list of issues discovered by the audit team.

He flipped through these materials countless times, curling up the corners of every page.

He marked some places with a highlighter pen over and over again, and the color has faded.

Before his sister Chen Yang returned to the provincial capital, she helped him reorganize all the materials, dividing them into five folders:

Transfer records, land acquisition compensation, project contracts, acceptance reports, and others.

Each folder has a label on its cover that summarizes its contents.

My sister's handwriting is neat and tidy, far better than his messy notes.

Chen Dapeng reached out and picked up the bottom folder – "Other".

This folder contains materials that are difficult to categorize: some scattered documents, a few blurry photos, and several sets of company information downloaded and printed from the internet.

He flipped through it, but didn't find anything new. Just as he was about to put it down, his finger touched the bottom of the folder and he felt a piece of paper slide into the interlayer.

He opened the inner compartment and pulled out a piece of paper.

It was a photocopy; the paper was yellowed and the edges were curled, indicating it had been stored for quite some time.

The writing on the paper was somewhat blurry, and some strokes were so faint that they were almost illegible.

Chen Dapeng flattened the paper and looked at it closely.

It is an approval document.

The approval document concerns a project in Liuhe Town applying for special provincial government funding, agreeing to include the project in the annual plan.

He had seen this content in other materials before; it wasn't new to him.

But when he saw the last page of the approval document, his finger suddenly stopped.

At the very bottom of that page, there was a line of small printed text—

"Issued by: Gu Huaiyuan".

Below the printed words was a handwritten signature.

The strokes are flowing and connected, making it difficult to discern the exact characters, but their placement and format—

It is the issuer's handwritten signature.

Chen Dapeng stared at the name, his mind racing.

Gu Huaiyuan.

He wasn't a seasoned official and didn't know any of the top provincial leaders, but he had heard of this name before.

Gu Huaiyuan, Vice Governor, is in charge of agriculture, water conservancy, environmental protection and other fields.

He was promoted from the director of the provincial development and reform commission five years ago, and is considered a powerful figure in the province.

He remembered the name because when he was researching information about Liuhe Town, he saw a provincial document that was signed "Gu Huaiyuan".

He didn't pay attention at the time, thinking it was just a normal signature from a leader.

But now, this approval document has appeared in the project materials of Liuhe Town, and in a bunch of documents that have leaked from Liuhe Town, which doesn't seem right.

Chen Dapeng picked up the approval document and flipped it over to look at the back.

The back is blank; there's nothing there.

He flipped it back to the front and stared at the printed name for a long time—"Gu Huaiyuan".

A vice governor personally signing the approval document for a county-level project was perhaps just a normal work procedure at the time.

But why did this approval document end up in his hands?

This approval document was not in the materials submitted by Zhou Min, nor on Qian Cheng's USB drive, nor in Du Jianguo's ledger.

Where did it come from?

Chen Dapeng couldn't remember.

Perhaps it was just a random copy from some department when they were checking the data for Liuhe Town;

Perhaps it was found in an old filing cabinet in the IT department;

Maybe my sister slipped it in while she was organizing the materials.

He couldn't remember.

But at that moment, he suddenly realized a problem—

This approval document may have always been in his possession, but he has never looked at it carefully.

In the past, when reviewing materials, he focused on numbers—amount, date, account, approver.

He was looking at where the money went, who signed it, and which step went wrong.

He never paid attention to the "issuer" on those approvals.

The "signer" is just a procedural matter; whoever's name is on the document is the one who signed it, and there's nothing to verify.

But now, he suddenly realized—what if the "signer" himself is the problem?

What if the person who issued this approval has some unknown connection with the project in Liuhe Town?

Chen Dapeng took out the approval document separately and put it aside.

He then flipped through the "Other" folder to see if there were any similar approvals.

Turning to the last page, he found two more copies—

One is from 2020, and the issuer is also Gu Huaiyuan;

One of them is from 2021, and the issuer is still Gu Huaiyuan.

Three approvals, three years, all issued by the same person.

Chen Dapeng placed the three approval documents side by side on the table and stared at them for a long time.

Three approval documents, corresponding to three different projects in Liuhe Town—

Wastewater treatment project in 2019, road hardening project in 2020, and pipeline renovation project in 2021.

The three projects have a total investment of over 5000 million yuan, with over 2000 million yuan in special funds allocated by the provincial finance department.

Are these projects related to Hongda Trading?

He thought for a moment, picked up his phone, took pictures of the three approval documents, opened Lin Chen's WeChat, and sent them to him one by one.

He added a line: "Lin Chen, can you check if these projects are related to Hongda Trading?"

After sending the message, he leaned back in his chair and stared at his phone screen.

It's almost 10 p.m., and Lin Chen probably still isn't asleep.

This guy is a night owl; he gets more energetic the later it gets.

After waiting for about ten minutes, my phone vibrated.

Lin Chen replied, several times in a row.

"Dapeng, which projects in Liuhe Town are these approvals for?"

"The sewage treatment project in 2019, the road hardening project in 2020, and the pipeline renovation project in 2021 were all located in the Liuhe Town Economic Development Zone."

"Wait a moment, let me check."

I waited another half hour.

"We found it. The building materials supplier for all three projects is Hongda Trading. The total contract amount is 3500 million, but the actual supply is less than 1200 million. The remaining 2300 million was transferred through the bank, but no goods were delivered."

Chen Dapeng's fingers tightened suddenly.

3500 million.

The actual supply was less than 1200 million.

The 2300 million yuan was transferred, but the goods were not shipped.

This number is larger than all the numbers he had found before combined.

1160 million, 1240 million, 700 million—those are just small change.

The real black hole is 2300 million.

"Lin Chen, can you find out where this money went?"

"We can only find the accounts of Hongda Trading. To go further, we need to check the bank statements. Hongda Trading's account is in the provincial capital. I know someone here, but it will take time."

"Approximately how long?"

"Two days."

Chen Dapeng thought for a moment.

The audit team can hold out for at most another week.

Two days is enough time.

"Please help me find out. The sooner the better."

"Okay. But what does this have to do with Gu Huaiyuan? He signed the approval document you issued."

Chen Dapeng's finger paused on the screen for a moment.

He thought for a moment, then typed: "It could be a coincidence. Or it could be something else. Let's check the money first, and we'll talk about the rest later."

"Understood. Be careful. The investigation of the vice governor is no joke."

"I know."

Chen Dapeng put down his phone and stared at the three approval documents on the table.

Gu Huaiyuan's name was printed on every document, in bold, neat and tidy, like an official seal, stamped on those shady projects in Liuhe Town.

2300 million. Vice Governor. Hongda Commerce.

The line has finally been connected.

Chen Dapeng carefully put the three approval documents into a compartment in his wallet, along with the copies of the transfer records.

My wallet is bulging and feels uncomfortable in my pocket.

But he dared not put it in the house, nor anywhere else.

These things are safest when carried on your person.

At that moment, a thought popped into his mind—

The case in Liuhe Town is not just about Fang Mingyuan.

It leads to the provincial capital, to those people he had only seen on television news.

Fang Mingyuan is just a pawn; the real big fish is at the bottom of the water.

He picked up his phone, took screenshots of the messages Lin Chen had sent, opened He Ying's WeChat, and sent them to her one by one.

A line of text was attached:

"Sister Ying, while I was organizing materials at home, I found several approval documents that I hadn't noticed before."

It was signed by Gu Huaiyuan and involves three projects in Liuhe Town.

Lin Chen checked for me, and the building material supplier for these three projects is Hongda Trading. The total contract amount is 3500 million yuan, but the actual supply is less than 1200 million yuan.

The remaining 2300 million was transferred through bank transfer, but no goods were shipped.

After sending the message, he stared at the screen, waiting for a reply.

After waiting for about two minutes, my phone vibrated.

He Ying's reply was only one sentence: "Are you sure?"

"Confirmed. I've sent you a photo of the approval document. Lin Chen is checking the bank statements; the results should be available in about two days."

The "typing" message flashed for a long time.

Chen Dapeng could sense that He Ying on the other end of the phone was trying to process the news.

A shortfall of 2300 million, the vice governor's approval, and the project in Liuhe Town—all these things combined mean that this is no longer a case confined to a single county.

About a minute later, the message came through.

"Don't mention this connection to anyone for now."

"clear."

"Also, Dapeng, be careful over there. If these things are real, then the person behind Fang Mingyuan is far more dangerous than we think."

Chen Dapeng knew what He Ying was worried about.

The last time he was beaten was because he found out the data about Liuhe Town.

This time, he investigated a vice-governor, which is a completely different level of danger.

"I know. You do too."

He Ying did not reply.

Chen Dapeng put his phone on the table, turned off the desk lamp, and lay down on the bed.

He stared at the ceiling, his mind filled with those numbers—3500 million, 2300 million, Gu Huaiyuan, Hongda Trading.

These words are strung together like beads, forming a line.

This route starts from Liuhe Town.

The transaction was recorded by Fang Zhiwen, handled by Qian Cheng, and recorded by Zhou Min.

We continued upwards, passing Fang Mingyuan and Lao Nie.

It eventually leads to the provincial capital.

The path leads to that person named Gu Huaiyuan...