Chapter 299: Investigation Results

Beijing. State-Owned Second Cotton Spinning Mill!

Li Yi arrived at the entrance of the cotton mill once again and knocked on the gatehouse door.

As luck would have it, Old Qiao was on duty again today. Upon seeing Li Yi, he immediately came out to greet him.

“Comrade, are you here to see our factory director again?”

“Yes, I haven’t seen him in a few days, so I came by to check on him!” Li Yi said with a smile.

“Then come on in!” Old Qiao said.

“Shouldn’t we call the factory office first?” Li Yi asked with a smile.

“No need. The plant manager told us the other day that if Brother Li Yi comes by, we shouldn’t stop him!”

Old Qiao then asked again, “Do you know your way around? Do you want me to take you over to the factory administration building?”

“No, I’ll find my way in on my own!” Li Yi said.

“Alright!”

Li Yi then walked through the gate and straight into the cotton mill.

Li Yi had come this time mainly because he was heading back; he planned to go see Jiang Longcheng.

Calculating the time, there were only three or five days left until his older sister’s due date, so he had to make it back before she gave birth.

But with this trip, he had no idea how long it would be before he could return.

Long Zhanjun had only taken over the shop a few days ago; no matter how capable he was, he’d need some time to adjust.

Most importantly, since the 1980s, public safety had been poor both in the capital and elsewhere; petty thugs and tough guys were everywhere.

His shop had gained some reputation, so it was inevitable that people would come looking for handouts or causing trouble; he needed someone capable of keeping things under control to help look after the place.

Of all the people he knew, only Jiang Longcheng had that kind of capability. Ye Jianhua would have been an option too, but the kid was busy dating and starting his new job at the district office—he simply didn’t have time to come over.

Therefore, Li Yi decided to ask Jiang Longcheng for help.

Given the Jiang family’s clout in Beijing, as long as the shop didn’t provoke the real big shots, Jiang Longcheng—as a local power broker—would be more than enough to handle most people and situations!

Besides, Li Yi was also a bit curious: had that guy actually followed his instructions to investigate those bastards? And if he had, what were the results?

After all, the lives of dozens of people were at stake, so Li Yi was quite concerned about the matter and wanted to check in on the situation.

But apart from that one time a few days ago when Jiang Longcheng came by to pick up his beat-up Jeep, he hadn’t set foot in the shop since!

Since he wasn’t coming, Li Yi had no choice but to pay him a visit himself!

Li Yi was naturally familiar with the factory’s layout; after all, he’d spent over three months there in his previous life. While he couldn’t claim to remember every single detail, he did have a general impression of the layout.

Besides, he’d been there just a short while ago!

Finding his way easily to the factory administration building, Li Yi signed in briefly at the entrance, then headed straight to the third floor, making a beeline for Jiang Longcheng’s office.

At that moment, in the factory director’s office on the third floor, Jiang Longcheng was listening to Hu Liang’s report.

“Director Jiang, that’s the basic situation. I’ll need your instructions on how to proceed from here!”

A flicker of excitement crossed Jiang Longcheng’s face, and he said, “So, there really are problems with those bastards’ accounts?”

“Director Jiang, you may not have fully grasped the severity of the situation. The accounts in the departments they oversee aren’t just problematic—they’re in serious trouble!” Hu Liang said in a grave tone.

“How serious?”

“Serious enough to send them to prison!”

“That serious?”

“Yes. According to our investigation, while the quantities of materials procured by the Purchasing Department and those received into inventory match over the past three years, there are significant discrepancies between those figures and the raw materials transferred to the various production workshops, as well as the actual production output from those workshops!”

Hu Liang continued, “In other words, some of the raw materials have gone missing during this process.”

“How could they have gone missing?” Jiang Longcheng asked, frowning.

Hu Liang replied immediately, “There are two possibilities. One is that the warehouse staff and the procurement department are in cahoots—they’re recording 10 tons of raw materials when there are actually only 9 tons!”

“The other possibility is that there’s an issue with the raw materials. The weight upon delivery was sufficient, but they may have been mixed with sand, gravel, or soil, so the weight was insufficient once they reached the production workshops.”

Jiang Longcheng wasn’t stupid; he understood Hu Liang’s meaning immediately.

“So you’re saying either the warehouse staff colluded with the purchasing department, or the production workshop staff colluded with them, and they embezzled company assets through the raw material procurement process?”

“It’s also possible that someone in the purchasing department has bribed both of those departments!” Hu Liang said.

“Bang!”

Jiang Longcheng slammed his fist on the table and shouted angrily, “Damn it, this is outrageous—utterly shameless!”

Hu Liang continued, “Also, upon reviewing the accounts, we discovered that the Purchasing Department has been conducting exceptionally frequent transactions with a state-owned cotton farm in Luxi, with the total amount exceeding 2 million yuan in a single year.”

“But as far as we know, that farm is just a small operation—it couldn’t possibly produce that much cotton.”

“Do you have any idea how much money those bastards have embezzled from the factory over the past few years?” Jiang Longcheng asked in a low, menacing voice.

“As it stands, the procurement department’s accounts show a shortfall of nearly 1.8 million yuan over the past three years. If we dig further back, the figure could be even higher!”

“Whoa!”

Hearing this, Jiang Longcheng couldn’t help but gasp.

The procurement department had embezzled 1.8 million yuan in just three years. No wonder the factory’s profits had plummeted so drastically over the past two years—it turned out all that money had been swallowed up by those bastards. That was absolutely ruthless.

What’s more, those three years coincided exactly with his tenure as plant manager.

No wonder Brother Li Yi said he was in for trouble—that’s exactly what’s happening!

Jiang Longcheng could clearly picture it: once this scandal broke, even with the Jiang family backing him, his days as plant manager would be numbered.

Although the Jiang family is quite powerful, they can’t possibly control everything. There are plenty of families in the capital who are at odds with the Jiang family and whose strength shouldn’t be underestimated.

They were now watching with bated breath, waiting for the Jiang family to slip up so they could bring them down.

No wonder Li Yi said he was in for trouble—with such a major incident occurring at the factory under his management, if he wasn’t the one to suffer, who else would be?

Thinking of this, Jiang Longcheng was already deeply impressed by Li Yi.

He decided that after work today, he absolutely had to stop by Li Yi’s shop to see him and express his gratitude.

“Director Jiang, should we continue the investigation, or should we close in and make the arrests right away?” Hu Liang asked for instructions.

“I’ll think it over first…”

Before Jiang Longcheng could finish his sentence, a series of sharp knocks suddenly rang out at the door.

Interrupted at such a critical moment, Jiang Longcheng felt a bit annoyed and said in a deep voice, “Come in!”

“Squeak!”

As the office door swung open, Li Yi strode in.

Jiang Longcheng was about to lose his temper, but when he saw that it was Li Yi, he swallowed the choice words that were on the tip of his tongue.

This sudden emergency stop caused him to choke on his breath, and he immediately began coughing violently!

Upon entering, Li Yi saw someone in Jiang Longcheng’s office and immediately asked, “What’s going on? Why are you coughing like that?”

“Cough, cough… It’s nothing, just choked a bit!” Jiang Longcheng said between coughs.

“Should I wait outside for a moment?”

Jiang Longcheng immediately shook his head and said, “No… no need. Brother Li Yi, you’ve come at just the right time—I was just about to look for you!”

At the same time, Hu Liang spoke up: “Director Jiang, since you have a guest, shall we discuss this matter later?”

Jiang Longcheng replied, “No need. Brother Li Yi isn’t an outsider—it’s perfect timing for him to give me some advice!”

Hearing this, Hu Liang immediately turned to look at Li Yi.

Jiang Longcheng’s words had been clear: if he wasn’t an outsider, then he was one of their own.

But Hu Liang simply couldn’t see what special talent this young man possessed that would make someone like Jiang Longcheng consider him one of his own.

“Hello, I’m Hu Liang!”

“Li Yi!”

After the brief introductions, Jiang Longcheng gave a rundown of the situation.

Then, looking at Li Yi, he said, “Brother Li Yi, could you give me some advice on what we should do?”

However, after hearing what Jiang Longcheng had to say, Li Yi couldn’t help but furrow his brow!