Ji Shuyu leaned against the counter, a hint of coldness in her eyes. “A misunderstanding? The numbers in the account books are clear, every entry is recorded. How could it be a misunderstanding? Before, you always said transportation costs were high, so the prices were expensive.”
“But now my goods are so much cheaper than yours, and the quality is still guaranteed. How do you explain that?”
Previously, when Ji Shuyu took over the supplier role from Xiao Zhou’s uncle, his family had held a grudge, constantly thinking about how to bring Ji Shuyu down. But Ji Shuyu’s goods seemed to have grown wings; there was simply no telling where they came from. They couldn’t find the source of the goods, nor the transport team. Xiao Zhou’s uncle was so angry his teeth itched, wishing he could just send someone to threaten Ji Shuyu.
Over the years, by supplying goods to the island and profiting from the middleman price difference, he had managed to build his family’s fortune. Because supplies were scarce on the island, the state allocated extra funds to their supply and marketing cooperative. They originally had a fixed supplier, whom Xiao Zhou’s uncle had managed to squeeze out.
When he encountered Ji Shuyu, Xiao Zhou’s uncle tried to use the same old tricks, but discovered Ji Shuyu was a tough nut to crack. There was simply no way to deal with her.
Xiao Zhou’s uncle opened his mouth, but for a long time, couldn’t utter a complete sentence. He knew that today, the matter was completely beyond concealment. Once the charge of embezzling public property was confirmed, the consequences would be unthinkable.
The surrounding residents also began pointing fingers and accusing them, some even wanting to drag them to the public security bureau to get things clear. After all, the money he embezzled was ultimately the people’s money. Because of him, they had to pay more for goods, so they’d rather endure or ask someone to bring things from outside than shop here.
Now, Xiao Zhou and her uncle were truly under attack from all sides.
Li Cuihua stood at the back of the crowd, watching the scene before her, her heart filled with both regret and fear. She subtly moved backward, wanting to slip away amidst the chaos, but was recognized by an islander nearby.
“Li Cuihua, trying to leave? Weren’t you the one shouting with Xiao Zhou earlier, demanding to check the accounts? Now that the truth is out, you want to run?”
Li Cuihua’s face flushed red all the way to her neck. “I didn’t! I was deceived too!”
Ji Shuyu glanced at her. Li Cuihua hadn’t directly participated in the embezzlement. It would be hard to pin that on her. However, she could argue that Li Cuihua helped Xiao Zhou frame her. That could be enough to have her ‘cool off’ inside for a while.
Director Wang took a deep breath, suppressing the anger in his heart, and said to Xiao Zhou and her uncle, “At this point, what more is there to say? Come with me to the police station and confess everything clearly!”
Xiao Zhou and her uncle, their previous arrogance completely gone, hung their heads and were led away by Director Wang. Also taken away was Li Cuihua, who had been the first to start making noise. Xiao Zhang and Xiao Xin, the two of them, escorted Li Cuihya all the way to the public security bureau.
The islanders who had gathered, seeing the matter resolved, gradually dispersed, not forgetting to praise Ji Shuyu as they left.
“Shuyu, you’re really something. Otherwise, who knows how long we would have been deceived by them!”
“From now on,we’ll come to you to buy things. It’s cheap and good!”
Ji Shuyu smiled and nodded, thanking everyone for their trust.
Lin Feifei stood in the corner, watching Ji Shuyu surrounded by everyone’s praise, her heart filled with jealousy and resentment. She clenched her fists tightly, secretly vowing that she must find a way to make Ji Shuyu take a great fall.
Ji Shuyu seemed to sense Lin Feifei’s gaze and turned to look over.
Lin Feifei hurriedly averted her eyes, pretending to adjust her clothes.
Ji Shuyu glanced at her, a plan already forming in her mind. She knew Lin Feifei had always been resentful and would likely cause more trouble for her in the future. Since she had taken the initiative to strike today, Ji Shuyu decided to give her a taste of her own medicine.
Accountant Fang finished organizing the account books and said to Ji Shuyu, “Comrade Shuyu, we really owe you thanks today. Otherwise, who knows how long we would have been deceived by them.”
“With you here at the supply and marketing cooperative from now on, we can rest easy.”
Ji Shuyu smiled. “Accountant Fang, it’s just what I should do. I simply don’t want to see public property being misappropriated, and I don’t want everyone to waste their money.”
“Let’s work together to run the supply and marketing cooperative well from now on, so everyone can buy good, affordable items.”
Hearing this, Accountant Fang nodded.
After dealing with Xiao Zhou and her uncle, Ji Shuyu packed her things away and waited for Xiao Zhang and Xiao Xin to return first.
Roughly two hours later, the two of them came back first.
Xiao Zhang excitedly described to Ji Shuyu how Xiao Zhou and her uncle had been defeated at the public security bureau.
“Sister Shuyu, you didn’t see it! When Xiao Zhou’s uncle got to the public security bureau, he was stubborn at first, saying he just miscalculated the accounts. But when the officers compared them with our account books, he immediately wilted!”
“In the end, he confessed to everything! Said he’d embezzled nearly two thousand yuan over the years by falsifying transport costs and inflating prices!”
Xiao Xin chimed in, her tone full of vindication. “And Li Cuihua! At first, she cried and said she’d been tricked by Xiao Zhou. But Xiao Zhou directly exposed her, saying Li Cuihua wanted to bring you down. Li Cuihua had nothing to say after that, just hung her head and admitted it.”
“Xiao Zhou also said Lin Feifei was involved, but since she didn’t speak up earlier, there’s nothing the public security officers can do about her.”
Lin Feifei was clever. When it came to things where the shot hits the bird that sticks its head out, she always let others take the lead. If anything really happened, it was Li Cuihua and Xiao Zhou who did it, it had nothing to do with her.
Ji Shuyu gave a cold laugh. She had a way to deal with Lin Feifei. But that two thousand yuan was no small amount in this era; Xiao Zhou’s uncle was truly audacious.
She turned to Accountant Fang. “Accountant Fang, since Xiao Zhou’s uncle has confessed, we need to quickly check the previous accounts to see if there are any other discrepancies, to avoid further problems later.”
Accountant Fang promptly nodded. “I’ll go organize them right now. I’ll specifically pull out the transport accounts he was responsible for before and check them carefully, ensuring every entry matches up.”
So saying, he hurried into the inner room with the account books.
Ji Shuyu asked Xiao Zhang and Xiao Xin to watch the shop, while she went back home.
She accessed the Points Mall system and used the mall’s intelligence station, spending points to investigate Lin Feifei’s past.
This investigation revealed quite the spectacular story.
Lin Feifei originally shouldn’t have been able to join the cultural troupe. During the assessment back then, she deliberately spilled water on the floor, causing a competitor to fall and break her leg. Not only did she ruin the other girl’s dance career, but she also forced her to leave the cultural troupe.
If such behavior were ever discovered, Lin Feifei would also be in serious trouble. But no one found out, and Lin Feifei smoothly made it into the island’s cultural troupe.
Since that was the case, Ji Shuyu thought of a good plan.
She returned home, took out a letter paper, and wrote a letter. The handwriting was deliberately disguised, completely different from Ji Shuyu’s usual writing.
She believed this letter would surely make Lin Feifei… unable to eat or sleep in peace.
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