CH 32

Pei You had already gotten used to Zhou Qingbo’s wild train of thought and didn’t bother to correct him. He just went along with what he said.

The destination was still about an hour away, so Pei You took out a folder from his briefcase and opened it to check some documents.

Zhou Qingbo glanced at it and saw that it was a list of inventory, with the left side containing the items provided by Dongjiang and the right side a blank space, probably for Pei You to fill in after the inventory.

Zhou Qingbo scanned it briefly and found that the list was very detailed, including not only construction equipment but also building materials like steel bars, cement, and sand.

“They even count these?” Zhou Qingbo asked with a sigh, pointing to a category of brick materials on the list, “How do they check this?”

“You count what can be measured and measure what can’t be counted,” Pei You said. “When I just started in this profession, I went out to do inventories all the time and saw all sorts of things. These are not uncommon.”

“Is that so?” Zhou Qingbo became interested and asked, “Then what’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever inventoried in your career?”

Pei You thought for a moment, carefully recalling, and said, “It should be… sheep.”

“Sheep?” Zhou Qingbo was puzzled, “Is that counted too?”

Pei You nodded, not looking up, and said, “Shortly after I graduated, I went to audit a livestock company in Inner Mongolia—they primarily owned sheep. During the inventory, we had to separate the male sheep, female sheep, pregnant female sheep, and lambs.”

Pei You paused for a moment and continued, “I remember it well because right after we finished the inventory, some female sheep suddenly gave birth, and we had to modify the forms we had just completed.”

Zhou Qingbo: “…”

“Thank goodness I didn’t listen to my brother when choosing a major.” Zhou Qingbo said with lingering fear, “If I had gone into finance, I feel like I would have been skinned alive.”

“It’s not that exaggerated.” Pei You said, “I’m still doing fine, right?”

“That’s you, you’re different.” Zhou Qingbo said, “You’re a top student in my eyes, with a halo over your head.”

Pei You smirked, shook his head, and said nothing.

He busied himself by comparing the categories on the form, while Zhou Qingbo didn’t disturb him further.

The form contained more than thirty categories, and just looking at it made Zhou Qingbo feel dizzy. He leaned forward against the back of the front seat, propped up his arm, and chatted idly with the driver.

Zhou Qingbo couldn’t sit still, and the driver was also a talkative person. They chatted all the way from the south to the north, and by the time they approached their destination, Zhou Qingbo even knew about some famous restaurants in the area.

Pei You finished comparing the form while they chatted intermittently, and then he took out his laptop from the backpack to remotely inquire about the progress from the audit department.

On the way from Weinan City to the project site, they passed a market and the aroma of fresh breakfast foods wafted in through the half-open window, itching Zhou Qingbo’s appetite.

He couldn’t help but ask the driver to stop the car, got out, and bought two breakfasts, one for himself and one for Pei You.

“We’re almost there.” Zhou Qingbo said, “After you finish your work, let’s eat something. There’s a tough battle waiting for you later.”

The bag of packaged soy milk felt warm to the touch, and the fried dough sticks softened a bit in the air, and the crispy outer shell began to turn tender.

Pei You thanked him and then packed the documents and laptop back into the bag.

He handed Zhou Qingbo the bag of soy milk and also took the one that Zhou Qingbo hadn’t opened yet.

“Do you think he might set us up over there?” Zhou Qingbo held the bag of soy milk, his voice muffled as he asked, “What if we find nothing when we get there?”

Because Zhou Qingbo didn’t name anyone while in the taxi, he was speaking ambiguously.

“It’s unlikely.” Pei You shook his head and said in a low voice, “With so many things, where can he move them? Besides, based on his account, he would only get in more trouble if things were missing.”

Zhou Qingbo made a noise but somehow felt uneasy. He couldn’t shake off the feeling that things wouldn’t go so smoothly, but he couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong.

Pei You seemed to sense his nervousness, so he took out a tissue and wiped the corner of Zhou Qingbo’s mouth.

“It’s okay.” Pei You reassured him, “No company wants to be scrutinized. I’ve seen many situations like this, so don’t worry.”

Zhou Qingbo was comforted to some extent and nodded, not saying anything further. They finished their fried dough sticks in two or three bites.

The project Pei You selected that day was a relatively large construction project, consisting of a set of industrial buildings and accompanying dormitory buildings, and it was one of Dongjiang’s major projects for the quarter.

When Pei You and Zhou Qingbo arrived at the construction site, they were greeted by a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties who was standing at the entrance of the construction management department, peering out.

The taxi stopped at the entrance of the construction site, and as soon as Pei You got out of the car, the man’s gaze locked onto him like a searchlight. He approached with a smile, eagerly introducing himself as Liu Quan, the person in charge of that project.

“Mr. Zhou,?” the man asked. “I am Liu Quan, it’s an honor to meet you.”

“He’s not Mr. Zhou,” Zhou Qingbo elongated his voice and stuck his head out from the back seat, extending a hand to pull himself out from the back seat.

“I am Mr. Zhou.” Zhou Qingbai patted the nonexistent dust on his clothes and closed the car door.

The taxi drove away, leaving Liu Quan stunned. He glanced around at Pei You and Zhou Qingbai, feeling somewhat embarrassed, and smiled awkwardly.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Then this is Mr. Pei, right?” Liu Quan smiled shamefully and said, “First time meeting, I mistook you for someone else, I apologize.”

Zhou Qingbo looked him up and down, understanding that he was arranged by Liu Xin in advance.

“It’s okay, we haven’t met before, so it’s normal to not recognize each other.” Zhou Qingbo waved his hand and said, “Where is the warehouse?”

“It’s at the back.” Liu Quan gestured in the direction and said, “Follow me this way.”

He turned and led the way while Zhou Qingbo followed a few steps behind. He leaned over to Pei You’s ear and whispered.

“Liu Xin’s second uncle,” Zhou Qingbo said, “He’s not much, but he’s doing well riding on his elder brother’s coattails.”

“How do you know that?” Pei You replied in a low voice, “Did you check the information beforehand?”

“No,” Zhou Qingbo said, “but he went to Beijing with Liu’s Father once, and I have a faint impression—anyway, be careful, both of them always cover up for Liu Xin, they’re in cahoots.”

Pei You nodded and said, “I understand.”

A construction site of that size couldn’t hide anything. Pei You followed Liu Quan around and got a rough idea of the situation.

“Do you want to count with me?” Pei You asked.

“Count? No, I’ll look around in the meantime,” Zhou Qingbo said, “boring work doesn’t suit me. I’ll go and find out about other things first.”

Knowing that Zhou Qingbo wasn’t interested in this task, Pei You nodded and said, “Just don’t go too far, I’ll call you when I’m done.”

“Alright.” Zhou Qingbo smiled, made a phone gesture, and then turned and left.

Liu Quan didn’t expect them to suddenly split up, and was caught off guard. He subconsciously wanted to go and keep Zhou Qingbo company, but before he took a step, Pei You called him.

“Excuse me, where is the raw materials warehouse?” Pei You said, “Please show me the way.”

The construction site was full of construction materials, especially in the ongoing construction areas, there was almost no place to step.

Liu Quan originally thought that someone like Pei You, who was dressed so elegantly, would at most sit in the office and check the accounts and purchase orders. He didn’t expect him to get involved and actually want to count the materials.

Starting from the list, Liu Quan slowly went through all categories of construction materials with Pei You, feeling exhausted and more tired than climbing a mountain.

But to Pei You’s surprise, although the situation on the site didn’t match the report, it wasn’t as severe as he had imagined. Apart from a few large construction equipment being “rented out,” the other materials were clearly listed in the warehouse, although the quantities didn’t match up for the most part, the discrepancies were not significant and were far from the embezzled amount Pei You had expected.

“This is the leasing contract for our equipment.” Liu Quan found a blue and white striped file box on the steel frame and pulled out a contract from it, handing it to Pei You.

“Since the mining work has finished, the bulldozers have been temporarily rented out,” Liu Quan explained, “and there are two loaders and a tower crane rented to other construction companies for emergencies—the specific categories and time are all in the contract, take a look.”

Different from the messy financial reports in Dongjiang, this contract was clear and explicit, with the seals and signatures of two companies at the end. Pei You took the time to check the qualifications of the other company and ruled out the suspicion that it was a small company set up by Dongjiang to deceive.

“Now that the construction site is still ongoing, why did you rent out even the tower crane?” Pei You asked.

“To recoup the investment,” Liu Quan seemed to have received Liu Xin’s instructions in advance, crying poverty convincingly, “the construction industry is tough now, labor costs are high, so we rely on renting out equipment during the off-season to recoup some money.”

“Why isn’t the rental income recorded on the report?” Pei You asked again.

“I don’t know,” Liu Quan widened his eyes, and said vaguely, “Oh, I don’t understand these things, the finance department handles it. Maybe they didn’t report it because the money hasn’t been received yet.”