Qi Heng's father was among the first employees of the Science and Technology Institute. He worked at the institute when it was first established. Back then, the institute was extremely poor and was just a wasteland. It was the hard work of all the employees, day and night, that built the institute brick by brick.
Due to limited conditions at the time, the staff housing was very rudimentary, and most of the old buildings were actually demolished some time ago.
However, Qi Heng's father was once a leader in the compound, and the housing he was allocated was a separate small courtyard. In order to commemorate the hard work of these older generations, these small courtyards were preserved.
Due to the long distance, most of the rally participants did not come; only some young and strong teenagers and children accompanied them.
After a half-hour journey, the group finally arrived at Qi Heng's old house.
The snow, more than ten meters deep, had long since completely buried the house, but there was still a snow cave leading down, which must have been cleared out later.
"Hehe, Minister Qi, didn't you say that no one lives in your house?" Chen Yu said meaningfully, looking at the snow cave.
"Oh, maybe it's because I haven't been here much lately, and the staff in the yard helped clean it up," Qi Heng said casually, not taking it seriously at all.
“Xiao Chen, you don’t know, this house carries the history of our institute and has special significance. It is a key protected building in the institute and is managed by a dedicated person,” a middle-aged man explained to Chen Yu.
"Oh? Really? That's quite special. With natural disasters raging and people barely surviving, you still remember to maintain old buildings. I must say, this respect for history and preservation of tradition is truly admirable." Chen Yu's smile held a hint of amusement.
Upon hearing this, the entire room fell silent. Qi Heng's face darkened, and he was on the verge of exploding with anger. Someone tried to smooth things over, saying, "It's freezing outside. Let's get down to business."
Everyone else agreed.
The atmosphere eased slightly, and the topic returned to whether Qi Heng had embezzled supplies.
Because the entrance to the snow cave was too narrow, and the old house was already quite old and had limited load-bearing capacity, in order to prevent accidents, everyone unanimously decided to let Chen Yu go down to check.
The reason Chen Yu was chosen instead of someone else is because Chen Yu is not a member of the Academy of Sciences and has no vested interests with anyone there. Moreover, he is with Lin Lele, so if he really saw something down there, he would certainly not hide it in order to clear Lin Lele of the charges of spreading rumors and slander.
If Chen Yu has already determined that there is no evidence of Qi Heng embezzling materials, then there is no need for everyone to go down and confirm again.
Qi Heng did not comment on this. He had a clear conscience and was confident that Chen Yu's trip would end in failure. He could also see Chen Yu in a sorry state, so why not?
So, under everyone's watchful eyes, Chen Yu entered the snow cave.
Chen Yu returned in less than twenty minutes.
"Brother Chen, how is it?" Zhang Tianhao and the others looked nervous.
Chen Yu didn't answer them, but looked at Qi Heng with a pained expression and said, "Minister Qi, I know you're corrupt, but when the facts are laid bare before me, I still find it unbelievable and heartbreaking! How can you do this to the organization, to the country, to the people, and to all the staff at the Academy of Sciences? You've made everyone eat chaff and thin porridge every day, while you yourself..."
Qi Heng's face instantly turned ashen. He stared intently at Chen Yu and said coldly, "Chen Yu, what do you mean? Explain yourself! I, Qi Heng, have always acted with integrity and honesty. When have I ever taken even a single penny?"
"The evidence is right in front of you, do you still want to deny it?" Chen Yu said in a deep voice. "But you really hid it well. If I hadn't been lucky enough to discover your hidden underground snow house by chance, you might have really gotten away with it."
"An underground snow house?" Everyone was taken aback upon hearing this, and their gazes all turned to Chen Yu, seemingly expecting more explanation.
Chen Yu nodded and continued, "Yes, the underground snow house. After entering the building through the passage, I conducted a search according to normal procedures, but ultimately found nothing. Just as I was feeling relieved that Minister Qi had been cleared of suspicion, I suddenly noticed something unusual about the snow outside the window. So I went over to check it carefully and finally found a hidden snow house outside the window. Inside, there was not only a large amount of food, but also piles and piles of US dollars and gold bars!"
“Minister Qi, it’s the end of the world now. It’s one thing for you to take some public food, but what’s the point of you taking all that money?” Chen Yu asked, his face full of pain and confusion.
"Heh, this kind of person is greedy to the core. I wouldn't be surprised if he did something like that," Zhang Tianhao added. "Perhaps he knows he's committed grave sins and is worried about being purged by the organization after the natural disaster ends. He's probably using that money to prepare to run away at any time."
Upon hearing this, everyone present looked at Qi Heng with strange expressions.
Qi Heng was furious and shouted, "Nonsense! This is just your side of the story!"
He then ordered a trusted subordinate, "Xiao Wu, go down and see what's going on!"
"Yes!" Xiao Wu accepted the order.
They then crawled into the snow cave.
Five minutes later, Xiao Wu returned.
His expression was complex, showing both shock and a hint of barely perceptible panic.
"Tell me, what exactly did you see?" Qi Heng said in a deep voice.
Xiao Wu looked at Qi Heng, hesitating to speak.
Qi Heng frowned. He had already sensed that something was wrong, but in order not to lose face, he could only bite the bullet and say, "Say what you see. What's there to hide?"
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