"Hehe, Miss Xu, don't be nervous. We just want to ask you a few questions, that's all."
The middle-aged man sitting opposite Xu Milu looked kind and approachable, but his eyes were fixed on her reactions like those of a hawk.
Under such gazes, Xu Milu immediately became somewhat "uncomfortable":
"I... I haven't done anything illegal or criminal, and I've been paying my taxes properly. What do you want with me?"
Next to the middle-aged woman sat a tall, thin young man, Zhou Xiang, whom she shouldn't know. To her right sat a capable female staff member with a gentle smile and a sincere demeanor.
"Hehe, let me introduce myself first. I am Wang Manyi, the director of Ningcheng Forestry Bureau. These two are my colleagues at the Forestry Bureau. We didn't say you did anything illegal or criminal. We just wanted to chat with you. Don't be nervous. Just treat it as a chat between friends."
Wang Manyi chuckled, signaling her to relax:
"Look, there are only the four of us in the office now, so relax a bit and don't be so stiff."
I believed your lies.
Zhou Xiang is clearly an official member of the Beijing Guoan team.
If she hadn't seen it herself, Xu Milu would have actually believed it.
She looked somewhat confused, then nodded, feigning bewilderment.
"Okay, if there's anything I can do to help, just let me know. But I'm just a recent college graduate, I don't really have any skills."
"Oh my, you're not just any ordinary college student. I've seen your information. You graduated from a 211 university, returned to your hometown to contract land, and are leading the people of Xingning Village to prosperity. That's great! Nowadays, many young people leave their hometowns and don't want to come back. Whether it's due to objective or subjective factors, it's a good thing that you can lead your fellow villagers out of poverty. That's remarkable!"
Wang Manyi showered Xu Milu with compliments, while Zhou Xiang and the female staff member remained silent, observing Xu Milu's reaction.
Xu Mi's face immediately turned red, and she pursed her lips shyly.
"You mean the radish seed business? I really didn't do anything special, I just wanted everyone to have a good New Year. And in the beginning, Village Chief Tian Wen helped me a lot. I plan to expand this year and hire villagers from Xingning Village to grow grapes together..."
"That's a good thing! Poverty alleviation and wealth creation not only require great efforts from our government, but we also welcome private entrepreneurs like you. There will be relevant preferential policies!"
Wang Manyi exchanged a few more pleasantries, then subtly changed the subject:
"Little Xu, ah, I'm a few years older than you, is it alright to call you that? Since you plan to continue growing ping-pong grapes this year, would you be interested in cooperating with our Agricultural Bureau? We're interested in a 'targeted poverty alleviation' project, mainly targeting impoverished households and those on minimum living allowances in the mountainous areas of Ningcheng, but the problem is—"
Wang Manyi glanced at Zhou Xiang, then feigned difficulty: "We have absolutely no channels to purchase ping-pong grape seedlings!"
"The ping-pong grape seedlings were bought from Honghe Research Institute, as were the ingredients in my shop. How could I not have a source for them?"
Xu Milu looked bewildered.
Zhou Xiang exchanged a glance with the female staff member, then suddenly spoke:
"So, the ping-pong grape seedlings you have come from Ren Honghe? But as far as I know, this isn't your first time working with ping-pong grapes, is it?"
"Yes, when I first graduated, something happened at home and my family needed money urgently, so I worked with Sister Honghe for a while selling fruit. After I made some money selling fruit, I went back to Ningcheng and opened a restaurant. The grape seedlings were also given to me by Sister Honghe."
Xu Milu pretended to try hard to remember and thought for a while:
"Sister Honghe also lent me a batch of fruit for free. I made hundreds of thousands of yuan from it. I only paid her back later when I had more money. Are you asking this because something happened to Sister Honghe?"
"No, I'm just curious. Haven't you ever thought that, according to you, you and Ren Honghe aren't close, so why would she lend you such a high value of fruit? And our investigation shows that you handled all these transactions on your own; she doesn't seem to have been involved at all."
Zhou Xiang stared intently at Xu Milu, not wanting to miss a single flaw.
Xu Milu smiled:
"Maybe it's because I helped Sister Honghe before. I met Sister Honghe in Sichuan and Chongqing. She seemed to be lost at the time, and I couldn't understand what she was saying. She was just mumbling to herself. I thought she was a foreigner, so I gave her all the change I had. Later, Sister Honghe took the initiative to contact me. She didn't have a mobile phone, and I had to remind her before she agreed to get a phone card."
Check it out; several months ago, "Ren Honghe" hadn't even appeared in this world yet.
"You mean, Ren Honghe contacted you first in all of these cases?"
Zhou Xiang seemed to have discovered some new development, and his spirits lifted:
How does she contact you?
Xu Milu scratched her face:
"Just come to me directly. That time she came directly to my yard. I was a little puzzled as to how she knew the address of my yard. She brought a lot of fruit to see me, but she seemed unwilling to see outsiders. She left after a while. Later, she asked me if I wanted to sell fruit for her, which is why I went back to Sichuan and Chongqing and rented a warehouse. I think Honghe Research Institute is using it now."
Her family's courtyard is in the suburbs, and there isn't even a surveillance camera there. It's all up to Xu Milu to say what she wants.
Zhou Xiang frowned, still unable to clear the fog in his mind.
Since Ren Honghe had already appeared in Sichuan and Chongqing as early as September last year, why was she not seen on the surveillance footage?
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