My exclamation seemed to still echo in the room. Peng Xiaomei also sat up straight with shock written all over her face. "Yes! Why have I never thought about this? If this is true...it's too horrifying!"
I turned around suddenly and put my hands on her shoulders. The remaining alcohol evaporated instantly, leaving only cold fear: "Have you... seen Yue Mingyuan's wife?"
Peng Xiaohui shook her head blankly: "Never seen it. In some formal occasions where women are needed, Yue Mingyuan will ask Lu Yuting to temporarily replace him."
My heart sank. "It seems that the person who knows the inside story best is probably Lu Yuting."
My brain was working rapidly: since Yue Mingyuan and I were destined to be in the same boat, and he was setting up defenses and digging traps everywhere, a complete break, and even a life-and-death struggle, was probably inevitable.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win the battle. It's time to study Yue Mingyuan carefully. You must find his weak spot and his vital point before you can strike that fatal blow!
Just as my thoughts were surging, Peng Xiaomei gently advised: "Go to bed, it's too late."
I nodded silently and lay down next to her again.
She reached out to turn off the bedside lamp. The room was instantly swallowed by thick darkness and fell into dead silence.
In the darkness, I suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, why did you suddenly ask about the relationship between Xu Tao and Xu Tong?"
After a few seconds of silence, Peng Xiaohui's voice rang out in the darkness: "When I first saw him, he boasted to me that... you were his brother-in-law."
This bastard! A complete idiot!
I cursed in my heart with gnashing teeth, but said nothing.
I opened my eyes wide, staring at the endless darkness, trying to connect the confusing clues one by one and make sense of it.
Since Peng Xiaomei and Yue Mingyuan had no personal feelings for each other, then he sent Xu Tao to her... not out of jealousy or possessiveness.
Why is that?
My chaotic thoughts were like a galloping wild horse. I don’t know how long it took before I fell into a deep sleep in this fog.
After a sleepless night, I felt sluggish the next day. I sat in the office listlessly, and even gave up the idea of going to the office, thinking of going another day.
After all, the matter of abolishing the county and setting up a new government is still very urgent, but the many mysteries entrenched in my mind make me feel an urgent sense of need to be solved.
Just as I was lost in thought and racking my brain, Lu Yuting, who had made an appointment in advance, walked in lightly under the guidance of Hu Jia.
I asked her to sit on the sofa, and contrary to my usual behavior, I deliberately sat far away from her.
This action obviously surprised her - in the past when we were alone together, I always kept my distance from her and deliberately kept a distance.
After a brief greeting, she took out a few pages of forms from her bag and handed them over: "County Guan, these are the data that the Water Conservancy Bureau and the Agriculture Bureau worked overtime to collect last night. Please review them."
I took it and read it carefully row by row. The more I read, the tighter my brows knitted - the seriousness of the situation was shocking and far beyond my expectations!
A large amount of funds have already been allocated, but the corresponding projects have not even gone through the acceptance procedures; even worse, some projects have simply been left unfinished, with only half-finished projects overgrown with weeds!
"Bang!" I couldn't stand it anymore and slammed the form against the coffee table! The coffee table was buzzing and my palm was aching. I was furious and said sternly: "This is just nonsense! They treat the fiscal funds as the 'Tang Monk's meat' that everyone is fighting for. They eat it all and don't even want to be called a 'monster'!"
Seeing me furious, Lu Yuting added fuel to the fire at the right time: "Guan County, these are probably just the tip of the iceberg. As for water conservancy and agriculture, they are still hiding a lot. When I asked them to do the statistics according to your instructions yesterday, they were shirking and obstructing. Their attitude... was almost like pointing at my nose and cursing my mother."
My eyes were sharp and I asked ruthlessly, "Don't think you can get away with it by pushing all the responsibility onto them! I ask you, where is the supervision responsibility of the Finance Bureau over the use of funds? Is the performance evaluation mechanism in name only? When bidding for projects, is your procurement office just a decoration? During and after the event, where is the supervision responsibility of the Investment Review Section implemented?!"
Lu Yuting's face lost all color, and her voice suddenly rose as she defended herself, "County Guan, you should be reasonable! Take a closer look at when these projects were launched and when the funds were allocated? At that time, I wasn't even the director of the Finance Bureau yet!"
I sneered and pressed on: "Oh? What a 'new official has to settle old accounts'! Even if it happened during your tenure, can you just turn a blind eye and let it go? Is this your responsibility?!"
This sentence was like the last straw that broke the camel's back, and she finally held back. Tears of grievance welled up in her eyes, and her voice trembled under control: "You can scold me... You can scold me too! Big sir... I'll do it! I'll pack up and go back to the provincial capital tomorrow!"
She cried like a pear blossom in the rain, and her tears made her pretty face look even more pitiful, adding a bit of charm, which made people feel soft-hearted.
I suppressed the mixed emotions of anger and pretense in my heart, and quickly pulled out a few tissues from the paper towel on the coffee table and handed them to her. But she snorted lightly, turned her face away in anger, and didn't even look at me.
I couldn't help laughing in my heart: This woman is acting like a spoiled brat with me. Does she really think she is still the spoiled and capricious girl in the boudoir?
I decided to be a "good guy" to the end, so I leaned forward slightly, put my arm around her shoulders, and reached out to wipe the tears from her face.
My action was totally beyond her expectation. She was startled at first, then she turned her head suddenly, staring at me with a pair of doubtful eyes, her red lips slightly parted, her white teeth slightly exposed, her expression seemed to be silently asking: "A slap in the face, and then a sweet date?"
I ignored her silent questioning, stood up, walked quietly to the door, and locked it from the inside with a light "click".
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
