Director Ma of the neighborhood committee is not very capable, but he has an older brother who is the director of a state-owned machinery factory.
A few years ago, the machinery factory launched a key project that required importing a batch of equipment from abroad.
Factory Director Ma was still a deputy at the time, but he came from a respectable family and had some technical skills, so he was put in charge of leading the team.
The project was later successful, and all the staff who accompanied him were promoted and received a raise. Deputy Factory Director Ma was promoted to Factory Director Ma.
Just a few years later, someone revealed that when Director Ma went abroad to negotiate equipment, he disclosed the true situation of our country to the other party when the contract was about to be signed, allowing the other party to completely understand our bottom line and raise the price on the spot.
In the end, my country spent an extra tens of thousands of foreign exchange to purchase the equipment.
Originally, no one knew about this matter. The cause was a Parker gold pen used by Factory Director Ma, which was a bribe he received from the other party when he went abroad to negotiate.
Several years had passed, and Director Ma finally couldn't resist taking out the gold pen to use. He figured so much time had gone by that no one would associate the pen with his trip abroad.
Anyway, it's just a Parker pen; you can buy it at overseas remittance stores in China.
Unexpectedly, someone saw the pen, thought it was beautiful, and wanted to buy it, so they went to the Overseas Chinese Remittance Store.
After searching around, all I could find were ordinary styles.
How did Factory Director Ma manage to buy that pen?
As luck would have it, the man happened to see a magazine in the Overseas Chinese Remittance Store, which featured a pen that looked very similar to the one used by Factory Director Ma.
Upon closer inspection, it was clearly stated that it was a limited edition gold pen released in which year, and each one had a serial number.
That year happened to be the year that Factory Director Ma led a team abroad to purchase equipment.
This kind of pen is simply unavailable in China.
It's expensive even abroad. Where would Factory Manager Ma get so much foreign currency to buy a pen?
Once the seeds of suspicion are sown, they cannot be contained.
Finally, it was revealed that Director Ma had betrayed the interests of the nation for the sake of a Parker pen.
Factory Director Ma collapsed suddenly, and his whole family suffered as a result.
His younger brother, Director Ma of the neighborhood committee, was no exception.
Director Ma had already amassed a lot of benefits by relying on Factory Director Ma, and the two brothers were very close.
This fire naturally spread to Director Ma.
This Director Ma also had a little personal habit: he liked to keep a record of the bribes he received.
The details are clearly recorded, including the year, month, who received what, how much money, and what service was provided.
In her previous life, Qin Hanshu overheard the Hu family discussing this matter in her spatial dimension. They said the accounting notebook was five centimeters thick and filled with dense writing.
In order to get Director Ma to help the Hu family of three register their household registration at the Qin family's house, Hu Dayong gave Director Ma two hundred yuan.
Qin Hanshu clearly heard Hu Dayong rejoicing, thankful that Director Ma hadn't written this down in his notebook, otherwise he too would have been accused of bribery.
All the people that Director Ma had written down in his notebook suffered some kind of consequences.
This is exactly what Qin Hanshu has been waiting for.
Just after spring plowing, Grandma Wu mentioned this matter in her letter.
The Ma family was a well-known family in the whole street, mainly because Factory Director Ma was successful and had an unparalleled reputation among the neighbors.
His incident immediately became the talk of the town.
Grandma Wu liked to tell Qin Hanshu gossip about her family, and she mentioned this incident as well.
The incident involving Director Ma occurred at the end of last year. Initially, Director Ma decisively severed ties with his brother's family, who had become traitors and lackeys. While this appeared ruthless, it actually protected him, allowing him to secretly support his sister-in-law and nephew.
Although they had severed ties on the surface, Director Ma was still working hard for his brother in private.
Everyone recorded in the ledger was someone he was working tirelessly for.
Little did he know that this very act would bring trouble upon him.
Judging by the time, Director Ma should be frantically trying to find connections right now.
Qin Hanshu closed Grandma Wu's letter.
She should go back.
***
When Qin Hanshu asked Zhou Chang'an for leave, she only said that she wanted to go home to take care of some personal matters.
Zhao Chunmiao, however, assumed she still missed her own mother, and repeatedly gave her instructions:
"You must protect yourself and not listen to everything she says."
"If you have any problems, go to the Women's Federation or the police. This is a new society now. We women have freedom of marriage. Even if she is your own mother, she can't control you!"
Qin Hanshu hugged Zhao Chunmiao with emotion, "I know, godmother."
“If you call me godmother, I’ll treat you like my own daughter!” Zhao Chunmiao added, “You have to hold onto what belongs to you, don’t let her sweet words fool you.”
Qin Hanshu nodded solemnly.
Zhao Chunmiao still seemed extremely worried, as if she wished she could accompany Qin Hanshu on the trip.
When Zhou Chang'an introduced her to the letter, he also said, "You are now one of our Haowan Village people. If anything happens, just send me a telegram, and I will bring people to the capital to support you."
This was because they were afraid that Qin Hanshu would be bullied due to his weakness and lack of support.
Qin Hanshu repeatedly assured Zhou Chang'an and Zhao Chunmiao that she would be fine before they let her leave.
After entrusting the tiger to Ma Chaoyang and saying goodbye to the other educated youth, Qin Hanshu set off.
It hasn't even been a year since she was first sent to the countryside, but her mindset has changed somewhat.
At that time, she had just been reborn, and her heart had been immersed in cold emptiness for thirty years, unable to find any real substance.
Now, after being buffeted by the fierce winds of the Loess Plateau and comforted by the warmth of human kindness, it seems as if I have finally returned to the real world.
The train traveled eastward.
After leaving the Capital Railway Station, Qin Hanshu first found a guesthouse to stay in.
Looking out the window of the guesthouse, you can see right across Qianjia Hutong, where Director Ma's family lives.
Qin Hanshu's target was that ledger.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
