Qin Hanshu observed Director Ma for two days and found that Director Ma went to get off work and left work normally every day. Although his complexion was a bit pale, he was not as haggard as she had imagined.
Aside from going to work, Director Ma did nothing else.
How did Director Ma manage to get things done for his brother?
Also, where is that ledger hidden?
Director Ma has four children, the oldest of whom is only ten years old. They are at the age where they are mischievous and naughty, so it's unlikely that anything can be hidden in their home.
Aside from home, it's all about work.
The neighborhood committee office is located in a single-story building at the entrance of the alley, with people coming and going every day.
People going to work, people coming to do business, and even neighbors getting into fights over trivial matters, sometimes even ending up at the neighborhood committee.
It was very lively.
Director Ma can't possibly hide the ledgers in his office, can he?
Qin Hanshu thought for a moment and moved the room to the other side, facing the neighborhood committee.
It's just that there isn't a perfect spot where you can see the neighborhood committee office from the window. But she has space; the distance from the neighborhood committee office to her room is within sight.
Similarly, Director Ma showed no unusual behavior during his work hours.
However, Qin Hanshu did not relax and kept a close eye on Director Ma.
Finally, she noticed something different.
She noticed that when Director Ma passed by the courtyard outside the neighborhood committee, he would sometimes look at a manhole cover in the corner of the courtyard.
It didn't happen often, but it would happen once or twice a day, and it felt somewhat subconscious, not like he was deliberately looking there.
The neighborhood committee closes get off work at five o'clock, and then locks the gate to the courtyard. There's a police station on one side and a guesthouse on the other, and no one is on duty, so you can't see a single person.
After discovering the anomaly of the manhole cover, Qin Hanshu chose the early hours of one night to use her spatial abilities to travel directly from her room at the guesthouse to the courtyard of the neighborhood committee.
Pry open the manhole cover and shine a flashlight inside; you can see some pipes and a water meter.
At first glance, there doesn't seem to be much.
Qin Hanshu shone her flashlight inside, crouched down and looked around, and then discovered that right at the entrance, there was an oil paper package, which was stuck between two pipes.
This location is a blind spot; you can't see anything unless you stick your head in.
Moreover, even if you see it, you might not notice it, because the color of the oil paper package is very similar to the color of the pipe, and you have to look carefully to find it.
The oil paper package was tightly secured, and Qin Hanshu had to pull hard to get it out.
The oil paper package revealed the outline of a book, and Qin Hanshu was 80% certain that it was the account book. She quickly returned to her room at the guesthouse.
To prevent the oil paper package from being coated with rat poison, Qin Hanshu first had the spirit beast in her space sniff it. Only after seeing that there was nothing unusual did she open it by hand.
Upon opening, one finds a black-covered kraft paper notebook filled with writing.
Qin Hanshu glanced through it and found that it contained records of Director Ma helping Factory Director Ma accept bribes, offer bribes, and resell factory materials.
The basic information of all the people involved is written down clearly.
Director Ma's purpose in keeping the accounts was probably to provide himself with a protective shield.
But he forgot that things have two sides, and a talisman can turn into a death warrant at any time.
According to the trajectory of the previous life, it was because of the existence of this notebook that Director Ma was implicated in Factory Director Ma's affairs, and Factory Director Ma was burdened with even heavier crimes because of the records in this notebook, which ultimately led to his execution.
The reason Hu Dayong wasn't included in the book is probably because his status wasn't high enough and he wasn't of much use.
However, the amount of bribes he offered was substantial.
He's so generous; the money he spent definitely wasn't his own!
Qin Hanshu carefully examined the ledger.
Director Ma's accounting records were not meticulously kept; rather, they were added to or subtracted from as the circumstances of the person being recorded changed.
Scribbling and smudging are common occurrences, and the ink varies in age.
Qin Hanshu recalled the approximate date when Hu Dayong's family of three registered their household registration, found the corresponding position in the notebook, and added Hu Dayong's name to a page with a small blank space.
She naturally didn't use her own handwriting; instead, she found the corresponding words in the notebook, copied them one by one onto paper, and then copied them into the blank spaces of the ledger.
Once the handwriting dried, Qin Hanshu compared it. It wasn't flawless, but it wasn't easy to spot any flaws either.
The only logical inconsistency lies in Hu Dayong's position; a butcher seems somewhat out of place among the many characters who are at least at the cadre level.
However, Hu Dayong did indeed give money to Director Ma, and during that time he became very close to the Ma family. This can be easily found out by asking around among the neighbors.
Once this is confirmed, no one will investigate further.
Bribery and accepting bribes are very serious crimes at this time. Hu Dayong could face imprisonment or, at the very least, lose his job and be sent back to his hometown.
Given Yang Aizhen's personality—she feels helpless and unable to survive without a man—she would definitely go back to the countryside with the Hu family.
Qin Hanshu put the ledger back under the manhole cover.
Qin Hanshu wasn't the only one who knew about the existence of the ledger.
Two nights later, someone broke into the neighborhood committee office to look for something.
Instead of picking the office lock, the man went straight to the manhole cover.
It's obvious that they already know where the ledger is hidden.
After finding the ledger, the man first opened it and looked through it, spending a considerable amount of time on certain pages.
Only after confirming the details did they take the ledger and leave.
Qin Hanshu was monitoring the situation using her spatial abilities, and she saw this scene the next day.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
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