r18novel Is Chapter 45 correct?
Is Chapter 45 correct?
"Did Sister Wei Ling mention the dinner party tonight? Did you write your performance review report?"
The untimely ringing of the phone saved Yu Xingge's life. She smiled apologetically at the inquisitive, curious, and amused gazes in front of her: "Excuse me, I need to take this call." She put down her laptop bag and walked slowly, her back view suggesting she was fleeing to the phone booth.
"What is it?"
On the other end of the phone, Fu Congnan's voice was ingratiating: "Xiao Ge, I've found out about the embezzlement case you mentioned."
"Okay, go ahead."
"Ming Anguo, he gave a statement to the police last week, mainly concerning the embezzlement case of Zhang, the cashier of Pingshan Coal Group. It wasn't him personally involved; it was the cashier of their group's finance department who misappropriated three sums of money totaling more than 2.8 million yuan by taking advantage of his position."
A slight scraping sound came from the microphone, as if someone else had switched hands to hold the phone: "Preliminary investigation has revealed that Zhang reimbursed himself by forging project settlement statements and issuing false invoices. These are all related to loopholes in the financial approval process of Pingshan Coal Group."
"The key to determining the nature of an embezzlement case lies in whether the perpetrator abused their position and whether they had the intent to illegally possess the funds. Have these been determined already?" Yu Xingge asked.
"What has been determined so far is that he forged seven coal transportation contracts within three months, illegally forged logistics seals, and transferred 286 million yuan from a company account to his brother-in-law's building materials company in his hometown. The transfer records and evidence of the forged documents are on file. His bank statements show that he bought his wife a 200,000 yuan car and enrolled his son in a private school; these are all evidence of extravagance. The police have frozen some of the funds involved, and the economic crime investigation department is currently investigating whether he colluded with external companies, such as by inflating transportation costs."
Yu Xingge asked in confusion, "In such a large corporation, all payments and invoices are approved by the cashier alone?"
With the sound of papers turning, "Yes, the file shows that the department's newly installed financial software, because of the convenience of not enabling automatic warnings, allowed Zhang to exploit a loophole. Zhang used Ming Anguo's electronic approval authority to bypass the two-person review process in the system. Ming Anguo mentioned that the 'Financial Position Risk Manual' designed by the group's compliance consultant omitted the 'Electronic Seal Usage Log Retrospective' section."
Fu Congnan unconsciously tapped the thermos in front of him until he heard a colleague getting up to move a chair. He quickly changed to a softer tone: "Therefore, Pingshan Coal Group plans to invite a lawyer to give a lecture on criminal compliance, talking about risk prevention and control for financial positions, such as seal management and job rotation systems."
It turned out to be the case.
Yu Xingge's lips curled up slightly before he quickly pursed them: "So, they plan to invite Gu Lezhi."
"I don't know about that." Fu Congnan's voice was even lower: "That cashier also handled the enterprise risk assessment fee, and the recipient was his cousin's shell company. I heard that this kind of internal control loophole, where the thief cries 'stop thief,' has infuriated the second-in-command of Pingshan Coal Group."
For a moment, silence fell as Yu Xingge was lost in thought. He knew that a case of embezzlement had occurred at Ming Anguo's Pingshan Coal Group, and that Ming Anguo had likely assigned Gu Lezhi to handle the case. Judging from his request for Gu Lezhi to "pull strings," it was either a conspiracy to reduce his sentence or an act of defiance aimed at getting him imprisoned. Regardless of whether it was a conspiracy or a genuine monitoring loophole, could that "apparent contract amount" refer to the fee for the criminal compliance lecture?
But doesn't Pingshan Coal Group have a legal department or legal counsel?
A soft cough came from the other end of the line, and she quickly snapped back to reality: "I understand, thank you, bro." The persistent coughing grew louder, stopping her hand from hanging up: "You have a cold?"
Fu Congnan's voice was filled with joy: "Yes, I'm almost better. I just have a bit of a cough."
"Oh, then drink more water." A dry, curt greeting followed by silence on the other end of the line. Fu Congnan found it strangely endearing: "Nothing else?"
"I wish you a speedy recovery?" Yu Xingge asked, puzzled. What else was there to say?
Fu Congnan chuckled softly. In a good mood, he stood up, opened the window, and the autumn wind swirled leaves onto his desk. "What do you think of what I said last time?"
"What?"
Fu Congnan: "It's too dangerous for you to be around Gu Lezhi. You should get away as soon as possible. Aren't you about to get your license? Just switch firms when you apply for the license, and you'll save yourself the trouble of finding an excuse." Before Yu Xingge could reply, he smiled and said, "You can practice at any firm. Don't worry about case sources or anything. I have so many cases here, I'll give them all to you."
"And then?" Yu Xingge countered, "You avenge me?"
"Of course. You know I'd do anything, even go through fire and water."
"Just you, a police officer?" Yu Xingge swallowed the words that came to his mind: "A police officer who found my mother's whereabouts after eight years of service?" "What makes you think you can bring him down?"
Fu Congnan's smile froze, and a gloomy expression quickly settled over him: "Xiao Ge, I'm trying my best."
"Trying hard is just better than trying hard." Her words, as always, pierced the heart: "Besides, I don't need your trying hard."
silence.
After a long silence, his voice was tinged with bitterness: "You promised me last time."
When? Why doesn't she remember this happening?
Forget it, what's the point of arguing about this?
"I won't agree to such an unreasonable request. If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up."
"Wait." Fu Congnan's tone was urgent; he had actually called her back but didn't know what to say. "It's getting cold, take care of yourself and don't catch a cold." His tone softened. "Tell me if you run out of money."
"Hmm." After waiting three more breaths and seeing that the other end had nothing else to say, she hung up the phone and let out a long sigh of relief.
Ding-dong. Her annoyed face was reflected on her phone screen. A text message notification appeared: 50,000 yuan had been deposited into her account via Ping An Bank with the last four digits of her phone number being 9621. She stared at the payment record for a while before getting up and leaving.
The noisy crowd had dispersed, and she turned on her computer and typed in the keywords "legal counsel" and "legal affairs" for Pingshan Coal Group.
The first things that popped up were long job postings for legal positions from companies like Zhaopin.com and 51job.com. After searching for a while without success, she clicked on "Law Firms" and "Lawyer Announcements" in the search bar, and this time the results came up quickly.
Announcement of Law Firms Added to the Database in 2021
Click.
Hongjiang Law Firm was prominently listed!
"Xingge." She looked up and saw Liu Lin standing opposite her. "Sorry, I didn't even know you weren't in the group. I just asked Sister Weiling, and she said you're new and there's still a lot you're not familiar with. You didn't handle any of the real estate team's cases last quarter, so you don't need to do the performance review this time." She stuck out her tongue, pulled over a chair, and sat down next to her. "Actually, it's best not to do the performance review. We don't want to either. We're so busy every day, who has time for this? It's like how our boss likes to hold meetings all the time, it's the worst."
She fluttered her newly grown eyelashes, her eyes pleading for agreement: "Aren't you right?"