Spy Wars: Get the Predator equipment at the beginning

Chapter 1015 You Shichang's Method

Upon hearing this, You Shichang's face darkened, and he frowned as he asked, "The rice inventory is supposed to be 18 shi, but there's only 15 shi actually? Where did the other 3 shi go?"

Chang Hui, as if he had made a mistake, lowered his head and kept rubbing his hands, stammering, "Director, you know how high prices have been these past few days. The salaries of the brothers guarding the warehouse and the staff haven't increased much. I was forced to do this because I had no choice but to secretly take some rice out to sell, and use the money to give the brothers a little more pay."

“If I don’t do this, those brothers won’t be able to make a living. They’ll still secretly steal grain to sell behind my back, or they’ll all have run away long ago!”

You Shichang's face was terribly grim: "Why didn't you report this to me?"

Chang Hui sighed and said, "I know that things aren't easy for you either, Director You. The Japanese are pressuring us to deliver more grain every day, so you're under a lot of pressure. That's why I didn't dare to cause you any trouble."

"No matter what, this is my fault. I dare not order the sale of rice from the warehouse to increase the brothers' salaries without my permission. Please punish me, Chief!"

"You! You!" You Shichang got up angrily and paced back and forth in the office with his hands behind his back. After a while, he stopped and pointed at Chang Hui, cursing loudly: "Are you a pig-brain? If you want to make money, you can think of other ways. Just take the grain from the warehouse and sell it outside. If this gets out and the city government and the Japanese find out, you'll lose your head!"

Chang Hui turned pale with fright. He trembled and knelt down in front of You Shichang with a thud, crying and begging, "Director, I was wrong, I deserve to die, but I have an elderly mother of seventy and a three-year-old child. You have to save me! If you don't save me, I'm finished, and my whole family is finished!"

You Shichang looked furious, as if he was really angry, but it was all an act.

He picked up a cigarette from his desk, lit it, took a few deep drags, and unleashed another torrent of abuse at Chang Hui: "What can I say to you? Is this the kind of thing you're capable of? A villa with 30,000 shi of rice—even if you manage to get rid of 1,000 jin, you'll lose your head if the Japanese find out!"

"It doesn't matter if you lose your head, but what if the Japanese devils suspect I ordered it? I... I'm going to be killed by you, you bastard!"

"Ah? This, this... Chief, I... I didn't expect this to involve you. I really didn't consider it. I deserve to die, I'm not human, Chief, please, please kill me!"

"Alright, alright, who are you trying to fool with a few drops of cat pee? Get up, what kind of behavior is this, kneeling like this all the time?" You Shichang said impatiently, waving his hand.

"Uh...yes, yes!" Chang Hui replied, carefully standing up.

You Shichang took a few more puffs of his cigarette and asked, "Tell me, what are we going to do about the shortfall of 3 shi of rice? If the higher-ups send people to check the inventory, how are you going to explain it?"

Chang Hui wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, swallowed hard, and replied, "Chief, there's one set of accounts in the warehouse, and another set in secret. I've already replaced the 30,000 shi of rice with an equal amount of miscellaneous grains. Even if the higher-ups and the Japanese send people to check the accounts and clear the inventory, as long as they don't find the secret ledger, they won't discover the problem!"

Upon hearing this, You Shichang's face turned even uglier, as if he wanted to devour someone: "Fine, you all ate with your mouths full of grease, while I, the top leader, not only knew nothing about it, but I didn't even get a single drop of soup!"

"Chang Hui, Chang Hui, is this how you repay the kindness I showed you by mentoring you?"

"Uh..." Chang Hui was stunned. "Director, no, you didn't know? You're my superior, and I think it's best if these things don't go through your hands. After all, it doesn't sound very good or honorable. But actually, I always send 30% of the profits to your house!"

"What did you say? You sent money to my house? How come I didn't know? Who did you give the money to?"

Chang Hui was stunned for a moment and said, "I gave it to Madam. Every time I delivered it, Madam would ask me to stay for tea before I left. Didn't Madam mention it to you?"

At this moment, You Shichang was furious, and the veins on his forehead were bulging, but he suppressed his anger. After all, this was a family scandal, and it was better not to let outsiders know.

He waved his hand: "Your sister-in-law seems to have mentioned it to me, but I've been busy and forgot about it for a moment!"

He sat back on the sofa, pondered for a few seconds, took two puffs of his cigarette, and said, "Now I'm going to ask you a few questions, and you have to answer me honestly without hiding anything!"

"Yes Yes!"

You Shichang asked, "How much grain does the bureau receive from the countryside each month?"

Chang Hui answered honestly, "Director, in our southeastern region, grain is produced twice a year. So, on the surface, we can only purchase grain twice a year. But in reality, after the grain is harvested and dried, some landlords and farmers will sell a batch and keep a batch for themselves!"

"Some landlords and farmers would keep their grain to wait and see if prices would rise. So they would buy a batch in July and another batch in September, because the late rice harvest was coming soon and they couldn't get a good price if they didn't sell it."

"Once the late rice harvest is complete, another batch can be harvested from 10 portions; some landlords and farmers will save their grain until after the spring harvest to sell, because grain prices will definitely rise during the lean season!"

"If we want to harvest grain, we can only wait until next spring. Based on previous years, I estimate that we can still harvest about 120 million shi (a unit of dry measure) next spring."

After listening, You Shichang nodded, took a puff of his cigarette, and said, "Now the higher-ups have spoken. The Japanese might make a big move next year and need more military rations, so they've ordered us to increase our grain collection efforts!"

“我想让你亲自带人下去从地主和农民手里征收粮食，过几天就去，在过年之前完成100万石大米、200万石红薯、30万石麦子、10万石高粱米、30万石玉米的征收任务！”

"Remember, don't put the collected rice into the warehouse or record it right away. Find a secret warehouse to hide it and replace it with sweet potatoes or other grains. You can figure out how to do the accounting yourself!"

"If anyone asks why they haven't received rice, just say that the landlords and common people don't have rice either, and they can only receive these miscellaneous grains!"

Chang Hui's eyes widened: "This...Director, why is this?"

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. I'll make up for the shortfall in funds for using coarse grains instead of rice afterward. This matter should only be known between the two of us. Don't let a third person know. If this gets out, we'll both die a horrible death!"