Yi Anguo hadn't expected his casual act to trigger such a chain reaction, leading to so many tenants wanting to buy their homes.

Although selling now seemed somewhat regrettable and not particularly cost-effective, Yi Anguo still agreed to the tenants' requests, permitting them to purchase the houses they were renting.

However, there was a precondition: only long-standing tenants who had rented for more than six months were eligible. Anyone who had been renting for less than half a year did not have the right to request a purchase.

Furthermore, only the tenants themselves could make the purchase. Using someone else's identity would not meet the buying criteria.

The transaction price was uniformly set at 12,800 yuan per square meter. If they could accept this price, they could buy; if not, they would have to pass.

At 12,800 yuan per square meter, the price was slightly higher than the previous average. However, that average had been set a long time ago, and the market had been stagnant ever since, with properties listed for sale but no one buying.

Yi Anguo set a slightly higher price mainly to deter too many people from buying at once, as he wasn't actually in a hurry to sell. At the same time, he didn't want to outright refuse everyone and hoped to help them achieve their goals.

Besides, he knew it wouldn't be long before the average transaction price for these large apartments would surely exceed the price he was quoting now.

As expected, those who were serious about buying a house didn't mind spending a few hundred extra yuan per square meter. Compared to the properties in Phase Three of Blue Coast, the prices for large apartments of similar quality in other residential areas had already soared. In the Futian District, new home transactions were already fetching sixteen to seventeen thousand yuan per square meter.

The price increase didn't deter them in the slightest, and Yi Anguo could only feel helpless.

Today, Yi Anguo was sitting in the Chen Company's office—a rare occurrence. Zhou Mengdie approached, her hands full of stacked documents, and piled them on his desk. They all required his review and signature.

Yi Anguo felt a headache coming on. "Have you gone through all of these documents? Which ones have problems? Which are fine to sign directly?"

"Mr. Yi, I've marked all the problematic areas with a red pen," Zhou Mengdie explained. "The ones without issues are all piled on this side. You can give them a quick look-over and sign them directly."

Yi Anguo picked up the document on top and flipped it open. It was a purchase request for cleaning and sanitary supplies, listing quantities of brooms, mops, laundry detergent, toilet cleaner, and so on. He picked up another file and saw it was a purchase request for office supplies: signature pens, sheets of 4K printing paper, packs of tissues, ink cartridges, folders, and other miscellaneous items.

"These things need my signature too? In the future, for documents like this, if you don't see any problems, can't you just sign them on my behalf?" Yi Anguo asked, pointing at the seemingly trivial files.

"Mr. Yi, according to company regulations, these all require your review and approval," Zhou Mengdie explained. "My role is to pre-screen them, separating the problematic ones that need your careful attention. For these ordinary documents, you just need to sign them as a formality."

"So how can you be sure that these unimportant documents are completely problem-free?" Yi Anguo retorted. "Based on my experience, it's often these most 'unimportant' and 'ordinary' documents that are most likely to have issues. Take this request for cleaning supplies, for example. I see a big problem with it. The last time I was in the small storeroom, I saw a large pile of brooms and mops in the corner. There were stacks of A4 paper and printing paper too. Now you're submitting a request to buy more? It would be strange if there *wasn't* a problem!"

Zhou Mengdie was surprised. "You can see all that just by looking at these documents?"

She hadn't expected Yi Anguo to spot so many issues just by glancing at two ordinary files. To be honest, she hadn't thought about it that deeply. She had simply assumed that since the files were unimportant and the sums involved were small, there wouldn't be any problems.

"Go and get the person in charge of office administration," Yi Anguo instructed.

The amounts on these purchase orders were indeed small, and signing them wouldn't have been a big deal. But Yi Anguo disliked being taken for a fool. Even an actual fool could see that these requests were problematic.

A short while later, Zhou Mengdie returned with a woman in her thirties.

"This is Zhu Dandan, our Investment Department's office administrator. She's responsible for inventorying and ordering all the office supplies, cleaning products, and various consumables for our department," Zhou Mengdie introduced.

"Mr. Yi, is there something you needed to see me about?" Zhu Dandan asked, her tone composed.

"Yes. I have a few purchase requests for office supplies here, and I wanted to ask you about the specifics," Yi Anguo said, his tone even rather than immediately accusatory. "I visited the small storeroom recently. Don't we already have many of the items listed on these requests?"

"Mr. Yi, this purchase request is just a formality for the financial department's audit," Zhu Dandan explained. "The actual procurement list is submitted at the end of the month for your review."

"What do you mean? I don't understand," Yi Anguo said, looking confused.

"It works like this," Zhu Dandan explained. "The company gives us a fixed budget each month for expenses like office and cleaning supplies. We have to submit these purchase requests to draw on that budget, but the financial department doesn't really check what we actually buy. For example, if I submit a request for cleaning supplies, we receive the money but don't necessarily have to buy those specific items. We can use it for other things we need. There are many things we buy that can't be justified through normal channels. For instance, Assistant Zhou once asked me to buy some green tea for you, Mr. Yi. A request like that would never be approved by finance, so I had to find another way. The same goes for team-building dinners. We can't apply for those funds through normal means, so we have to get creative. Also, the company allocates you an entertainment budget every month, Mr. Yi. If we don't claim it, it expires. Today is the last day of the month. Have you signed off on it? I need to hurry and claim the funds!"

"The company gives me an entertainment budget every month? How come I didn't know about this?" Yi Anguo asked, curious.

"It's always been this way. All department managers get an entertainment budget. The catch is that the money must be spent. You can't pocket it, or it could be considered embezzlement," Zhu Dandan explained.

"But I haven't had any entertainment expenses this month," Yi Anguo said. "Even if I wanted to spend it, what would I spend it on?"

"Once the money is claimed, it becomes our department's funds," Zhu Dandan said with a smile. "We can use it sooner or later. If our department account has a surplus, we can use it for everyone to take a vacation, travel, dine out, or hold team-building activities. The real worry is not having enough money. Who would ever be afraid of having too much to spend?"

Yi Anguo smiled and asked, "Is this the legendary 'slush fund' I've heard about? How much is in our department's slush fund right now? Is it enough for a team-building event or a big dinner?"

"Our department hasn't had a dinner or a team-building event in a very long time, so the account is quite healthy," Zhu Dandan said, unable to help smiling. "There's definitely enough for the entire department to go on a trip for a few days."

Zhu Dandan was essentially the department's bursar. No one knew the state of the slush fund better than she did, and she deserved much of the credit for its size. If not for her diligence and sound management, how could there possibly be so much money? It was a feat just to have enough, let alone a surplus.

"Since the slush fund is flush with cash, there's no reason to hold back, right?" Yi Anguo said cheerfully. "Summer vacation is next month. When it starts, let's organize a trip to the beach for everyone for a barbecue and some swimming. Employees with families can bring them along. We'll charter two luxury tour buses. How can a company not have team-building activities? As for where to go, you can survey the staff and ask them where they'd most like to go."

"But if we allow employees to bring their families, what if someone brings several relatives? Wouldn't that be unfair to the others?" Zhu Dandan asked, concerned.

That's a valid concern, not just needless worry, Yi Anguo thought. Human nature can be incredibly complicated.

After a moment's thought, he said, "I have an idea. We'll charge a fee of one hundred yuan for each family member they bring. That way, those who don't bring anyone shouldn't have any complaints, right?"

"That's an excellent solution," Zhu Dandan agreed with a nod. "One hundred yuan isn't too much, but it's not insignificant either. Anyone planning to bring a lot of family members will probably have to think twice."

"Alright then, it's a deal!" Yi Anguo said with a joyful laugh. "In that case, I expect I'll be bringing quite a few family members along for the fun!"

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