Rand Quance cheerfully took out a pack of cigarettes and put it into Section Chief Jiang's pocket.

He pleaded, "Section Chief Jiang, do me a favor."

Section Chief Jiang accepted the cigarettes, looked around, and whispered, "The audit bureau found out that Comrade Damon Stafford transferred 150,000 to his personal account."

"What?"

Rand Quance was stunned.

This kind of thing, logically, Damon Stafford would never have done.

"What was this money used for?"

Rand Quance asked.

Section Chief Jiang said, "I don't know, it was transferred last night, and the money hasn't been touched in the account yet."

Last night?

Rand Quance pondered for a while, then thanked Section Chief Jiang profusely again.

As he walked into the meeting room, everyone was whispering among themselves.

Only Dirk Carter remained calm and composed, showing no signs of disturbance.

Could it be that Dirk Carter was behind this?

These thoughts occupied his mind.

Dirk Carter cleared his throat and said, "Director Quance, with this kind of issue arising, our upcoming work will be very passive. The financial work can't be leaderless even for a day, so I suggest we let Deputy Director Grant handle it."

No,

The more he thought, the more it seemed wrong.

Dirk Carter had no connection with Cairo Grant at all.

Moreover, he should know that Cairo Grant was aligned with his own group. How could he get rid of Damon Stafford and then hand this burden to one of his own?

Isn't this unnecessary trouble?

The naturally suspicious Rand Quance deliberated for a moment.

He said, "Comrade Grant has been quite busy lately, so it's not appropriate for him to take it on."

"If Director Grant is busy, then can I trouble Director Quance to take care of it?"

Dirk Carter asked.

Rand Quance had no desire to take this hot potato.

After all, financial work is quite complicated, and under these circumstances, he felt that Dirk Carter had ulterior motives.

He thought about it and said, "Perhaps we could let Director Lewis take charge. Director Lewis is thorough in her thinking, and I believe everyone would be reassured if she handled it, wouldn't you agree?"

Director Quance expressed his opinion.

Naturally, the others had no objections.

Irene Lowell spoke first, "I also think it's more appropriate for Director Lewis to handle it."

"I have no objections either," Cairo Grant added.

While everyone was stating their opinions, Rand Quance kept his gaze on Dirk Carter.

Seeing that Dirk Carter looked conflicted and reluctant, he knew he had chosen the right person. After all, Gwendolyn Lewis was very difficult to deal with and thought highly of herself. Not even Yorke Payne could make her listen, let alone Dirk Carter. Giving it to her, he thought, while he couldn't control her, neither could Dirk Carter.

Seeing Dirk Carter about to voice his opinion,

Rand Quance quickly said, "Director Carter, since everyone agrees, let's settle it that way. Comrade Gwendolyn, do you have any objections?"

Gwendolyn Lewis seemed indifferent, saying, "I'm fine with it."

"Alright, since Comrade Gwendolyn also has no objections, it's settled then."

Rand Quance hastily wrapped up the decision.

Dirk Carter looked resigned.

He let out a long sigh, saying, "Alright, since everyone says so, I can't be dictatorial. For now, the financial work will be temporarily handled by Director Lewis."

Seeing Dirk Carter finally relent,

Rand Quance felt a weight lift off his chest.

He was even a bit secretly pleased.

Thinking he had acted swiftly and destroyed one of Dirk Carter's plots.

However, he didn't notice, at the moment of final confirmation, Gwendolyn Lewis subtly winked at Dirk Carter, a gesture so small only Dirk received the signal.

As soon as the meeting ended,

Rand Quance did not waste a minute, heading straight downstairs and driving to the county government.

Yorke Payne happened to be in a meeting as well.

By the time he returned to his office, it was nearly lunchtime.

Rand Quance hastily explained what had happened, leaving Yorke Payne stunned.

He knew his nephew well. Managing finances for so many years, he had never touched a penny of the unit's money. This was a red line, which he was quite aware of.

More importantly, the money was just transferred to his own account yesterday.

Today, Dirk Carter took the initiative to have the audit bureau come over.

If this wasn't Dirk Carter's doing, it would be hard to explain.

Upon hearing that Rand Quance handed over the financial power to Gwendolyn Lewis,

Yorke Payne let out a long sigh, telling Rand Quance, "You've handled it well and promptly. Giving it to Gwendolyn Lewis is like diverting the trouble. Dirk Carter might not realize, but Gwendolyn is even trickier than Damon Stafford. If we can provoke conflict between the two of them, we can indeed watch the tigers fight from the sidelines."

"What should we do about Director Stafford's matter?"

Rand Quance inquired.

Yorke Payne waved his hand and said, "I'll have a word with the disciplinary committee to see what's going on. But you also need to be mentally prepared. Regardless of the reason, embezzlement is a serious issue, and returning to the education bureau may not be possible for him."

"So, are we just to swallow this loss?"

Rand Quance felt a bit unwilling.

Yorke Payne smiled and said, "Why rush? They play their games, and we play ours. Do you really think we'll end up losing to him?"

Having said that,

he stood up.

He asked, "Are you busy later?"

"Not busy; why do you ask?"

Rand Quance responded.

Yorke Payne's face showed a lecherous smile.

He said, "Come on, let's go to the usual place."

Rand Quance immediately understood and asked, "Did a fish bite the hook?"

Yorke Payne chuckled, saying, "It's a mermaid."

The two of them left the county government's gates, hailed a taxi, and about fifteen minutes later, they stopped in front of "House Grand Hotel."

They didn't even bother to book a room.

They went straight to the elevator.

Arriving in front of a room on the tenth floor.

Rand Quance took out the room card and opened the door, revealing a suite inside.

They hadn't been sitting on the sofa for long when there was a knock on the door.

Rand Quance proactively opened the door.

A middle-aged man appeared before them.

Upon seeing Rand Quance,

the middle-aged man nodded and bowed, saying, "Hello, Director Quance."

Rand Quance nodded slightly, his gaze shifting to the timid woman behind the middle-aged man.

The woman appeared young, had a good figure, and wore a simple dress with an overcoat, looking like a housewife.

However, her face was very pretty.

The middle-aged man gestured towards the woman behind him and said, "Director Quance, I've brought the person; you have a good chat, and I'll wait downstairs."

"Alright."

Rand Quance nodded.

He opened the door, gesturing for the woman to come in, saying, "Come in."

The woman seemed very nervous.

She timidly walked in.

Rand Quance closed the door and locked it automatically.

At this point, Yorke Payne was lounging on the sofa, casually crossing his legs, looking quite relaxed.

Rand Quance pointed at him and said, "This is Deputy County Head Payne, Yorke Payne, who oversees education in Kenton County, and was also the former director of our education bureau. If you have any issues, speak with him directly."

The woman seemed to see hope.

She moved in front of Yorke Payne, suddenly knelt down, and burst into tears, pleading, "Leader, please show some mercy and let our Zicheng go. He already knows his mistake and won't do it again. Could you give him another chance to study?"

Seeing the woman like this,

Rand Quance feigned kindness and helped the woman up.

He had her sit across from Yorke Payne on the sofa, saying, "Zicheng's mother, you're putting it wrong. What do you mean by letting Zicheng go? He fought at school and knocked out a classmate's tooth. In such cases, expulsion is the standard procedure."

Upon hearing this, the woman quickly said, "Both leaders, I know the rules, I understand them."

Having said that, she pulled out a thick red envelope from her pocket, placed it on the coffee table, and said, "May I trouble the two of you to help out? Please accept this small token."

"Zicheng's mother, what do you take us for? We called you over today to resolve the issue. Do you think we would use this matter to blackmail you?"

Rand Quance, seeing this, angrily picked up the red envelope from the table and threw it back into the woman's arms.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.