Chapter 42: Apology

"Who is responsible for this data report?"

Li Xiuyuan’s voice was not loud, but in the dead-silent meeting room of the sub-district office, it sounded like a sudden clap of thunder. The staff members of the Party and Government Office instinctively cast their glances toward Wang Chunhua. Wang Chunhua’s already taut nerves snapped instantly.

She had been placing an immense amount of mental pressure on herself. At that very moment, hearing Li Xiuyuan call her name, her legs trembled, and she nearly collapsed to the floor.

"I... I am... responsible for it," Wang Chunhua stammered, her words barely coherent.

Facing Li Xiuyuan’s gaze, she felt as though she had just been handed a death sentence.

"Come over and take a look. What is going on with this data?" Li Xiuyuan spoke up once more.

Wang Chunhua was only a few steps away from him, but those few steps felt agonizingly long. Her legs wobbled, and she practically shuffled her way to Li Xiuyuan's side.

Li Xiuyuan pointed to two figures on the report. The sub-district summary table listed "3,217 households for agricultural tax exemptions," whereas the itemized ledgers sampled from three villages showed 3,215 households. There was a glaring discrepancy of two households between the two records.

Seeing this obvious mismatch, Wang Chunhua’s heart sank. Her body swayed, and she almost fell over. She had been terrified of making a mistake, desperately hoping nothing would go wrong, and yet—it had happened anyway.

"Xiuyuan, I..." Wang Chunhua opened her mouth, wanting to confess and ask for forgiveness.

Right at that moment, however, Li Xiuyuan interrupted her. "Think carefully. Could it be that some document was left out and not included in the materials?"

Truth be told, Li Xiuyuan had initially intended to find fault. Remembering the sarcastic remarks Wang Chunhua had made at his family's noodle restaurant not long ago, he felt he ought to put her in her place.

Yet, seeing how frightened she looked, Li Xiuyuan changed his mind. Although he wasn't sure how Wang Chunhua had managed to transfer from the neighborhood committee to the sub-district office, it was clear that, compared to other veteran staff here, her footing was far from secure.

If he were to discipline her severely right now, she might not be able to survive in the sub-district office any longer. After all, they lived in the same residential compound. Punishing her would be easy, but holding a grudge to that extent was unnecessary.

Besides, living in the same neighborhood, Wang Chunhua wasn't genuinely malicious at heart.

Of course, looking at her state now, it was obvious she was already terrified, and that in itself was punishment enough.

"Left out a document? No..." Wang Chunhua’s brain was reacting a beat too slowly. Having been transferred over from a neighborhood committee, she had never experienced fierce internal office politics and completely failed to catch the sub-district meaning behind Li Xiuyuan’s words.

"Why don't you look for it again? There should be some paperwork missing," Li Xiuyuan prompted her once more. The numbers didn't match: the main ledger had 3,217, while the individual ledgers actually showed 3,215—a difference of just those two households. As Li Xiuyuan had gathered from reviewing the documents, those two households had migrated elsewhere.

Since this year's ledger no longer contained any other data for them, strictly speaking, leaving without an explanatory note attached was a procedural error.

Drafting a supplementary explanatory note was Li Xiuyuan's way of offering Wang Chunhua an out. It all depended on whether she could take the hint. If she understood and quickly produced a supplementary note, the matter would be resolved. If she didn't, she couldn't blame him—he had already done his best to look out for her.

"This..." Wang Chunhua remained dazed, but a colleague standing nearby caught on quickly, rushed forward, and tugged at her sleeve.

"The leader is right. There is indeed a document missing. We'll go look for it right now."

Li Xiuyuan nodded in satisfaction. There were still clever people around. Before long, a supplementary explanatory note was brought over, explaining that the data discrepancy for the two households was due to their household registrations having been relocated elsewhere.

Wang Chunhua looked at Li Xiuyuan with a face full of gratitude, while Li Xiuyuan remained entirely composed. Both Luo Yi and Qian Hui assumed that because he was new to the job, he wouldn't understand how things worked. In reality, however, he was intimately familiar with all the inner workings of the system.

Which procedures could be glossed over, which required meticulous attention, which documents had to strictly follow the rules, where corners could be cut, what the focal points of an inspection were, and what details were easily overlooked—Li Xiuyuan was crystal clear on all of it.

With the paperwork reviewed, the next step was naturally to conduct on-site field inspections. Kaiyuan Sub-district had five neighborhood committees and three subordinate villages, situated right on the edge of the county town.

During the field inspection, accompanied by the staff of the Party and Government Office across two vehicles, Luo Yi personally went out into the fields to converse with the local farmers.

Li Xiuyuan lagged slightly behind, and Wang Chunhua seized the opportunity to catch up and walk beside him.

"Xiuyuan, thank you for what happened earlier," Wang Chunhua said in a lowered voice.

Li Xiuyuan smiled and shook his head. "What are you thanking me for? I didn't do a thing."

Wang Chunhua understood instantly and chimed in, "Yes, yes, you didn't do anything. But Xiuyuan, how did you manage to... how did..."

Wang Chunhua’s words lacked logical cohesion, but Li Xiuyuan understood her drift and casually explained how he had managed to secure a spot in the interview through the reserve list.

Wang Chunhua's jaw dropped as she listened. She had never imagined such a twist of fate. Back then, everyone assumed Li Xiuyuan wouldn't even make it past the preliminary screening, yet not only had he entered the interview, but he had also staged a miraculous comeback and passed the civil service exam for the county government office.

"Xiuyuan, you are truly lucky," Wang Chunhua remarked. Li Xiuyuan didn't bother to respond. What kind of phrasing was that for a neighborhood committee veteran? Calling it "good luck"? Was she implying that anyone who was "lucky" could do it? Could anyone stepping into his shoes achieve this just by being lucky? He could humbly claim it was luck himself, but hearing others say it felt entirely inappropriate.

Seeing Li Xiuyuan's expressionless face, Wang Chunhua realized she had phrased it poorly and scrambled to make amends. "Of course, it's also because you have genuine capability, Xiuyuan. Most people wouldn't be able to seize an opportunity like that even if it fell into their laps. You're brilliant, insightful, and capable. How could the county government office be a place just anyone..."

"Auntie Wang, didn't you say I was aiming too high and acting blindly ambitious not long ago?" Li Xiuyuan asked, looking at her with a half-smile.

Wang Chunhua's face stiffened in embarrassment, and she quickly defended herself, "Xiuyuan, you know what I'm like—I have no filter on my mouth and just blurt things out. If I said anything offensive before, please don't take it to heart. I'm just the kind of person who..."

She hurried to apologize, but before she could finish, Li Xiuyuan interrupted her. Her attitude was enough.

"Let's drop it, Auntie Wang. We're neighbors in the same residential compound, and we bump into each other all the time. Strictly speaking, you're an elder to me anyway."

Hearing this, Wang Chunhua beamed with a smile, while inwardly feeling a fresh wave of admiration. How impressive! It was always best to be lenient where possible. Clearly, he held the upper hand right now, yet he refused to hold a grudge and gracefully allowed her to save face.

"Yes, Xiuyuan! If there's ever anything you need Auntie Wang for in the future, just say the word. In our whole compound, you've always been the one I thought most of. I could tell you were extraordinary ever since you were a child..."

Wang Chunhua continued showering him with flattery, but Li Xiuyuan's gaze drifted into the distance as his thoughts began to wander. With today's incident orchestrated by Luo Yi behind him, he could at least breathe a sigh of relief regarding his immediate survival crisis. But looking at the long term, he still faced the looming threat of being squeezed out by Qu Hui. Relying on others could never compare to relying on oneself.