Chapter 236: Blockhead

Global Plaza.

Since receiving the second list, Li Dong's last shred of hope for Cao Chun had completely turned into disappointment.

This list recorded all the prize details for activities Cao Chun had organized since he became the store manager.

Cao Chun had been a store manager for three months, and apart from the first month, he had organized four activities over the remaining two months.

In all four activities, every single valuable prize had been won.

To an outsider, this might seem normal, but the main purpose of such activities was to attract customers, and the probability of winning was not very high.

Generally, in such activities, the probability of winning a prize is around fifty percent by the end of the event.

However, every time Cao Chun organized an activity, the prizes were all won, which was the biggest anomaly!

Li Dong rubbed his temples, looking somewhat tired, and asked, "How about the other stores besides Cao Chun's?"

Cao Chun was just a newcomer with not much time as a store manager, and his performance wasn't very significant for Yuanfang.

Li Dong was more worried that Cao Chun wasn't the only issue. The inspection team had been completely corrupted, and the headquarters had become blind and deaf. The autonomy of the store managers was too great, and Li Dong didn't know how many people were involved this time.

Yuanfang was now facing internal and external troubles.

Externally, they were still in a fierce price war with major supermarkets like Pingchuan, and internally, there were parasites. For Li Dong, the situation was perilous.

Zhou Haidong glanced at Li Dong with concern and said quietly, "There are currently forty-one stores in operation. Besides the ten new ones, there are thirty-one others."

"Since this is a covert investigation, the efficiency isn't very high. We have only investigated six stores in Qingyang and seven in Fucheng so far. We haven't touched Tongshan yet, and the five level-five stores in Pingchuan haven't had many activities, so they haven't been investigated. As for Longhua, General Sun has personally gone there."

"In Qingyang, we haven't found any major issues so far."

"There are some problems in Fucheng. Besides the city center store, the other six stores have various issues."

Zhou Haidong handed a folder to Li Dong.

Li Dong didn't rush to look at it but asked, "Only Fucheng has issues?"

Zhou Haidong nodded, speaking softly, "There's no evidence yet to show that Manager Qi is involved, but as the Fucheng manager, she oversees all matters in Fucheng. Regardless, oversight is certain."

Li Dong smiled bitterly. If it was just oversight, that would be one thing.

But if Qi Yunna was involved, Li Dong would have to make a tough decision, no matter what.

He hoped it wouldn't come to that!

The more Li Dong thought about it, the more heartbroken he became. Human nature was indeed the hardest thing to understand in this world.

He glanced at the folder and his expression grew increasingly grim.

Upon seeing the final result marked with a red circle, Li Dong slammed his fist on the table!

"Good, very good!"

"What is the finance department doing?"

"Finance, logistics, city managers, store managers, assistants… has the entire Yuanfang been corrupted?"

Li Dong gritted his teeth in anger. How long has it been?

The Fucheng stores had only been open for a little over five months, yet so many parasites had emerged. It was almost overwhelming for Li Dong.

"Do these people really think I'm naive and easily deceived? I gave them raises, bonuses, houses, cars, and they still weren't satisfied. What more do they want!"

Li Dong's eyes were fierce as he told Zhou Haidong, "Continue investigating. Find solid evidence. This time, I'll make them pay for everything!"

Zhou Haidong said quietly, "Investigating further might be a bit troublesome. Should we contact the economic investigation team?"

Li Dong hesitated, his expression changing, and after a moment of silence, he said, "Not yet. You continue with the investigation. If you can't find anything, just let it go for now. Don't alert the suspects."

"Understood," Zhou Haidong replied softly.

After giving these instructions, Li Dong was genuinely exhausted, emotionally drained.

After a while, he waved his hand and said, "You can go ahead and continue your work."

Zhou Haidong agreed, slowed his pace, and slowly left the office.

...

December 8th, a week had passed since the new Pingchuan store opened.

Apart from the ongoing price war, everything else had returned to normal, and Yuanfang appeared calm.

On the afternoon of the 8th, an Audi A4 slowly stopped outside Global Plaza.

When Qi Yunna got out of the car, she tightened her coat. December in Pingchuan was quite cold, and she had dressed too lightly for the occasion.

Taking the elevator up, Qi Yunna envied the headquarters staff, wondering when she might be transferred back to Pingchuan.

Although being a city manager earned her a good salary and provided considerable power, it couldn't compare to being a department head, which was the company's top leadership.

Lost in thought, Qi Yunna was somewhat distracted.

It wasn't until she reached Li Dong's office door and saw Liu Qi that she snapped out of it and greeted her with a smile, "Assistant Liu, is Mr. Li in?"

Liu Qi looked at her with a somewhat unusual expression, nodded slightly, and said, "Yes, Mr. Li is seeing no one this afternoon and has been waiting for you."

Qi Yunna was a bit surprised and said, "Really?"

"Yes, you should go in. Mr. Li is waiting."

Qi Yunna noticed Liu Qi's odd reaction and felt a bit uneasy. She forced a smile and asked, "Assistant Liu, can you give me a hint about why Mr. Li called me urgently?"

"I'm not sure. Mr. Li didn't say," Liu Qi responded quietly.

Seeing she couldn't get any more information and Mr. Li was waiting, Qi Yunna reluctantly smiled and said, "Then I'll go in first. We can talk later."

"Okay."

Qi Yunna took a deep breath, knocked on the office door, and waited for a voice from inside before pushing the door open and entering.

...

"Please, have a seat."

As Qi Yunna entered, Li Dong's gaze was complex as he invited her to sit.

Qi Yunna cautiously sat down across from Li Dong. Seeing Li Dong silent and staring at her, she grew nervous.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before Li Dong smiled and said, "Last month, your Fucheng's performance was excellent, ranking first again. As the city manager, you've made significant contributions."

Qi Yunna sighed with relief and quickly responded, "It's not just my achievement. It's thanks to Mr. Li and the other leaders' foresight. I'm just doing my part. The result would be the same without me."

"Being overly modest is a form of arrogance. What's yours is yours; no need to be modest."

Li Dong continued, "But sometimes, performance isn't everything. There are some things you need to be wary of."

Qi Yunna was somewhat puzzled but responded, "Mr. Li is right. I'm still young and lack experience. I will correct my mistakes in the future."

Li Dong smiled but said nothing more.

Without further conversation, the office fell silent again.

Qi Yunna felt that something was off today, and the silence made her more anxious.

Seeing that Li Dong seemed unwilling to speak, Qi Yunna decided to create a topic, "Mr. Li, I heard the new ten stores are performing quite well?"

"Hmm, not bad. The total sales of the ten stores have reached 50 million in a week."

"50 million, that's quite a lot!"

"Yes, especially Guanhai Store One. Its sales have exceeded 10 million in a week. Cao Chun is indeed a talent."

Qi Yunna smiled and said, "Cao Chun did well in Fucheng. It seems Fucheng had restrictions on him, but he's doing even better now."

"Talent is rare, but it's a pity."

Li Dong shook his head, and Qi Yunna looked surprised, not understanding Li Dong's meaning.

Li Dong, not wanting to beat around the bush, pushed a document towards her and said softly, "Take a look."

Qi Yunna quickly took it and started reading.

At first, she didn't think much of it, but as she continued, her expression changed gradually.

When she saw the summary results marked with a red circle, her face turned pale.

"Do you see anything?"

Qi Yunna looked at Li Dong with a dazed expression, "Mr. Li…"

"Hehe, it seems you've noticed too."

"Fucheng's seven stores have held 47 activities in the five months since opening. Total expenditure for these activities was 8.2 million. The average monthly expenditure is over 1.6 million, and each store's monthly activity expenditure is 260,000."

"Tongshan's twelve stores have been open for three months. They've held 19 activities with a total expenditure of 2.1 million. The average monthly expenditure is 700,000, and each store's monthly activity expenditure is about 60,000."

"Qingyang's six stores have been open for over a year. In the last three months, they've held 14 activities with a total expenditure of 1.2 million. The average monthly expenditure is 400,000, and each store's monthly activity expenditure is under 70,000."

Li Dong finished speaking and smiled, "Manager Qi,

 Fucheng's activities are so frequent, and the expenditure is so high. Is this why your performance is so good?"

Qi Yunna opened her mouth, unsure of what to say.

Li Dong continued with a smile, "Also, every month's expenditure summary should be approved by you. I heard you handed this over to your assistant?"

Qi Yunna's face turned even paler. In the end, she said dejectedly, "Mr. Li, this is my negligence. I'm willing to take responsibility."

"Hehe, over 8 million in activity expenditure is an enormous amount. Are you responsible for that?"

"Do you know how much the company has lost? A simple check reveals that at least half of that 8 million has ended up in the hands of parasites. Over 4 million lost, can you bear that responsibility?"

Li Dong said with frustration, "You're such a blockhead, do you know that?"

"If it weren't for discovering this issue and finding it wasn't related to you, I would have sent you to jail. Do you believe that? Idiot, besides pursuing performance, what else do you understand? Can you trust others with things related to money?"

Li Dong was genuinely enraged. Otherwise, he wouldn't have insulted a woman.

The key issue was that Qi Yunna was too foolish, having been manipulated for months without realizing it.

Li Dong had trusted her too much, leading to him being just as foolish as Qi Yunna.

What was clearly a very low-level trick continued for five months before being discovered, which made Li Dong both angry and frustrated.

If it weren't for the logistics department's internal strife, Li Dong might have been kept in the dark for even longer.

After all, Fucheng's performance was excellent each month, and slightly higher expenses could be understood. The finance audit would not scrutinize deeply.

The more Li Dong thought about it, the angrier he became.

Qi Yunna, you have truly disappointed me!