Yu’s movements. Although there were no fluctuations in heaven and earth energy, it gave him a suffocating aura.‘Drawing Symbols in Void Space!’ As he watched Xiao Yu's actions and felt the oppressive...Chapter 359: Making Things Difficult

"Sorry, our supervisor isn't here. Moreover, he specifically instructed that there's really nothing we can do about this matter; the western region urgently needs these funds and hopes for your understanding. Besides, no matter where the money is used, it’s still serving the people. As local officials like yourselves should think beyond just your own regions!"

The man in his forties picked up a cup of tea on the table and took a sip before speaking with an instructive tone.

"But Sir..."

Just as Yun Xi was about to speak, the man in his forties put down his teacup and stood up. He interrupted Yun Xi and turned towards the door saying, "Director Gu, you're back!"

Xiao Yu and Yun Xi looked at the doorway upon hearing what this man said. A man in his forties walked into the office. This man was wearing black-framed glasses and had no hair on top of his head; a few strands of longer hair covered the bald spot.

"What's going on, Xiao Zhao"

Upon entering the room, this man asked the staff member in his forties.

"Director Gu, these two are from Old City. I’ve already explained to them that other regions urgently need money and thus we must divert funds allocated for their city first, but they won’t budge! They show no sense of a bigger picture and only care about immediate benefits; they’re indifferent to the difficulties faced by other cities!"

Upon hearing Director Gu's question, this staff member in his forties quickly explained to Director Gu. After finishing, he turned to Yun Xi and started lecturing her.

This staff member didn't know what grudge their supervisor had against Yun Xi, but he knew for sure that Old City had offended Director Gu because the day before, after approving a two-point-five-million yuan request from them, when Director Gu came in the next morning, he tore up the approval and issued a new document with only five hundred thousand yuan.

From this alone, it was clear they had angered Director Gu; usually, even if there were no plans to allocate more funds, their original amount wouldn't be deducted. But this time, Director Gu was particularly harsh in his decision.

"You can take this document away with you. Your Old City will still get five hundred thousand yuan. If not, other cities are waiting."

The bald section chief ran his hand through the few strands of long hair on his head and then reached out to take the document from the staff member in his forties, tossing it onto the table with an impatient expression.

Afther saying that, he turned around to face the staff member in his forties as well as the other three staff members. "You all tidy up the office, the newly appointed section chief will be here shortly!"

Afterwards, these people started bustling about inside the room, treating Xiao Yu and Yun Xi like air.

Xiao Yu had remained silent this entire time because he didn’t want to meddle in Yun Xi’s work. If he said something inappropriate and caused obstacles for Yun Xi’s work, that wasn’t what Xiao Yu wanted to see happen. Hence, since stepping into the room, he hadn’t spoken a word.

But at this moment, Xiao Yu could no longer bear it. Even if the situation was as such, there was no need to use such a condescending tone!

"Comrade, we have no objections to what you said, but can you explain to us where the money that should be given to us is going We are just ordinary staff members, and you telling us this will help us get through our tasks."

Even though Xiao Yu was angry inside, he knew that this was Yun Xi’s work. Therefore, he suppressed his anger and said to Old Gu, the section chief.

"Do we need to report back to you on how we operate Leave quickly or else these five million won’t be available!" Upon hearing Xiao Yu's words, Old Gu's face turned cold as he replied.

Old Gu looked at Xiao Yu and the others with a rather indifferent attitude. If their superiors had come today, it would have been hard to talk them out of anything. But since it was just these two young people, Xiao Yu and Yun Xi, dealing with ordinary staff members like this was easy to handle by intimidating or confusing them.

If their superior had actually arrived and insisted on being serious about the matter, things would indeed be difficult to deal with because they hadn’t decided where the money should go yet, meaning that it remained in his possession.

Initially, he didn’t intend to withhold any money from Old City. It was only when Deputy Mayor Lin promised during a meal that if they could provide an additional five million yuan, he would receive ten percent as kickback that he got the idea. However, after waiting all day yesterday without receiving news from Deputy Mayor Lin, his anger boiled over, and not only did they fail to get the extra five million, but their existing two million was reduced.

He knew Yun Xi because he had also been present at dinner two days ago when everything unfolded in the restaurant corridor. Moreover, during the banquet room conversation, they mentioned that those people were from Beijing’s wealthy and influential families. Seeing Yun Xi offend them, he thought it didn’t matter whether or not he withheld money since everything was still under their control anyway. Furthermore, even if someone investigated, as long as he claimed that these individuals had offended a member of the city's elite, nobody would likely pursue this matter.

And as long as he is given this morning, all he needs to do is distribute the two million yuan withheld from the Old City, and there won't be any problems. All these people waiting outside are here for money; once he hints at this message, wouldn’t they eagerly bring him more money

Withholding these two million yuan, he could secure at least a two hundred thousand-yuan benefit. Even if he had to give away most of it, the amount left in his hands would still be substantial.

This matter carries almost no risk; such practices are widespread across various regions and have become an unwritten rule. Otherwise, why would everyone want to enter officialdom

"Director Gu, this two million yuan was originally supposed to go to our Old City. Now that it's suddenly gone, I recall there’s a regulation in the ministry stating that all cities meeting the criteria should receive their fixed share of these funds. Why do we only have five hundred thousand yuan left and can’t even ask about it"

When Yun Xi saw Director Gu’s expression, she repressed her smile and looked at him.

"Heh heh, you want to discuss ministry regulations Fine, I’ll tell you. There's also a regulation stating that this portion of money should be prioritized for areas with greater need! Clearly, your Old City doesn’t qualify."

Upon hearing Yun Xi mention the ministry’s regulations, Director Gu immediately broke into laughter. Who could possibly know these regulations better than him Without that specific rule, he wouldn't have had the courage to proceed as planned; but now, with this regulation in place, the money becomes flexible and can be maneuvered more easily.

"Hurry up and leave with your documents; we've got plenty of work to do here. Haven’t you seen all those people waiting outside"

Director Gu waved impatiently at Xiao Yu and Yun Xi, saying,

"Director Gu, please give us a solution—otherwise I won't be able to report back!" Despite her anger toward the bald-headed director, Yun Xi had no choice but to soften her tone.

Yun Xi was now quite anxious. She couldn’t complete her mission this way; even though she wasn’t responsible for what happened, a change of plans during an agreed-upon transaction made it impossible for her to report back successfully. Although her task was simply to collect the documents and return them to Old City without worrying about the outcome, this being her first business trip, she felt extremely unsatisfied with how things turned out. Even though Xiao Yu had connections, Yun Xi knew him well enough to know that he disliked owing favors to others; similarly, she didn’t enjoy doing so either.

“Director Gu…

"Hiss... three." Seeing Yun Xi not take the documents and wanting to speak up, Director Gu suddenly flipped through the file to the page with his signature, tore it out, then threw the document into the trash bin.

"You...曬"..." Seeing this scene, Yunxi's expression changed instantly.

"This is how you handle matters" Xiao Yu asked the Section Chief with a cold face.

Xiao Yu had been suppressing his anger all along because he did not want to disrupt Yunxi's work. But seeing what just happened made him unable to hold back anymore.

"How we do our business doesn't need you to teach us!" The Section Chief said without even looking at Xiao Yu and the others.

This Section Chief had been floating around in the Health Bureau for twenty years, so he shouldn't be acting this rashly. Back then, as a college student with no connections or backing, his good luck allowed him to stay on at the bureau.

Over these past twenty years, although he was only a section chief, it was quite an accomplishment given that he had no background. Being able to get this far meant he had his own way of dealing with things - being cautious and meticulous. Regardless of whether they were high officials or ordinary staff members, he would greet everyone with a smile. Whether he actually got things done was another matter, but at least it made people feel close on the surface.

But today, he had already felt uncomfortable in his heart because originally, he was just the vice-section chief of this Budget Section. After the old section chief retired due to illness half a year ago, he has been exercising the rights of a section chief all along. He thought that it would be logical for him to take over as the new section chief.

Who knew that in the morning meeting at his department today, they said that a new section chief would arrive and that he should prepare for the handover. Upon hearing this news, he had been harboring resentment all along. And now encountering these two young men from Xiao Yu's team just made him even more irritable, not to mention that Old Town promised to give him a kickback but there was still no word about it yet. So he vented his frustration on Xiao Yu and the others.

"Huhu, fine, let's go Yunxi!" With a cold laugh, Xiao Yu said to Yunxi.

Yunxi nodded without speaking, following Xiao Yu out of the office. At this moment, Yunxi was also extremely angry as it was her first time on an official business trip and she encountered such an incident.

In fact, whether he gave them five million didn't matter much since they had not been expecting much in the first place. But now even the two million originally promised has dwindled to just five million. The leaders had already agreed that the two million was a must, but in just two days, it turned into five million.

If the leaders were still here, it would have been better, but after they left and asked her to wait for news, she ended up waiting until there was nothing left of the original two million. How could she explain this

However, seeing the Section Chief's attitude, Yunxi also realized that something about this matter might be different from what she knew, as it had already exceeded her capabilities.

"Eh...Master Uncle" Just as Xiao Yu and the others reached the door, two people walked in through the door. One was a woman in her forties, who looked at Xiao Yu with surprise and said.llnesses upon taking someone's pulse. Even past injuries would be accurately identified without any errors. Therefore, there were always many patients coming to seek treatment every day."Teacher, you'...