That year the flowers bloomed 1981

Chapter 1484: Telling Lies with Open Eyes

On his first day back at Jingnan Group after completing his studies, Li Ye was handed a statistical table by Zhou Ziqing.

"Kang Zhizhong gave me a survey report. The report stated that the quality of the building materials procured by the team leader was fine, but he couldn't find out the prices."

Because Jin Hong refused to disclose the price to Kang Zhizhong, Kang Zhizhong compiled market prices for similar products for your reference.

Li Ye opened the statistics table and saw that Kang Zhizhong had categorized the materials such as steel bars and cement, listed the quotations from several local suppliers in Beijing, and even listed the differences between issuing invoices and not issuing invoices, and between credit and credit.

Li Ye said with a smile, "Old Master Kang is really thoughtful!"

Zhou Ziqing said in a low voice, "Kang Zhizhong told me that for projects of our level, if we order materials from one company, we get a kickback of five to eight percent."

"Mmm, this is really a cushy job."

Even if Kang Zhizhong hadn't reminded Li Ye, Li Ye would have known the intricacies of the situation, because the dormitory building project at the No. 1 factory had been ongoing for years, and he knew more about the procurement of building materials than most people.

However, this kind of premium situation is very common in companies. Generally speaking, as long as you don't want to make enemies, everyone turns a blind eye.

If you block my reimbursement today, I'll ruin your plans tomorrow. We might as well hurt each other and both suffer losses.

But Li Ye didn't care about making enemies with Jin Hong. Even if they hurt each other, Li Ye would have fewer weaknesses and higher resistance.

So when Jin Hong called a meeting with Li Ye to urge him to sign off on the accounts, Li Ye threw out this statistical table.

"Sister Cong, have you been fooled? Your purchase price is more than 30% higher than the market price. When did building material prices in Beijing become so outrageous?"

Jin Hong's smile froze on his face; he hadn't expected Li Ye to be so ignorant of etiquette.

Since you've given me the authority to procure materials, the premium you're paying is tacitly approved by the group. It's not like I'm the only one taking it. How can you, Li Ye, be so unreasonable?
Besides, the third-party supervisor you hired, Li Ye, cost a lot of money. What did I say back then? Didn't you take any kickbacks?
"Li Ye, you've always been in charge of technical work and are used to being straightforward and pragmatic, but you don't know the difficulties of procurement."
The materials needed for our project vary greatly in quality, some good and some bad, and the prices can differ by several times. You understand the principle of "you get what you pay for," right?

"We're building our own office building, a 28-story building at that. In a strong wind, the top floor will sway from side to side. You can't just cut corners on the materials, can you? It has to be high quality."

[What you said makes so much sense! Alpine spring water is exceptionally pure, right? Drinking it brings double the happiness, right?]

Li Ye was, of course, familiar with this kind of talk from seasoned buyers: the things they buy are always better, and Evian is healthier than Ice Dew.
But the problem is that the list Kang Zhizhong gave Li Ye included all the brands that were purchased from Jin Hong, and they were all exactly the same. Did they have to differentiate them by production batch or shelf life?
Li Ye pointed to the statistics table and said amicably, "Sister, please don't misunderstand, but I'm just trying to prevent the loss of public property. These days, many shell companies like to boast and deceive people."
So here's the thing! Let's compare and test all the brands on this list. If the products are indeed good, then of course they're worth the price. But if there's not much difference in quality, we'll just return them.

Jin Hong's face turned pale with anger at Li Ye, but she sneered, "Returned them? If Deputy Team Leader Li could return all those building materials, then I'd be saved a lot of trouble."

To address the company's urgent financial needs, I borrowed money myself to sign a supply agreement. Now, if you can return the goods and get my money back, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

After all, you, Deputy Group Leader Li Ye, are discerning and impartial. What if you refuse to sign off on the funding after returning from your studies? Even if I were sold off from Jin Hong, I still wouldn't be able to pay back that much money.”

"Bought with borrowed money? You paid for it?"

Li Ye was very surprised because he thought Jin Hong had purchased the building materials on credit, but he never expected that she would pay for them herself to "solve the group's urgent problem".

Judging from Jin Hong's usual stingy manner, she would be more reluctant to spend money than the cattle and horses that would cover her travel expenses decades later. This is hundreds of thousands of yuan. How can she be so generous?

Cong Jin Hong raised her eyelids slightly and said indifferently, "Deputy Team Leader Li, what you said is really interesting. If you don't pay people when you buy things, why should they give you the goods?"

"If you don't believe me, you can ask Minister Xun to look at the supply contract. If you still don't believe me, you can go to the finance department to check if the invoices are fake. Old Yang, you should believe me, right?"

Even though Li Ye was mentally prepared, he still had to admit that Jin Hong's eating manners were truly unsightly.

In just two weeks, they've already lent you money, signed contracts, and even issued invoices. The deed is done, and it's too late to back out now.

Li Ye clicked his tongue, half-jokingly and half-sarcastically saying, "I really didn't expect this situation. But Sister Cong, can't our prestigious Jingnan Group even get credit? Do we have to trouble you to find a place to borrow money yourself?"

Jin Hong rolled her eyes: "We're from out of town, and the locals don't respect us. So I borrowed some funds from Southwest Heavy Truck. You, Deputy Team Leader Li, have a lot of influence, so we'll have to trouble you with things like buying on credit from now on!"

Li Ye casually replied, "I don't have that much influence. Even a large organization like ours can't get things on credit, so what can I do?"

Jin Hong looked at Li Ye with disdain. Li Ye was clearly lying through his teeth; when he went to Zhongxin Bank for a loan, the loan officer practically shoved the loan into his lap.
When Jin Hong's younger brother went to purchase building materials, he was told that as long as there was an official seal from the branch factory, millions of yuan worth of building materials would be delivered to his home that same day.

However, it's good that Li Ye admits he "lost face" now, otherwise if he really lets Li Ye run up his accounts in the future, what will he eat?
On the day the contract was signed, Cong Jinhong's younger brother reimbursed her. This first batch of contracts alone earned Cong Jinhong more money than she could earn in three lifetimes. Such a good deal, even if you, Li Ye, want it, I wouldn't be willing to part with it!
. . . . . . . . .

After the meeting, Li Ye called Lao Yang.

"Old Yang, do you have the invoice for the building materials we bought from the deputy general manager a few days ago? She just mentioned it to me in the meeting today and asked me to take a look. Okay, okay, I'll wait for you in the office."

For the past two weeks, Lao Yang has been siding with Li Ye and "competing" with Jin Hong, so when Li Ye said he wanted to see the invoice, he immediately brought it over.

“Deputy General Manager Li, there are three invoices here. Cong Jinhong wants to use these invoices to process the payment and get the money, but I said I can't get the money myself without your signature.”

Li Ye took the invoice and said as he looked at it, "I thought they bought it on credit. If there was anything fishy, ​​we could just return it. But I didn't expect they could borrow money to buy things. This is really troublesome."

"How could they possibly buy things on credit? To put it bluntly, even the Light Automobile Company would have difficulty getting credit; it's only the First Branch Factory that's different."

Old Yang was good at praising people. He didn't say that Li Ye had "big face," but instead praised the good reputation of the branch factory. However, the reputation of the branch factory was directly linked to Li Ye, so praising the branch factory was praising Li Ye.

"Ha~"

Li Ye smiled softly.

The reason why Branch Factory No. 1 has a good reputation is because it is not short of money. However, if Branch Factory No. 1 were to run out of money, its good reputation would immediately disappear.

This is just like those defaulters who are stuck in a quagmire decades later. Once they step into a vicious cycle, those who used to urge them to take out loans every day will immediately turn their backs on them.

Li Ye once had a friend who was in trouble, but he kept working hard to pay off his debts. One day, he heard that the bank's loan interest rate had dropped, so he thought about taking out a loan to pay off his online loans and ease the repayment pressure.

But when he arrived, they smiled and told him, "You need to pay off your online loans first, and then come back to us to apply for a loan. I can then apply for the most favorable interest rate for you."

I've already paid off all my online loans, why would I need to borrow money from you again? One loan can teach you a lifelong lesson. I'm about to turn over a new leaf, are you trying to lure me back into this mess?

Li Ye examined the three invoices, compared the total amount with the normal market price, and estimated the extent of the markup.

[Could a few hundred thousand yuan really blind Cong Jin Hong?]

In 1993, several hundred thousand yuan could buy three 100-square-meter apartments in Beijing, which was indeed a considerable temptation.

Li Ye returned the invoice to Lao Yang: "Lao Yang, is there anything wrong with this invoice?"

Old Yang smiled and said, "Whether there's a problem or not depends on how you look at it."

Li Ye: "Huh? What do you mean?"

Old Yang pointed to the company name on the invoice and said, "The invoice itself is fine, but it was issued by the manufacturer, not a trading company. Such a high price is unusual."

Li Ye immediately realized: "You mean the manufacturer issued false invoices?"

Old Yang nodded and said, "That's all there is to it, but these kinds of things are common nowadays. Unless the tax authorities take it seriously, we won't be able to find out the truth ourselves."

"The tax authorities!"

Li Ye quickly considered the matter and made up his mind.

Because the tax system wasn't networked back then, it wasn't easy to check accounts, so the tax authorities weren't as powerful or proactive as they would be decades later.

But Li Ye's senior, Peng Rui, works in the tax department!
Peng Rui was also Zhang Qiyan's student. He and Li Ye often went to Professor Zhang's house for meals. Later, when Peng Rui married his wife Yuan Hongmin, Li Ye even gave him two sets of wedding clothes!

That guy has risen through the ranks rapidly in the past few years. If he really wanted to investigate this matter, there would be no shady dealings he couldn't uncover.

(End of this chapter)