Courtyard House: Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) Traded for an Aircraft Carrier, the Whole Count

The gate to Warehouse No. 3 was a heavy iron gate with a huge anti-theft lock hanging on it.

Liu Haizhong snatched the key, his hands trembling several times before he inserted it into the lock. With a crisp "click," the lock opened.

"Open your eyes wide and look carefully! This is the evidence of Jiang Chen's crimes!"

Liu Haizhong pushed open the heavy iron door with force, and the morning sunlight pierced through the crack in the door, illuminating the interior of the warehouse.

A smell that was a mixture of engine oil, metallic smell and a faint aroma of grain wafted over.

Zhao Gang, the audit team, and several workshop directors who had rushed over to see what was going on all craned their necks to look inside.

The warehouse was huge and packed full, but it wasn't messy at all; on the contrary, it was outrageously orderly.

On the left were neatly stacked wooden crates, printed with Russian text and numbers; in the middle were several precision pieces of equipment covered with tarpaulins, their metallic sheen faintly visible; on the right were piles of daily necessities, including bags of sweet potatoes, boxes of canned meat, and even several barrels of high-grade lubricating oil, which was extremely precious in those days.

"See! I told you so!" Liu Haizhong, like a fly that had smelled fish, pointed at the pile of sweet potatoes and canned goods and screamed, "Sweet potatoes! Canned meat! What does this have to do with technological breakthroughs? This is clearly goods he hoarded for speculation! Auditor, write this down! This is irrefutable evidence!"

Zhao Gang's face lit up with ecstatic joy. He strode in, pointed at the supplies, and roared, "Investigate! Investigate every single item! I refuse to believe these things have proper documentation!"

The audit team leader, accompanied by several staff members, cautiously entered the warehouse and opened the ledgers and abacuses they carried with them.

Jiang Chen, with his hands in his pockets, strolled leisurely to the warehouse door, leaned against the door frame, and looked on with amusement.

"Master Liu, don't just stare at the sweet potatoes. Those are for the technical team to eat while working overtime. What, the working class doing technical research, can't even afford a sweet potato?" Jiang Chen said sarcastically.

"Enough with the nonsense! Where are the invoices? Where are the transfer orders?" Zhao Gang shouted sternly.

The audit team leader picked up an inbound and outbound logbook hanging on the shelf and opened it to the first page. His hand trembled slightly at first, but as his gaze swept over the documents, his expression gradually became serious, and finally turned to shock.

"This..." The audit team leader pushed up his glasses, looked up at Zhao Gang, and said in a somewhat hoarse voice, "Section Chief Zhao, these sweet potatoes... have the necessary paperwork."

"What?" Zhao Gang was taken aback.

"This is the output of the experimental field of Hongxing Commune. It has the stamp of the commune's revolutionary committee and a handwritten note from Director Yang, which states that it is 'living supplies for the technical research team.'" The audit team leader handed over the documents. "The paperwork... is complete."

Zhao Gang snatched the receipt, staring intently at the bright red official seal, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. The ink marks on the seal were clearly visible, and even the texture of the paper exuded an undeniable sense of realism.

"This...this is impossible!" Liu Haizhong shouted from the side. "What about the canned meat? That's military supplies! How could he possibly have that!"

The audit team leader turned another page, his hands trembling even more violently: "The canned meat...it's a purchase order from the Friendship Store, and there's also a transfer certificate from the military logistics department, saying it's for disposing of near-expiry supplies, being transferred at a discount to the steel mill's security department...The invoice is here, even the signature of the person in charge is there."

The entire room fell into a deathly silence.

Only Jiang Chen's ambiguous, half-smiling voice echoed in the empty warehouse: "What, Master Liu, do you suspect that Friendship Store sells counterfeit goods? Or do you suspect that the military's certificate is fake?"

A fine layer of cold sweat appeared on Zhao Gang's forehead. Undeterred, he lunged towards the wooden crates on his left, which were printed with Russian characters, and yanked open the lids.

Inside were gleaming precision gears and special bearings; in this era of technological blockade, these things were more valuable than gold.

"Where are these! Where are all these Soviet goods?!" Zhao Gang roared hysterically. "The Soviet experts have been gone for ages! These things couldn't possibly have gotten in through legitimate channels! He must have smuggled them! He's colluding with the enemy!"

This accusation was too much; even the audit team leader was startled.

Jiang Chen simply pointed to a black file box on the top shelf.

"Team leader, please take that box down and read it to Section Chief Zhao."

The audit team leader shakily took down the box, opened it, and found a stack of yellowed documents inside, the edges of which were even worn, exuding a sense of the vicissitudes of time.

"This...this is the handover list of supplies left behind by the Soviet experts before their withdrawal..." The audit team leader's voice trembled as he looked at the Russian signatures and the Chinese representative's signature. "Every screw, every gear, has a number and a corresponding warehousing record. And this part...is imported parts transshipped through Tianjin Port. The customs release slips, the Ministry of Foreign Trade's approvals...it's all here."

Anything produced by our system is guaranteed to be of high quality.

Jiang Chen spent a full 200 transaction points to ensure that these "causal" documents generated by the system were absolute truths in this plane. Even the most demanding auditor, examining them with a magnifying glass, couldn't find a single flaw. Even the degree of yellowing of the paper and the aged feel of the ink perfectly matched the timeline.

Zhao Gang held the document, but as if his hand had been burned, he suddenly let go, scattering the document all over the floor.

Looking at the neatly arranged boxes of supplies and the flawless ledgers, he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.

This is a trap.

A perfectly executed trap.

"Section Chief Zhao," the audit team leader said, wiping sweat from his face, his voice weak as if he were groaning, "the accounts... are flawless. Not only is there no embezzlement, but Section Chief Jiang even... even paid part of the shipping costs upfront, which the accounts show hasn't been reimbursed yet."

"Impossible...this is impossible..." Liu Haizhong plopped down on the ground, muttering to himself like a madman, "He was clearly speculating...I saw it...I clearly saw it..."

The workers and cadres who had been watching the commotion now looked at Zhao Gang and Liu Haizhong with a different expression. Their initial curiosity turned into disdain and mockery.

They brought so many people to audit the accounts in a big way, only to find out that the person not only didn't embezzle, but also spent their own money on technical research and development.

What is this? It's like offering your face up to get punched!

Jiang Chen slowly walked up to Zhao Gang, whose face was pale, reached out and straightened his slightly crooked collar, his movements as gentle as if he were treating an old friend.

"Section Chief Zhao, are you done investigating?"

Jiang Chen's voice was soft, yet it clearly penetrated Zhao Gang's ears, like a whisper from hell.

"Now that the investigation is over, isn't it my turn?"