I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

After Zhou Yufei left, Lin Xiaomei hurriedly picked up the key, opened the drawer, and pulled out the receipts that had just been received that day from the top of a stack of receipts. She immediately recognized it as an entertainment receipt from the steel rolling mill, but when her eyes fell on the column for the number of people, she froze.

She clearly remembered seeing fifty people when she checked the records this morning, but now the receipt clearly states that there are only thirty people.

As she looked down further, her heart pounded even harder: there was no signature on the receipt!

She had clearly signed it before putting it away, so how could it be missing? She frantically flipped through the other receipts, confirming that this was the only one from today, and the date, official seal, and Wang Defa's signature all matched.

Recalling Zhou Yufei's grave tone, and realizing this matter might implicate her, even alarming the steel mill, Lin Xiaomei's palms sweated and her limbs trembled. She dared not think further, grabbing a pen and quickly signing her name at the end, desperately trying to reassure herself: "I must have been too busy this morning and forgot to sign, I must have misremembered, it must be..."

Calming herself down, she took the receipt and gently knocked on the door of the director's office.

"Come in."

Lin Xiaomei pushed open the door and entered. The eyes of everyone in the room immediately fell on her, making her already flustered heart jump into her throat. Her palms were sweating as she held the receipt, and her fingers trembled slightly.

"Xiaomei, have you brought the order form?" Li Jing'an asked her calmly.

"Here, here you go, Chief. This is it." She lowered her head, not daring to look at anyone, and handed over the form with trembling hands.

Li Jing'an accepted it with a smile and slowly unfolded it.

At that moment, everyone in the office focused their attention on that thin document, especially Wang Defa, whose face was full of excitement and whose eyes were shining. He glanced at Xu Damao triumphantly, already planning how to kick him while he was down and vent his anger once the director read out "fifty people".

Li Jing'an glanced at Wang Defa's confident expression, then looked down at the receipt. He raised it high, facing the crowd, and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, look carefully. It's clearly written here—thirty people. Wang Defa, what else do you have to say?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Wang Defa instantly exploded, disregarding his dignity, he rushed forward, snatched the form from Li Jing'an's hand, his eyes almost glued to the paper, looking at it over and over again, even touching the back.

Seeing this, Xu Damao straightened his back instantly, stepped forward, and said with a face full of grievance yet righteous indignation, "Chief, you saw it all! It's written in black and white, there's no lie! From the time I received the call to when I relayed it to Officer Wang, it was always thirty people, not a single falsehood. He's a college graduate, an external liaison officer, he misremembered the number, and now that something's happened, he's trying to pin it on me, an ordinary worker! What kind of logic is that! If it weren't for this reception slip, I wouldn't be able to clear my name even if I jumped into the Yellow River!"

"No! This isn't right!"

Wang Defa continued to stare intently at the invoice, muttering to himself incessantly, his face deathly pale, completely stunned.

"Bang!"

Li Jing'an slammed his hand on the table, making the teacups on it bounce slightly, startling the dazed Wang Defa. Li Jing'an snatched the receipt back, shouting sternly, "Enough! That's embarrassing enough! Making mistakes isn't terrible; what's terrible is making excuses and shirking responsibility! I'm asking you, is this signature yours?"

Wang Defa stared blankly at the receipt, his face contorted with resentment, his voice hoarse: "It...it's mine..."

"That settles it." Li Jing'an pointed to the signatures. "My signature is on it, Xiaomei, and your signature is there too, right? Try to recall how many people signed it."

Lin Xiaomei lowered her head and replied softly, "Yes...it's thirty people."

"Do you have any further objections?"

A thought suddenly flashed through Wang Defa's mind, like grasping at a last straw. He hurriedly looked up: "No! Director! Yesterday, Xu Damao asked me for a blank reception form, asking me to sign it beforehand, saying he was worried about causing trouble when going to the factory! This one must have been filled out by him later; it's been switched! There's definitely something wrong here!"

"Switched?" Li Jing'an's face turned cold, his tone clearly displeased. "Whether it was switched or not isn't up to you to decide. This receipt today was brought to me personally, and I signed it myself, as did the accountant. This is the only one I've signed in the entire process. You say it was switched, but it's clearly my signature. How could I not recognize it?"

After saying that, he turned to Lin Xiaomei and asked, "Xiaomei, how many reception forms did you sign today?"

Lin Xiaomei trembled slightly and stammered, "Just... just one serving..."

"See that?"

Li Jing'an's words shattered Wang Defa's last hope. He instantly deflated like a punctured balloon, standing there listlessly, his eyes vacant, completely dumbfounded.

There were supposed to be fifty people, so how did it become thirty? What went wrong? Could I have misremembered? He even wondered if he was dreaming. He pinched his finger hard with his nail, and the sharp pain told him clearly that it was all real.

The last glimmer of hope was utterly shattered.

"Chief! You must uphold justice for me!" Xu Damao pressed his advantage, putting on a wronged expression and shouting loudly.

"Alright!" Li Jing'an raised his hand to stop him, turned to look at everyone, and said in a calm tone, "Now is not the time to pursue who is right and who is wrong. The most urgent task is to recover the losses and recover the losses for the country. The food expenses for twenty cadres for several days are the most important thing."

"What else can we do? Whoever made the mistake should take responsibility," Xu Damao said sarcastically from the side, a hint of smugness in his eyes.

Wang Defa wanted to retort, but couldn't utter a single word. He could only look at Li Jing'an with hopeful eyes, hoping that the director would give him a hand because he was a newcomer. He had just started working, and his career hadn't even begun; he absolutely couldn't afford to fail like this.

Ignoring the undercurrent between the two, Li Jing'an turned to Zhou Yufei and asked, "Yufei, have all the ingredients for the reception been prepared for fifty people?"

"Yes, Director. We notified the food company early this morning, and they delivered everything."

"Can I return it?"

"No refund, Director. All the procedures have been completed. The company doesn't care about our situation and refuses to accept returns."

"Then let's all think of a way, we can't just let it go to waste like this."

The office fell into a deathly silence. The meals for twenty cadres had been provided for several days in a row, which was no small sum at the time.

"Director, I have an idea."

Zhou Yufei's soft voice broke the silence, and all eyes turned to her. Li Jing'an nodded slightly, signaling her to continue.

"Didn't you say a few days ago that everyone in the institute has been working very hard lately and that you applied to the factory for a three-yuan allowance per person for a night meal? Has the factory approved it?"

Li Jing'an nodded: "Approved. It was originally planned to be paid this month along with the salary. What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, let's hold off on paying for the dinner for now. Our guesthouse has made such a big mistake; this money is just what we need to use to cover the shortfall in food supplies."

Li Jing'an tapped his fingers lightly on the table, lost in thought.

Wang Defa, standing to the side, was on tenterhooks, his eyes filled with hope as he stared at the director. If the accounts could be settled and the matter suppressed, his responsibility would be greatly reduced, and he wouldn't have his future ruined so soon after starting work.

"Okay, let's do it this way." Li Jing'an finally made the decision. "Wang Defa is a new college graduate who is new to the job and not familiar with it. It's inevitable that he would make such a mistake. If word gets out, it won't look good for the department. Everyone, keep this to yourselves and don't tell anyone, so as not to cause any complaints from the lower-level employees."

Song Yun, standing to the side, spoke with some concern: "Director, there are no secrets that stay hidden forever. It's probably very difficult to keep it 100% confidential. What if it gets out? How will we handle the situation?"

"Who spread the word? You guys?" Li Jing'an's tone turned serious, carrying an undeniable force. "In our guesthouse, if anyone dares to speak out of turn, and the staff has a problem with it, let them come directly to me! Alright, that's settled then."

After saying that, he turned to look at Wang Defa, his expression turning serious again: "But Defa, this matter can't just be ignored. You're out of the external liaison job for now. With such a big blunder, I'm going to consider reassigning you. Go back and write a self-criticism, deeply reflect on your mistakes, and hand it to me."

"Huh? This..."

Wang Defa's face instantly turned ugly, and he looked very unwilling.

Writing a self-criticism—isn't that going to be recorded in his file? He's already got such a stain on his record since he started working; how will he ever get promoted? He was filled with resentment, but dared not show it.

Seeing this, Li Jing'an's face darkened, and he shouted sternly, "What? You're still not willing? I'm only giving you face because you're new here. If this were really reported to the factory, do you think it would be as simple as just writing a self-criticism?"

Wang Defa's lips trembled a few times, and finally he lowered his head dejectedly, unable to utter a single word.

As everyone left, Li Jing'an was soon left alone in the office.

He slowly lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. Then, he opened the bottom drawer of his desk and took out a guestbook that had been carefully tucked into a notebook.

The receipt clearly states in the "Number of People" column: 50 people.

Li Jing'an tapped the paper lightly with his fingertips, gazing at the receipt:

"Hehe, this list might still be useful."