At this time, Li An was very calm and tried to persuade Chen Shanhe with a smile.

"Shanhe, open up the situation, who can do it? We have visited so many poor households, and these families really need this money to improve their lives. It is nothing for us to suffer this injustice. At most, we can ask Wu Wangtian more in the future

That’s all his opinion, he can’t go too far.”

"Li An, do you really think so?" Xu Kai was a little surprised by Li An's realization, and he didn't look like he was talking about something.

"What's the point of lying? If you can do a few practical things for the villagers, it won't be in vain for you to go to the grassroots level." Li An lit a cigarette and handed one to Xu Kai.

Xu Kai took the cigarette and saw Yang Mengmeng's murderous eyes. He smiled and said, "Li An is in a bad mood. I'll smoke one with him."

"Okay, let's smoke one." Yang Mengmeng relented.

Li An watched Xu Kai eagerly light up the cigarette and took a nice puff. His happy expression showed that he probably wouldn't have much chance to smoke with Yang Mengmeng around these two days.

"Brother Xu, I think you have the potential to become a famous Prime Minister Fang Xuanling." Li An patted Xu Kai on the shoulder.

"You...cough cough cough." Xu Kai was so angry that Li An choked again.

Chen Shanhe looked puzzled. Fang Xuanling wasn't a historical celebrity. Wasn't he praising Xu Kai? Why did he look so angry?

After cleaning up the venue, Li An and others returned to the village committee office.

But as soon as he entered the office, he saw Wang Defu and Liu Changfa sitting inside, looking worried.

After seeing Li An enter the room, Wang Defu immediately stood up and said anxiously: "Team Leader Li, are you back?"

"What happened?" Li An asked in confusion, looking at him as if he was worried.

"When Wu Wangtian held a meeting just now, he talked about how to pay the wages owed to the villagers." Wang Defu said.

"I know this, isn't it good?" Li An felt from Wang Defu's expression that something must be wrong.

"But Wu Wangtian said that he can only get 20% of the salary." Wang Defu replied.

"Why is it only 20%? Didn't he just say at the conference that everything has been solved?" Li An also frowned.

"Who says it's not the case? Wu Wangtian only got the 20% because of the entrustment of Cadre Wen. He only agreed to it after convincing his boss." Wang Defu replied angrily.

"Then get the money first and ask for it later." Chen Shanhe came up with an idea.

"It's not that simple. Just listen to what Director Wang has to say." Li An felt that there was something fishy about this matter.

"Wu Wangtian said that the villagers should exchange the IOUs issued by the previous boss. If they don't agree, they won't get a penny," Wang Defu said.

"Cadre Li, is there anything you can do? Wu Wangtian asked me to handle this matter. I won't be scolded to death by the villagers for this." Wang Defu lit a cigarette depressedly.

"Director Wang, don't be anxious about this matter. We will discuss it in the long term." Li An comforted Wang Defu and found a chair to sit down.

"This Wu Wangtian is so bad, I can't stand it anymore, I want to call my dad." At this time, Yang Mengmeng's sense of justice was overwhelming.

"Mengmeng, don't worry, the matter is not that simple. Let's see how Li An handles it first." Xu Kai stopped Yang Mengmeng's movements.

He saw this immature young man skillfully lighting up a cigarette and taking a deep puff. His movements were like those of an old smoker who had been smoking for decades.

Li An held a cigarette in his left hand, and unconsciously rubbed his thumb and index finger back and forth with his right hand, feeling the clear concave and convex feeling of the fingerprints on the skin of his fingertips.

This is Li An's habitual action whenever he is stuck in a long exam. He thinks it helps him think.

After a cigarette was burned out, Li An suddenly spoke.

"Director Wang, do you have an IOU from the villagers? I want to see what it looks like."

"I have it." Liu Changfa spoke. He took out five or six white slips from his arms and handed them to Li An.

"Hey, Director Liu, why do you have so many IOUs?" Li An looked at the IOUs in his hand. There were all names on them. They couldn't all be relatives of Liu Changfa.

"Hey, this is a joke to Cadre Li. This is because the folks who were in trouble at home sold me the IOU because they had no other choice." Liu Changfa said with some embarrassment.

"Director Liu is also kind-hearted to help the villagers. This is a good thing. How many IOUs have you received?" Li An asked.

"About ten or so." Liu Changfa looked bitter.

"I asked why Liu Changfa is sitting here. He must have lost money by collecting the IOU." Li An was secretly amused.

Yang Mengmeng, who was sitting on the other side, said with some emotion: "Oh, I really didn't realize that Director Liu is actually a good person."

Xu Kai leaned into her ear and whispered: "Do you think Director Liu was so kind and bought it at full price? It must have been discounted."

"Ah~ Director Liu is not a good person either." Yang Mengmeng looked at Liu Changfa with disgust.

"You can't say that. After all, it is risky to buy such an IOU that you don't know when it will be cashed. I can only say that Director Liu has some conscience but not much." Xu Kai gave the definition.

Li An naturally also knew that there must be some inside story about this IOU, but he would not naively ask Liu Changfa how much he spent to buy this IOU, causing him to lose face.

Li An turned his attention to the IOU and began to read it carefully.

The opening of this IOU is very formal, with a name and official seal.

Party A: Linjiang Zhanda Construction Engineering Co., Ltd.

Party B: Liu Yonggui

Party A owes Party B wages from January 15, 2004 to February 15, 2005. The total cash (lower case): 10,400 yuan, capital: 10,040 yuan.

"Linjiang Zhanda Construction Engineering Co., Ltd.?"

Li An felt a little familiar with this company, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it before. After all, it was too long ago.

"Shanhe, do you have any channels to know the specific situation of this company in Yangdong?" Li An thought for a while and felt that Xu Kai has a lot of energy and should have channels to get the information.

"This should be no problem, I'll call right away." Xu Kai said obligingly.

Collecting information takes time and cannot be obtained in a short time.

Li An said to Wang Defu: "Director Wang, please postpone this matter for a while, and then make plans after understanding the specific situation."

"Then I'll try my best, but I'm afraid it won't last too long." Wang Defu nodded helplessly, with a bitter look on his face.

It is obvious that Wu Wangtian is using this incident to retaliate against Wang Defu's "betrayal".

It was already noon, and Liu Changfa invited Li An and the others to his home for dinner. He sensed that Xu Kai and Yang Mengmeng had unusual identities, so he wanted to make friends.

Li An also saw Liu Changfa's little thoughts and did not refuse. Xu Kai and Yang Meng followed him regardless.

The meal prepared by Liu Changfa's family was very sumptuous, but Li An and the others obviously had no appetite and just ate a few bites casually.

After the meal, everyone sat in the study and waited for the news. Liu Changfa arranged for his son Liu Renyu to serve coffee, which was beyond everyone's expectation.

Li An took the coffee and took a sip and couldn't help but praise: "Director Liu, expert, this is freshly ground coffee from coffee beans imported from Brazil."

Liu Changfa waved his hand and said, "How do I understand this foreign stuff? Renyu's sister got it all."

Yang Mengmeng also asked curiously: "Li An, how did you taste it? I have drunk many brands of coffee, but why can't I taste it?"

Li An gently stirred the coffee with a spoon and said with a smile: "Brazilian coffee has a lower acidity in the taste. Combined with the sweet and bitter taste of the coffee, it is extremely smooth in the mouth and has a light grassy aroma."

"Ah, is there one? Why didn't I smell it?" Yang Mengmeng curiously put the cup to her nose and smelled it.
Chapter completed!