312 The Secret of the Haunted House
Not only was Shan Yue’s question perfectly resolved by Pang Shuo’s answer, but he even took the opportunity to praise himself.
Zhou Xuan fiddled with the jade ring in his hand and said disapprovingly, “Doesn’t the Federation City send out an allocation every year? The amount is at least tens of millions. If we distribute it to every village, it will be a few million. After so many years, why is it still so dilapidated? This amount of money is definitely enough to renovate the entire village.”
Before Pang Shuo could answer, Zhang Luo smiled slightly. “That’s right. This money is distributed by our Capital University every year, and I’m the person in charge of distributing it. As the president of the Education Association, Village Chief Pang should be the person in charge of receiving it. I wonder how this money has been used all these years. Have you recorded detailed accounts?”
“Tens of millions were allocated every year?” Pang Shuo deliberately raised his voice and widened his eyes, pretending to be shocked.
In fact, Pang Shuo had long guessed that he would have to face this problem. Because the villagers had more or less received Pang Shuo’s favor, he had long agreed with all the villagers that the village would only receive a few million yuan every year.
“President Zhou, are you mistaken? How can there be tens of millions of yuan every year? Last year, we only received more than three million yuan. A few villages split it evenly, and each village only received a few hundred thousand yuan. This money is for everyone to improve the environment, repair the roads outside and in the village, and perfect the basic facilities. There’s no excess money at all. The money received and used is recorded in the accounts. You can take a look tomorrow.”
Zhou Xuan’s originally relaxed eyes instantly turned cold. He did not expect such an answer from Pang Shuo. “Then why did you hide the truth of the village in the public promotional video of Pang Village and describe the life here so well, but the reality doesn’t match?”
“Actually, we didn’t want to do that either. However, the people of Pang Village are too kind-hearted. We all know that it’s not easy to earn money. No one’s money comes from nowhere. Everyone feels very bad about asking you to sponsor us every year.”
Pang Shuo’s words even had an aggrieved sobbing tone. “Now that everyone has helped us perfect the environment and repair the road, everyone is very grateful. However, we have arms and legs and want to rely on our own efforts to live a fulfilling life. That’s why we unanimously came up with the idea of fake publicity. Firstly, we want you to send less money to reduce your burden. Secondly, we want to motivate ourselves to work hard at all times. The villagers are also doing this out of good intentions. President Zhou, don’t blame them.”
As Pang Shuo spoke, he wiped his gradually red eyes. His appearance was very heartbreaking.
Seeing that the tears at the corners of Pang Shuo’s eyes were becoming more and more uncontrollable, Zhou Xuan stopped today’s conversation and told Pang Shuo to go back and rest early.
The moment Pang Shuo turned around, at an angle that no one could see, the tears at the corners of his eyes instantly stopped flowing. In their place was a disdainful smile.
At this moment, Pang Shuo, who was already fully prepared, felt that he had been overthinking. He had originally thought that the few bosses were ruthless people, causing him to panic for a long time in vain, but it also confirmed his guess that they had only come for show.
He had bluffed his way through with a few words and worthless tears. It really confirmed the saying that stupid people had a lot of money.
Just as Pang Shuo was about to open the door and leave, a voice from behind interrupted him.
“Village Chief Pang, don’t leave yet. I still have one last question for you.”
Shan Yue’s voice pulled Pang Shuo back to reality. He immediately stopped smiling. “President Shan, you can ask a few questions. Tell me.”
Shan Yue looked at Pang Shuo’s facial muscles and smiled slightly. “It’s said that there’s a haunted house at the east side of Pang Village. A few years ago, there was even news that ghosts had appeared. From then on, no one dared to go there anymore. Do you know what happened?”
As expected, at the mention of the haunted house, she touched Pang Shuo’s last bottom line. The muscles on his face inevitably twitched twice. Through these two moves, Shan Yue also understood that there must be something hidden in the haunted house.