The situation escalated when the two middle-aged men who had been standing silently behind Zhou Huaijin slowly stepped forward. They presented their work credentials from the civil affairs department, stating that they had been commissioned to investigate the flow of the donated funds.

The village chief felt like he was trapped in an illogical nightmare.

How had the script flipped so suddenly from him getting on TV and receiving praise to being forced into an audit?

However, as the donors, Chi Yuanshan and his family had every right to inquire about the use of their funds. The village chief had no grounds to refuse, nor could he possibly do so in front of so many people.

Especially in front of the two officials tasked with the investigation. If he refused, wouldn’t that be an admission of guilt? And who knew who would be sent to audit the books next time.

The village chief’s funereal expression made it obvious to everyone that something was amiss. Naturally, the villagers who had staunchly supported him began to exchange uncertain glances.

With things having reached this point, some of the villagers were beginning to realize they had likely been thanking the wrong person all these years...

They looked over at Chi Wan, their lips moving as if they wanted to say something, but they were too embarrassed to speak.

After all, when Liu Dali had gotten into trouble, who among them hadn’t cursed Chi Wan’s family, whether openly or behind their backs?

Some of them had said particularly nasty things, and the memory alone now made them cringe.

Chi Wan couldn’t be bothered with what these people were thinking. If it weren’t for the need to deal with the troublesome village chief, she wouldn’t have wasted her energy putting on such an elaborate act.

She knew her family wouldn’t be living in the village forever, so she didn’t particularly care about her relationship with the other villagers.

His back hunched and his head beaded with sweat, the village chief led the group away to check the books. Seeing that things were going south, many of the villagers quietly slipped away. It probably wouldn’t even take half a day for news of what happened at the village entrance to reach everyone’s ears.

A few of the more curious ones trailed behind the group from a distance, likely hoping to get first-hand information they could brag about later.

On the way to the audit, a young woman around Zhou Huaijin’s age clapped him on the back and whispered, "Nice one. You finally did something useful, kid. I’ve got more than enough material for today."

She had a well-proportioned figure and was a bit taller than Chi Wan, around five-foot-nine, with a neat, short haircut that made her look very sharp and competent.

Zhou Huaijin laughed. "When have I ever steered you wrong? Dig deep into this, and you’ll have enough for two separate reports."

With that, he looked up at Chi Wan. "Junior Sister Wanwan, this is my senior, Zhuo Yu. She’s two years ahead of me at our university. Senior, this is Chi Wan. She goes to our university too and will be a sophomore next semester, so she’s your junior sister as well."

Zhuo Yu laughed brightly and slung an arm around Chi Wan’s shoulders. "Oh, a junior from my own university! You’re gorgeous! From now on, if you have any story leads, you have to contact me. If they’re all as good as today’s, you’ll be my new best friend."

Chi Wan chuckled. "In that case, you should add me as a friend, Senior. I’ll do my best to become your best friend."

Zhou Huaijin, standing nearby, pried Zhuo Yu away after she finished adding Chi Wan as a contact. "Alright, get back to work," he said with a sigh. "Your ’best friend’s’ happiness here in the village depends on you."

Zhuo Yu, who must have finished her task, was in high spirits. "Alright, I’ll wait until I get this sorted. Little Junior Wanwan, I’ll ask you out for a meal when I have time!"

Chi Wan wasn’t put off by Zhuo Yu’s forward and friendly nature. She smiled and replied, "You’re the ones helping me. It should be me treating you to a meal."

"Hehe, in that case, I won’t stand on ceremony!" Zhuo Yu accepted graciously and led the way into the village committee office.

Chi Wan, however, waited at the door for Chi Yuanshan and Song Yinghe. Auditing was not her forte, and with her parents there, she didn’t need to worry about it.

The only reason she stayed was to watch the village chief’s downfall.

The village chief was already completely overwhelmed. He regretted, not for the first time, assuming Chi Yuanshan would never return. His bookkeeping, as a result, had not been particularly rigorous.

Now, all he could do was hope they wouldn’t discover the discrepancies in the ledgers.

But unfortunately for him, that was a vain hope.

"A purchase of fruit from Liu Dali’s family... for 300,000? But your village’s fruit is all locally grown and sold."

"And this one. An expenditure of 200,000 for fertilizer. That doesn’t seem to fall under the scope of the donation’s intended use, does it?"

"And another one here..."

With every question from the officials, the last vestiges of hope drained from the village chief. His vision went dark, all strength left his body, and he collapsed onto his chair.

’It’s all over.’

’If it had just been Chi Wan’s family, or just these two officials, I could have found a way to fudge things.’

’But they all had to show up at once, catching me completely off guard.’

The village chief finally understood. Chi Wan and that Zhou Huaijin had done this on purpose!

’The so-called interview with the city station was a lie; they were here to be witnesses!’

He cursed himself for getting too used to things going his way, leaving him completely unprepared. After all, Chi Yuanshan and his family had been focused on their orchard and had never brought up the donation since returning to the village.

He never would have imagined that a young slip of a girl like Chi Wan could quietly dig such a huge pit for him—a pit he had then cheerfully jumped right into.

The village chief shot Chi Wan a venomous glare, but she was still smiling.

Unfazed, Chi Wan stared right back at him.

’She’d heard from Zhou Huaijin that the city TV station was currently running a series on clean governance. The village chief had basically walked right into the crosshairs. If he and Liu Dali hadn’t been so aggressive earlier, Chi Wan wouldn’t have been so ruthless.’

’Then again,’ she thought, ’it’s not like I forced him to be corrupt. To put it bluntly, he brought this on himself.’

As the audit neared its end, the two officials revealed the truth about the village chief’s claim that "Liu Dali built the road."

The truth was, not only had Liu Dali not paid a single cent, but he and the village chief had used their "connections" to cut corners on materials and embezzle another sum from the construction costs. Of the total funds, the government had sponsored half, and the rest had come entirely from Chi Yuanshan’s donation.

At this revelation, the villagers who had stuck around could no longer hold back.

The curses they hurled now were as nasty as the respect they had once shown the village chief and Liu Dali.

"I’ve never heard of someone embezzling money they were supposed to use for charity! Bah! You really have no shame, soaking up all that praise!"

"So Liu Dali getting arrested and thrown in jail was well-deserved!"

"They figured they could bully Chi Yuanshan since he went bankrupt and couldn’t cause any trouble. Well, Liu Yaozu is probably regretting it so much his guts have turned green! I always said Chi Yuanshan looked like a decent man..."

...

Whether the village chief regretted his actions or not, it wouldn’t change the outcome. And regardless of whether the story was a condemnation, he would at least get the special feature interview with the city station he’d been dreaming of.

As for Song Yinghe and Chi Yuanshan, they were both furious and disappointed. "We trusted you back then, which is why we never asked where the money went. But how could you take that money and do something like this? Don’t you feel any guilt at all?!"

The village chief remained silent.

’Some things, once you start them, you don’t get to decide when they end.’

But for him, now, it was all over.