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Chapter 659: Chapter Six Hundred and Fifty-Nine: The Numbers Don’t Match
Lu Hao excused himself to visit the restroom, but he returned before long.
"We need to count the number of these crystal cores,"
Lu Hao proposed.
"You’re going to count 3.22 million crystal cores?"
The person with the strongest reaction was none other than Yang Xingye, each bag of crystal cores was already marked with the quantity in black marker, and yet these people still wanted to count them?
"It’s necessary since it’s our first transaction,"
Although Guan Shouzhong was somewhat surprised, he didn’t object, feeling that it was reasonable to be cautious.
The family understood Lu Hao’s intention well; it wasn’t that he distrusted the base leader, but rather that he didn’t trust the one named Yang Xingye.
However, with so many crystal cores, how were they going to count them?
Lu Hao, unfazed, squatted down and casually picked a bag of crystal cores to start counting. Seeing this, his family had no choice but to grit their teeth and join in the counting.
The bag of crystal cores Lu Hao picked was marked with "twelve thousand pieces," which is 12,000 exactly. The family divided them into several piles and began counting in front of several people. Meanwhile, Yang Xingye started to look around restlessly and appeared uneasy.
Guan Shouzhong and the others didn’t notice Yang Xingye’s odd behavior, but Su Jin, standing to the side, had already taken in everything. There was definitely something off about this man.
Since it was unclear what special ability Yang Xingye possessed, and there was a possibility he was a Mental Element Ability User, Su Jin had disguised herself before coming out, even wearing a mask. She stood beside Yang Xingye, but he showed no reaction, thereby excluding the possibility that he was a Mental Element Ability User.
Although 12,000 crystal cores sounded like a lot, the family counted them very quickly. Xiang Sanjin, who was tallying the count on the side, looked at his own added-up results and was momentarily stunned. "That’s it?"
"That’s it,"
Lu Hao stood up and said.
"How many?"
Seeing Xiang Sanjin’s expression, Guan Shouzhong felt something was amiss. Could the count really be wrong?
"Only 9,865 pieces..."
As Xiang Sanjin announced the number, even his ears turned red with embarrassment. What to do? It was so embarrassing. They were attempting to purchase goods from others and yet were involved in deception right here...
"How is that possible? These were all counted one by one by our finance team,"
Tian Yongyi couldn’t believe it either. This wasn’t just a matter of one or two missing, but a whole 2,000+ missing. If just a randomly picked bag was short by over 2,000, then the total number of crystal cores missing from their several dozen bags would be...
"Brother-in-law has a sharp eye indeed, picking out a problematic one right away,"
Lin Xiuyuan felt relieved and glad they hadn’t wasted so much time counting.
"It’s not that I have a sharp eye, it’s that every bag probably has some missing,"
Lu Hao shrugged and responded in a low voice.
"Uncle Yang, what exactly is going on here?"
Guan Shouzhong asked with a frown.
"I, I really don’t know, we are all checked by base personnel before leaving the storage every day, it couldn’t be us, you must believe me!"
Yang Xingye’s panic-stricken appearance made even Xiang Sanjin feel a bit of pity for him. In everyone’s eyes, Uncle Yang would never do such a thing. Moreover, just like Uncle Yang said, there would be random checks on the storage personnel before they left for the day, and if that many crystal cores were really missing, it would have been impossible not to notice.
"It’s possible that just this one bag is wrong; let’s try counting another one,"
As soon as Tian Yongyi finished speaking, he picked up a bag himself and started counting.
But the result made them feel disappointed and incredulous again, as this bag was short by over 1,900!
"It seems we’ll have to check them all,"
Lu Hao declared.
"Don’t worry, since we’re purchasing the goods, we definitely won’t pay you one crystal core less. We can verify together until we reach an accurate number,"
Guan Shouzhong also felt quite embarrassed; this was a question of their integrity, and they had to confirm the number of crystal cores here before they could explain the situation to Dragon Ruler.
"Since we’ve already counted these two bags, let’s proceed with the transaction for their quantities. As for the rest... let’s come back tomorrow,"
Lu Hao said.
Upon hearing that these people were about to return, Xiang Sanjin also immediately became anxious, "Don’t go, we will have a new count very soon, we are sincere in wanting to trade with you!"
"Fine, let’s trade the goods for two bags of crystal cores first,"
Guan Shouzhong made the decision with a slap on the table. Two bags it would be, for he too wanted to see if these people had any goods.
Lu Hao nodded and placed the food corresponding to the two bags of crystal cores in front of everyone.
Watching Chen Da Ming wave his hand and produce so many bags of goods, everyone’s eyes went wide.
Those bulging bags truly contained food!
"It’s real rice!"
Yang Xingye exclaimed in surprise after opening a bag to check.
"Hmm, we’ll continue with the rest once you’re done with your part,"
Lu Hao said with a smile.
"Alright, we’ll come over to apologize tonight,"
Guan Shouzhong also felt relieved, but they still had to go to finance to confirm about the crystal cores. They needed to find out at which step a mistake had occurred.
After casting another glance at Guan Shouzhong and his group, Lu Hao walked out of the warehouse with his family.
...
That afternoon, Guan Shouzhong and his people arrived at the side courtyard of Dragon Ruler, only to find that Chen Da Ming seemed to be absent.
"Da Ming should be back soon, take a seat first and have a chat,"
Lin Tianhui hospitably invited them.
"We are truly sorry for this morning’s mishap, we did not anticipate such an event,"
Guan Shouzhong apologized proactively.
"Heh heh, there are probably many things you didn’t expect, but no worries, you’ll find out sooner or later,"
Lin Xiuyuan said with a mysterious smile, making the three men feel even more perplexed. What did he mean they would find out sooner or later? Did the people at Dragon Ruler already know something?
At this moment, Huang Yunxiang came out with some snacks, calling everyone to enjoy them together.
"You really are impressive, managing to find so much material,"
Tian Yongyi was initially too shy to accept the snacks Huang Yunxiang offered but seeing the enthusiastic attitudes of everyone present, he gladly accepted.
"We’ve been to many places, plus we’ve been lucky,"
Su Xiangzhe answered lightly, avoiding the more critical issues. The snacks they brought out were also supermarket goods like dried fruits and potato chips, suitable for quick consumption. After all, according to Lu Hao’s plan, the Heart Talk Team would need to remain operational, and it was best not to reveal their own handmade items yet.
It wasn’t until the evening began to settle that Chen Da Ming appeared within everyone’s view.
"It seems everyone is here,"
Lu Hao said, looking at the three men with a smile.
Although Guan Shouzhong and his group did not understand why Chen Da Ming said that, they still showed sincere intentions to continue trading and were worried that this rare caravan would no longer sell materials to them because of this incident.
"We accept your apology, but there’s something I’d like to remind you of,"
Lu Hao said.
"What is it?"
The three men asked in unison.
"It’s time for the people at your base to start managing better,"
As Lu Hao spoke, he tossed them a phone, which contained the video he and Su Jin had recorded in the warehouse.
