Fang Qingye was awakened by the “ding-ling-ling” of his alarm clock at 7:30 a.m.
He woke up bleary-eyed, dressed, washed up, meticulously tied his tie, and put on his dark blue suit, ready to head out for work. Before leaving, he didn’t forget to check his appearance in the full-length mirror.
The mirror immediately reflected a youthful face, with eyes that held a clear yet slightly foolish expression.
Fang Qingye smiled.
Being young was wonderful.
Just a month ago, he had returned to March 2008.
Having graduated from Shencheng University of Finance and Economics just a few months prior, he was now a trainee at the Nanxin Branch of Eastern Bank.
Nanxin County was his hometown.
The house was quiet.
Both of his parents were teachers—his father was the principal of Chengguan Middle School in the county, and his mother was an ordinary teacher at Qianjin Road Elementary School. They had already left for work.
Fang Qingye went downstairs, hopped onto his small scooter, and rode west along the street after exiting the residential complex.
Nanxin was a small county in central Jiangsu Province, where dawn broke early. The morning sun had already bathed the entire county in light. The streets were bustling with traffic, and steam rose from the steamers outside breakfast shops on both sides, filling the small town with a lively, everyday atmosphere.
Fang Qingye was in a cheerful mood.
Compared to his previous life of striving in the bustling metropolis, life in this small town was much more relaxed.
Here, he could sleep in until the sun was high, leisurely get dressed and wash up, and reach his workplace with just a five-minute scooter ride. Then, he could have breakfast in the cafeteria and be seated in his office by 8 a.m. sharp.
Back in the day, after resigning from his hometown job and moving to Shencheng for opportunities, his commute to Lujiazui by subway took at least an hour and a half. He had to get up at 6 a.m. every morning and often didn’t return home until after 10 p.m. He felt like an ant living underground, toiling in darkness.
Moreover, the food at his workplace was quite good.
In the morning, there was soy milk, fried dough sticks, and the local specialty of Nanxin County—Pan Shui Noodles, all for just fifty cents, with free choice. Lunch was also plentiful, typically featuring four dishes and a soup for one yuan and fifty cents.
His salary was decent too—over 3,000 yuan per month. After the trainee period ended and he became a full-time employee, he would earn 4,200 yuan, not including year-end bonuses and various holiday benefits. Additionally, he would receive 14 months’ pay a year! In the entire county, this was considered a high income.
In those days, working at a bank was still highly regarded.
Fang Qingye soon arrived at the branch building located at the intersection of Changle Road. He rode through the side gate, parked his scooter in the shed, and headed to the cafeteria.
After retrieving his lunchbox from the cupboard, Fang Qingye went to the serving window. However, he quickly noticed that the atmosphere in the cafeteria was unusual today. Employees were eating while whispering about something.
“Hey, have you heard? Something major happened at the Qianjin Road Savings Office!”
“Is it about the 20 million yuan deposit that Tenglong Industrial had at the savings office disappearing without a trace? I heard about it too. It’s just too bizarre, like something out of a movie!”
Immediately, curious onlookers gathered around. “What? I didn’t know! Tell me quickly, what exactly happened?”
Fang Qingye simply listened quietly, as a long-past event immediately surfaced in his mind.
The infamous Tenglong Industrial deposit disappearance case!
It had caused a sensation back in the day.
Fang Qingye had no intention of joining the commotion. He ordered a serving of Pan Shui Noodles, glanced around for an emptier table, and noticed someone waving at him, so he walked over.
At the dining table sat a young man and woman around his age. The man, named Zhang Rong, wore black-framed glasses. A graduate of the School of Finance and Economics at Sujiang University of Science and Technology, he was currently rotating through the General Office—a hub for well-connected information.
The girl, Chen Meimei, a petite graduate of Huijing Audit College, was meticulous in her work during her rotation in the Finance and Accounting Department.
All three had been hired last year and were rotating through various departments in the bank. Additionally, two temporary workers had been recruited and, after training, were already working at grassroots savings branches.
As Fang Qingye sat down with his bowl, Zhang Rong immediately lowered his voice and asked, “Fang Qingye, have you heard about the major incident at Qianjin Road Savings Branch?”
“I overheard some people talking about it earlier, but I don’t know the details,” Fang Qingye replied.
“Just yesterday afternoon, Tenglong Industrial Group—one of our bank’s top three depositors—sent their cashier to Qianjin Road Savings Branch to transfer 20 million yuan from a dedicated company account. Guess what happened?” Zhang Rong paused dramatically, waiting for Fang Qingye to respond.
But seeing Fang Qingye calmly eating his noodles with no intention of engaging, he continued:
“It turned out that the 20 million had already been transferred earlier—vanished without a trace!”
“Did the deposit grow legs and run away?” Fang Qingye remarked.
“I’m not entirely sure of the specifics either, but our bank has certainly made a name for itself now!” Zhang Rong said, his face flushed with excitement, embodying the classic troublemaker who relishes chaos.
Chen Meimei, who had been silent until then, sighed softly. “Exactly. Who knows how many people will be implicated in this?”
Fang Qingye glanced at the girl. She was indeed involved—not as a participant in the incident, but because she had been assigned to assist the investigation team sent down from the city.
Or so it seemed?
Her selection for the investigation team wasn’t due to her being more capable than senior staff. Rather, it was because she was new to the bank, had no established connections, and was free from significant vested interests.
Of course, Fang Qingye didn’t comment. After finishing his meal, he cleared his dishes and headed to the Credit Department for his rotation.
The Credit Department was one of the more influential units in the branch, responsible for loan issuance and post-loan management. Although final approval rested with the branch manager, the preliminary tasks—client application reviews, verifications, and assessments—were handled by the Credit Department. As a result, not only the department heads but even ordinary staff members were frequently invited to dinners.
Even Fang Qingye, as a trainee rotating through the Credit Department, had been invited a couple of days earlier by a local business owner to join his colleagues for a meal at Jindi Grand Hotel. They had later gone to a KTV and didn’t return until midnight.
Naturally, he wasn’t involved in core business operations. His role was to assist—helping colleagues organize documents and input data.
That day, his task was to enter into the computer the information of five companies whose mortgage applications had been approved, then file the records accordingly.
The work wasn’t strenuous. Seated in his cubicle, Fang Qingye sipped tea and input the data at a leisurely pace.
The job was comfortable and straightforward—except for the inability to stream music online, as all computers in the Credit Department were restricted to the bank’s internal network.
Normally, the office was quiet, with everyone focused on their tasks. But today, the atmosphere was noticeably restless. Colleagues had set aside their work, whispering and exchanging hushed conversations.
Naturally, it was still about the bizarre case of the missing deposit from Tenglong Corporation. Of course, their discussion was more detailed and in-depth.
“I heard that someone from Tenglong Corporation already called the city branch to complain about this. The city has set up an investigation team, and they’re coming today.”
“Wait, that doesn’t sound right? Shouldn’t they have notified our sub-branch first for an internal investigation? How could they go straight to the city branch?” A male colleague with a crew cut immediately raised the question.
“Exactly, it’s totally unreasonable. I wonder if they’ve reported it to the police?”
“Seems not. Director Zhao spent last night persuading the CEO of Tenglong Corporation not to report it to the police for now. He wants our bank to investigate internally first. After all, family scandals shouldn’t be aired in public.”
“Hmm, that makes sense. Director Zhao is quite experienced.”
The colleagues nodded in agreement.
“Hey, keep it down! It’s work hours now!” Just as everyone was chatting animatedly, a man in his thirties pushed the door open and spoke loudly to the group.
Su Ming, head of the Credit Department.
“The bank leadership just held an emergency meeting and issued an order: all staff are strictly forbidden to discuss this matter! Violators will face serious consequences! Deductions from bonuses! Deductions from salaries!”
As soon as Su Ming said this, everyone immediately fell silent and busied themselves with their work. However, as soon as he left, the murmuring started again.
“Hey, what do you think? Director Zhang is about to retire. Will this incident affect his reputation? A disgrace in his final years,” someone lamented.
Someone immediately retorted:
“The matter hasn’t been clarified yet. How can you say it’s a disgrace in his final years? Maybe it’s not our bank’s fault—maybe it’s Tenglong Corporation’s problem.”
“Exactly! Even if it is the bank’s fault, it’s at most an internal management failure. Whoever is responsible should take the blame. Director Zhang has been on sick leave for over a year—what does it have to do with him? I think Director Xia is the one who’s really in trouble.”
“Right, she’s currently the acting deputy director, and according to the leadership division of labor, the Qianjin Road Savings Office falls under her jurisdiction. If there’s a problem, she’s definitely in trouble!”
“So, does this mean her promotion to full director is in jeopardy?”
Fang Qingye hadn’t spoken the entire time, sitting at his desk focused on entering data.
This gossip wasn’t worth indulging in because he knew even more details.