[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-m-in-a-small-county-and-you-say-i-m-a-big-shot":3,"chapter-i-m-in-a-small-county-and-you-say-i-m-a-big-shot-i-m-in-a-small-county-and-you-say-i-m-a-big-shot-chapter-2":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I'm in a Small County, and You Say I'm a Big Shot?",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2297413,4494,"Chapter 2","i-m-in-a-small-county-and-you-say-i-m-a-big-shot-chapter-2",2,"\u003Cp>Fang Qingye woke up at 7:30 to the ringing of his alarm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He groggily got up, dressed and washed up, neatly tied his tie, put on his dark blue suit, and prepared to head to work; before leaving, he paused to check his reflection in the full-length mirror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mirror showed a young face, with eyes that held a clear but slightly foolish gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Qingye smiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s good to be young.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just a month ago, he had returned to March 2008.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had graduated from Shen City University of Finance barely a few months prior and was now a clerk at the Nanning Branch of Oriental Bank—still in his probationary period.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nanning County was his hometown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The house was quiet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His parents were both teachers; his father was the principal of Chengguan Middle School in the county, and his mother was a regular teacher at Qianjin Road Primary School, both already at work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Qingye went downstairs, mounted his small scooter, and rode out of the compound along the street toward the west.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nanning was a small county in central Su Province; dawn came early, and morning sunlight already bathed the entire county, with cars streaming along the streets, steam rising from steamer baskets at roadside breakfast stalls, the whole town alive with the scent of daily life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Qingye’s mood was cheerful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to his struggles in the bustling metropolis before his rebirth, life in this small town was slow and soothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Here, he could sleep until late morning, lazily get up, wash up, and ride his bike five minutes to work, then eat breakfast in the canteen, and be seated at his desk by eight sharp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back then, in Shen City, his commute from home to Lujiazui by subway took at least an hour and a half; he had to rise at six every morning and often got home past ten at night, living like an ant underground, in perpetual darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the canteen food was decent too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For breakfast, there was soy milk and fried dough sticks, plus the local specialty, panmian noodles—five jiao for any choice; lunch was even more varied, usually four dishes and one soup—for one yuan and fifty jiao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His salary was good too: over three thousand yuan monthly; after probation, he’d earn four thousand two hundred yuan, not counting year-end bonuses or holiday benefits, and he received fourteen monthly salaries a year—among the highest in the entire county.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this era, banks were still highly prestigious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Qingye arrived quickly at the branch building at the Changle Road intersection, rode in through the side gate, parked his scooter in the bike shed, then headed to the canteen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He took his own lunchbox from the cabinet and went to the serving window, but soon noticed the canteen’s atmosphere was odd—employees ate in silence, whispering among themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey, did you hear? Something huge happened at Qianjin Road Savings Office!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is it about the twenty million yuan deposit from Tenglong Industry vanishing? I heard too—it’s insane, like something out of a movie!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bystander immediately leaned in: “Wait, what? I didn’t know! Tell me quick—what happened?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Qingye listened silently; an old memory instantly surfaced in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The famous Tenglong Industry deposit theft case!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had caused a huge sensation back then.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Qingye naturally didn’t join the chatter; he got a serving of panmian noodles, glanced around for a quieter table, saw someone waving at him, and walked over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the table sat a man and a woman, both around his age; the man was Zhang Rong, wearing black-rimmed glasses, a graduate of the Finance College of Su Province University of Science and Technology, now rotated to the General Office—a well-informed source.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The girl was Chen Meimei, a graduate of Jinling Audit College, petite, diligent in her rotation at the Finance and Accounting Section.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All three had been hired last year and were rotating through various departments; two temporary workers had also been hired and were already assigned to grassroots savings offices after training.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Fang Qingye sat down with his bowl, Zhang Rong immediately lowered his voice: “Fang Qingye, something huge happened at Qianjin Road Savings Office—did you hear?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I heard people talking, but I don’t know the details,” Fang Qingye replied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yesterday afternoon, the headquarters of Tenglong Industry—our bank’s third-largest depositor—sent their cashier to Qianjin Road Savings Office to transfer twenty million yuan from a dedicated account. Guess what happened?” Zhang Rong paused, waiting for Fang Qingye to respond.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But seeing Fang Qingye slowly eating his noodles with no intention of replying, he continued:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Turns out the twenty million had already been transferred out—vanished without a trace!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So the deposit grew legs?” Fang Qingye replied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t know all the details, but our bank’s definitely going to be famous now!” Zhang Rong said, his face gleaming with excitement, the classic look of someone who loves chaos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Meimei, who had been silent until now, sighed softly: “Ah… yes, I wonder how many people this will drag down.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Qingye glanced at the girl; this case would pull her in too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not because she was involved, but because she’d been assigned to assist the city-level investigation team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wasn’t that how it was?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was assigned to the investigation team not because she was more capable than senior staff, but because she’d been at the bank too short a time to have any roots or vested interests.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Fang Qingye said nothing; after finishing his meal, he collected his dishes and headed to the Credit Department.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was currently rotating there for probation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Credit Department was one of the more powerful sections in the branch, responsible for loan disbursement and post-loan management; although final approval rested with the branch manager, the initial client documentation, review, and evaluation were handled by the Credit Department, so not only the head and deputy head, but even ordinary clerks were frequently invited out to meals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Fang Qingye, a probationary clerk in Credit, had been invited two days ago by a local business owner to dine with his colleagues at Jindi Hotel, then went to a KTV and didn’t get home until midnight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, he had no access to core business; his job was just to assist—helping colleagues organize documents and input data.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today his task was to input the data of five enterprises whose home loans had already been approved, then file them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The work wasn’t tiring; Fang Qingye sat in his cubicle, sipping tea, slowly typing away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Easy work felt comfortable, but unfortunately he couldn’t listen to music online—the Credit Department’s computers only accessed the bank’s internal network.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The office was usually quiet, everyone focused on their own tasks, but today the atmosphere was clearly agitated; everyone had stopped working and whispered among themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Naturally, it was still about the mysterious disappearance of Tenglong Industry’s deposit; their conversations were more detailed, more in-depth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I heard Tenglong Industry already called the city branch to complain—today the investigation team is coming.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That doesn’t make sense. Shouldn’t we first conduct an internal investigation? Why go straight to the city branch?” a male colleague with a crew cut immediately questioned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Exactly—it’s totally unreasonable. Did they even report it to the police?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Apparently not. Director Zhao worked all night to convince Tenglong’s CEO not to report it yet, to let the bank investigate internally first—family shame shouldn’t be aired publicly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm, that makes sense. Director Zhao has plenty of experience.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The colleagues nodded in agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey, talk less! It’s working hours!” Just as they were chatting merrily, a man in his thirties pushed the door open and shouted at them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Ming, head of the Credit Department.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The branch leadership just held an emergency meeting and issued an order: all staff and employees are strictly forbidden from discussing this matter! Violators will be severely punished—bonus deductions, salary deductions!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as Su Ming spoke, everyone fell silent and returned to work—but once he left, the whispers resumed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey, you think Director Zhang is about to retire—will this incident ruin his reputation? He’ll go out with a stain.” Someone sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Someone immediately countered:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The investigation hasn’t even concluded—how can you say he’s ruined? Maybe it’s not the bank’s fault at all, maybe it’s Tenglong Industry’s problem.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Exactly. Even if it's the bank's fault, it's just poor internal management—the people responsible should be held accountable. Director Zhang has been on sick leave for over a year—what does he have to do with this? I think Director Xia is the one who's unlucky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Right. She’s currently acting branch manager, and Qianjin Road Savings Office falls under her jurisdiction—she’s the one who’ll take the fall!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So does that mean Director Xia’s promotion is off?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Qingye said nothing, sitting at his desk, focused on inputting data.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This gossip wasn’t worth listening to—he knew far more than anyone else.\u003C\u002Fp>",1478,"2026-06-20T05:58:40.725Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e8fea26a9acf5d266d52732ffdde2d05ebb96ced8be61b4b572020d710836f86","i-m-in-a-small-county-and-you-say-i-m-a-big-shot-chapter-3","i-m-in-a-small-county-and-you-say-i-m-a-big-shot-chapter-1",215,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-m-in-a-small-county-and-you-say-i-m-a-big-shot-cover.jpg"]