Franklin Turner said, “Judging from the behavior of Grace Grant and David Brooks, they are clearly very familiar with this kind of thing, which shows that this is exactly what the previous leaders required. The current situation at Lin Yi Machinery is not unrelated to this leadership style.”

“What do you mean ‘not unrelated’? It’s entirely because of the leaders’ way of doing things that things have ended up like this,” Henry Sullivan said angrily.

“What Charles Harris said on the train yesterday reflects that the entire atmosphere at Lin Yi Machinery, from top to bottom, has already gone bad. From the leaders to the ordinary workers, everyone has the mentality of grabbing whatever they can, even to the point of being completely unscrupulous. Those workers who can’t get anything have become numb to it; instead of being angry, they’re just jealous and complain that they don’t have the chance to make money. When a company gets to this point, how can you even talk about turning things around?”

“So what should we do?” Franklin Turner asked.

Henry Sullivan said, “We must put a stop to this unhealthy trend, and it has to start with us. If we accept what Grace Grant and the others have arranged, how can we have the face to criticize anyone else? I’ll have David Brooks take these two mobile phones back and return them to the post and telecommunications bureau. No changing the office furniture, no renovating the office, and as for the housing assigned to us…”

“We still need that, don’t we?” Franklin Turner quickly said. “No matter what, we need a place to live. Isn’t staying at the guesthouse even more expensive?”

“I’m not finished yet!” Henry Sullivan said gruffly. “I didn’t say we wouldn’t live in that apartment. What I mean is, the furniture in the apartment should be as simple as possible—no buying anything new, just find some old furniture from the warehouse.”

“Director, you’re wise!” Franklin Turner gave a thumbs up and offered a compliment.

“I’m warning you…” Henry Sullivan glared at Franklin Turner and said, “They’ll definitely keep trying all sorts of ways to win us over and corrupt us, to drag us down with them. I’m not worried about myself, but I am worried about you…”

Franklin Turner placed his hand on his chest and said, “I swear, I will absolutely resist corruption and remain untouched, and keep my integrity in the face of any sugar-coated bullets. Please judge me by my actions, leader!”

Henry Sullivan looked at Franklin Turner’s exaggerated expression, sighed, and said, “No matter how much you promise me now, it’s useless. I know what it’s like—life in the office is tough, but down here, there are so many opportunities for indulgence. For a young person like you, it’s very hard to hold the line. So many young cadres have been dragged down this way.

Let me tell you, Little Franklin, you have a bright future ahead of you. Don’t be tempted by these petty gains in front of you. Honestly, I’m starting to regret it—I shouldn’t have dragged you into this mess. At your age, it’s so easy to be corrupted by the temptations of the world. To be honest, when David Brooks gave me that mobile phone, I was a little tempted myself.”

“If you’re tempted, just keep it,” Franklin Turner joked. Before Henry Sullivan could explode, he quickly added, “At worst, we’ll just pay the factory the market price for it, and treat it as if we bought it ourselves.”

“Nonsense!” Henry Sullivan scolded. “You just said it yourself, one of those mobile phones costs over ten thousand yuan. With our salaries, could we afford it?”

“Sigh, Director Zhou—no, Old Sullivan—there’s something I’ve been thinking about, and I feel I should confess to you now to avoid trouble later.” Franklin Turner switched to a serious expression and spoke to Henry Sullivan.

“What is it?” Henry Sullivan asked.

Franklin Turner said, “I want to report my personal financial situation to you. Right now, I have 150,000 yuan in personal savings. If all goes well, by next Spring Festival, that number should increase to 300,000. If you ever hear from any source that I’m wealthy, please believe me—every cent was earned legally.”

“Personal savings of 150,000! How did you manage that?!”

Henry Sullivan was so shocked that his cigarette almost fell onto the carpet.

Chapter Ten: Leniency Through Confession

As for whether or not to confess his assets to Henry Sullivan, Franklin Turner had already thought about it for a long time.

Just now, David Brooks had given him a Siemens mobile phone worth a lot these days in his room, and even said that all the phone bills would be covered by the factory. Franklin Turner realized that he could no longer hide his wealth from Henry Sullivan, because the temptations that Lin Yi Machinery could offer were simply too many, and he was already in a very precarious position.

Franklin Turner had earned over a hundred thousand yuan by writing books, and there was no way he could just leave all that money in the bank collecting interest. He definitely had to use some of it to improve his life. At the very least, his parents were still toiling away in the countryside, barely making a thousand yuan a year. As their son, how could he not give some money to help out at home?

Last year, after he made his first sum of money, he went home for the New Year and gave his father ten thousand yuan to rebuild the family house. He also bought new clothes for the whole family, a watch for his father, and a bicycle for his younger sister. With the income of a government worker who had only been on the job for a little over a year, there was no way to explain these expenses.