Chapter 37
Zhou Qin was taken aback and asked, “You’ve been to the cafeteria?”
“No, but I know how to use the internet, don’t I?” Han Zhiyu pulled her phone out of her pocket and slapped it on the table. “The intranet is blowing up with complaints about the cafeteria being too crowded and chaotic.”
“Tell me, do you think President Gu did it on purpose? She can’t stand to see the company doing well, so she just wants to make things difficult for the employees,” Han Zhiyu said, tilting her head back to pour the remaining snack crumbs into her mouth.
“I think you’re crazy.” Seeing her improper behavior, Zhou Qin felt a surge of anger. She took a clean set of clothes from the storage room and threw it in front of her. “Go to the gym, wash up, and change. Remember to file an expense report with the Finance Department. This was originally prepared for President Gu.”
“Expense report?” Han Zhiyu threw the empty snack bag into the trash, then turned to look at the two pieces of clothing sealed in a bag. She sneered, “This is something she’s already worn, isn’t it?”
“What do you expect? This is the company. Where else am I supposed to find clothes for you?” Zhou Qin took two steps forward and picked up the clothes. “Wear it or don’t.”
“Hey!” Han Zhiyu called out to her, licking the snack crumbs off her fingertips. “What’s your hurry? I didn’t say I wouldn’t wear it.” She then snatched the clothes and sauntered off towards the gym.
Zhou Qin thought of the strange expression on her face as she left and couldn’t help but shiver.
***
In Gu Yuetong’s office, Lawyer Duan Ying was listening to a recording.
The recording was about an hour long. Duan Ying played it at double speed, skipping over the irrelevant parts and repeatedly listening to the most interesting section: two people were quietly plotting something. In the end, they planned to push Gu Yuetong out to force Gu Hezhu to step in and clean up their mess.
Auntie Qin recognized one of the voices. She, who had been eating cookies with her ears pricked up, immediately stopped, jumped up, and pointed at the computer. “Peng… Peng Chunyue!”
Peng Chunyue was one of the two shareholders who had been in Gu Hezhu’s office with Gu Yuetong that morning, the one Gu Yuetong referred to as President Peng. When Auntie Qin had won the lottery and wanted to invest in the Gu Corporation, Peng Chunyue had thrown no shortage of obstacles in her way, leading the clueless Auntie Qin around in circles. A large sum of money had almost gone down the drain before Gu Yuetong found out and helped her handle it.
Later, Gu Yuetong had scolded Auntie Qin for not coming to her directly. Auntie Qin, with the expression of a petulant child, had said guiltily that she didn’t want to trouble her, only to nearly be swindled by someone else.
Auntie Qin had not a shred of goodwill towards Peng Chunyue. Gu Yuetong said this recording was one piece of evidence of their deception. Auntie Qin leaned in curiously to look at the date of the recording and saw that it was from several months ago.
“Yuetong, does this mean you knew they were setting you up all along?”
Gu Yuetong smiled without saying a word. Duan Ying took over the conversation. “It can be understood that setting her up was also a necessary condition for their embezzlement. Because once it was exposed, they would definitely be investigated, so they planned to push Yuetong and Chairman Gu out to solve it. But based on what Yuetong said about Chairman Gu’s reaction just now, this matter isn’t that simple.”
“It’s more than not simple.”
Gu Yuetong let out a derisive laugh and spread two more pages of documents in front of Duan Ying. “See for yourself.”
Duan Ying’s eyes lit up. “Where did you get this?”
“Zhou Qin’s computer.”
Duan Ying looked up at Auntie Qin. Auntie Qin leaned in curiously and saw the four large words “Confidentiality Agreement” on the document.
“At noon, she deliberately disconnected my phone line and then pretended to have someone come fix it. I took the opportunity to step out while they were ‘fixing’ it.”
Gu Yuetong asked Duan Ying, “Is this evidence illegally obtained?”
“Hmm… but I have ways to make it legal.” Duan Ying quickly read through the confidentiality agreement, which specified the amount of the ‘cut’ and the payment time. Both parties had signed, but the space for Party A was blank. Party B, the recipient, was Zhou Qin.
“And it’s in duplicate. It seems this group isn’t very solid internally,” Duan Ying laughed. “Signing something like this is just leaving behind evidence of their crime. How foolish.”
“There are some other things I think are less important here. You can sort through them.” Gu Yuetong folded her hands on the desk, ignoring Auntie Qin’s unpleasant expression beside her, and said seriously, “I don’t plan to hold everyone involved responsible. After all, too many people are involved. As long as I achieve the effect I want, that’s enough.”
It wasn’t that she was soft-hearted, but some of the truths she had learned after calling people in for questioning that morning made her feel both amused and sad.
Of the tens of millions in triple compensation, the bulk of it had been embezzled by those at the top. The junior employees who ran errands and knew about it received a few hundred yuan at most. One of them started trembling the moment she entered the room and saw Gu Yuetong, her speech stuttering. Gu Yuetong had to both comfort her and coax information out of her, only to find out in the end that she had only received seventy yuan in hush money.
“Some of them were clearly coerced. The money was just to make them complicit and keep them quiet.”
Duan Ying hummed in agreement. “There’s indeed no need to spend too much energy on them. We can just target the masterminds.”
Auntie Qin, who had been silent for a long time, seemed to want to say something. She took a cautious step forward, just as Gu Yuetong’s phone beeped with a notification. She opened it to see a message from Qi Baizi—a voice message.
“President Gu, there’s ibuprofen in your handbag. Remember to take it.”
The tone was flat, the background noise quiet. Gu Yuetong found it a bit strange and turned to look at Auntie Qin. “Didn’t you tell me she went to the fried chicken shop to check on the renovations?”
Auntie Qin felt a pang of guilt and stammered, “Yes, yes, she did. Maybe she’s resting somewhere. Checking on renovations is quite tiring.”
Gu Yuetong fell silent and dialed Qi Baizi’s number.
After three rings, the call was disconnected. Qi Baizi then sent her another voice message: “I’m busy.”
The background was still quiet. Gu Yuetong hesitated for a moment, then looked at Auntie Qin with a cold expression. “Where did she really go?”
Since Qi Baizi didn’t answer the phone, Auntie Qin felt much calmer. Before she and Qi Baizi had parted ways, they had discussed whether to let Gu Yuetong know they had been summoned to the company by Gu Hezhu. Initially, Qi Baizi had agreed with Auntie Qin, but after hearing from Li Yi that her conversation with Gu Hezhu had not gone well, she immediately changed her mind. She wanted to keep it from Gu Yuetong for now, so that Gu Yuetong wouldn’t have to consider her in every move, which would tie her hands.
Although Auntie Qin wasn’t good at lying to Gu Yuetong, she was good at being stubborn. As long as Qi Baizi’s side didn’t give her away, she could grit her teeth and keep this secret.
“She said she was going to the fried chicken shop. Who knows,” Auntie Qin said with a dry laugh. “Maybe she had something to do at home and got busy with something else.”
Gu Yuetong looked at Duan Ying, then at Auntie Qin, half-believing, half-doubting.
“Oh, come on, you have a pile of things to deal with here. Why are you worried about her? You’ll find out when you get home tonight.” Auntie Qin put on an impatient look, walked behind Gu Yuetong, and gave her shoulders a couple of squeezes. She also winked at Duan Ying, who took the hint and interrupted Gu Yuetong just as she was about to speak, changing the subject.
After going over a few details, Zhou Qin knocked on the door. Gu Yuetong told her to come in and speak.
Zhou Qin saw the clearly just-closed file on the table and was curious, but she didn’t ask. She reminded Gu Yuetong, “The reporters have arrived at the venue. The press conference is at three. Please don’t forget.”
The events of this morning had already become a top trending topic in the city. Jingzhou was the capital, and the Gu Corporation had branches all over the country. The group immediately arranged a crisis PR meeting for the afternoon. The ridiculous thing was that Gu Yuetong, as the general manager, only found out before lunch, leaving her with almost no time to prepare.
Gu Yuetong looked at her watch. “It’s only two o’clock. Do you have anything else to say?”
“I…” Zhou Qin looked at Auntie Qin, then at Duan Ying, and said in a low voice, “Han Zhiyu is back.”
Gu Yuetong was taken aback. “When?”
“Just, I saw her an hour ago. She was dressed in rags. I was afraid she’d be photographed by reporters, so I gave her a set of clothes and told her to go wash and change. But I just went to the gym’s washroom and couldn’t find her. I don’t know where she went.”
Gu Yuetong was worried that Han Zhiyu would go looking for trouble with Qi Baizi again. Her heart immediately grew anxious, but then she thought that Qi Baizi probably wouldn’t be foolish enough to accept her invitation again, and she relaxed slightly.
“She hasn’t contacted me. Today is still a day off for her. You can go back to your work.”
After Zhou Qin left, Gu Yuetong hesitated for a moment, but still sent a message to Qi Baizi to remind her.
Qi Baizi replied instantly with a “received.”
Gu Yuetong breathed a sigh of relief, completely unaware that at this very moment, Han Zhiyu was sitting right next to Qi Baizi.
Qi Baizi’s phone was being mirrored on Gu Hezhu’s computer, her every move under Gu Hezhu’s control.
On the coffee table in front of her were several tables with a stack of papers spread out—the administrative rules and regulations of the Gu Corporation.
Gu Hezhu didn’t have many demands for her. Just stay here, and at the critical moment, she could be used against Gu Yuetong. So, to give Qi Baizi something to do and to intimidate her, she had her copy these rules and regulations.
Han Zhiyu, on the other hand, leaned against the adjacent sofa with a sympathetic expression, occasionally glancing at Qi Baizi.
After seeing the message from Gu Yuetong, Gu Hezhu called out to her, “You went to see Gu Yuetong?”
Han Zhiyu responded nonchalantly, “I took a stroll on her office floor and ran into Zhou Qin.”
“I thought those clothes on you looked familiar. Zhou Qin gave them to you, right?” Gu Hezhu gave a fake smile. “I’ve seen Yuetong wear them.”
Han Zhiyu shrugged and glanced at Qi Baizi. Qi Baizi was also looking at her, at the clothes she was wearing.
“What are you looking at? You want to wear them too?”
Qi Baizi remained silent, her eyes darkening. She turned her head back and continued to focus on her copying, but the tip of her pen pressed down harder, tearing small gashes in the paper.
Han Zhiyu sneered at her, then looked up to meet Gu Hezhu’s sharp gaze. She felt a pang of guilt and lowered her head to look elsewhere.
Gu Hezhu could have gotten her out long ago, but she had deliberately dragged it out until today. Or rather, if Zheng Juan hadn’t organized people to cause trouble today, she would probably still be languishing in there for a while longer.
The bodyguard had picked her up and played Gu Hezhu’s recording for her on the way. It had been just over an hour, and Gu Hezhu was demanding that she quickly adjust her state of mind and then give Gu Yuetong a big surprise at the afternoon press conference.
Han Zhiyu was reluctant, but she had taken Gu Hezhu’s benefits. If she didn’t do her bidding, she would likely face retaliation.
“Where are you going?”
She suddenly stood up, and Gu Hezhu called out to her.
“The washroom.”
Gu Hezhu gave a look, and the bodyguard at the door followed Han Zhiyu.
Han Zhiyu was annoyed. “I’m going to the women’s restroom.”
The bodyguard said respectfully, “I won’t go inside, Director Han.”
“You’re insane.” Han Zhiyu was furious. She glared at him, then turned and sat back down on the sofa. “I’m not going anymore.”