Fengcheng fliegender General

Kapitel 3

As a result, during the crucial promotion assessment phase, the Zhuque Department received a multi-million dollar order for a multinational corporation's site selection in Greater China. However, the client was a Chinese-American who was both knowledgeable and picky. In the end, Qiqi stepped up her skills and won the deal. Vice President Shang not only personally appointed her as the head of the Zhuque Department but also applied to headquarters for a dedicated car worth 300,000 yuan for her.

Two tigers cannot share one mountain, so Xi Shu angrily left the Vermilion Bird Division and applied to join Qin Ge, the manager of the Azure Dragon Division. Soon after, the head of the Azure Dragon Division resigned for various reasons, and Xi Shu naturally became the new head. However, from then on, he harbored resentment towards Qi Qi and frequently made sarcastic remarks towards her.

It was past 9:30, but she was still the only one in the conference room.

At approximately 9:45, Vice President Shang strode into the conference room.

He had a buzz cut, a square face, and an imposing presence. He was always dressed in a sharp Armani suit, and his movements—walking, speaking, and acting—were swift as the wind and fluid as water.

Zhou Haisheng, bowing and smiling obsequiously, followed behind Vice President Shang, whispering something to him. Vice President Shang remained expressionless and silent, quickly taking his seat as the meeting moderator.

Zhou Haisheng had no choice but to shut up and sit down in his seat.

Not a single person from the Azure Dragon Clan came!

Vice President Shang looked very grim.

He can be late, but his subordinates can't!

Fortunately, Xi Shu entered the conference room just in time, exuding charm and greeting Vice President Shang and Zhou Haisheng with a fawning smile, seemingly oblivious to Qi Qi's presence. While greeting them, she complained sweetly, "Our Manager Qin always has something to do during meetings, leaving me, a mere supervisor, to embarrass myself... Oh, Qi Qi, you're here too—"

Xi Shu suddenly turned to look at Qi Qi, a smile playing on her lips: "Since you're here, Manager Zhou doesn't need to come to the meeting, right? Tsk tsk, Vice President Shang might just hand over our talented woman to be the manager of the Vermilion Bird Department someday..."

Qiqi never liked to engage in verbal sparring, and besides, Xishu was definitely better at it. She pretended not to hear and lowered her head to organize the documents.

Then, Xi Shu leaned over and said to Zhou Haisheng, "Manager Zhou is still the same old guy. When he gets a tricky case, he starts 'brainstorming' together, but when it comes to profitable cases, he quietly makes it into his department's performance record. In this respect, all we in the Qinglong Department know is to work hard like idiots and take the blame for others. Sigh!"

Zhou Haisheng coughed and said, "If the Azure Dragon Department has any problems that it can't solve, it can also apply to convene a joint departmental meeting. If it can help, the Vermilion Bird Department will definitely not sit idly by."

Xi Shu chuckled and said, "Look at you, Manager Zhou, you actually took it seriously. We're all from the same company, it's only right that someone helps someone else."

Vice President Shang sensed the barb in Xi Shu's words and asked with displeasure, "Why hasn't Manager Qin arrived yet? This is outrageous!"

"Oh... I forgot to mention, Manager Qin asked me to ask Vice President Shang for leave. He said he needs to go to Tianzi Brokerage Company this morning—"

“Manager Qin, if you need to take leave in the future, you must ask me directly. I can’t always let you, the supervisor, do it for you.”

Vice President Shang didn't let her finish speaking.

Xi Shu opened her mouth, looking innocent, and said, "Manager Qin sent me a text message late last night, saying that he went to tell the fortunes of a new model from Tianzi Agency this morning and wouldn't be back until the afternoon."

Vice President Shang snorted: "I bet he did the calculation last night, right? And it must have been done in bed."

Yuuki put on a professional smile and remained silent.

Vice President Shang raised his voice: "Please tell Manager Qin that Mr. Lu from 'Tianzi Brokerage Company' did not purchase an annual membership and does not need to travel so frequently, as this will not increase the company's performance. I cannot interfere with his taking on outside orders in his private time, but it is inappropriate for him to sleep during work hours."

Yuuki took the blame for someone else, looking sullen.

Vice President Shang got straight to the point: "I think it's necessary to have a meeting about the Tianyuan Apartment case. Qiqi, please give a brief introduction to the situation first."

Qiqi briefly explained the whole situation, and finally emphasized: "'Great Void' rarely appears in architecture, especially in high-rise luxury residential buildings like this."

Vice President Shang spoke up: "The situation is now mostly clear. Regardless of whether someone set a trap for our company, now that we've received the advance payment, the Tianyuan Apartment matter is our company's business. Xi Shu, what are your thoughts?"

Yuuki initially wanted to say, "What can I do? This is Suzaku's own fault."

But seeing Vice President Shang's unfriendly expression, and fearing he might further anger him, he forced a laugh and said, "I didn't sleep a wink last night. I called my dad for advice and went through ancient feng shui books..."

Let's get straight to the conclusion.

Vice President Shang interrupted Xi Shu, who was praising his achievements, with a blank expression.

Yuuki suppressed his anger, took a deep breath, and said, "Actually, the 'Great Void' isn't entirely without merit. For example, the ancients said it was very auspicious for temples, and feng shui masters would even deliberately orient them that way, because temples' money comes from all directions and is used in all directions..."

Vice President Shang sneered: "You mean, you're suggesting that our clients donate Tianyuan Apartments to the country to build a temple, with one Arhat statue for each household, which would amount to approximately five hundred, right?"

Xi Shu couldn't help but laugh: "Oh, Vice President Shang, you're so humorous, you really know how to make people happy. Each household will have a Luohan statue, hahahaha."

Vice President Shang looked at her coldly, his thin lips pressed tightly together.

Qi Qi's eyes lit up, and she slammed her hand on the table: "That's right! I should have thought of that sooner, turning it into a temple!"

Vice President Shang frowned: "Qiqi, have you gone mad too? Turning a high-end commercial building into a temple? This—how are we going to explain this to the clients!"

Qi Qi explained excitedly, "No, Vice President Shang, I was worried that Tianyuan Apartment might suddenly collapse. Now, if we just suggest that the clients set up a Buddhist altar in the lobby and place an Arhat statue in each apartment, wouldn't it become like a temple? At least it can temporarily suppress the 'Great Void' and prevent it from taking effect!"

After hearing her say that, Vice President Shang also felt that it made some sense: "That's great. I have a solution for the Buddhist hall problem. I know Abbot Juehui of the Yufo Temple on Anyuan Road. I'll have him help me decorate the lobby of Tianyuan Apartment into a Buddhist hall immediately, and then invite a statue of Arhat to each household!"

Qi Qi thanked them repeatedly, then stood up and said, "I need to call my two trainees right away, lest they say something inappropriate at Tianyuan Apartment and cause any trouble!"

As she spoke, Qiqi took out her phone and walked out of the conference room while dialing Song Yu's number.

If Qiqi had called just one minute earlier, this whole mess wouldn't have happened!

Chapter Seven: The Famous Reporter

1.

Weiwei arrived at the intersection of Hehua Road and Luoyang Road at 9:30.

Song Yu had been waiting for her for almost an hour.

Weiwei wore a loose-fitting beige babydoll top, clearly a cheap find from Qipu Road, with a string of colorful plastic beads around her neck, denim shorts, and black Japanese-style flip-flops bought at the subway station. Two adorable pink plastic balls decorated her side-swept ponytail. She looked half-asleep, her mouth wide enough to fit a fist, yawning repeatedly.

Song Yu was exasperated by her childish attire. He had gone out of his way to buy a dark blue and yellow checkered crocodile short-sleeved shirt, hoping to appear composed in front of clients. He asked in a deep voice, "Why aren't you using your phone?"

Weiwei was taken aback, stared at him, rummaged around in her pants for a moment, then shrugged and said, "I put it in yesterday's pants..."

Song Yu shook her head and said, "Hurry up, or we won't make it back to the company for lunch. I don't have money to treat you to a meal!"

Weiwei perked up at the mention of company lunch. No matter what she said, lunch was actually the most important meal of her day.

She never eats breakfast because she sleeps in late, which saves her money. She cooks dinner for her roommates in the shared apartment; they pay for the groceries, she pays for the labor, and she gets a free meal too. Of course, with ten or so people crammed into an 80-90 square meter shared apartment, none of them are exactly well-off.

Shared rental housing is a rental method prohibited by the Shanghai Municipal Government because too many people living in it pose a significant fire hazard.

However, shared rental apartments are often located relatively close to the city center. Renting a two-bedroom apartment in a building with an elevator in Hongkou District would cost around four to five thousand yuan a month, while renting a small partitioned room like this would only cost around 600 yuan. Although the government has explicitly prohibited it and imposes fines on those caught, where there is demand, there is a market. There are still many people like Weiwei who have just arrived in Shanghai, cannot afford good housing, and do not want to live in the suburbs and spend four or five hours commuting every day, so they choose this lifestyle.

The apartment Weiwei rented was a place where the landlord had divided what was originally a two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment into about ten rooms using simple plasterboard. Each room was only three or four square meters, and the long, narrow rooms could only fit a single bed, a tiny desk, and a simple wardrobe. There wasn't even enough space for a stool. She had to sit on the bed to go online and do her makeup.

The plasterboard is only two centimeters thick, so you can hear your neighbor snoring clearly. Some young couples rent a room, and everyone agrees not to make noise and disturb others.

After a long day of get off work and commuting from various parts of Shanghai, people usually arrive home around 8 or 9 pm. Who has the energy to spend on cooking? Even if Weiwei makes wild vegetable dumplings, everyone will pounce on them like hungry tigers.

Because her parents divorced when she was young, Weiwei often cooked for herself at home by herself. Compared with her roommates who were born in the 80s and 90s and had no cooking experience, she became an expert and was admired by everyone.

As for Weiwei, she is indeed extremely interested in cooking.

To be honest, she had absolutely no interest in palmistry or face reading; she just wanted to get by day by day and hope that the end of the month would come in the blink of an eye so she could get her salary.

Fortunately, multinational companies like Prophet are selective in their hiring process but lenient in their departure, offering excellent benefits. Once you pass the initial recruitment stage, you're guaranteed at least a three-month probationary period with a salary. As long as there are no major mistakes within those three months, whether you stay or leave will only be known after three months.

Thinking that there were still three months of good days ahead, Weiwei confidently focused her attention on cooking. As the saying goes, "Drink today, for tomorrow we may die."

Although cooking wasn't originally Weiwei's forte, it was far more devastating to her self-confidence than her even weaker areas like appearance, height, exams, work, and foreign languages. Cooking for her roommates gave her a queen-like sense of accomplishment, restoring a small amount of her confidence.

Weiwei often tries to make some strange and unusual dishes she learns online, such as a fusion "sandwich" made by sandwiching a medium-rare poached egg and sliced tomatoes with cheese on top of a three-layered meat patty. She always leads the way in eating with great enthusiasm, and her optimism infects her roommates. Besides, there's really no other choice; even if it's bad, if they eat slowly, it'll be gone. Moreover, Weiwei spends all her time and energy on what to cook for dinner, so the food can't be too bad. Everyone tries to outdo each other, making Weiwei seem like a top-tier chef. Eventually, even Weiwei herself starts to think her cooking skills are pretty good.

However, at lunchtime, Weiwei would be pulled back to reality. Her taste buds would tell her that even the dishes in the company's lunches, which everyone criticized as "mass-produced," "lacking oil," and "cheap," were a hundred times tastier than any of the dishes she cooked every night. She just could never admit defeat with her words.

She would also complain about the poor quality of the boxed lunches, but in reality, she really liked the company lunches and wouldn't leave a single vegetable leaf or a drop of seaweed and egg drop soup.

Weiwei muttered, "You're such a cheapskate, who cares if you treat them to a meal..."

However, she noticeably increased her stride, as she was genuinely afraid of missing out on the company's free meals and having to pay ten yuan out of her own pocket to buy a boxed lunch.

Tianyuan Apartment Complex

Security guard Xiao Wei firmly stopped Weiwei and Song Yu from trying to force their way into the residential area.

"No, without an appointment, our CEO Gao will not see anyone!"

Xiao Wei didn't give a single word of advice.

Weiwei glared at her and said, "Are you going to move aside or not?"

Xiao Wei glanced at her and scoffed, "You? You want to fight?"

Weiwei cursed, "You're just a bully who relies on his master's power!" and rushed over to shove Xiaowei.

Caught off guard, Xiao Wei stumbled, his face flushed, and he rushed forward with furrowed brows.

Song Yu quickly stepped between Xiao Wei and Wei Wei, and said with a smile, "Brother, please don't be angry. A good man doesn't fight with a woman. We really are from the Prophet Company. You saw us in the lobby that day, didn't you?"

Seeing that Song Yu was so polite, Xiao Wei didn't want to be rough. He glared at Weiwei and said to Song Yu, "I know who you are, but our General Manager Gao really has something to do and can't see you. Besides, the homeowners have been making too much noise these past few days. Our Vice President Lin said that anyone who lets someone in without an appointment will be fired immediately!"

"Goat! Skinny Lin! Hey!!"

Weiwei jumped up and down, shouting and yelling behind Xiaowei.

As soon as Xiao Wei turned around, he saw his Vice President Lin looking at him with a gloomy face.

He quickly explained, "Well, they insisted—"

"These two are distinguished guests of President Gao from Prophet Company. How dare you fight with them!"

Xiao Wei blushed: "Vice President, didn't you say that... no one is allowed to enter without an appointment?"

Lin the Skinny frowned: "Are you brainless or a pig? They're not those troublesome homeowners!"

Xiao Wei wanted to argue, but Lin the Skinny pushed him aside, put on a smile, and said, "Please come in, gentlemen."

Weiwei and Song Yu, feeling guilty as if they had done something wrong, followed behind Lin Shouzi with great unease.

In fact, Song Yu had fantasized that morning that she and Weiwei could just make a quick appearance and go back to report. She hadn't expected Weiwei to be so determined to barge in, almost getting into a fight with the security guards.

Now that Lin the Skinny has reappeared, it won't be so easy for him to get away.

Weiwei was happy that Lin Shouzi had let them in and kept trying to chat with him. Lin Shouzi, however, didn't even want to deal with her, just grunted a few times and quickly led them to Seat C.

As soon as they arrived at the entrance of Building C, Weiwei grabbed Song Yu's bag, took out the cloth bag inside, unzipped it, and took out a compass.

Seeing this, Lin the skinny asked in confusion, "Didn't you test it twice already? What, were the last two tests inaccurate?"

"No, no!" Song Yu quickly snatched the compass that Weiwei was examining from all angles, stuffed it back into her bag, and said, "Supervisor Qiqi just asked us to do some preparatory work. She's coming this afternoon to perform the ritual."

"Perform a ritual??" Lin the skinny man's expression suddenly changed: "What kind of ritual is she performing! What right does she have to perform a ritual! Even swindling money isn't done like this, our company will no longer pay any fees!"

"hey-hey!"

Weiwei spread her arms wide, made an exaggerated 90-degree backward lean, and said, "If I don't perform the ritual? Then Tianyuan Apartment will become like Fenghe Shuiyuan—I'm going to collapse!"

Lin, the skinny guy, blinked and suddenly shouted hysterically, "You—you have to take responsibility for your words! Take legal responsibility!!"

Weiwei was startled and took a half step back: "What are you shouting for? If those homeowners outside find out, you'll be in big trouble!"

Weiwei's threat was very effective. It was as if an egg had been shoved into Lin Shouzi's throat, leaving him speechless for a long time.