CH 17

As soon as Pei You finished speaking, someone knocked on the door of the conference room from outside.

Both Zhou Qingbai and him fell silent, looking towards the door. Zhou Cangshan’s secretary pushed the door open and walked in, politely greeting Pei You.

“Mr. Pei,” the secretary said, “If you’re available now, would you mind going to Mr. Zhou’s office?”

“Sure,” Pei You nodded and replied, “I’ll go there shortly.”

“What’s going on?” Zhou Qingbai sat up a bit and asked, “Is Big Brother busy now?”

The secretary probably didn’t expect him to suddenly ask, and his steps hesitated briefly before stopping again.

“There are some financial matters that need to be discussed with Mr. Pei,” the secretary said, “As for being busy or not—well, he just finished meeting with two cooperation partners, and there are no other external arrangements afterward.”

Zhou Qingbai acknowledged and casually picked up his laptop, holding it under his arm as he stood up and pushed the chair back.

When Zhou Cangshan got busy, he wouldn’t stop. That day, Zhou Qingbai planned to report his work to him as usual so he wouldn’t stay overtime in the company. 

“That works out well. I also have something to discuss with Big Brother,” Zhou Qingbai turned his head and glanced at Pei You, saying, “Let’s go together.”

Pei You had no objections and nodded, following Zhou Qingbai out of the conference room.

Upstairs in the office, Zhou Cangshan was waiting for Pei You. He held a thin document in his hand, which he had flipped through several times.

His brow was furrowed, showing a rare look of worry as he held the document for a while, lost in thought.

As soon as Zhou Qingbai entered the room, he saw that contemplative look. Unable to resist, he raised an eyebrow and lightly knocked on the door, bringing back his attention.

“Qingbai?” Zhou Cangshan looked puzzled, “Why are you here?”

“You were about to get busy, right?” Zhou Qingbai said, “So, I came to report the summary of the work and the quarterly plan.”

While speaking, Zhou Qingbai casually opened his laptop, tapped on the touchscreen a few times, and then handed the laptop over, placing it in front of Zhou Cangshan.

“Don’t mess around,” Zhou Cangshan said habitually, “I’ll look at it later—”

He had intended to ask Zhou Qingbai to leave first so he could talk to Pei You . However, in the middle of his sentence, he suddenly stopped. For some reason, Zhou Cangshan changed his mind and glanced at Pei You behind Zhou Qingbai before swallowing the rest of his words.

“Mr. Pei, you don’t mind waiting a little longer, right?” Zhou Cangshan asked.

Pei You, of course, didn’t mind. For him, working overtime for a little while was nothing out of the ordinary. However, considering Zhou Qingbai’s aversion to working overtime, he naturally didn’t mind letting Zhou Qingbai handle his business first.

“Don’t worry,” Zhou Qingbai turned back to Pei You, smiled, and said, “I’ll be quick.”

Pei You nodded slightly, indicating that he could take his time.

During that time, Pei You had visited various departments at Qingshan. The routine report from the Human Resources Department didn’t need to be hidden from him, so Zhou Qingbai didn’t hold back and directly got to the point.

Zhou Qingbai didn’t like working in the office, and his daily routine was quite casual. He would slack off and browse the internet, not even returning to his own office. Pei You had thought that Zhou Qingbai was there just for appearances’ sake, but after listening for a while, he realized that wasn’t entirely the case.

While he seemed indifferent to other departments’ affairs, he handled his own department’s work quite well. His reports were concise and clear, showing that he was well-versed in those matters.

So, he was actually working in the afternoon, Pei You thought to himself.

Perhaps Zhou Qingbai’s propensity to avoid work was too obvious, which made Pei You assume that he was just playing Minesweeper on his computer. But it turned out he did do some real work.

“The new performance management system has been in place for three months, and the results are good,” Zhou Qingbai took out a slender pen from his pocket and pointed at the screen, saying, “Here are the data results.”

“The campus recruitment for the past six months has also concluded. I sent you a copy of the interns’ names and reports this afternoon, so remember to take a look,” Zhou Qingbai continued, “As for other matters, there’s nothing particularly important. The main task ahead is to update and optimize the internal staff files—since the departmental reorganization, the personnel information hasn’t been updated.”

Zhou Qingbai didn’t mince his words when he said “quick,” and within about ten minutes, he finished his work report and waited for Zhou Cangshan’s approval.

He always worked in an ordinary and steady manner, never doing any extra work. However, he never made mistakes in his assigned tasks and was quite content with his current position. There was hardly anything for Zhou Cangshan to worry about regarding him.

Zhou Cangshan also didn’t expect him to suddenly excel and achieve remarkable results. As far as he was concerned, as long as Zhou Qingbai put effort into his work, he felt at ease.

“Not bad,” Zhou Cangshan said, “Leave it, and I’ll examine it in detail tonight.”

“Sure,” Zhou Qingbai clapped his hands, stood up straight, and said with a smile, “Then I’ll…”

Before he could say “clock off,” Zhou Cangshan seemed to anticipate his actions and promptly interrupted him.

“It’s perfect timing. I need to have a chat with Mr. Pei about other matters, and you can listen as well.” Zhou Cangshan turned his head and said, “Sit nearby.”

Zhou Qingbai: “…”

Zhou Cangshan was decisive in his words. If he said he wanted someone to stay, Zhou Qingbai knew he couldn’t leave through that door. The joy and relaxation on his face instantly disappeared, and he visibly became a little listless. He reluctantly dragged his feet and moved to Zhou Cangshan’s side.

Pei You seemed to sense something and raised his head to glance at him. As expected, he found Zhou Qingbai looking at him.

Their eyes briefly met in the air, and within that short moment, Zhou Qingbai conveyed his protest and complaint about not being allowed to leave on time through a disdainful look, hidden from Zhou Cangshan’s line of sight.

He had just appeared as a business elite, but now, as soon as he was out of Zhou Cangshan’s view, his true nature was revealed, appearing as if wronged.

Pei You found this side of him adorable and couldn’t help but curl up the corners of his mouth. However, fearing that Zhou Cangshan might notice something, he cleared his throat, lowered his head, and suppressed the hint of amusement.

Unaware of the eye contact happening under his nose, Zhou Cangshan closed the documents in his hand and handed a transparent folder to Pei You.

“I’ve already made some arrangements for the Dongjiang project,” Zhou Cangshan said, “Now I want to hear your opinion.”

The Dongjiang project had become a thorny issue for Qingshan. Pei You thought for a moment, listed the problems he had identified in the Dongjiang financial report that afternoon, and explained his speculations to Zhou Cangshan.

Zhou Qingbai had already heard these words earlier in the afternoon, so his reaction was indifferent. However, Zhou Cangshan’s frown deepened as he listened, and it was evident that he was becoming increasingly impatient.

“We previously discussed going there for an on-site audit as soon as possible to understand the situation better,” Zhou Cangshan said, suppressing his anger, “Originally, I planned to send you there next Monday, but given the current situation, it’s better to strike preemptively and avoid giving them time to react.”

Hearing this, Zhou Qingbai silently straightened his body, and his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“That works too,” Pei You said, “How early do you want it?”

Zhou Cangshan was a person who didn’t beat around the bush. At that point, he didn’t want to keep holding onto that hot potato. But before he handed it over to someone else, he couldn’t take a loss without reason.

“Sooner is better,” Zhou Cangshan said, “If you’re available, you can leave tonight.”

“That’s fine,” Pei You said.

He had been on many urgent assignments, and such matters were quite ordinary to him; he was already used to them.

“Alright, it’s settled then. I’ll have my secretary book the tickets,” Zhou Cangshan said, then turned to Zhou Qingbai by his side and said, “Qingbai, you’ll also go on this business trip.”

The Liu family’s relationship with the Zhou family was quite deep, and it was likely that an auditor alone wouldn’t be able to handle Liu Xin. Zhou Cangshan needed to stay in Qingshan and couldn’t leave. After some consideration, Zhou Qingbai was the most suitable person.

However, Zhou Qingbai had never liked going on business trips, and the problem was how to persuade him to agree.

Zhou Cangshan could already anticipate how Zhou Qingbai would refuse and had prepared counterarguments in his mind. Unexpectedly, Zhou Qingbai didn’t follow the usual path this time and simply agreed.

“Okay,” Zhou Qingbai said.

Zhou Cangshan: “…”

Surprised by his straightforwardness, Zhou Cangshan had no need for the planned follow-up arguments. He couldn’t help but look at him in confusion, wondering where that unusual attitude came from.

Ignoring Zhou Cangshan’s expression, Zhou Qingbai leisurely stood up, stretched lazily, and asked, “Then, is there anything else? I’ll go pack my things now.”

Afraid that he might change his mind and refuse to go if given more time, Zhou Cangshan nodded and quickly agreed.

Zhou Qingbai needed to pack, and Pei You also had to make some preparations. They walked out of Zhou Cangshan’s office one after the other until they reached the elevator. It was at that moment that Pei You broke the silence.

“Don’t you hate working overtime?” Pei You asked.

“Yeah,” Zhou Qingbai pressed the down button of the elevator and casually replied, “But I can’t let you handle the scoundrel alone.”

Pei You looked at Zhou Qingbai, who appeared introverted and cold, and always felt that such a person should sit in a clean and bright office, drinking coffee and preparing reports. As long as he fiddled with those messy numbers, he wouldn’t need to worry about anything else.

He had met Liu Xin and knew what kind of person he was – hypocritical, cunning, and full of scheming. Pei You couldn’t even figure out the implications behind someone’s words in a blind date setting, let alone dealing with someone like Liu Xin, who was treacherous.

The thought of Pei You possibly being deceived by Liu Xin made Zhou Qingbai feel annoyed, and he thought it would be simpler if he also went to deal with it. Fine, Zhou Qingbai generously thought, I’ll work overtime this time, considering it a favor owed to him at the bar.