CH 28

The “pretty male secretary” who came knocking on the door looked dashing and playful, not at all like someone there to work, but more like someone aiming to steal business secrets.

He seemed to have returned from the hotel, as he was now dressed in a slightly formal casual suit, bearing a resemblance to his Manager Zhou appearance. However, his “disguise” didn’t seem thorough enough. Even though he changed into work attire, he still had a silver earring on his earlobe, and his shirt collar was open with a thin red line peeking out. Pei You sized him up and noticed he had even taken off his wristwatch, replacing it with a narrow leather studded bracelet, creating a rather mismatched look.

“How did you…” Pei You began to ask Zhou Qing Bai why he dressed like that, but before the words left his mouth, he realized it himself.

Zhou Qing Bai was a very discerning person, and he had a clear separation between his identities as “manager Zong” and “Zhou Qing Bai.” If a situation required him to play either of those roles, he would never make such minor mistakes in his appearance.

That meant that he was intentionally dressed that way. Pei You guessed that he might be trying to give Liu Xin the impression of being an idle playboy, which would assist their future actions.

“What’s wrong?” Zhou Qing Bai seemed to be in a good mood that day, and he was in high spirits. He lifted his chin and threw a flirtatious glance at Pei You, pretending to be unhappy, “A pretty secretary like me here to work for you, aren’t you glad?”

Pei You found his act amusing and couldn’t help but smile, asking gently, “How did you get in?”

“You are so boring and uncooperative.” Zhou Qing Bai complained playfully, not getting the reaction he wanted. He then straightened up from leaning on the door frame, strolled in, picked up a chair from the side of the desk, and sat down. He casually explained, “I said I was your assistant, and the receptionist let me in.”

“That easy?” Pei You asked in amazement.

“When I came, I happened to see Liu Xin.” Zhou Qing Bai crossed his hands behind his head, stretched out his legs, and leaned back on the chair, saying, “He recognized me, so of course, he let me in. But it seemed like he was busy going out, so we only exchanged a few words.”

“He didn’t stay to chat with you?” Pei You said, refocusing his attention on the computer, clicking to save the spreadsheet he was working on.

“You are a high-ranking executive from the headquarters after all. I thought he would want to make some small talk with you,” Pei You said.

Zhou Qing Bai made a sound of agreement, stretched out his legs, and crossed his ankles, swinging them under the table.

“I also wondered about that,” Zhou Qing Bai said, “But he seemed like he had something urgent to do, so he just said a few words to me and left. I don’t know where he went.”

Zhou Qing Bai paused, seemingly remembering something, and couldn’t help but joke, “But don’t tell anyone, his appearance looks like he’s been drained of all his energy by wine, women, and money. He’s more like an empty shell. I think maybe there’s a lovely lady outside waiting for him, that’s why he couldn’t afford to be delayed even for a moment.”

Pei You recalled his first impression of Liu Xin and had to admit that Zhou Qing Bai’s assessment was spot on. It was a direct hit.

However, Pei You didn’t think that Liu Xin would let Zhou Qing Bai, such a big catch, slip away just for pleasure. After all, his “blade” was hanging over Liu Xin’s head. If Liu Xin still had the mind to indulge in drinking, gambling, and debauchery at this critical time, he was being too bold and reckless.

But for Pei You, guessing Liu Xin’s behavior pattern was more complex than organizing accounts. Compared to that, he preferred to focus his energy on the pile of messy files in front of him.

Before Zhou Qing Bai arrived, Pei You had already picked out a few decent project books from the chaotic mess. He was currently doing the accounting and cross-referencing of income and expenses.

The spreadsheet on the screen was clear and concise, with the errors in income and expenses already marked in red and bold, awaiting a second check.

As Zhou Qing Bai sat beside him, Pei You’s attention was constantly distracted. Zhou Qing Bai’s rolled-up sleeves kept catching his peripheral vision, causing him some loss of concentration.

Thankfully, Dongjiang’s accounts were a mess, and Zhou Qing Bai swiftly went from excited to baffled, taking only about ten minutes to face a pile of expired documents, either repeated or misplaced. The script of being a “pretty secretary” lost its appeal as he struggled to make sense of those chaotic documents.

“Hisshh…” Zhou Qing Bai didn’t enjoy dealing with those financial records, especially when they were mismatched and confusing. He felt a headache coming on, so he slowed down his movements.

Glancing at Pei You, who was working, Zhou Qing Bai moved his chair closer, coughed lightly, and started looking for something to talk about.

“Speaking of which, what are we doing with this?” Zhou Qing Bai asked.

“Inventory check,” Pei You replied, “Dongjiang’s profits aren’t substantial, and a significant portion of the financial volume is tied up in asset balances, such as construction materials and construction equipment. These are tangible things that are difficult to fake. So, once we finish the paperwork today, we can go take a physical count of those inventory items tomorrow. Then, we can cross-check the numbers to see if his reports have any errors.”

Pei You pushed the memo on his side towards Zhou Qingbo as he spoke. Zhou Qingbo tilted his head and looked at it, discovering several inventory lists marked on it. Due to the unique financial nature of Dongjiang, most of the items listed were construction projects, along with some sub-items related to building materials.

“So many? Do we have to count them all?” Zhou Qingbo clicked his tongue and probed, “The workload seems too massive.”

“No need,” Pei You shook his head and said, “I am the auditor from Qingshan, not their accountant in Dongjiang. We don’t need to fix their accounts. We just need to find the problems and confirm if they’ve falsified the accounts. We don’t have to handle the rest.”

“That’s good then”. Zhou Qingbo felt relieved, thinking that since they didn’t have to take care of everything, he could take it easy.

“But this mess they’ve made… It’s just chaotic,” Zhou Qingbo waved the asset documents in his hand, implying, “And the discrepancies are glaring.”

Pei You didn’t catch his implied meaning and merely agreed, saying, “Indeed… Actually, I suspect there’s no reliable financial management in Dongjiang at all. Misappropriation of funds is one thing, but poorly managed accounts are another. Many of these documents contain fundamental errors, such as inconsistent revenues and expenses, excessively high costs, etc. I’ve glanced through them, and it feels like these reports were filled in retroactively, trying to cover up any discrepancies chaotically.”

As Pei You spoke, he pushed the computer aside, picked up a pen, and made two notes on the notebook he had.

“Maybe their accountant is Liu Xin himself,” Pei You speculated, “Professionals wouldn’t make such messy accounts or create falsified records that are easily caught.”

Zhou Qingbo: “…”

Zhou Qingbo put down the documents and leaned on the table, turning his face to look at Pei You.

“I suddenly thought of  something,” Zhou Qingbo said.

Pei You thought he had something important to say and put down his work, turning to him and looking serious. “What is it?” Pei You asked.

“It’s nothing, it’s just that using an elite secretary to organize files seems a bit underutilizing their talents,” Zhou Qingbo said, lying on the table, half of his face buried in his arm, showing only one eye. He winked at Pei You meaningfully, lazily prolonging his tone and said, “Don’t you think so, boss?”