Chapter 57: Stealing Across the Sea Under Cover of a Ruse

(I)

It was already 10:00 PM. Figuring that Bian Xiaoqi was likely back home, Qin Ke called her. "Xiaoqi, I went to your place this afternoon and had dinner with Uncle Bian and Aunt Jiang. I gave the elders their gifts, and they were very pleased. Then I went to see Shen Jing and handed over her gift as well. She invited me for a cocktail. I just got back to the hotel from her place."

"Mm, I know," Bian Xiaoqi said flatly.

Sensing that Bian Xiaoqi's tone was somewhat different from usual, and guessing that she might have already received a call from Shen Jing, Qin Ke immediately asked, "Xiaoqi, did Shen Jing call you?"

"What do you think of tonight's 'Pink Lady'?" Bian Xiaoqi countered.

Understanding her implication, Qin Ke recounted Ling Yunke's behavior earlier that day and then said, "As far as cocktails go, the bartender's skill falls short of Shen Jing's; the taste was bland and overly focused on color. As far as Ling Yunke is concerned, she is just a somewhat pretty finance manager and has nothing to do with me."

After a few seconds of silence, Bian Xiaoqi said, "Shen Jing runs a bar and has seen countless people. Women understand women better; Shen Jing saw unmasked affection for you in Ling Yunke's eyes. As my best friend, she couldn't not tell me her first impression. I wouldn't normally care about Ling Yunke's unrequited crush, but hearing what you've described of her words and actions makes me a bit worried."

"I don't blame Shen Jing for doing that. Ling Yunke and I are merely temporary colleagues working together, so you have absolutely no need to worry."

"You already told her you have a girlfriend and that you were meeting a female friend tonight, yet she still lacked the tact to back off. What does that indicate? First, she might genuinely like you, but she is expressing it far too blatantly. For a first meeting, most ordinary girls wouldn't do that. Second, she might harbor other motives. She is too eager for quick success in order to win your favor. I lean more toward the second judgment."

"We each stick to our own responsibilities; the well water does not intrude on the river water. Aside from technical matters, I don't ask about anything else."

"No. You are kind-hearted, and you believe that people are inherently good—there is nothing wrong with that. But human hearts can be treacherous, which means kindness and straightforwardness may simply be someone's disguise. You may not want entanglements, but entanglements will actively seek you out. Thinking about the problems that occurred at your Southwest Branch, my conviction is only strengthened."

"Xiaoqi, I really didn't think in that direction. I want to hear your analysis."

"Any company or enterprise, regardless of size, is like a pugnacious underworld society; political infighting and power struggles are inevitable. You haven't reached a high position yet, so you haven't experienced it firsthand. Only by preparing for a rainy day can you remain calm and composed."

"Is Zhengzang Group like that too?"

"Zhengzang Group is no exception. The infighting hasn't surfaced yet simply because the sales pressure on our real estate properties has temporarily suppressed the undercurrents. The only reason I can currently command absolute obedience is because I am bearing that pressure. Once I lift that burden for the company, all sorts of characters will step onto the stage, and internal friction will re-emerge. My estimated timeline for this is right after the upcoming National Day holiday."

"How do you view the issues that happened at our Southwest Branch?"

"I suspect the problems at your Southwest Branch must be massive; otherwise, your headquarters wouldn't be making such a huge fuss. If Company C doesn't want to abandon the Southwest market, it will likely restructure the leadership team of the Southwest Branch. This will touch upon the interests of technical, sales, and financial factions alike, so headquarters and local strongmen will inevitably vie for their respective rights and interests. In troubled times, for any party, having one more person means having one more strand of strength. Right now, you are merely a technical director, seemingly insignificant, but you are smart and possess top-tier technical skills. They cannot afford to ignore you, and each side will want to pull you into their camp. Just as I was parachuted into Zhengzang Real Estate—if the real estate sales pressure hadn't existed, I wouldn't have had the opportunity."

"Are you saying I might be assigned to work in Xizhou? I told Aunt Jiang tonight that I don't want to be separated from you," Qin Ke said.

"After chatting with Zheng Yutong that evening, I concluded that you have already been pre-selected. In the eyes of Company C's top management, you are smart, grounded, hardworking, and responsible. Furthermore, you have a shallow background and a low position, meaning you pose almost no threat to various factional interests. Your technical competence gives everyone peace of mind, naturally making you an object of contention for all sides, which is why you have an opening. I suspect the reason Ling Yunke approached you was arranged by Chief Financial Officer Tang Anhua to test you."

Qin Ke hadn't considered that there were so many hidden schemes beneath the surface; he had simply regarded this as a routine business trip. Hearing Bian Xiaoqi's analysis and judgment felt like awakening from a dream. It seemed to him as though she were a member of Company C itself, understanding his predicament far better than he did.

Hearing Qin Ke fall silent for a long time, Bian Xiaoqi asked, "What do you think about this matter?"

Recognizing the vast gap in insight and perspective stemming from different backgrounds, Qin Ke sighed and said, "Xiaoqi, your words hit the nail on the head and instantly woke me from my slumber. I know what I need to do now. Apart from being accountable to Qi Guosheng, I must observe everything closely, measure my words, act with practical diligence, see through the ruses without exposing them."

Pleased that Qin Ke grasped her meaning, Bian Xiaoqi smiled and said, "No matter what, nobody dislikes a hard worker. For a company or enterprise to develop, talent like yours is indispensable."

"If things really turn out as you say and the two of us have to separate again, I honestly don't want that," Qin Ke said.

"When you're in this world, circumstances dictate your actions. We are still young and both need our own careers, so we must assess the situation and not hesitate when faced with opportunity. If the love between us is enduring, does it matter if we are apart day and night?" Bian Xiaoqi said.

(II)

In the breakfast restaurant of the Sheraton Hotel, Qin Ke saw Ling Yunke carrying her food tray and sitting down opposite him. He merely offered a polite greeting and then concentrated on eating.

"Director Qin, did you sleep well last night?" Ling Yunke asked with a smile.

"Slept right through until dawn," Qin Ke answered flatly.

"Wasn't your girlfriend angry?" Ling Yunke asked again.

"My girlfriend trusts me a hundred percent," Qin Ke said.

"I won't feel lonely these next few days," Ling Yunke smiled.

Qi Guosheng and his team of six arrived at the Southwest Branch. The branch general manager, Xu Yunlong, along with several vice presidents, gave them a grand reception and stated that they would fully cooperate with the headquarters' investigation. Qi Guosheng divided the six people into three groups to hold separate, one-on-one interviews with the corresponding department heads.

Qin Ke's official pretext for this business trip was to inspect all technical documentation of the Southwest Branch, so Zhu Daobin, the branch vice president in charge of technology, was called into the conference room for a private interview. Zhu Daobin started off by talking incessantly about how they worked overtime day and night and how hard they labored. Qi Guosheng interrupted him, instructing him to move all delivered engineering and technical archives into the temporary office shared by him and Qin Ke. Furthermore, he ordered all other technical staff to wait in the office on standby, ready to be called at any moment to answer inquiries from him and Qin Ke.

Since Qi Guosheng was the leader, the specific legwork fell entirely on Qin Ke. Consequently, he buried his head in dozens of technical files and began reviewing them meticulously.

Qi Guosheng declined Xu Yunlong's invitations for lunch and dinner. All six members ate working meals and remained busy deep into the night before finally returning to the hotel.

Qin Ke followed Qi Guosheng into his room and said, "Director Qi, I've finished looking through all the technical archive materials that Vice President Zhu had moved over today. I haven't found any issues so far."

"Director Qin, you must inspect them repeatedly, without letting even a single punctuation mark slip by. I never believe that anything can be completely seamless," Qi Guosheng said.

Unaware of Qi Guosheng's true intentions for this trip to Xizhou, Qin Ke asked, "Director Qi, I'd like to know what the ultimate objective of this inspection is. That way, I can tailor my efforts with a clear target."

Feeling that Qin Ke should understand the headquarters' purpose to better harness his initiative in uncovering flaws within the Southwest Branch, Qi Guosheng said, "Up to this point, the sales profit of the Southwest Branch is practically zero; there must be hidden tricks behind this. For now, let's set aside the sales and financial aspects, but make sure not to miss any technical suspicious points."

As soon as Qin Ke returned to his room, Ling Yunke knocked and entered, asking with a smile, "Director Qin, did you find any problems today?"

"No. And you?" Qin Ke replied in his usual flat tone.

"Neither did I," Ling Yunke said.

"I'm tired and need to rest." Without standing on ceremony, Qin Ke directly issued a polite dismissal.

Seeing Qin Ke's glum and gloomy expression, Ling Yunke displayed unusual tact this time, turned around, and left.

Lying on the bed, Qin Ke entered a contemplative state, reviewing whether he had missed anything during his inspection that day. Suddenly, his phone rang. Seeing an unfamiliar number, he still chose to answer it.

"Director Qin, hello! This is Zhu Daobin. Would you like to go grab a drink at a bar?" Zhu Daobin identified himself without waiting for Qin Ke to speak.

"Director Zhu, I'm genuinely exhausted and already lying down. Please forgive me." Without hesitation, Qin Ke immediately declined Zhu Daobin's invitation.

"Director Qin, then get some good rest. We'll reschedule another day," Zhu Daobin said without lingering on the matter.

After hanging up on Zhu Daobin, Qin Ke sank back into deep thought. Whose instructions was Ling Yunke following when she came to fish for information? Why did Zhu Daobin call in the middle of the night? It must be out of fear that he would uncover a problem. And what exactly was that problem? Failing to piece together a clear thread after a long while, Qin Ke decided to drop it for the moment. True to their agreement, he called Bian Xiaoqi first.

Clearly waiting for his call, Bian Xiaoqi answered immediately. "Did you make any progress today?"

Qin Ke recounted his fruitless day, the actions of Zhu Daobin and Ling Yunke, and expressed his lingering confusion.

After pondering for a moment, Bian Xiaoqi said, "Something fishy is definitely going on at your Southwest Branch; otherwise, Zhu Daobin and Ling Yunke's actions cannot be explained. I trust that you reviewed the documents very carefully. But relying solely on paper archives isn't necessarily going to reveal the truth."

"I'll go back and examine them even more meticulously tomorrow, down to every single punctuation mark. I refuse to believe they can make it truly seamless."

"If they planned meticulously and prepared various sets of documents in advance, you will never find the truth through official channels. It's common in finance to have yin-yang account books, and in contracts to have yin-yang contracts—let alone in technical archive materials."

Prompted by Bian Xiaoqi, sudden enlightenment dawned on Qin Ke. "Xiaoqi, I understand now. I need to go investigate directly with the clients in order to grasp firsthand, authentic data."

"If they have already colluded and harmonized their stories, what you see at the clients' end will undoubtedly be flawless records as well. I suspect your every move is under their surveillance, so the results of your investigation there will likely end in futility as well."

"Xiaoqi, Company C has treated me well. Sitting idly by and watching Company C suffer such massive financial losses weighs heavily on my conscience. Since I didn't know about it before, that's one thing, but now that I do, I don't want to remain a passive bystander. I want to find any trace of their misdeeds."

Pleased by Qin Ke's sense of responsibility and feeling she ought to lend a hand, Bian Xiaoqi thought for a moment and suddenly asked, "Has your Southwest Branch undertaken any engineering projects for the local governments at various levels in Xizhou?"

"Yes. While reviewing the technical archives today, I noticed that several projects are related to the Xizhou local government, and their scales are quite substantial."

"Here is what you'll do: wait for my call tomorrow morning. You must keep a completely poker face and make sure no one trails you. Pay attention to your safety."

"Xiaoqi, you make it sound like I'm working behind enemy lines. Could there actually be danger?" Qin Ke chuckled.

"You must be careful in all things. While it might not reach the level of physical danger, if they discover your movements, all your previous efforts could go down the drain," Bian Xiaoqi said.

(III)

The next morning, Qin Ke once again dove into the stack of technical archives, focusing his review on the several government-related projects and engraving vital details deep into his memory.

At 10:00 AM, Bian Xiaoqi called: "At 2:00 PM, Shen Jing will be waiting for you in the basement parking lot of your hotel. Follow her instructions. After lunch, find an excuse to return to your hotel without letting anyone else know."

Half an hour after lunch, putting on a weary and listless appearance, Qin Ke told Qi Guosheng that he might have caught a cold, felt somewhat unwell, and wanted to go back to the hotel to rest for a bit.

With Qi Guosheng's permission, he hailed a taxi. The moment he departed the Southwest Branch office building, he noticed a black Jetta immediately trailing behind him. Upon entering the hotel lobby, he saw that the Jetta had parked in a space close to the entrance. Heading up to his room, he peered through the gap in the curtains and confirmed that the car was still parked there. A man was leaning against the doorframe smoking a cigarette while periodically glancing toward the hotel entrance.

When 2:00 PM arrived, Qin Ke first called Shen Jing. Then, opening his room door and verifying the hallway was empty, he hurried down the stairs to the basement parking lot and located Shen Jing's car. Once inside, Shen Jing had him put on a bar server's uniform and cap.

As Shen Jing drove the car out of the hotel entrance, Qin Ke noticed the black Jetta was still parked in its spot. Only after they had driven some distance did he finally let out a sigh of relief.

Looking at Qin Ke's comical outfit, Shen Jing burst into laughter and said, "Master Poet Qin, you're donning disguises, changing clothes, and conducting secret rendezvous just like an underground operative. Xiaoqi came up with such a bizarre idea—was all this really necessary?"

"Shen Jing, that tailing car is still stationed right outside the hotel entrance. Without your help, I genuinely wouldn't have been able to slip out of the hotel. Where are we even heading?" Qin Ke laughed.

"Don't ask, just follow me," Shen Jing instructed.

Shen Jing drove Qin Ke to the office building of the Xizhou Municipal Bureau of Finance. A young man was waiting in the lobby. Upon seeing Shen Jing and Qin Ke, he led them directly into the reception room.

Shen Jing introduced them: "Qin Ke, this is Secretary Ren of the Xizhou Municipal Bureau of Finance. Secretary Ren, this is Qin Ke, the technical director of Company C."

After brief pleasantries, Secretary Ren pulled several copied documents from his briefcase and said, "Director Qin, one set of documents is the detailed procurement list for several municipal government network engineering projects, all of which purchased products from your Company C. The other set of documents shows the payment dates and amounts for each invoice. You may only view them; they cannot be taken away. Once you finish reading, I must destroy them. You must keep this strictly confidential and under no circumstances leak it outside."

Without standing on ceremony, Qin Ke immediately began reading the materials carefully. He discovered that the payee was not the Southwest Branch of Company C, but a company named "Shutian Technology." He took out a notebook and jotted down the payment dates and amounts for every single transaction. Furthermore, he discovered that the quantities of equipment listed in the procurement manifest did not match those in the technical archives he had previously reviewed; several pieces of equipment were conspicuously missing. He meticulously recorded the quantities and model numbers of all the equipment.

After thanking Secretary Ren, Shen Jing drove back toward the Sheraton Hotel.

On the way, Shen Jing asked, "Qin Ke, did you discover anything?"

Excitedly, Qin Ke replied, "Shen Jing, I've uncovered proof that our Southwest Branch colluded with this 'Shutian Technology' company to embezzle project funds. You're amazing to be able to get hold of such vital data. You've helped me immensely, thank you."

"If it weren't for Xiaoqi's sake, I wouldn't bother getting mixed up in your company's messy affairs. You should thank Xiaoqi," Shen Jing smiled.

"You're right. Without Xiaoqi, my mind would still be a complete fog. This information is critical. I'm going to make a few copies and keep the original records safely stored with you for now," Qin Ke laughed.

As Shen Jing drove back into the grounds of the Sheraton Hotel, Qin Ke noted that the black Jetta was still parked precisely where it had been.

In the basement parking lot, Qin Ke took off the bar uniform. Bidding farewell to Shen Jing, he rapidly climbed the 18 flights of stairs back to his room. Nearing 5:00 PM, he finally stepped out of the hotel and headed toward the Southwest Branch. Catching sight of the Jetta tailing him once more, he felt a genuine wave of admiration for Bian Xiaoqi's clever strategy of crossing the sea under camouflage.

Seeing Qin Ke return, Qi Guosheng asked whether his cold was feeling better. Feigning lingering discomfort, Qin Ke replied that he felt somewhat improved.

At that moment, Ling Yunke walked in and asked with a concerned tone, "Director Qin, I heard you were sick? Health is paramount. You really should have rested properly in your hotel room."

Putting on a listless demeanor, Qin Ke held up the technical documents in his hand and said, "Manager Ling, with all these documents, I wanted to review them thoroughly. How could I possibly just lie in bed? I'm feeling much better now. Thank you for asking."

Looking at him with half-convinced skepticism, Ling Yunke asked, "Are you planning to work overtime tonight as well?"

Sidestepping the question, Qin Ke asked, "Are you working overtime?"

"If you're not working overtime, neither am I," Ling Yunke said.

"I've basically finished reading these materials and still haven't found any issues. Even if I work overtime, it'll probably be a waste of effort. Forget it, since my cold is only just getting better, I'd better turn in early," Qin Ke said as if it were the absolute truth.

Delighted that Qin Ke had no desire to work late, Ling Yunke exclaimed, "That's wonderful! Having working meals for two days straight has thoroughly exhausted my appetite. Let's go eat hotpot tonight, my treat. Are you coming?"

Feigning hesitation for a moment, Qin Ke reluctantly replied, "Since someone is treating, it'd be foolish not to eat." Then, with an air of casual indifference, he held up a document and asked, "This is the largest project undertaken by the Southwest Branch this year—have all the payments been collected?"

"I don't remember off the top of my head. I can go check right now if you want," Ling Yunke said.

Setting down the documents, Qin Ke smiled and said, "Manager Ling, you mentioned previously that you'd teach me how to read accounts; I'd like to learn from you as well. After that, we can call it a day and head off."

Agreeing without a second thought, Ling Yunke granted his request. After briefly notifying Qi Guosheng, Qin Ke followed Ling Yunke into the temporary office she shared with Tang Anhua.

Tang Anhua had already left for the day. True to her word, Ling Yunke began teaching Qin Ke how to read financial ledgers. Qin Ke didn't pick and choose; he jotted down whatever Ling Yunke explained, making her believe he was purely there to learn. Once the ledger turned to the government engineering projects he cared about, Qin Ke immediately focused all his attention. He discovered that the payee was indeed "Shutian Technology," and the date of the final payment was a full month later than the date the municipal government had paid "Shutian Technology," with a total shortfall of nearly 3 million in the accounting figures. He engraved every payment amount and date into his memory.

An hour slipped by imperceptibly, and Qin Ke rubbed his eyes in feigned exhaustion, saying, "There's just too much content; I can't keep track of it all. Let's stop here for today."

"We've barely scratched the surface! It looks like the legendary photographic memory of Director Qin isn't quite living up to its reputation," Ling Yunke teased with a smile.

"One minute it's credit, the next it's debit, and my eyes are swimming with endless rows of numbers that are giving me a splitting headache. Doing finance work is truly exhausting," Qin Ke complained.

"Don't you dare look down on my profession," Ling Yunke retorted.

"Did you find any problems these past two days?" Qin Ke asked.

"None. And on your end?" Ling Yunke asked back.

"Those technical plans were drawn up very professionally, and the equipment models used were correct without any errors. It feels extremely well-executed to me," Qin Ke said.

Gazing at him as if unconvinced, Ling Yunke pressed further, "Is that really what you think?"

"Of course. It's all there in black and white, crystal clear," Qin Ke answered, his words carrying a double meaning.