Chapter 173.2: K Corp
The office was so spacious and quiet that the sound of the elevator arriving was amplified in Shen Xiu’s ears a thousandfold. It was impossible not to notice.
When he heard the elevator doors open, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps approaching, Shen Xiu instinctively looked diagonally across the room.
The moment his gaze met Qin Mo’s, Shen Xiu suddenly realized—he had known Qin Mo was coming, and yet had made no move to stand. His body remained firmly planted in the chair, with no trace of the usual reflex to rise.
Shen Xiu: “……”
Ever since he walked into this place, his body had been acting incredibly rude!
While mentally scolding himself for his impolite behavior, Shen Xiu also recalled every past encounter with Qin Mo. Wanting to confirm his suspicions, he steeled himself and remained seated.
He maintained eye contact with Qin Mo, observing his every move.
Qin Mo turned the corner past the decorative partition and immediately locked eyes with Shen Xiu’s sharp, imposing gaze. His throat tightened, and he paused for a second before composing himself. Then, in accordance with the terms of a certain signed contract, he respectfully spoke:
“President Shen.”
Shen Xiu: “……”
He wasn’t sure if it was because the suspicion in his heart had just been confirmed—but his pupils contracted slightly in response.
But Shen Xiu quickly recalled that, according to what the system had said, there was technically nothing wrong with Qin Mo addressing him as “President Shen.”
So… he needed to find another way to verify it.
Qin Mo didn’t quite understand why Shen Xiu hadn’t responded and was instead staring coldly at him with those icy eyes.
Could it be… that he’s blaming me for being late?
Qin Mo hurriedly explained, “Apologies, President Shen. I was busy earlier and didn’t see the message. I just came up now. Please forgive me.”
Qin Mo’s voice pulled Shen Xiu out of his tangled thoughts. He forced himself to appear calm and stiffly responded, “Mm.”
Then, swallowing slightly to ease his nerves, he delivered the mental script he had long prepared: “Bring me the financial statements and the contract files from the past week, including… etc. All of it.”
Shen Xiu rattled off a whole string of requests in one go.
Only after he’d finished did he suddenly realize something.
Was I… too natural? Too confident in how I said all that?
Based on his own memory and past experience, he shouldn’t even know those terms. And yet, when mentally drafting the sentence earlier, it hadn’t even occurred to him that anything was out of place.
Qin Mo: “Understood, President Shen. Please wait a moment—I’ll go retrieve them for you.”
Qin Mo felt uneasy.
Did something happen in the company recently? Why else would President Shen suddenly come in person? He usually worked from home, having Qin Mo bring signed documents directly to his villa.
Shen Xiu, expression blank: “Mm.”
Once Qin Mo had left, Shen Xiu finally let out a heavy sigh of relief.
He never imagined that one day, his acting skills would be used in this kind of situation.
But instinctive behavior and confident delivery weren’t enough. If, later on, he could actually understand the financial reports and contract files Qin Mo brought him, then…
Shen Xiu thought of how he had deliberately kept certain things from the system—a move that already felt suspicious in itself. His fingers curled tightly without him even realizing.
…
Qin Mo took the elevator up to the floor where his office was located. Upon seeing Li Nuo, he asked, “Where’s the stuff I asked you to prepare?”
“It’s all here,” Li Nuo replied, pointing at the neatly stacked piles of documents on the desk, sorted into categories like small mountains. “Everything from the past week up to now has been organized.”
Qin Mo gave Li Nuo an approving look. “Not bad. Call in the people from the secretarial department and have them help bring these documents up.”
“Make sure they’re arranged by category and labeled with time tags and type tags—don’t mess them up and waste President Shen’s time.”
President Shen!
The moment he heard those two words, Li Nuo—who had just tasted his first bite of juicy gossip—nodded with sparkling eyes. “Yes, Special Assistant Qin!”
In less than five minutes, Qin Mo, along with Li Nuo and a few secretaries from the secretarial department, moved the neatly organized contracts, documents, and reports to the 68th floor.
Once everything was set down, Shen Xiu still wasn’t used to having people around him. He looked at the group in front of him—Qin Mo, whom he was about 40% familiar with, Li Nuo, maybe 20%, and the rest complete strangers—and said, “Thanks for the hard work. You can all go now.”
He couldn’t stand being stared at by a bunch of strangers!
“Yes, President Shen.”
Qin Mo responded and led the assistants and secretaries out of the 68th floor.
With Qin Mo present, none of the secretaries who had been stunned by his sudden “President Shen” dared gossip in front of him.
It wasn’t until they got back to the office that the group finally exploded with excitement.
“Did you hear that?! Did you hear that?! Special Assistant Qin just called Boss Xiu ‘President Shen’! Unbelievable, totally unexpected!”
“Who could’ve seen that coming? If Shen Xiu hadn’t shown up at the company today, we would’ve never guessed. Now I finally understand what Assistant Qin meant with those questions in the gossip group!”
“No wonder Assistant Qin is the only one in the entire company who knows that Shen Xiu is actually President Shen. Not even the vice presidents of the six departments knew—there’s a reason for that. President Shen’s already come to the company, and none of the other deputies are anywhere to be seen. Tsk, tsk.”
“Ahem, maybe it’s because Special Assistant Qin is the one President Shen trusts the most? He probably doesn’t even want to see the other vice presidents.”
“I was already a little dazed when Boss Xiu became Director Shen, and now he’s suddenly our K Corp’s President Shen? I’m even more confused!”
“Wait a second… President Shen suddenly shows up and asks to see recent reports and contracts—does this mean it’s a surprise inspection? Or did something major happen at K Corp? After all, he’s only ever attended online meetings and kept in contact with Special Assistant Qin through a direct line before.”
“But… we haven’t heard of any problems at K Corp lately, have we?”
“Then why did President Shen suddenly come in person?”
By the end of the discussion, everyone was left with nothing but confusion.
—
68th Floor.
Once everyone had been escorted out via the elevators and the entire floor was left empty except for him, only then did Shen Xiu finally relax his tense posture. His gaze landed on the mountain-like stacks of documents on the desk.
He raised his hand and reached for the financial reports…
After all, when it comes to a company, financial reports directly relate to its debts—But the moment he picked them up, Shen Xiu frowned and muttered to himself, “Wait… how do I even know that?”
Forget it, just read it first.
Knowing it isn’t the point—whether he can actually understand this pile of stuff is what matters.
Shen Xiu glanced at the clock on the wall, then at the towering pile of contracts and documents on the desk. After mentally estimating how long it might take him to get through them, he finally flipped the first one open…
Before he knew it, it was already noon—K Corp’s lunch break.
Qin Mo was eating in the company cafeteria. When he didn’t see Shen Xiu come down, he checked his phone again. Still no message or summon from Shen Xiu.
He was conflicted.
He knew President Shen was a workaholic—but to the point of skipping meals? For the sake of his year-end bonus doubling again, should he maybe give a reminder?
But then again, President Shen hated being disturbed when he was busy.
Would he just be asking for trouble?
“Special Assistant Qin, is something wrong?” Li Nuo asked. He wasn’t eager to eat with a superior either, but had no choice. With President Shen suddenly showing up at the office, and Special Assistant Qin unsure of his intentions, he had been told to stay nearby—just in case he was needed.
“I’m fine,” Qin Mo replied, then stood and walked toward the food counter.
Just a few minutes later, Li Nuo saw Qin Mo leaving the cafeteria with a meal box in hand.
Li Nuo: “……”
No wonder he had President Shen’s trust. Everything happens for a reason. Look at the other vice presidents…
Li Nuo’s gaze shifted to a far-off table, where the six vice presidents were huddled together, looking worried and anxious.
None of them were like Special Assistant Qin, who stood firm under President Shen’s intimidating aura while being a thoughtful assistant.
…
Meanwhile, Shen Xiu was deeply engrossed in reading. He didn’t feel hungry. Even if he were, to him, filling the gaps in his understanding felt more important than filling his stomach.
The moment Qin Mo stepped out of the elevator, Shen Xiu recognized him by the sound of his footsteps alone.
He wondered why Qin Mo was coming up when he hadn’t called for him—only to see Qin Mo appear within his line of sight and speak:
“President Shen, I brought you lunch from the company cafeteria.”
Qin Mo placed the meal box on the coffee table in the lounge area.
Shen Xiu: “…Thank you.”
Qin Mo truly cared. From the moment Shen Xiu showed up here, Qin Mo had been doing everything for him—just to help confirm his suspicions.
And now… Shen Xiu felt extremely guilty.
“I’ll leave you to your work then, President Shen. I won’t disturb you any further.”
Shen Xiu was about to respond when something came to mind. He frowned at the stack of contract documents on his desk—half of which he had already read—and forced himself to keep pushing the test.
“Send out a notice. Emergency meeting at 2:30 this afternoon.”
This was bizarre. He had to see how far this went. There was no way he’d actually understand any of it, right?
He was already frowning at the documents while he spoke! Could it be that someone had made a mistake?
Qin Mo nodded with difficulty. “Understood, President Shen.”
As he left, Qin Mo mentally reviewed all his recent decisions, wondering if he had done anything foolish.
—
When Qin Mo returned to his office after coming down from the 68th floor, he wore a deeply worried expression.
Li Nuo had just finished lunch and was about to return to his desk for a break. When he saw his superior’s furrowed brows, his inner gossip flame roared to life.
“Special Assistant Qin, is something wrong?”
Hearing Li Nuo’s voice, Qin Mo looked at him and said, “Send out a notice. Emergency company meeting at 2:30 this afternoon.”
After saying that, Qin Mo remembered the frown on Shen Xiu’s face when he was reading those documents and added in a heavy tone, “All departments must attend. No one is allowed to be late.”
Li Nuo nodded cautiously. “Understood.”
Oh no. Even Special Assistant Qin is frowning now—did President Shen discover something? This feels serious!
Once the meeting notice went out, every department head turned solemn. No one could sleep during lunch break. Instead, they anxiously reviewed everything their departments had done recently, trying to figure out if they’d made a mistake.
—
2:30 PM.
With all attendees having arrived early for the meeting, Qin Mo went up to the 68th floor executive office to get Shen Xiu.
Seeing Shen Xiu still poring over an open document, Qin Mo spoke nervously, “President Shen, everyone’s already here.”
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