Dawn of Life

Dasheng was originally a company with over a thousand employees, but after six months of layoffs and employee resignations, it now has only over seven hundred employees left.

As a result, many of the previous workstations became available. Meanwhile, Shengxing plans to transfer some of Dasheng's online operations to its offline directly-operated stores in the future, so there will be no new headcount (HR) positions. Due to considerations of office space utilization, Shengxing decided to relocate its offices.

Qu Liang was exceptionally proactive in this task. He personally handled everything from selecting designers and communicating design requirements, to creating floor plans, renderings, and construction drawings, to choosing a renovation company and starting the renovation, as well as selecting and liaising with suppliers.

The good news is that Qu Liang has been too busy for the past two weeks to bother Lin Yue; the bad news is that Lin Yue has discovered this matter is not so simple, especially after a casual conversation with the administrative manager, Wang Lu, which further confirmed her suspicions. She decided to keep an eye on Qu Liang, hoping to make an unexpected discovery.

One day, Lin Yue went to the administration department to collect office computers for the new employees and saw Wang Lu leisurely chatting with her team members about TV dramas. Lin Yue casually joked, "The company is currently undergoing renovations. I thought the administration department would be extremely busy, but it turns out they still have time to chat. It seems Manager Wang is very good at project management. I should learn from you."

Wang Lu was a woman about the same age as Lin Yue. They joined the company in the same year and had always had a fairly good relationship. Hearing Lin Yue say this, she wasn't annoyed at all. Instead, she smiled and put her arm around Lin Yue's shoulder, saying, "Oh no, HR found out you weren't working hard enough. Come on, I'll buy you coffee and bribe you." As she spoke, she put her arm around Lin Yue and walked towards the door.

As the two walked downstairs to Starbucks, Wang Lu whispered mysteriously in Lin Yue's ear, "Let me tell you, Minister Qu is handling all the renovations himself now. I'm just a tool. For example, he finalizes the contract details and then just dumps them on me to process the payment; or there are things like dealing with renovation waste and liaising with the property management. But when it comes to coordinating with the renovation company or construction team, he won't let me get involved. That day, I thought it was our department's responsibility, so I was going to go to the site to see how far things were going, and I happened to run into a worker who was bringing over a sample booklet."

"Because I had seen the sample materials and quotes in the appendix of the renovation contract, I took out my phone, opened the electronic version of the contract, and compared them with the materials he pointed out to me. As a result, out of 10 samples I checked, 6 didn't match. Just then, Minister Qu came over and scolded both me and the worker, saying that for such important matters, I should contact him directly in the future. I was just about to report the situation to him when he yelled at me and told me to leave it alone. You have no idea how rude he was."

The two arrived at Starbucks as they talked. Wang Lu ordered two coffees, then gave Lin Yue a meaningful look and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Pay up."

Lin Yue smiled slightly and handed over her mobile payment code, understanding the unspoken message.

Back at the company, Lin Yue kept pondering Wang Lu's words and the look in her eyes when she asked her to pay. Lin Yue knew that Wang Lu wasn't one to complain, and that she was very meticulous. Her former boss, the administrative director, was a very demanding boss, whom Lin Yue had managed to oust.

Many people in the company knew that Lin Yue and Qu Liang were at odds, and Wang Lu certainly knew as well. So today, she deliberately leaked this useful information to Lin Yue. Nobody likes having someone above them who's bossing them around; she wanted to use Lin Yue to get rid of Qu Liang.

Therefore, it's quite obvious that Qu Liang colluded with the renovation company, taking kickbacks from the company's renovation payments. Qu Liang used one batch of materials in the payment process, while the renovation team actually used a different batch.

Materials are hard to spot once they're used; for example, wall paint, partitions, and carpets are often undetectable to the untrained eye. Even if a small chance of it being noticed, the renovation company will claim Qu Liang signed off on the samples, while Qu Liang can say he was ignorant and it was just a mistake. In the end, it all boils down to a messy, unresolved issue.

Lin Yue had seen suppliers bribe their contacts to secure orders, but this was the first time she'd seen someone directly tamper with the materials. It seemed Qu Liang had quite the appetite and audacity.

Now that Wang Lu had shared this useful information with her, she had to make good use of it. In the past, she might have chosen to protect herself, but after experiencing so much recently, she decided to move forward. With Qu Liang gone, she could return to her position as HR director, and her job would be more stable.

One day after get off work, as she was driving to the construction site, she received a call from Xiao Feng via the car's Bluetooth: "Are you off work? I'll pick you up from get off work tonight and we can have dinner together. I have to go on a business trip for several days, so I can't spend the weekend with you."

Lin Yue turned the steering wheel, just as they passed a traffic light, and replied, "It's okay, let's make another appointment when you get back from your business trip. I left work early today and have already been gone for a while."

She didn't tell Xiao Feng about coming to the construction site that night. Perhaps there was a little bit of distrust involved, but more than that, she felt that there was no need to tell him about things she could handle herself.

Xiao Feng had a serious talk with Lin Yue about this. He remembered that night, the bright moonlight shining on his face, and he said gently but earnestly, "I'm not the kind of boyfriend who's overly dependent on his father; there are many things I can't anticipate for you. But I hope you can rely on me, because I'm your boyfriend, and I have that responsibility."

Xiao Feng always described things far into the future to Lin Yue in this way, such as having another daughter together, or where to settle down when they get old. He always gave her a feeling of seriousness and affection.

Soon, the car arrived at its destination. Lin Yue had changed into a casual outfit she didn't usually wear to the office, put on a hat and mask she had prepared beforehand, and then took the elevator to the site. She saw that the non-load-bearing wall had been knocked down, and more than a dozen workers were currently working on it. Some workers were installing the ceiling, while others were building partitions.

As she walked inside, she said, "Thank you for your hard work, everyone. I brought some drinks for you. Come and have a drink." As she spoke, she placed the bag of drinks she had just bought at the convenience store downstairs on a chair.

A welder who was welding steel bars nearby walked over, his clothes and hair covered in a thin layer of white powder. He gave Lin Yue a simple, honest smile, then took out a bottle of Red Bull from his bag, opened it, and gulped it down, his Adam's apple bobbing rhythmically with each gulp. After he finished, Lin Yue gave him a big smile through her mask.