I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

Several housekeeping staff huddled together, whispering and gossiping.

"Hey, did you guys hear? We were supposed to get a night meal allowance this month, but it fell through."

"What? Why is it yellow?"

"Tell me quickly, what exactly happened?"

The group immediately perked up and urged the waiter who had spoken to hurry up.

"I'm telling you guys, but please don't tell anyone. It's that new college graduate from the external liaison office, surnamed Wang, I can't even remember his full name, he's made a huge mess. He messed up the number of people in the inspection team that came yesterday, creating a deficit of twenty extra people out of nowhere. The office has no choice but to use our dinner allowance to cover this hole."

"Why should we? Why should we use our money to clean up his mess?"

"Yeah, that guy surnamed Wang is a real scoundrel!"

"We can't just let this go like this. Let's go talk to the section chief!"

The group stormed off to find Song Yun, the section chief of the guest room department, only to be met with a curt reply: "If you have any complaints, go talk to Director Li."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately fell silent.

Li Jing'an had just displayed his power a while ago, and his influence was still lingering, so no one dared to truly provoke him. No matter how dissatisfied they were, they could only curse him silently behind his back. Unable to curse Li Jing'an, everyone vented their anger on Wang Defa. Within half a day, everyone in the entire guesthouse knew about it.

As soon as Wang Defa arrived at work, he sensed something was off; the people in the office were giving him strange looks.

But he had no time to worry about such things; he was overwhelmed by a self-criticism, revising it again and again, but still couldn't finalize it.

Although Li Jing'an said he was going to transfer him, the specific destination had not yet been decided, and he would still have to stay in the external liaison office, sharing a room with Xu Damao.

"What's wrong? Don't you have hands? Can't you get your own water? I just got the water this morning, and you poured it so easily." Xu Damao slammed the kettle down on Wang Defa's table with a bang.

Wang Defa immediately retorted, "This is water from the guesthouse, why can't I drink it?"

"The water belongs to the guesthouse, but I brought the kettle! You wronged me yesterday, and now you have the nerve to use my water? Have you no shame?"

"Who wronged you? I remember clearly that the inspection team you told me about had fifty people!" Wang Defa retorted, forcing a smile.

"Oh, still not convinced? Come on, let's find the director and get to the bottom of this. We're going to make this clear today!"

Xu Damao reached out to pull Wang Defa, but Wang Defa struggled to break free and stood still, refusing to move. The two began to scuffle on the spot.

He knew better than anyone that the matter had already been settled, and he had no evidence. His earlier argument was simply because he didn't want to show weakness in front of Xu Damao.

When he got home last night, he tossed and turned all night, wondering if he had misremembered or if something else had gone wrong. Even he himself couldn't be sure.

In another office, Lin Xiaomei was writing something with her head down.

The door was pushed open, and Li Jing'an walked in.

Lin Xiaomei quickly stood up: "Director."

Li Jing'an waved his hand, gesturing for her to sit down: "I came today to ask you something."

As he spoke, he took out a receipt from his pocket and handed it over. "Here's a receipt. Our guesthouse cleaner found it this morning while cleaning. They saw an official stamp on it and handed it in. Can you take a look and see what's going on?"

Lin Xiaomei took the document and opened it, her heart sinking – it was the reception form with fifty people listed.

"What happened... how could this be..." Her face turned pale instantly.

"Director, I...I..." Lin Xiaomei's tongue was tied, and she couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.

"Xiaomei, when I asked you yesterday, you said you only signed one form for thirty people. What's the deal with this one for fifty people?" Li Jing'an's tone was calm, yet it carried a sense of pressure.

Lin Xiaomei was trembling with fear and dared not raise her head.

"Is this signature yours? Did Wang Defa give it to you yesterday?"

"Yes... I signed it. This is the form from this morning, but when you looked for it yesterday, I couldn't find it. I only found another form for thirty people. I was scared, so I..." Her voice trailed off.

"So you took that list of thirty people, came to my office, and tried to pin all the blame on Wang Defa, is that it?"

Lin Xiaomei lowered her head and dared not respond.

Li Jing'an sneered, "You're so young, just out of school, yet you've got quite the nerve. Do you even know you're falsifying accounts? That's illegal!"

"Director, I didn't mean to. I really don't know where the form went and how another form appeared..." Lin Xiaomei was so frightened that tears streamed down her face.

"If this form falls into the wrong hands and gets leaked, do you know how serious the consequences would be?"

Lin Xiaomei was so frightened that she couldn't stop sobbing.

"Alright, stop crying." Li Jing'an's tone softened slightly. "It's done now, let's leave it at that. Remember, pretend this never happened. You'll only ever have that bill for thirty people, understand?"

"Understood, Director... Thank you, Director..." Lin Xiaomei nodded, crying.

Li Jing'an smiled and said, "Don't cry. Remember this lesson. If word gets out, you'll go to jail. I'll cover it up for you. You'd better be careful in the future."

Li Jing'an folded the receipt for fifty people and put it back in his pocket.

"As long as you work hard for me, this matter will be treated as if it never happened."

He paused, then lowered his voice even further, "Don't cry."

After saying that, he cupped her somewhat childlike face in his hands, gently brushing her eyes with his fingertips, then slowly stroking her lips with his thumb, murmuring softly:

"So tender, so delicious."