Chapter 1: Strange Phenomena in the Underworld

  After being scolded by the chairman, Wu Changyuan walked out of the office with a belly full of grievances. Soon after, the general manager followed him in. The general manager heard that the chairman had made a "secret visit" and felt something was off. He didn't believe the chairman would suddenly return to the company to check accounts without prior notice. According to his usual practice, the chairman always informed him before coming to the company, so he could prepare everything for the chairman's arrival. But this time, the chairman came so suddenly, without any prior notification, and immediately started investigating the accounts as soon as he entered the company. It seemed that the chairman already knew something. To be on the safe side, the general manager still put on a smiling face, ready to take action at any moment.

  As soon as he entered the door, he burst out laughing, just like welcoming a long-lost friend with such enthusiasm, and this way of welcoming seemed to have some meaning of reversing host and guest.

  "Ah, you've come and didn't even notify me, I could have gone to pick you up." The general manager opened his arms wide, making a gesture of embracing the chairman.

  "That's not necessary," Lan Yutong waved her left hand, and regardless of whether it was a passionate greeting or an embrace, everything was dispensed with. She then said coldly, "Director Qiu, you've been the company's general manager for some time now, right? How is the company doing? With someone as astute as you, I'm sure you must have earned a lot for the company. What do you say?"

  Qiu Xiangqian's heart began to analyze how to answer without getting into trouble, as this was a very difficult question. Although the chairman asked so lightly, it was still hard to answer. First, if he said the company's efficiency had been poor recently, then the general manager would be incompetent; if he said the company had always made money, where was the money? It was impossible to hand over the money.

  "This... uh, Chairman, the stock market hasn't been doing well lately, many companies are facing bankruptcy, so..." He stammered and said, his eyes darting around, without giving a direct answer.

  "I see that there are 300 million funds on the account that have gone to unknown destinations, how do you explain this?" The chairman's eyes slanted, looking like he no longer trusted the general manager.

  "Shouldn't you ask the finance department about account matters?" Qiu Xiaoqian said, "How would I know."

  "How could you not know?" Wu Changyuan looked at Chou Xiaoqian and asked, "This money was signed by you, look!" Wu Changyuan said, handing a document to the general manager.

  "How much funds are left in the company's account?" The chairman asked Wu Changyuan.

  "The funds that can be mobilized are almost gone, and now my company still owes 100 million. The bank has been chasing debts recently, and the money we owe to the bank is 530 million. There are two loans borrowed by the general manager in the name of the company, but not a single penny has arrived." Wu Changyuan looked at Qiu Xiaoqian and said.

  "Listening to you," the chairman took a deep breath and then let it out heavily, Wu Changyuan's words made his heart beat faster, an ominous premonition was creeping up on him. He fell silent for a moment before saying, "The company's money is now flowing outward, and all of this is because of General Manager Qiu Xiaochan?"

  "Yes!" Wu Changyuan said, his expression serious and seemingly indignant. This indignation had been pent up for a long time and now that he had spoken out, he seemed much more relaxed.

  "You despicable little man!" The chairman slapped the table, staring at Qiu Xiaoqian and said, "I trusted you so much, but you actually embezzled the company's money. Tell me, are you going to return it all or do I need to report you to the police for misusing public funds?"

  Under Wu Changyuan's testimony, Qiu Xiaoqian had nothing to say in his defense. He gritted his teeth, remained silent for a moment, then lifted his head and gazed out the window at the white clouds drifting lazily across the blue sky. As the sun set, its golden rays shone on his chubby face, making it look like wax and highlighting the numerous acne scars scattered across it. His facial expression transformed from tension to relaxation, then to mystery, followed by greed and complacency, before suddenly bursting into laughter. After laughing, he said: "All the company's financial outflows went through the finance director's hands, with documented evidence. If the money is gone, it can only be because business was bad - are you going to blame me for that? I think you don't have any evidence to report me to the police and arrest me. Honestly, Lan Shi Group is now just an empty shell, and I'm not even interested in this CEO position anymore. Here, take it back!"

  Qiu Xiaoqian finished speaking, put the general manager's badge on the chairman's desk and walked away with a smile.

  Lan Yutong watched Qiu Xiaoqian's back as he walked out of the office, hearing that the company was now just an empty shell. He was so angry that he almost vomited blood, his pale and handsome face suddenly turned iron-green, his fists clenched tightly, heavily pounding on the table, followed by a loud "ah" cry, throwing all the things on the table to the ground, after venting out, he sat back in the chair, or rather, collapsed.

  Lu Xiao Ying sat silently on the sofa in the office, not saying a word. She didn't know anything about the company's affairs. Earlier, when she heard the three people talking, she only half-understood what they were saying. The only thing she grasped was that the company was finished!

  She didn't have to sit here, and sitting here was useless. She just wanted the general manager to admit it, so she could confront him in person. But now it seemed that there was no need for that anymore. Chou Xiaoqian's smug expression left them momentarily at a loss.

  She watched Qiu Xiaoqian walk out with a triumphant smile, then quietly looked at the chairman's angry and helpless face. She shook her head, stood up and sighed.

  Perhaps due to anger, the chairman almost forgot that Lu Xiaoying was sitting in the office, while Wu Changyuan stood in front of the desk with his hands hanging down, not knowing whether he should leave or just stand there.

  Lu Xiaoying stood up like this, and the chairman finally came back to his senses. He looked at Wu Changyuan, then at Lu Xiaoying, and said with a voice that was almost crying: "What do you say we should do?"

  Lu Xiaoying didn't say a word, she also stood still, looking at the chairman's helpless expression, suddenly felt that the chairman was very pitiful, so pitiful that it reduced her disdain for the chairman, and the word "deserved" stuck in her throat.

  She looked down on the chairman, although the chairman was very young and handsome, but such a spoiled son who only knew how to indulge in games and pleasure, had ruined his father's hard-earned company in just a few short months. Such behavior is bound to be ridiculed.

  But now it's no longer important to pursue the chairman's responsibility, the most important thing is how to save the company from its predicament, because with any hesitation, the company will have to declare bankruptcy.

  "I think you can ask Lan Jingqiu, Uncle Lan." Lu Xiaoying stepped forward and sat down in the chair in front of the office desk.

  "My dad?" Lan Yutong asked in confusion, then seemed to suddenly realize and said, "Right! I should go visit my father's grave and burn incense for him."

  "It's only right to offer incense to your father," Qian Xiaohong said, "but the Lan Jiaqiu I'm talking about now is not your father. He's the sales manager of our company and shares the same name and surname as your father."

  "What a coincidence, there's actually someone with the same surname and name as my dad. But do you think he'll help me? Just because we share the same name and surname, I don't know who to trust anymore. Besides, can he even help me in our current situation?"

  "I think he will, and can also help you," said Lu Xiao Ying, "because he is also called Lan Jing Qiu, who once founded a big company, only...only later his company was also destroyed by others like your company."

  Lan Yutong suddenly regained his spirit, he stood up and said: "Then please ask him to come to my office."

  "Why don't you go find him?" Lu Xiao Ying said coldly in an instant, "Do you still think you're the chairman now?"

  "Sorry," Lan Yutong nodded and beckoned, and the three of them walked out of the office and headed straight to Lan Jingqiu's office.

  Lan Jingqiu and Dugu Jin were discussing how to help the company turn things around, anxiously waiting for Qian Xiaohong to return and report on her meeting with the client. Just then, Lan Yutong, Wu Changyuan, and Lu Xiao'ying walked in.

  "This is Lan Jingqiu," Lu Xiaoying said, pointing at Lan Jingqiu as she introduced her to the chairman.

  Lan Jingqiu looked at the chairman, his heart suddenly excited. He was angry, he was joyful, he was disappointed, he was hopeful. His hands trembled, his eyes fixed on the chairman's handsome face, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.

  "Are you Lan Jingqiu?" The chairman looked up and down at the person in front of him who could save his company and shared the same name as his father, saying, "Same name as my father?"

  "Is that so?" Lan Jingqiu thought of the scene where he was carried into a simple and dirty room before his death, thinking of the pain of being left to fend for himself. He hated the heartlessness and indifference of his children, and he really wanted to beat this ungrateful son to death with his own hands, but he restrained himself because his identity could not be exposed.

  "Do you still remember your father?" Lan Jingqiu said coldly, "I heard people say that you and your sister were fighting over his inheritance, even heartlessly abandoning your seriously ill father in a smelly and broken house, not even knowing when he died."

  "This... this," the chairman said with some embarrassment, stuttering, "who spread this rumor?"

  "Isn't it?" Lan Jingqiu asked coldly again.

  The chairman did not speak, he lowered his head.

  "Alright, now is not the time to dwell on history," Lu Xiao Ying said, seeing that this conversation had created an awkward atmosphere in the room. "General Manager Chou Xiao Qian has already emptied out the company, and now we can't even find evidence to sue him. So, it can be said that our company is now just an empty shell. If the investors on the board of directors found out, who knows what kind of trouble would arise? The bank and other companies' debt collection notices are coming in like snowflakes. If we don't think of a way to save the company soon, then Lan Shi Group will really be finished."

  "This is not my company," Lan Jing said with a cold hum, "The chairman is so capable, believes in people, and spends money like water. There should be a way to save it, right? We workers, as long as we have a salary, we do our job. Without a salary, we leave. What's it to us?"

  Lu Xiao Ying didn't say another word, her eyes fixed on Lan Yu Tong. Hearing Lan Jing Qiu's words, she hated that Lan Yu Tong was not doing his job properly and felt even more sorry for him now being helpless, a free and easy going person was now being talked to with his head hung low in shame. Seeing this made her kind heart ache slightly.

  "I know I was a beast in the past, unfilial to my father and didn't take care of the company, handing it over to a madman. But now I know I was wrong, although it's too late now, what can I do? Uncle Lan, for the sake of your shared name with my father, please help me?! Lan Yutong fell silent for a long time, then suddenly knelt down, crying and begging them for help, his hands clasped around Lan Jingqiu's legs."

  Lan Jingqiu looked at her son with tears streaming down his face, and she didn't feel good either. She secretly shed tears, then let out a long sigh, and punched the office desk with a fist.