Chapter 13: Assistant Jing
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The three brothers of the Li family waited in stunned silence for a while.
Jing Yi slapped his forehead. [I still can't remember.]
“…”
He always seemed to drop the ball at the crucial moment.
[But I think I remember the general direction. As long as I see the person involved, I should be able to recall what happened... probably?]
Li Wenzhao and Li Ting exchanged a glance. They saw the same thought in each other's eyes:
Second Brother's birthday party. Butler Jing would sit at the main table.
The living room fell silent for several seconds before Li Wenzhao and Li Ting resumed discussing the details of the birthday party. Li Mingzhi had no interest in such trivial matters. She took Jing Yi upstairs and led him into her room.
The two of them whispered together in the bedroom for most of the night before Jing Yi finally returned to his own little mochi nest.
The overworked butler hurriedly rinsed off in the shower, then tossed himself onto the bed. The soft mattress gently bounced beneath him.
So~ com~fy.
Whatever else one might say, the Li family's mattresses were truly snug and considerate.
Lying down on one was pure bliss.
Even the butler's mattress was this comfortable. He wondered whether the presidents' mattresses were even better. Once he had earned enough money to retire, he would buy himself an obscenely expensive executive bed and spend twelve hours a day lying in it, dedicating himself to a life of luxurious indulgence.
Coveting the Li family's executive mattresses, Jing Yi slowly drifted off to sleep.
·
·
The next day, Jing Yi was jolted awake by his alarm.
To earn that extra twenty thousand yuan, he had to rise early and work late as Li Wenzhao's assistant. To avoid being late, Jing Yi had set five alarms and placed his phone on a desk far away from the bed.
He had no idea how many times the alarm had gone off. Jing Yi climbed out of bed with a face full of resentment, got down to silence it, and remained only half awake.
By the time he drifted, dazed and bewildered, into the office, Secretary Fan once again delivered a mountain of documents to him.
“Butler Jing, these are the important correspondence files from the Third Young Master's company over the past three years. President Li would like you to classify them again.”
Although, in Secretary Fan Ming's opinion, this sort of classification was nothing more than child's play, if the president was willing to indulge it, he had no grounds for complaint.
Jing Yi stared once more at the stack of files piled half as high as a person. He raised his eyes.
“Secretary Fan, hasn't your workload decreased ever since I started working here?”
“Not at all,” Secretary Fan replied. “These are additional tasks the president assigned after Butler Jing came on board.”
Jing Yi: ←皿←
So the work was tailored to the employee. What an evil capitalist.
Secretary Fan said, “Keep it up, Butler Jing.”
Jing Yi answered feebly, “Secretary Fan, give me a hand.”
“I still have my regular duties to deal with. Those who are capable should shoulder more, Butler Jing.”
Jing Yi collapsed over the desk and sighed out the pathetic misery of an overworked wage slave.
After Fan Ming left, Jing Yi lay sprawled there in resigned defeat for a while before casually picking up a file. A college student's memory was not especially reliable. After reading for a little while, he had to spend ages thinking everything through, terrified that these documents might conceal some trap the original author had planted.
After finishing the morning meeting, Li Wenzhao was about to go downstairs when he suddenly remembered something.
“Have the documents all been delivered?”
Secretary Fan followed close behind him. “Yes.”
“Let's take a look.”
Li Wenzhao changed direction and headed toward the office.
A small desk had been added beside the largest desk in the president's office. At that moment, Jing Yi was holding a file and reading it with complete concentration.
“Butler Jing,” Secretary Fan called out. “Have you... finished selecting the documents?”
His voice dropped as soon as he saw the state of the files.
He had done absolutely nothing. The stack looked exactly as it had when it arrived. It had merely moved from the center of the desk to the corner—a simple displacement.
“Finished.” Jing Yi placed the final file on top of the tallest pile.
Li Wenzhao looked at the tower of folders on the desk and felt a sudden wave of relief. Thank goodness, thank goodness. This time, Jing Yi had not pulled out some comprehensive criminal law textbook. It seemed the Third Young Master's company had nothing worth worrying about after all.
“This pile.” Jing Yi patted the mountain of documents on the desk. “None of them can be used.”
Li Wenzhao: “…”
Secretary Fan: “…”
He cautiously glanced at Li Wenzhao's expression before asking, “Butler Jing, could you be a little more specific? For instance, what is the basis for voiding these contracts...?”
Basis again?
Jing Yi frowned slightly. Fortunately, he had prepared for this.
He bent down and pulled something from beneath the desk. A stack of professional books came up as easily as a slab of pork.
The Criminal Code of the People's Republic of Huaxia, Commercial Law, Consumer Protection Law, National Geographic...
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[Every single one of these hundreds of documents is a trap! One partner absconded with the funds, another was hit by a landslide after Mother Nature lost her temper, one involved criminals laundering money under the cover of the project, and there was even a joint venture whose partners were all arrested for soliciting prostitutes...]
[I really hate that I'm not a police officer. Otherwise, how many medals could I have earned at the Li family, oh my god!]
Li Wenzhao: “…”
The moment he heard those thoughts, the eldest Li president broke out in a cold sweat.
If all those problems came to light, the Third Young Master's company would be only a step away from bankruptcy.
“Secretary Fan,” Li Wenzhao said without hesitation, “call Li Ting and tell him to find new partners.”
After a pause, he added, “Tell him that, from now on, all company contracts must be sent to headquarters and signed only after unified approval.”
Fan Ming looked horrified.
“This... doesn't seem appropriate, does it?”
How was this any different from monitoring him?
There were four Li brothers in this generation. For more than twenty years, they had always gotten along harmoniously, treating one another with affection and respect. They had never played those games of fighting over the family fortune. And now they were suddenly doing this...
Were they preparing to seize power?
Fan Ming cast a strange look at Jing Yi.
It seemed that this sort of thing had only begun happening after Butler Jing appeared.
Li Wenzhao gave the order. “It's fine. Go tell him.”
With a nervous yet excited heart, Fan Ming anxiously dialed Li Ting's number.
“Third Young Master.”
Li Ting sounded to be in a good mood. “Secretary Fan. How did it go? Have all the contracts been reviewed?”
Fan Ming swallowed. “Yes. President Li says they are all void, so you'll need to find new partners. Also... all contracts from your company will require headquarters' approval before they can be signed from now on.”
Fan Ming closed his eyes. This was all President Li's idea. Don't curse the wage slave, don't curse the wage slave.
“Sure.” Li Ting agreed without hesitation. “In that case, why don't you set up an office for me beside my brother's? I can work at headquarters from now on.”
Fan Ming: “???”
He wasn't even angry.
Was this truly what brotherly affection and respect looked like?
·
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In the office, Jing Yi stared at Li Wenzhao with a strange expression.
The eldest young master trusted him far too much. Not only did he tolerate an outsider to the industry giving orders in his company, he also accepted everything Jing Yi pointed out without the slightest doubt.
Those were contracts worth tens of billions!
[Something's wrong.]
[Something is very wrong.]
[Is Li Wenzhao also a transmigrator? Or did he die and return to life, just as in the novel, with the same omniscient perspective?]
Jing Yi propped up his chin and stared at him for a while before pursing his lips.
“Eldest Young Master, what do you think about reincarnation?”
Li Wenzhao calmly flipped through a document. “Butler Jing, I pay you to work, not to supervise me.”
“I've already finished my work.”
Li Wenzhao glanced up. “That still isn't a reason for you to read novels in the office. And you look far too absorbed.”
Jing Yi protested in a small voice, “I'm not reading a novel.”
“So you're telling me your thoughts simply grew wings and flew into a novel about reincarnation?”
Jing Yi: “…”
Li Wenzhao remained expressionless. “Let's go, Butler Jing.”
Jing Yi's face lit up. “Are we done for the day?”
“Meeting.” Li Wenzhao rose to his feet. “Secretary Fan isn't here, so you're responsible for taking the minutes.”
Jing Yi: 艹皿艹
President Li the Skinflint.
·
·
This was Jing Yi's first time attending the legendary executive meeting. The moment he entered the room, he saw a gathering of white-haired old men. Seated at the head of the table, Li Wenzhao looked extraordinarily young by comparison.
Several senior board members looked startled when they saw Jing Yi.
“President Li, this is...?”
“Assistant.” Li Wenzhao waved his hand, signaling the start of the meeting. “Everyone is here, so let's begin. First, let's discuss the development project at Southwind Harbor...”
[Southwind Harbor...??]
Li Wenzhao's steady voice came to an abrupt halt.
What problem had surfaced now?
Jing Yi's gaze fell upon the documents in front of him. After reading them carefully for a few moments, he thought:
[Is this the new Southwind Harbor that will have half of it destroyed by a tsunami and typhoon six months from now, then be sealed off after an investigation exposes the shoddy construction?]
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Li Wenzhao: “…”
With a blank expression, he changed the subject of the meeting.
“Director Zhang, why don't you first tell us about the resort construction project you were responsible for advancing last month?”
[Oh, damn.]
Li Wenzhao's brow twitched.
[Director Zhang... Zhang Liming? He's a huge bug running through the entire novel. On the surface, he's a vice president of the Li Corporation, but secretly he's a corporate spy sent by our archenemy. He secretly diverted construction funds to gamble, causing the resort project to stall. The workers went on strike, and the site has been without work or electricity for ages, hasn't it?]
Li Wenzhao's expression tightened.
Director Zhang smiled as he had his assistant display the photographs and explain the progress.
“The resort project is moving along smoothly. However, since it is located on an island, transportation is extremely difficult. Many construction materials cannot be delivered in time, so I hope headquarters will consider providing additional investment. I've calculated that eighty million should be enough.”
Jing Yi drew in a sharp breath.
[How much gambling debt does he owe?]
[It could also be that the rival company's project funds are running short and they want to steal a little from the Li Corporation. Hmm, that's possible. They are repeat offenders, after all.]
“…”
Li Wenzhao waved a hand to stop him.
“Director Li, I believe you also have a project...”
The room fell utterly silent.
Without leaving a trace, Li Wenzhao glanced toward the little butler beside him and found Jing Yi gripping a pen, writing and writing and writing across the page with an earnest, professional air.
Li Wenzhao focused his eyes.
The entire page was filled with thoughts about food.
“…”
Li Wenzhao lifted his water glass and took a sip, then gave a soft cough. Jing Yi's back stiffened. Like a student caught daydreaming by his teacher, he hurriedly covered his notes, raised his head, and looked at the conference table with an expression of intense seriousness.
[Director Li? I don't remember him... ]
Li Wenzhao felt his whole body relax.
Thank goodness. The Li Corporation could not possibly be infested with parasites from top to bottom. Surely there were at least one or two projects worth mentioning...
[But I seem to remember that, later on, a director surnamed Li from the Li Corporation was arrested for drug trafficking and bribing officials. I wonder if it's this man...]
Li Wenzhao: “…”
There was only one director surnamed Li at Li Corporation headquarters.
Li Wenzhao looked around the enormous office, furrowing his brow in disbelief. For the first time, he wondered what he had actually been doing with the first half of his life. Rising early and working late to raise bugs at the company?
With an appalling expression, Li Wenzhao stood up.
“That concludes today's meeting. Meeting adjourned.”
Jing Yi: “Huh?”
The directors were utterly bewildered. They had merely mentioned one thing about each project, and that counted as finishing the meeting?
Everyone dispersed in a daze.
When Jing Yi had gathered his things and walked out of the conference room, he happened to run into Secretary Fan.
“Butler Jing, was the meeting really over that quickly?”
Jing Yi nodded. “More or less.”
Secretary Fan pressed him. “What did you mainly discuss?”
Jing Yi thought for a few seconds before summarizing.
“We discussed the opening.”
Secretary Fan: “…”
Secretary Fan took his documents and left.
Jing Yi had originally planned to return to the office and continue slacking off, but Li Wenzhao suddenly had to leave on a business trip for several days. In a rare display of generosity, he gave Jing Yi time off.
Jing Yi's eyes lit up. He clapped like a seal.
“Thank you, Eldest Young Master. Um... you're not deducting my pay, are you?”
Li Wenzhao: “No deduction.”
Jing Yi gave a tiny cheer, gathered his things, and ran back to his little mochi nest.
Not long after he left, Li Wenzhao solemnly pressed the intercom and summoned Secretary Fan.
“Investigate whether any of the directors have been conducting illegal operations in private.”
Secretary Fan asked, “President Li, do you mean...?”
“Southwind Harbor's shoddy construction. Director Zhang's gambling. Director Li's involvement in drugs and bribery.”
Snap.
The pen in Fan Ming's hand broke in two.
...What the hell?
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