Qiuyun put it another way: “If a man likes a woman, he’ll cherish and respect her. He won’t push her out in front of everyone and leave her to burn, like your Brother Pei did to me.”
Although this incident had helped her get connected with Mr. Jiang far sooner than expected, Pei Cizhou had, in a sense, done something malicious that ended up helping her. Since she had achieved her goal, she hadn’t taken it too personally.
But what if she had just been an ordinary girl without any ability or connections?
Did that mean he had the right to toy with her like this?
“Your Brother Pei and I may become friends someday, or perhaps colleagues with a good working relationship.” Qiuyun’s gaze was serious. “But we will never have the kind of relationship you’re talking about, Miss.”
Jiang Chuling was puzzled. “But why is Brother Pei so uniquely special toward you?”
Qiuyun answered with certainty, “Because I can bring him benefits beyond his imagination.”
“All right.” Jiang Chuling wilted, then muttered in disappointment, “But I still think Brother Pei likes you.”
“What?” Qiuyun hadn’t heard her clearly.
“Nothing!” Jiang Chuling smiled and changed the subject. “Oh, right, Sister Xiaoqiu, how much did the afternoon tea cost? Just round it up and deduct it from my bank account. If you hadn’t reminded me, I would’ve forgotten everything you said about dealing with people.”
Sister Xiaoqiu had once taught her that, at the Jiang family’s level of society, money was no different from numbers to her.
If she could use something relatively cheap to her—such as money—to gain a good reputation, exchange it for someone else’s smile, or establish a favorable connection, then it was an incredibly worthwhile deal.
Qiuyun had already submitted a reimbursement request through the employee app, including the five hundred yuan tip. “No need. Madam approved this extra expense. From now on, you have a monthly allowance of fifty thousand yuan for social obligations, and the limit will increase as you get older.”
Oh?
That was pretty nice.
At least it wouldn’t come out of her pocket money.
—
That afternoon.
President Jiang was helped back by Secretary Wang, drunk enough to be swaying on his feet.
“Ah, when you’re asking someone for a favor, how could President Jiang not be generous?”
Seeing her father’s face and neck flushed red from drinking, Jiang Chuling’s eyes filled with tears.
Qiuyun noticed and immediately found some paper and a pen. She wrote down a recipe for hangover soup and handed it over. Afraid they might not believe her, she deliberately added, “This is an old family recipe that’s been passed down for several generations. They say it originally came from the imperial palace. We’ve used it many times at home, and it works very well.”
After everything that had happened over the past two days, Secretary Wang no longer doubted Assistant Qiuyun’s abilities. He took the recipe at once. “I’ll have someone gather the ingredients right away.”
Qiuyun reminded him, “Have them get several batches. Make enough for President Jiang to drink after simmering it. Judging from how he looks, he probably drank too much too quickly. Several doses will help prolong the effect.”
“All right.”
Neither Qiuyun nor Jiang Chuling could manage to take care of a drunk, grown man, so they simply stayed out of the way instead of hovering around.
Since Jiang Chuling had come all the way there, she naturally stayed in the president’s office to follow the progress of the matter.
Of course, there was also the fact that no one dared ask her to leave.
After having President Jiang moved into the lounge at the back, Secretary Wang came out wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Qiuyun asked, “Were you able to apply for special-case handling?”
“It’s possible, but…” Secretary Wang sighed. “I won’t go into the associated projects. In any case, we took another huge loss.”
Qiuyun understood. Doing business with the government was basically a case of losing money while earning praise.
Meanwhile, on Assistant Qian’s computer screen was footage from the GoPro one of their Korean colleagues had clipped to his collar. He had originally planned to record his life in Korea and make short videos as a Korea-based blogger, but now the camera had come in handy for a live broadcast.
“We’ve found the location!” someone whispered from the other end.
Qiuyun took the microphone. “Don’t rush to knock on the door. Now that you’ve found the place, there’s no need to hurry. Locate the unit’s electric meter first and check whether anyone is inside. Don’t alert her.”
“All right.”
The five of them located the meter. After waiting several minutes, they noticed that the numbers were slowly increasing.
“She’s inside! Someone’s using electricity!”
Qiuyun asked, “Which of you speaks Korean? Does anyone speak Korean?”
All five answered, “We all do.”
That was precisely why the company had hired them and sent them abroad.
Qiuyun instructed them, “Good. Knock on the door in Korean. Don’t give her a chance to call the police, and don’t attract the attention of the Korean patrol officers.”
“Understood.”
The colleagues on the other side had lived in Korea longer than Qin Man and were more familiar with the local situation.
After discussing it among themselves, they decided to have the woman knock on the door in order to lower Qin Man’s guard.
Fortunately, Qin Man never imagined that she would be located less than twenty-four hours after the incident.
Thus, Huang Ying went to the door pretending to be conducting a community visit for single women. Speaking Korean, she told Qin Man that she needed her signature and successfully tricked her into opening the door.
When the other two men restrained Qin Man, she was still clutching her phone and using voice translation.
“Tell them! I’m a foreigner here on vacation! I haven’t broken any laws!”
Huang Ying answered in clear, perfectly articulated Chinese, “Qin Man!”
The instant she heard Chinese, Qin Man froze. Her expression became evasive.
Qiuyun stepped aside and let the professional, Assistant Qian, take over.
Assistant Qian called Qin Man’s family. The moment the call connected, her mother began wailing.
“Manny! How could you do something so heartless? The police have already come to our house! They said they’re going to send your brother to prison!”
Qin Man’s face twisted. “Why would the police arrest you?”
Her mother continued sobbing, “Didn’t you give the family one hundred and fifty thousand yuan two months ago to build the house? The police said it was stolen money and demanded that we return it. But the house is already more than halfway built—where are we supposed to get the money? We don’t have any money! If we can’t pay, they’ll drag us off to prison!”
Qiuyun stared at Assistant Qian in surprise.
This was no longer a matter of administrative detention. Impersonating law-enforcement officers was a criminal offense!
Assistant Qian moved slightly aside and explained in a low voice, “Ahem, the old hands I hired are very slippery—professionals. They wouldn’t leave behind evidence like that. Besides, whether anyone files a complaint or not, it won’t implicate President Jiang. Don’t worry.”
Qiuyun understood. “Assistant Qian has connections.”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Just a small matter.”
As expected, Qin Man fiercely resisted going back to China.
With things having escalated this far, she knew that returning meant going to prison. How could she possibly be willing? Even when her parents took turns coming over to cry and beg her, she could only cry along with them. But the moment they mentioned returning to China, she still refused.
The people who had come to deal with the situation were legitimate employees, not street thugs. Naturally, they couldn’t actually use force against her. All they could do was remain at her apartment and follow her everywhere whenever she went outside. Huang Ying even accompanied her to the bathroom, never letting her out of sight.
Back in China, the lawyer’s letter announcing the lawsuit against Qin Man was released, and Engineer Chen silently deleted the articles and photos they had written and posted.
The public was already watching closely. The slightest movement sparked countless conspiracy theories. Some people claimed that Cat Claw Chacha had been bribed by the Jiang Group.
Before long, someone replied, “Why did they only delete the last post? The nine-grid collage with the strongest evidence is still there?”
