Yu Heng thought for a long while, then nodded solemnly. “Probably.”
From the classes Sister Qiu had attended with them, they had learned that only the chairman had independent decision-making authority. Directors who merely held shares had to submit proposals concerning the company’s business to the board of directors first, and could only approve projects after the board had passed them.
Once the two little ones had finished admiring themselves, Qiuyun gave a light cough. “Chairman, shouldn’t we discuss how to solve the funding problem?”
“Right, right, right!” Jiang Chuling hurried over. “Does Sister Qiuyun have any good ideas?”
Qiuyun led her along patiently. “Chairman, don’t you think that if we ask Mr. and Mrs. Jiang or the eldest young master for the money, it’ll all come out of our branch’s pocket? Mr. Jiang left the mess behind for us to clean up. Wouldn’t that be letting him off too easily?”
Jiang Chuling pondered. “If we don’t ask the family, who else can we ask? Fourth Uncle definitely won’t be able to give me the money. Could we… ask Grandpa?”
“Exactly.” Qiuyun looked pleased. “You’re catching on. At the time, Mr. Jiang figured that since the company was meant to be practice for the eldest young master, no one would be able to criticize him as long as he didn’t turn it into a mountain of debt, even if he ran the place into the ground. And as a young man barely in his twenties, the eldest young master would never be able to bring himself to ask the family for money. Most likely, he’s been using his own savings to keep the company moving forward, accepting all the gains and losses himself.”
Jiang Chuling’s eyes lit up. “But I’m different! I’m a child. I can ask the family—or Grandpa—for money!”
Qiuyun praised her. “Very clever! At Great-Grandpa’s birthday banquet, didn’t he promise that you could ask him for one reward? Have you asked Butler Lin to help you claim it yet?”
Jiang Chuling giggled. “Nope! I originally planned to ask Grandpa for the reward during the New Year and use it to ask him to let Big Brother come home for New Year’s Eve dinner. But Big Brother has already come back, so I haven’t used the reward yet. I can use it to ask for funding instead!”
This was wonderful!
Not only would they avoid spending their own family’s money, but she could also put in a good word against Fourth Uncle in front of Grandpa!
He had left an empty shell of a company for the younger members of the family and still expected Big Brother to swallow the bitter pill himself. Fat chance!
Qiuyun guided her further. “Once the preliminary framework for the project is drawn up, it’ll probably take another three to five days. Why don’t you and Little Heng use this time to think about how to approach Great-Grandpa and ask him to invest?”
“Okay!” Jiang Chuling agreed at once, excitedly discussing it with Little Heng.
Before long, CEO Liang compiled and packaged the detailed profiles of the employees who could be assigned to the project and sent them over.
Qiuyun studied them carefully. To be honest, it was extremely difficult to tell whether these people were suited to the project based solely on their abbreviated résumés and past achievements.
After thinking it over, she decided it would be worth spending some money to get the number of an industry headhunter from Assistant Qian and investigate the candidates more thoroughly.
—
After the Jiugong grid incident, Mr. and Mrs. Jiang had broken through the ice between them. Although they still had not moved back to the second floor or begun sharing a room, Qiuyun would occasionally run into Mr. Jiang sneaking out of Mrs. Jiang’s room when she returned from her jog.
Ahem. It seemed likely that the two of them would soon reconcile completely.
As relations within the family grew more harmonious, the eldest and fourth young masters also began eating at home more often.
Qiuyun was pleased.
Harmony between the senior couple and harmony between parents and children were signs that the family would prosper in all things.
“Hello?” Jiang Linzhi’s phone rang while he was eating. He got up and walked over to the living room to take the call. Qiuyun happened to be there, arranging the flowers Mrs. Jiang would use for her evening floral arrangement.
“What do you mean, President Pei approved it? He has to report to work! Don’t let him get away with this!”
“President Pei can’t manage things right now. I’m in charge of the company, so make sure he shows up at his desk within three days!”
“Fine. Give me the phone. I’ll call him.”
Qiuyun trimmed the flower stems at an angle and placed them in a crystal vase that had been filled with water and left to sit. At the same time, the fourth young master placed his call, and her own phone began ringing.
“Hello.” Jiang Linzhi called out. The person on the other end answered.
“Hello.” Qiuyun picked up her phone.
He glanced over at her, frowning, then turned around. “Are you the new chief artist for the ancient-themed dungeon?”
“Yes, I am.”
A voice sounded from behind him, alternating with and nearly overlapping the voice coming through the phone. Jiang Linzhi walked farther away. “The company is at a critical stage right now. All employees are required to clock in and out.”
Qiuyun replied, “President Pei never told me that. He specifically approved me to work from home without reporting to the office.”
“He never told me that. I can’t get in touch with him, so that exception doesn’t count.”
She frowned. “Can’t get in touch with him? What happened to Pei Cizhou?”
Both voices rose slightly. Jiang Linzhi turned around in disbelief, only to see Qiuyun hang up first and walk over. “Is something wrong with the company?”
What?
Jiang Linzhi stared at the screen of the phone she had just hung up on, his face full of disbelief. “You’re the company’s new chief artist?”
“Yes. President Pei personally approved my working remotely. What happened to him?”
He looked dazed. “You designed the entire ancient-themed dungeon yourself?”
“Yes. I provided the references for the worldbuilding, costumes, and props. Is something wrong with the company?”
Seeing the shock on his face, Qiuyun hadn’t expected that she had already completed the storyline for the company’s first dungeon and the fourth young master still knew nothing about it.
Had Pei Cizhou not told him?
Jiang Linzhi drew a deep breath. “You mean that while working as our family’s housekeeper, you also moonlight as an art planner for a game company?”
“Yes!” Qiuyun frowned. “President Jiang, can you tell me what happened to the company and President Pei?”
“A Zhi? Are you done with your call? Why aren’t you coming back to eat?” Yu Xiang called from the dining room.
Jiang Linzhi leaned halfway out from behind the wall. “Mom, you all go ahead. I have something to take care of.”
Then he beckoned to Qiuyun. “Come outside. We’ll talk in the courtyard.”
Since the young lady was still little, the courtyard of Brightmoon House did not have much in the way of personal touches. A pond, rockery, pavilion, and garden gave it a pleasant but somewhat formulaic beauty.
“Besides the young lady and me, does no one else in the family know about your situation, Fourth Young Master?” Qiuyun asked, unable to contain her curiosity. It seemed they had to avoid being overheard.
Jiang Linzhi walked over to the pavilion and sat down. “That’s none of your concern. I asked you out here to discuss something else. Don’t just stand there—sit down.”
“Please, go ahead.” Qiuyun sat down as instructed.
Jiang Linzhi leaned toward her slightly, sizing her up from head to toe. “Nothing in particular. I’m just curious. Someone as capable as you are—why did you apply to be a housekeeper for the Jiang family? You could find a respectable job anywhere. And how did you become the chief artist for our company?”
Qiuyun looked puzzled. “Working as a housekeeper means earning a living with my own hands. Is that really so undignified?”
Jiang Linzhi didn’t let himself get sidetracked by her lofty principles. “At least by society’s standards, being a housekeeper isn’t exactly considered respectable, is it?”
“Perhaps not.” Qiuyun did not argue with him further. “Can you tell me what happened to the company and President Pei now?”
Jiang Linzhi tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Nothing’s happened to the company. As for Cizhou, he’s probably been grounded by his family. He used to disappear all the time. The longest he was gone was three months. It’s only been a month this time, so there’s still a long way to go.”
“Grounded? Disappeared?” Qiuyun asked in confusion. “Is he not even going to school?”
