Chapter 44: Regional Shockwave

Chapter 44: Regional Shockwave

Chen Feng calmly moved aside, truly not daring to let this irritable guy grab his hand.

“We kept you waiting, sorry. Mainly, I didn’t see the sign and wasn’t sure if this was the place. This young man just said they weren’t open to the public, so I thought I had the wrong place.”

Mai Hui suddenly exploded, turning to the waiter beside him and shouting, “I asked you to come out and greet someone! Is this how you do it? What, is our Jiaqi not famous enough, not qualified to host a dinner at your place or something?”

He cursed while waving his hands around animatedly.

The waiter apologized repeatedly.

Seeing Mai Hui’s fiery and dramatic manner, Chen Feng had to admit he was impressed.

You’re something else.

Being effeminate had its advantages. Look at these natural, smooth skills for making a fuss and causing trouble, such a talent.

A genuine, straight guy like him could never learn that in a lifetime.

At the dinner table, He Jiaqi and Mai Hui sincerely thanked Chen Feng for his understanding and tolerance once again. Then they pressed Chen Feng about his demo again.

Only after Chen Feng repeatedly patted his chest and promised to record it as soon as he got back did he pass their inspection.

After a few rounds of drinks, Chen Feng finally voiced the honest thought he had been keeping to himself. “You two, I personally think that signing with Kelai Apartment isn’t a very good choice.”

“Mr. Chen, as a former employee, do you have any inside information?” He Jiaqi asked.

Chen Feng shook his head. “I was just a grassroots employee before, what inside information could I have? It’s just that current financial products are quite risky.”

Mai Hui sighed. “But there’s no choice. The money is too good. President Zeng was really generous. Six million for two years, we couldn’t refuse. That offer is almost five times our usual fee. Among ourselves, it’s okay to say disappointing things. Our Jiaqi has some fame, but she lacks a major hit work, so her current brand endorsement fees aren’t really high. Aren’t we just waiting for your new song, Mr. Chen?”

Chen Feng: “I understand, but taking such a risk still seems a bit unwise.”

He Jiaqi smiled. “Earning money always involves some risk. If the profit is big enough, it’s naturally worth the risk. Like this business performance we’re doing in Hanzhou, not counting the endorsement fee, the subsidies for other aspects are also very generous. The average subsidy for three meals a day is two thousand per meal. How could we possibly eat that much?”

Mai Hui chuckled gleefully. “So tonight, Mr. Chen, you should eat heartily. Let’s try to eat enough in one meal, otherwise, the leftover money just saves others some cash.”

Chen Feng’s eyes lit up slightly. “Two thousand per meal?”

“Yes.” He Jiaqi nodded. “People online say celebrities live lavishly, but if we spent our own money, we wouldn’t be that extravagant. When it’s someone else footing the bill, of course, there’s no need to save.”

Chen Feng asked, puzzled, “But according to a proposal document I saw when I was working, it said five thousand per meal. Other colleagues at the time joked whether the stars’ plates were gold-plated. We couldn’t imagine how one could spend five thousand on every single meal. Why is the amount different? Didn’t you sign a contract?”

“Huh? Five thousand?”

Now it was Mai Hui’s turn to be confused.

Chen Feng nodded very firmly.

He Jiaqi: “These kinds of subsidies are agreed verbally. Mai Hui submits the expenses, and the other side transfers the money. There’s no need for a contract.”

Chen Feng asked further, “The party you’re dealing with is the High-Tech Zone branch of Kelai Apartment, right?”

“Yes.”

Chen Feng smiled.

He hadn’t expected that even after he had already left and Lin De had gotten into trouble—something Chen Feng was no longer interested in—he would stumble upon such a good piece of incriminating evidence here.

No matter how careful Lin De had been before, he never imagined Chen Feng would have the chance to sit and eat with the artists and discuss things so deeply, even touching upon such trivial details.

After the meal, Chen Feng took out his phone and called Zeng Guanlin.

“President Zeng, I discovered something quite interesting tonight…”

Chen Feng didn’t exaggerate the story, just truthfully explained the situation to Zeng Guanlin.

But both directly and indirectly, he hinted and insinuated that this was just the tip of the iceberg.

Based on Lin De’s methods, he was definitely a habitual offender. Similar acts of skimming, taking bribes, and petty theft must have happened frequently within the High-Tech Zone company.

Pulling up one radish brings up the mud; these matters must involve more grassroots employees. Those close to Lin De, with deep connections to him, definitely weren’t clean.

The High-Tech Zone company occupied the best location resources in the entire city, yet its performance had long been suppressed by the Jianhua District. It must be because of these parasites.

Zeng Guanlin was immediately furious.

He could tolerate a small figure like Lin De building a little clique within the company, but he absolutely could not tolerate that clique sucking his blood so voraciously.

Why did he push for the rental loan product?

Wasn’t it precisely because the company’s performance couldn’t improve, cash flow was insufficient, profit margins were low, and the IPO plans kept getting delayed, leaving him unable to explain to the shareholders?

So why wasn’t the performance improving?

Of course, it was because there were too many parasites in the company, with too many connections, rotten to the core!

“Investigate! I will have someone investigate this thoroughly! If Lin De’s involved amount exceeds a hundred thousand, I’ll have him sent to jail!”

Swearing like this, Zeng Guanlin hung up the phone.

Chen Feng walked along the edge of the road with his hands in his pockets. A cool breeze blew past, but his heart felt no particular turmoil.

He had just done a simple, ordinary little thing.

He had never been a magnanimous person.

A gentleman takes his time to get even; there’s no such thing as letting bygones be bygones with a laugh.

Lin De kneeling down and slapping himself had only made Chen Feng happy for a moment. Compared to the grievances Chen Feng had suffered for over half a year, the pain of that slap was nothing.

After all, those six months at Kelai Apartment had transformed Chen Feng from a hopeful university graduate into a numb adult.

This half-year of work experience taught Chen Feng that the adult world was like this: constantly carrying heavy burdens while moving forward.

Sending Lin De to prison was Chen Feng’s final farewell gift to Lin De.

He thanked Lin De for teaching him a very important lesson in life.

Chen Feng sincerely wished Lin De well, hoping he could face it with a smile.

Many things, if covered by a haze, even if everyone is vaguely aware, remain harmless.

But once someone pierces that thin paper window, the paper definitely cannot contain the fire. If the fire doesn’t break out, fine; once it does, it blazes fiercely.

There are no absolutely perfect, flawless good people in this world. Everyone has their own flaws. In the workplace, even a tiny bit of not-so-significant power can easily breed corruption.

After all, people are selfish; they all seek benefit for themselves.

Friends gathering for a meal, discussing their respective incomes—this income usually implicitly includes gray income.

This so-called gray income typically comes from nibbling away at the company’s own interests.

Every boss knows there are parasites among their employees, but whether to root them out involves a calculated balance.

Water that is too clear has no fish. Being too harsh on employee subordinates results in having no one usable.

So as long as these parasites aren’t too excessive, bosses usually turn a blind eye.

Zeng Guanlin had never launched a large-scale investigation into Lin De before, so he wasn’t sure exactly what little schemes Lin De had been up to.

Chen Feng wasn’t sure either, but based on his intuition, he could vaguely guess that Lin De was definitely not someone who saved oil for the lamp and couldn’t withstand scrutiny.

Sure enough, three days later, Tang Shuang, who was still at the company, called Chen Feng and told him this explosive news.

The iceberg of benefits Lin De had built within the High-Tech Zone company was finally being pulled bit by bit to the surface.

It was truly shocking.

Within just three days of investigation, the total amount of benefits he had been found to have received reached a million.

The loss he caused to the company by embezzling this million must have been at least in the tens of millions.

There were also some more deeply hidden bad debts that he stubbornly refused to acknowledge.

The company immediately filed a lawsuit against Lin De. Now, he had already been sent to a detention center.

Based on the company lawyers’ assessment and calculation, Lin De could only return around three hundred thousand. He would be sentenced to about five years for business crimes.

As for Lin De’s cronies, taking Zhou Yunbo as an example—he was just a grassroots property manager, with less than three years of work experience. Zhou Yunbo had used his position to embezzle nearly two hundred thousand in benefits across various areas like maintenance funds and resident rebates.

Adding on multiple criminal acts like bribing Lin De for benefit transfers, Zhou Yunbo would be sentenced to around two years.

There were also seven or eight other employees who would be sentenced to about a year.

During these three days, everyone in the entire High-Tech Zone branch was terrified, as a widespread investigation covered each person.

The preliminary conclusion was that nearly half of the over hundred employees in the High-Tech Zone branch were either sentenced or left their jobs.

The management underwent a major reshuffle; not a single one remained.

In the face of Zeng Guanlin’s absolute authority, the iron fortress Lin De had built turned out to be a shoddy, crumbling mess.

Nearly half of the people who remained now were all those who had clashed with Lin De back then.

Now the company was truly short on staff. Among all those who stayed, Tang Shuang had the best relationships. Previously, she was the staunchest anti-Lin De figure, second only to Chen Feng.

Now Tang Shuang deserved to be promoted. She was exceptionally promoted to acting regional manager, temporarily taking Lin De’s position.

“Chen Feng, come back. I haven’t been at the company long enough; how could I be a manager? You come back and be the manager. I’ll talk to President Zeng,” Tang Shuang said earnestly over the phone.

Chen Feng laughed. “What are you thinking? You’ve only been at the company for six months; didn’t I also only have six months?”

“It’s different for you. You have more authority than me. Everyone saw your work ability and character. If you were willing to come back, that would definitely be for the best.”

Chen Feng knew Tang Shuang’s words likely reflected Zeng Guanlin’s intentions.

But he once again clearly and directly refused.

He wasn’t short on money now, nor did he have the energy or interest to return to his position at Kelai Apartment.

Although he still hadn’t decided what exactly to do next, Chen Feng felt it was time for a brilliant turning point in his life.

He always felt that, clearly possessing such an incredible special advantage, he seemed to be living a bit too slacker-like.

Look at someone like Zhong Lei, how hard she worked, how she struggled.

He couldn’t just wait until he entered the dream world to strive hard. He needed to make effective use of his time in real life as well.