Chapter 13: Assistant Jing

Chapter 13: Assistant Jing

The three Li brothers froze in place for a moment.

Jing Yi slapped his forehead: “I still can’t remember.”

“……”

Failing when it counts.

“But I should have the general direction in mind. As long as I see the person, I should be able to recall what happened... right?”

Li Wenzhao and Li Ting exchanged glances, seeing the same thought in each other’s eyes:

Second brother’s birthday party, Butler Jing sitting at the main table.

The living room was silent for a few seconds before Li Wenzhao and Li Ting continued to discuss the details of the birthday party. Li Mingzhi, uninterested in these trivial matters, pulled Jing Yi upstairs into his room.

The two of them huddled in the bedroom, whispering for a good part of the night, before Jing Yi returned to his Tangyuan nest.

The workaholic butler quickly took a perfunctory shower and threw himself onto the bed, the soft mattress gently bouncing with him.

Ah, so comfortable!

Without a doubt, the Li family’s mattresses were indeed snug and comforting.

Lying down was pure bliss.

If even the butler’s mattress is this comfy, I wonder how luxurious the CEOs' beds must be. When he retired with enough money, he would buy an extravagantly expensive CEO bed and spend twelve hours a day lying in it, indulging in luxury.

Jing Yi fell asleep, still fantasizing about the Li family’s CEO mattress.

·

·

The next day. Jing Yi was woken up by his alarm.

To earn an extra 20,000 RMB, he had to work early and late as an assistant for Li Wenzhao. To avoid being late, Jing Yi set five alarms and placed his phone on a desk far from the bed.

He didn’t know which ring the alarm was on by the time he crawled out of bed.

Still half-asleep and disoriented, he floated into the office, where Secretary Fan once again dropped a mountain of files on Jing Yi's desk, “Butler Jing, these are the important documents from the company of Third Young Master over the last three years. Mr. Li hopes you can categorize them again.”

While Secretary Fan thought this categorization was like playing house, the CEO enjoyed it, so he had no complaints.

Jing Yi, faced with the half-human-high pile of files, looked up: “Secretary Fan, is it just me, or has your workload decreased since I started?”

“Not at all,” said Secretary Fan. “These are extra tasks the CEO added after you started.”

Jing Yi: "This is ridiculous."

They created this job just for me—the wretched capitalist.

Secretary Fan: “Butler Jing, you can do it.”

Jing Yi said listlessly, "Secretary Fan, please help me out."

Fan Ming replied, "I have my primary duties to attend to. Butlers like you can handle it since you're so capable."

Jing Yi slumped over the desk, sighing like a burned-out corporate drone.

After Fan Ming left, Jing Yi stayed sprawled for a while before casually picking up a file to look through. His memory was foggy, and he had to pause frequently to recall things, worrying that these documents might contain hidden pitfalls left by the previous owner.

Li Wenzhao was about to leave after the morning meeting when he suddenly remembered something. "Have all the files been sent?"

Secretary Fan nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Please go check on it," Li Wenzhao changed direction and headed towards the office.

In the CEO's office, a smaller desk had been set up beside the main one. At the moment, Jing Yi was deeply engrossed in a file.

"Butler Jing," Secretary Fan said, "Have you finished selecting the files?"

Noticing the untouched files, Secretary Fan’s voice dropped.

The files were still untouched, just shifted from the center of the desk to the corner.

"Selected," Jing Yi placed the last file on top of the pile.

Looking at the tall stack of files on the desk, Li Wenzhao felt a sudden relief. At least this time, there’s nothing as problematic as a full criminal law manual. It seemed there was nothing to worry about with Jing Yi’s company.

"This pile," Jing Yi patted the mountain of files, "None of these are usable."

Li Wenzhao: "..."

Secretary Fan: "……"

He cautiously checked Li Wenzhao's reaction and asked, "Jing Butler, could you explain in more detail? For example, the grounds for nullifying these contracts…?"

Need the grounds again?

Jing Yi slightly frowned, fortunately, he had prepared in advance.

He bent down, grabbed a stack of books from under the desk, and hoisted them up like a slab of meat.

"Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China," "Commercial Law," "Consumer Protection Law," "National Geographic Magazine"……

"Hundreds of these contracts are ticking time bombs! There are partners who ran off with the funds, natural disasters like mudslides, criminals laundering money, and even a case where a group of partners in a joint project were caught soliciting prostitutes together……"

"I wish I were a cop, just so I could rack up some serious commendations here!"

Li Wenzhao: "……"

Li Wenzhao, the CEO, was so shaken by Jing Yi's words that cold sweat broke out.

If all these issues exploded, Li Ting's company wouldn't be far from bankruptcy.

"Secretary Fan," Li Wenzhao said without hesitation, "call Li Ting and tell him to find new partners."

He paused, then added, "Tell him that from now on, all contracts must be reviewed by headquarters before they're signed."

Fan Ming looked taken aback. "This… might not be a good idea, right?"

Isn't this just another form of micromanagement?

The Li family has four sons in this generation, and for more than twenty years, they lived in harmony, with the brothers respecting each other. They never engaged in any schemes to fight over the family inheritance. But now, is this the setup for a power struggle?

Fan Ming shot Jing Yi a puzzled glance.

It seemed that ever since Jing Butler arrived, these kinds of situations began to arise in the Li family.

Li Wenzhao gave the order, "It's fine, go notify him."

With a mix of apprehension and excitement, Fan Ming dialed Li Ting's number, his heart pounding. "Third Young Master."

"Secretary Fan," Li Ting sounded like he was in a good mood, "How is it going? Have the contracts been reviewed?"

Fan Ming swallowed. "Yes, Mr. Li declared all the contracts null and void. You'll need to find new partners, and... all future contracts from your company will need to be reviewed and approved by headquarters before signing."

Fan Ming closed his eyes. This was Mr. Li's call. Please don't blame me, just a lowly employee.

"Great," Li Ting said without hesitation, "Since that's the case, why don't you set up an office for me next to my brother's? I'll work at headquarters from now on."

Fan Ming: "???"

He's not even angry.

Brotherly love and respect? Really?

·

·

In the office, Jing Yi looked strangely at Li Wenzhao.

The eldest young master placed an extraordinary amount of trust in him. Not only did he allow an outsider to give orders within the company, but he also accepted every suggestion without question.

These were contracts worth tens of billions!

"Something's not right."

"Very not right."

"Is Li Wenzhao also from another world? Or did he, like in novels, come back to life with an all-knowing perspective?"

Jing Yi propped his chin and stared for a while before asking softly, "Eldest Young Master, what's your take on rebirth?"

Li Wenzhao casually flipped through some documents. "I pay your salary, Jing Butler, not to have you oversee my work."

Jing Yi said, "I've finished my work."

Li Wenzhao looked up. "That doesn't mean you can read novels in the office and lose yourself in them."

Jing Yi protested quietly, "I wasn't reading a novel."

Li Wenzhao said, "So you're telling me your thoughts just happened to sprout wings and fly into a rebirth-themed novel?"

Jing Yi: "..."

Li Wenzhao said flatly, "Let's go, Jing Butler."

Jing Yi's face lit up with joy. "Is it time to leave?"

"No, it's time for a meeting," Li Wenzhao stood up. "Secretary Fan isn't here, you're responsible for taking the meeting minutes."

Jing Yi: Damn it.

Mr. Li.

·

·

This was Jing Yi's first time attending the legendary high-level meeting. As soon as he entered the room, he saw a room full of elderly men with silver hair. Sitting in the main seat, Li Wenzhao looked particularly young.

A few board members looked at Jing Yi in surprise. "Mr. Li, who is this?"

"Assistant." Li Wenzhao waved his hand and signaled to begin the meeting. "Everyone is here, so let's start. Let's begin with the Southwind Port development project..."

"Southwind Port...?"

Li Wenzhao's confident tone came to an abrupt halt.

What’s going on now?

Jing Yi's eyes fell on the documents in front of him, and after examining them carefully for a moment, he said, "Isn't this the new Southwind Port that gets half destroyed by a tsunami and typhoon half a year later, and then gets sealed due to substandard construction?"

Li Wenzhao: "..."

He expressionlessly changed the meeting agenda. "Chairman Zhang, let's first discuss the resort construction project you were responsible for last month..."

"Uh-oh."

Li Wenzhao's eyebrows twitched.

"Chairman Zhang... Zhang Liming? Isn't he a major issue in the company? On the surface, he's the vice president of Li Corporation, but secretly, he's a commercial spy sent by a rival company. He's been secretly embezzling project funds to gamble, causing the resort project to stall, workers to go on strike, and the project has been halted for a long time, right?"

Li Wenzhao's expression tightened.

Chairman Zhang smiled as his assistant displayed images and explained the progress. "The resort project is progressing smoothly, but because it's located on an island, transportation is quite difficult. Many construction materials can't be delivered in time, so I hope the headquarters will consider additional investment. I've calculated that 80 million will be enough."

Jing Yi sucked in a breath.

"Huh, how much gambling debt does he have?"

"Or maybe the project is underfunded, and they're trying to steal some from Li Corporation? Hmm, possible. After all, it's a habitual offender."

"..."

Li Wenzhao waved to stop him. "Chairman Li, I believe you have a project as well..."

The room fell silent.

Li Wenzhao discreetly glanced at the young butler by his side and found him holding a pen, writing intensely, looking serious and professional.

Li Wenzhao focused his attention.

He was just writing about wanting to eat.

"..."

Li Wenzhao took a sip of water, gently coughing. Jing Yi's back stiffened, like a student caught daydreaming in class. He quickly covered his notes and looked at the meeting table with a serious expression.

"Chairman Li? I don’t recall..."

Li Wenzhao felt a wave of relief wash over him.

At least the Li Corporation still had a few decent projects.

"But I remember one of the directors, surnamed Li, was arrested for drug trafficking and bribing officials. I wonder if it's the same person..."

Li Wenzhao: "..."

There’s only one director with the surname Li at Li Corporation.

Li Wenzhao looked around the spacious office, his brow furrowing in disbelief, for the first time doubting what he had been doing with his life. Had he been wasting his time chasing after problems in the company, working day and night?

With a grim look, Li Wenzhao stood up. "The meeting is over. Dismissed."

Jing Yi blinked in surprise. "Already?"

The various directors looked confused: They barely touched on each project, and the meeting was already over?

Puzzled, they dispersed.

As Jing Yi packed up and left the meeting room, he ran into Secretary Fan.

"Jing Butler, the meeting finished that quickly?"

Jing Yi nodded. "You could say that."

Secretary Fan pressed further, "What was the main content of the meeting?"

Jing Yi thought for a few seconds and summarized, "We only got through the beginning."

Secretary Fan: "..."

Secretary Fan left with his documents.

Jing Yi had planned to go back to his office and keep slacking off, but Li Wenzhao suddenly had to go on a business trip for a few days and generously gave Jing Yi some time off.

Jing Yi's eyes lit up as he clapped his hands excitedly, like a kid. "Thank you, eldest young master, um... my salary won't be deducted, right?"

Li Wenzhao: "No deduction."

Jing Yi let out a little "Yes!" and quickly packed up, heading back to his cozy hideout.

Soon after he left, Li Wenzhao pressed the intercom, calling Secretary Fan in with a serious expression. "Check if any of the board members have been involved in any illegal activities on the side."

Secretary Fan: "Mr. Li, are you referring to..."

Li Wenzhao: "The substandard construction at Southwind Port, Zhang's gambling, and Li's drug trafficking and bribery."

Snap.

Secretary Fan’s pen snapped in two.

...What the hell?