Chapter 73: Let Me Show You Who’s Boss

Chapter 73: Let Me Show You Who's Boss

More and more curious employees gathered around, their expressions a mix of curiosity and concern. Xu Mian stood in the crowd, his face turning ashen. "You're so loyal to Mr. Li. Did he slip you something under the table?"

Jing Yi: "You're so quick to badmouth Mr. Li. Did someone pay you off?"

Xu Mian: "...You're full of it."

Jing Yi calmly replied, "Yeah, I'm just messing with you. Why so tense?"

Xu Mian was left gaping: "..."

"What's going on? Why are the two assistants butting heads?" The crowd began to whisper among themselves.

"I don't get it. Is there some shady business going on between the top assistants?"

"I saw the whole thing. I know what's going on."

"Oh? Can you explain?"

"Assistant Xu wanted the annual party perks and called Mr. Li a cheapskate boss. Assistant Jing is sticking up for the boss and thinks Xu Mian is a double agent."

"..."

Jing Yi suddenly turned his head. Who was that? So good at summarizing. A random prize of an annual report.

"Whoa, that's intense."

"Huh."

"Tch."

Jing Yi: "..."

Did Li Wenzhao hire a bunch of stand-up comedians?

"What are you all doing here?"

Speak of the devil, here comes Mr. Li. Fan Ming, with a stern face, pushed through the crowd, clearing a path. Behind him was Li Wenzhao, his expression icy.

"What's going on?" Li Wenzhao looked at Jing Yi.

Jing Yi: "We're catching a mole."

He glanced at Xu Mian: "This guy's been badmouthing you all over the company. I think he's Shen Shubai's mole."

Li Wenzhao's calm gaze fell on Xu Mian.

Since Jing Yi appeared, the company he had always been proud of had turned into a den of parasites. Colleagues who used to work well with him now seemed downright nasty. One thing led to another. Li Wenzhao had always thought his methods were ruthless enough to keep the company clean.

But reality slapped him in the face again.

It seemed like Li Corporation was crawling with spies.

How did Shen Shubai manage to sneak so many people in?

"Mr. Li, that's not what I meant..." Xu Mian nervously tugged at his clothes and whispered an explanation: "Assistant Jing misunderstood."

He tried to be ingratiating: "I was just bummed about the annual party being canceled and let off a little steam. I didn't mean to attack you. I know I was wrong and won't do it again."

Jing Yi turned his head: "You weren't acting like this earlier!"

Xu Mian: "..."

He ignored Jing Yi, wearing a perfectly polite smile. The person who had just been arguing with Jing Yi in public suddenly turned all smooth and diplomatic.

Jing Yi was utterly impressed.

He seemed to see a perfect chameleon living in human society, talking sweet to some and tough to others.

"..." Wait, who's the tough one? Yuck, yuck.

Li Wenzhao ignored Xu Mian's excuses and looked at the crowd: "It's lunchtime, everyone should head out to eat."

Fan Ming got the hint and started ushering people away.

Xu Mian also took the opportunity to leave.

Jing Yi: "Aren't we going after him?"

"He's not going anywhere," Li Wenzhao lowered his eyes. "You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

"Yeah."

"Let's grab something to eat."

·

Li Wenzhao found a nearby restaurant, a Sichuan place, spicy and perfect for the cold weather.

Jing Yi insisted on ordering a feast, but after eating two pieces of spicy ribs, he was already fanning his mouth, gasping for air. Li Wenzhao poured him water while suggesting they change restaurants.

"No way, we're staying," Jing Yi gulped down two cups of water, picked up his chopsticks with sharp eyes. "There's no dish I can't handle—bring it on!"

"..." He eats like he's charging into battle.

But the food-obsessed young butler is kind of adorable.

I could get used to this.

Jing Yi drank too fast: "Cough, cough."

Li Wenzhao's hand gently landed on Jing Yi's back shoulder, gently rubbing and patting. "You okay now?"

Jing Yi: "Yeah, I'm good."

The eldest young master's got some good hands.

Li Wenzhao glanced at his phone; the latest message was from Fan Ming. "We've got the scoop on Xu Mian."

Jing Yi briefly looked up, shoving a piece of fish into his mouth, and managed to mumble in support: "What?"

"He's not working for Shen Shubai."

Jing Yi: "o.o?"

"Fan Ming found out that Xu Mian's account has had suspicious activity for the past three months, with multiple large expenditures, and the funds all flowed to Macau."

Jing Yi chewed: "Gambling, huh?"

"Well, over the past few months, he's racked up a debt of several million."

Jing Yi widened his eyes: "Then why was he looking to buy a fancy gold watch just the other day?"

Li Wenzhao sneered: "He probably figured I'd still be trying to outdo Shen Shubai for clout, splurging at the annual meeting, so he could snag a prize to cover his losses."

Jing Yi let out a soft "ah," "Living beyond his means?"

But that doesn't add up. Even if there's a raffle at the annual meeting with gold and silver up for grabs, how could Xu Mian be so sure he'd win?

Wishful thinking?

He seems like a sharp guy, so why's he thinking so irrationally?

"Pretty much," Li Wenzhao said, taking a calm sip of his tea.

Jing Yi picked up on Li Wenzhao's odd vibe and glanced up: "Why do you seem kinda pleased?"

Li Wenzhao took a sip of tea, a faint smile on his face, "Not bad. At least I know my company's not crawling with backstabbers."

A gambler's better than a backstabber, at least.

Lately, he's been on edge. Every time an employee gets into trouble, his first thought is whether they're selling out the company.

The meal was winding down.

Jing Yi headed to the restroom, while Li Wenzhao went to settle the bill at the front desk.

"Alright," Jing Yi said, shaking his head, "I'm kinda introverted, so I won't fight you over the check."

"..."

A few minutes later, Jing Yi stepped out of the restroom. Nearby, a group of diners was stumbling over, clearly drunk, swaying as they walked.

Jing Yi edged aside, hiding behind a large potted plant, waiting for them to pass.

"Mr. Wang, sorry for the lousy hospitality today. I'll make it up to you. You gotta lend me those five hundred guys."

"No problem," the pot-bellied man said, patting his stomach confidently, "It's just about hiring folks to trash it with bad reviews, right? I'm a pro at this. Don't sweat it, bro. That Li Corporation's junk software? It'll never launch."

"Brother Wang, keep it quiet."

"Why? This is my turf. Who's gonna talk smack about me? Don't worry, we've got the memes ready. We'll have people flooding the net with them next week."

"Thanks, Brother Wang, thanks..."

Jing Yi stood behind the plant, eavesdropping as the two walked by.

The next second, he covered his ears in discomfort—so much noise!

Jing Yi slipped over to the front desk, his face a mix of shock and disbelief at stumbling onto a conspiracy.

Li Wenzhao asked, "Is the restroom haunted?"

"Pretty much," Jing Yi said, "The world's going to hell, morals are shot, people's hearts are rotten, and evil's running wild."

Li Wenzhao: "..." Rarely did the young butler get his words so spot-on.

The front desk clerk's hand shook as she tore the receipt: "Are you two... ghostbusters?"

Jing Yi revealed a deep smile: "Not really, but ghost-hunting."

The waiter was shaking even harder: "..."

Li Wenzhao grabbed Jing Yi's arm and pulled him behind, then handed over his bank card.

After a bit of a hassle to pay the bill, Li Wenzhao led Jing Yi out of the restaurant, "So, what did you see this time?"

"I want to confirm, is there any software from our company that's about to launch?"

Li Wenzhao nodded: "Indeed, it's launching next week."

Jing Yi: "What's the main function?"

Li Wenzhao: "Video watching."

Jing Yi: "..." No wonder. Only software with such a specific function could be used to flood explicit images and boost its reach.

Li Wenzhao: "What's wrong?"

"Invest more in hiring... a few hundred reviewers." Jing Yi looked up with a complicated expression: "On the day of the launch, the APP might suffer from an attack of explicit images of unknown origin, and they're GIFs."

That’s going to be a disaster.

Li Wenzhao: "..."

Li Wenzhao: "???"

·

·

An hour later, Li Wenzhao was back in another meeting.

Jing Yi thought Li Wenzhao spent most of his time in meetings.

But what can you do? Villains are always under fire from every direction.

The overwhelmed villain made him feel a pang of sympathy, so during this time, he took over the documents to start reviewing them.

Two seconds in, his phone buzzed.

Jing Yi: "..."

Buzz.

Jing Yi: "..."

Buzz.

Eh, a quick break won’t hurt. It’s not like I’m slacking off. He put down the documents, and his phone showed a message from Li Mingzhi.

[Young Master]: Jing Yi! Guess what? I bumped into a superstar boy band!

[Young Master]: We’re staying at the same hotel as them. I can get their autographs. Got a favorite member? I’ll get you a signed one with your name!

[Young Master]: [Picture][Picture][Picture]

Jing Yi: "O_O"

In the novel's entertainment world, Jing Yi didn't care for any celebrities. As he ran through the names in his mind, they were either settled down or on the verge of scandal, which was boring. Plus, none of them had a physique as good as Li Wenzhao's.

[Sleepyhead]: No need, young master. I prefer a quiet life and don't follow celebrities.

[Young Master]: ...

Jing Yi didn't pick up on Li Mingzhi's exasperation on the other end. He put down his phone, stretched his limbs, and thought, alright, now I can really get down to work.

"Knock knock knock."

Jing Yi: "..."

Who is it? Who's going to interrupt my work?

"Hello..." A girl stood at the door, "I'm Cen from the sales department. There's a document that needs to be translated urgently, but there's no one in the translation department..."

Jing Yi raised his eyebrows in surprise: "So how did you end up here?"

Cen: "Our manager mentioned that Assistant Jing was a big help last time with the foreign clients."

Jing Yi: "...???"

Him?

With his shaky foreign language skills, he couldn't fool anyone. Who would actively seek his help?

Miss Cen placed the document in front of Jing Yi with great respect, almost like an offering.

"..."

"..."

Jing Yi was silent for a few seconds: "...Actually, Jing isn't my last name."

"Jing Yi." The Third Young Master burst through the door, "I've got a new batch of gifts; come help me check them out? They're definitely better than the last ones."

Jing Yi: "..." =A=

Cen: "..."

"What's happening?" Li Ting approached.

Miss Cen quickly said: "Hello, Third Young Master, I'm an employee from the sales department. Our manager sent me to ask Assistant Jing for help with translating a document."

"Oh." Li Ting looked at Jing Yi: "So translate it."

Jing Yi: "..."

"Translate, translate, translate—you think it's as easy as flipping a pancake?"

Unbelievable, the young butler is getting cheekier. Li Ting leaned on the corner of the desk and sat on Li Wenzhao's office desk, "Assistant Jing, don't forget who's paying your salary. Why is it such a hassle to get a favor from you?"

Jing Yi: "..."

Miss Cen gave him a pleading look.

Jing Yi sighed: "I can't."

Li Ting smirked: "Didn't you help my brother with translation last time? What, am I not good enough for you?"

Jing Yi: "But it was you who asked me to translate."

Li Ting raised his chin: "Yes, I did, so translate."

Jing Yi cursed under his breath as he opened the document. Meanwhile, Xiao Cen was called away by the manager, leaving only Jing Yi and Li Ting in the office.

Li Ting seemed worried Jing Yi might bolt, so he kept a close watch.

Jing Yi was furious.

Half an hour later, Jing Yi stopped and printed out the document, but Li Ting snatched it midway, "So fast, and you said you couldn't do it."

He barely glanced at it before snatching the document away: "Alright, take a break. I'll handle the meeting."

Li Ting smirked to himself.

Stupid young butler, trying to outsmart me, now your hard work is now mine, go cry in your corner, haha.

Li Ting gave a dismissive wave and strutted out.

Jing Yi was speechless.

·

·

In the downstairs meeting room, Li Wenzhao studied the detailed data before him and after hearing his subordinate's report, he asked, "How is the negotiation with the foreign company going?"

The sales manager spoke up: "We've reached a tentative agreement."

"What about the contract?"

The manager glanced at Xiao Cen.

Xiao Cen jumped up, ready to dash to the top floor for Jing Yi.

"I'm here, bro." Li Ting marched into the meeting room and slapped down the just-finished translation in front of Li Wenzhao, "Here's the contract—I translated it myself."

Li Wenzhao glanced down: "..."

The room fell silent for a moment, then Li Wenzhao raised his gaze, "Did Jing Yi coach you on this translation?"

Li Ting blinked, confused.

How did he know?