Chapter 406 The Mole

Chapter 406 The Traitor Within

Ye Xiaoxiao took Tao Manman's pulse, first checked to make sure she wasn’t pregnant.

From the pulse reading, she detected symptoms of cold coagulation and blood stasis, indicating poor circulation due to cold exposure.

"Manman, have you been active outdoors in cold weather before?"

Tao Manman wasn’t sure exactly what Ye Xiaoxiao was referring to, but she immediately recalled, "I shot a drama on a snow mountain a year ago, with lots of outdoor scenes in freezing temperatures. Do you think that’s what caused it?"

"Do you often feel pain in your waist and abdomen now, and sometimes notice random bruising on your skin?"

Tao Manman nodded. "Yes, yes! Even though I haven’t had my period, I frequently feel pain in my lower abdomen."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "That makes sense. Let me write you a prescription, Manman. It should take effect after half a month of taking it."

Ye Xiaoxiao took out paper and pen to write the prescription, reminding Tao Manman to buy the herbs from a licensed pharmacy.

"Xiaoxiao, where do you work now?"

Ye Xiaoxiao: "I’m at Rende Hall."

Tao Manman: "Then I’ll go to Rende Hall to get the medicine. For people like us who know nothing about this, it’s better to go to a proper hospital."

Ye Xiaoxiao nodded. "Whichever works for you."

Tao Manman was already amazed by how accurately Ye Xiaoxiao had diagnosed her symptoms.

Before Ye Xiaoxiao left, Tao Manman thanked her repeatedly and asked Lin Zhilu to see her home safely.

Lin Zhiyuan looked at his wife. "I remember you didn’t like Xiaoxiao before."

Tao Manman: "People can surprise you after time apart. Who would’ve thought Xiaoxiao would change so much after marriage?

Back when she used to mess around with Xiaolu, I could never have imagined she’d become so responsible now."

Lin Zhiyuan: "They say people change a lot over time. I almost didn’t recognize her when we met earlier."

Tao Manman held the prescription Ye Xiaoxiao had given her. "I’ll go get the medicine bright and early tomorrow. If this prescription really works, I’ll have to show my gratitude properly."

…

She didn’t have to wait half a month—less than a week later.

Tao Manman called Ye Xiaoxiao. "Xiaoxiao, the prescription you gave me last time has already worked! I got my period again."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "That’s good. But Manman, come back for a check-up. I’ll adjust the prescription based on your recovery."

"Of course, Xiaoxiao. Thank you so much."

Tao Manman hung up the phone overjoyed, feeling exceptionally happy.

Not having her period had left her pale and cranky, snapping at everyone every day.

Now, not only was her body better, but her mood had improved too.

Back at Ye Xiaoxiao’s office, a nurse handed her a letter.

When Ye Xiaoxiao opened it, she found that her research paper she had submitted earlier had been approved for publication.

There's a 150-yuan publication fee.

It won’t be published until April at the earliest.

This amount was pocket change for Ye Xiaoxiao, and the academic journal she chose is very prestigious, so the money was well spent.

...

After Hao Yanyan and Xu Jianwen divorced, she did not move back to the Hao family home.

The house was left to her, and she continued living in the same place.

After licking her wounds for a while, Hao Yanyan doubled down on work.

After some back-and-forth, she landed a supplier.

They could supply Butterfly-brand apparel at way below standard wholesale prices.

This situation is quite common—typically means factory managers are skimming profits.

A shady deal—high risk, high reward.

Hao Yanyan knew Butterfly was a brand under Ningyuan Company.

For this to be happening, Ningyuan must have a leak in their system.

But Hao Yanyan still chose to cooperate with that factory manager.

Ye Changning didn’t even care about his flesh and blood—why should she do him any favors?

With such high profits, Hao Yanyan didn’t even need to sell the goods herself. All she needed was to line up some resellers to move the inventory.

By gaming the system, Hao Yanyan pulled in 100k yuan a month.

Ye Changning returned to Beijing on April 1st.

As soon as he arrived at the company’s Beijing branch, the GM came with bad news.

"Mr. Ye, this is the financial report for the last quarter from the Southern District factory. We’ve got a serious discrepancy."

Ye Changning flipped through it.

Though paperwork wasn’t his strong suit, the red flags jumped right out.

The numbers didn’t add up.

"What’s going on here?"

The general manager pushed his glasses up. "If I’m not mistaken, someone’s been undercutting us with factory stock."

Ye Changning’s expression turned cold. "Who’s in charge of the Southern District factory?"

"It’s Ma Liang."

"Don’t tip them off yet. If they’re bold enough to do this, we’ll nail them with the goods."

Ye Changning wasn’t about to take this lying down.

He ran what he considered a fair shop, even with annual benefit bumps to boot.

Under these conditions, someone would still betray him, which was intolerable.

The general manager nodded.

With such an incident happening in the Beijing company, he was squarely to blame.

Originally, he had planned to handle the matter before Mr. Ye returned, but he felt it was better to let Mr. Ye make the decision, since firing them outright seemed too easy on them.

This behavior had already constituted economic fraud. If charged, they’d not only owe full restitution, but imprisonment would also follow.

However, it would inevitably have some negative impact on the company.

Now, seeing Mr. Ye's decision, the general manager felt at ease and got to work.

Ye Changning summoned Jiang Nan and ordered him to bring more people to keep a close eye on the Southern District factory.

Jiang Nan moved fast. Ye Changning learned of the news on the 1st, and by the evening of the third day, Jiang Nan had already nabbed the smuggler.

Perhaps the high profits of the past two months had gone to Ma Liang’s head, making him bolder and more frequent in his black-market shipments.

Meanwhile, the goods he submitted to the company became fewer and fewer.

He even blamed it on claiming that many workers had not returned after the New Year, leading to a labor shortage.

It was so obvious, like he was practically begging to get caught.

Ye Changning looked at the evidence submitted by the general manager and gave an icy chuckle.

"So this is why Ma Liang was so bold—he had already applied for immigration, planning to line his pockets at my expense and then live lavishly abroad."

The general manager wiped the sweat from his forehead. Mr. Ye looked downright terrifying.

He cautiously asked, "Mr. Ye, should we file a police report now?"

"Bring Ma Liang here. I have some questions to ask him personally."

"Understood."

Ma Liang, beaten black and blue, was shoved into the office.

The moment he entered, he fell to his knees before Ye Changning without a word.

"Mr. Ye, please spare me. I had no choice. I have elderly parents and young children to support—I was just trying to put food on the table."

Ye Changning sneered, "I pay you 800 yuan a month now. You think that’s not enough?"

Ma Liang shook his head vigorously. "No, no! It's just that my son needs to study abroad, and my mother needs medicine and medical care. I was desperate!"