The Self-Cultivation of a Reborn Massage Therapist

Chapter 489 Director Liu is not alone
Director Liu wasn't surprised by Zhou Yaqin's harsh words; he simply shook his head with a wry smile.

"President Zhou, there must have been someone who signed it, and someone who didn't know the situation wouldn't have thought about the consequences."

"The problem is—" he leaned forward slightly, "even if we really issued you a document, would it be of any use?"

Zhou Yaqin replied almost without hesitation: "It's useless!"

"..." Director Liu revealed an "I knew it" expression, relaxed and leaned back on the sofa: "Alright, now that we've finished discussing official business, I'd like to ask General Manager Zhou to do me a personal favor."

"You say."

"It's your company's membership system," Director Liu asked tentatively. "I have a relative's child who works in the entertainment industry. He's just an ordinary person, except he's good-looking. Why does he keep failing to register?"

Zhou Yaqin frowned: "These conditions shouldn't be subject to review... Do they require identification information?"

Director Liu quickly sent the information. Less than five minutes after Zhou Yaqin forwarded it to Shen Yan, two videos were sent back to her phone.

She clicked on the first one—

A colorful advertisement popped up on the screen, accompanied by a shrill female voice shouting:

"If I lend you 100,000 yuan, and you have to pay me back every day, would you want it? No, I don't!"

"If I lend you 100,000 yuan, and you pay me back *** every day, would you want it? I would!"

"***loan……"

The video was still playing, and Zhou Yaqin and Director Liu stared in disbelief, looking like old men looking at their phones on the subway, speechless for a long time.

Zhou Yaqin grabbed a calculator and started pressing keys rapidly, then turned the screen towards Director Liu:
"Director Liu, look—" she pointed to the alarmingly high numbers on the screen, "The interest rates are so high, even Huang Shiren wasn't this greedy back in the day!"

Director Liu rubbed his hands awkwardly: "Oh dear, she's just filming an advertisement..."

"Shooting an advertisement?" Zhou Yaqin snapped the calculator shut. "This girl is shooting an ad for WD, a ruthless and vicious company!"

The streamlined membership verification system employs a dual-track parallel mechanism:
The mysterious channel of "a certain company" is specifically responsible for screening sensitive individuals and industry practitioners who are explicitly prohibited by Zhao Xiaochui.

The proprietary review system is much more lenient—it mainly checks the applicant's publicly available information online. As long as the applicant's values ​​are sound and their statements are reasonable, they can generally pass the review smoothly.

But the situation of this girl today is completely different. If she were to pass the review, or even be sent to Zhao Xiaochui, the entire review team would have to pack their bags and leave!
Zhou Yaqin suddenly realized that Director Liu wasn't asking for directions for a relative at all; he was clearly testing the membership review rules for certain people.

She picked up her teacup, took a sip, and gave a half-smile:

"Director Liu, are you trying to find out information about someone by beating around the bush like this?"

Director Liu rubbed his hands awkwardly after being exposed.

"Sigh, there are plenty of wealthy people in Beijing... but the prices for international booking channels are really too high."

“Your membership review rules are kept very secret, and when you press customer service, they even yell at you, ‘It’s our business to set the rules however you want!’” He shrugged helplessly: “To put it bluntly, some people are figuring out how to bypass the high-cost channel and still get access to your services.”

Zhou Yaqin chuckled: "From the very first day of opening, Easy Travel never intended to make money off everyone."

Director Liu shook his head, bent down to pick up his briefcase, and his expression relaxed a bit.

"Mr. Zhou, thank you for taking the time to receive me today." He deftly fastened the strap of his briefcase and walked towards the door.

As his hand touched the doorknob, he paused, turned around, and lowered his voice, saying:
"Actually, today's whole thing... was all official business from beginning to end."

After saying that, he pushed open the door and left, leaving only the sound of his footsteps fading into the distance in the corridor.

Zhou Yaqin sat quietly in place, listening to the footsteps outside the door gradually fade away until they disappeared at the elevator entrance.

She raised her hand and gently tapped the invisible earpiece in her ear, asking softly:
"You heard the conversation just now, didn't you?"

The familiar voice of Chen Guifen, the plump receptionist, came through the earphones, with a slightly lazy tone:

“I’m listening, not a word.”

Chen Guifen: "What was Lao Liu's expression when he left?"

Zhou Yaqin thought for a moment, then chuckled softly, "She looked conflicted, and a little aggrieved."

"So what are your thoughts on today's play?"

“I’m a little confused…” Zhou Yaqin tapped her fingertips lightly on the table, “but it also feels strangely familiar.”

Chen Guifen chuckled softly on the other end of the phone:

"No wonder you came to me for advice this time. As a financial elite, Mr. Zhou, you are invincible in business battles, but you are inevitably a step slow to react to the intricacies of this kind of interpersonal relationship."

“Think back carefully,” she prompted, “when you were in a Fortune 500 company, after you became the director of financial management and entered a certain circle of interests, weren’t there always people coming to you with offers of cooperation?”

Zhou Yaqin's brows furrowed at first, then her eyes lit up.

"Have different 'Old Lius' appeared around you one after another?" Chen Guifen continued to advise, "They come to share projects, seemingly asking you to give up some resources, but in reality, it implies an exchange of benefits?"

“That’s right!” Zhou Yaqin sighed in sudden realization, “I’ve been taking it easy and letting Little Hammer do whatever he wants for too long, and I’ve forgotten the old rules of the game!”

“We’re operating in a closed system here, refusing any contact with the outside world,” she said, quickening her pace. “As a result, the people who were supposed to appear in batches all ended up being just Director Liu acting as a mouthpiece!”

"Exactly!" Chen Guifen praised. "What Director Liu talked about today may seem like a private matter, but there are actually several forces behind it."

"These people may not have malicious intent. They want to take advantage of the relaxed and slow pace, but the conditions they set also benefit us—agreeing to cooperate would actually make us stand out. Isn't this the unspoken rule of the game in society today?"

(End of this chapter)