Puzzle Madness

Chapter 89 Conjecture
The silence seemed to become a physical entity, stretching across the entire office.

The floor was strewn with spit and cigarette butts, and worn socks and spare leather shoes lay on the sofa bed by the window. Combined with the stench of sweat, body odor, and farts, the room was more pungent than mustard. The central air conditioning seemed completely useless; it felt like awls were pricking at Marie Inoue's nasal cavity.

Sweat slid across her false eyelashes and dripped into her eyes; but she didn't dare wipe it off.

The supervisor suddenly raised his hand, as if trying to reach across several meters and cover Inoue Marie's mouth with his palm.

"Stop. Where did you hear that?"

The word [guess] was tacitly forgotten by the two of them.

Inoue Marie twisted the notebook in her hand until it made a clattering sound:

"My brother-in-law works in the Intelligence Department, don't you remember? He said that there have been too many cases in Mong Cai in the past two years. Although most of them are [waste], this density has never appeared before. The people at headquarters are also—"

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!
The director lifted his hips from the desk, stood up, and clapped his hands vigorously. For the first time this quarter, Inoue Marie saw something resembling a smile on his face:

"Ah, brilliant! Brilliant intelligence gathering! I always forget why we snatched you up to our branch in the first place! Good, good; HR almost sent you to the Philippines as a janitor, but you were pretty useful, weren't you?"

"Talented, very talented! Everyone really has their own talents! I've seen countless people, and I almost made a mistake with you!"

"As your sister-in-law, you have to help your sister tie down this wealthy husband! If you need any, remember to go to the logistics department to get some medicine to improve family relationships."

The assistant opened his mouth - but didn't know how to thank these words that sounded like an insult and a compliment - and in the end, he just curled up a shy and flattering smile at the corner of his mouth.

She thought: It would be better for her not to continue speaking at this time.

The supervisor didn't waste another second on this topic:

"I understand: If this comes true, we'll have a first-mover advantage in this area's supporting industries. This is far more advantageous than simply acquiring a single pillar. Headquarters wants to coordinate their efforts and transform it into a fully controlled experimental zone!"

The supervisor lowered his head and looked at the shiny leather shoes and the ground covered with spit and cigarette butts.

Suddenly, the supervisor raised his head. His previous fatigue and inattention were like water being wiped away by a windshield wiper, leaving only a trace.
"What is the name of our company?"

Inoue Marie straightened up like a cat whose tail was stepped on.

"Ah? Ah, Asia-Europe Post, Asia-Europe Post Southeast Asia Branch: I mean, if you mean our branch--"

Bang, bang!

The supervisor snapped his fingers impatiently:
"Okay, okay, I'm talking about Asia-Europe Post. Just know that if this is done right, Asia-Europe Post might be able to have another subsidiary."

"What future do you have as an assistant in a shabby place like the Southeast Asia branch? You should be more proactive and don't just act when you're being criticized."

"Go back, hang up the phone and tell those guys in the analytics department: This direction is feasible, but we need an actuary to come up with an estimate. I'm not sure the funding from the Mong Cai city authorities will be enough, and whether the return will be enough depends on how the PR department handles it. Oh, we have to include emergency food, and we have good suppliers for building materials. Add all of this to the specific plan. If we can't lower the price, then it's meaningless."

"Also, get those lazybones in the office to wake up and get ready to work with the architectural design institute. Develop a plan to demarcate the old urban areas that need to be cleared in Mong Cai City. Later, we'll guide them to targeted areas for clearance. This will make it easier to report to the higher-ups and the PR department."

Inoue Marie nodded repeatedly, her pen almost leaving a trail of ink and rustling the paper. But the supervisor spoke faster and faster:

"Didn't the Special Package Handling Department lead the [Shouzhu 151] project before? Now that the building has been destroyed by the target, we've taken over the repairs: their leader has been arrested and brought back to headquarters to remain silent, so no one has the right to challenge our branch." "How did they manage to bypass the branch and hold onto this project for so long?"

"Also, we have to get the Analytics Department to finalize the rating: no matter what I just said, it has to be [Pillar] level, it has to be [Pillar] level—our branch's annual reports haven't looked good in the past few years. Forget it, there's a plan for this kind of performance: if we don't get the Pillar rating, I'll make a couple more calls to finalize the rating."

"As for the plan, our branch can't approve it. Someone higher up needs to approve it. Wait until the analysis department has the final say, so they don't have to fax it over. I'll give you two days off, so you can go directly over to check in."

It's not so much that the supervisor is talking to his assistant - it's more like he's thinking "out loud," pouring out everything in his mind with his mouth.

Inoue Marie was dizzy from the director's rapid-fire barrage of words, but she instinctively grasped the key to his words. She widened her already round eyes, even to the point of bulging like hyperthyroidism:

"I'll go over there during the holidays to meet with you - will you be paid?"

The supervisor raised his eyes - from Inoue Marie's perspective, he could only see most of the whites of his eyes; his pupils were almost rolling into his brain.

At that moment, Inoue Marie regretted the interrogative request she had just made; her spine felt numb as if an electric shock had passed through it.

But the answer she received was surprisingly gentle:

"No, it will be counted as your annual leave, and it will be used in your personal capacity. But I will consider taking you to the annual meeting of the head office this year - you know what this opportunity means, right?"

"Remember this: we're solely responsible for implementation and action. Everything is a proposal from the Analysis Department. We're the executors of this project, so we're solely focused on execution. Got it? Remember this perspective!"

Inoue Marie nodded like a woodpecker, writing down everything her supervisor said in the notebook in her hand.

pat!

The supervisor suddenly snatched the notebook from Inoue Marie's hand - no one would have thought that this middle-aged man with a big chest and abdomen could have such quick and agile movements - then tore off the page with dense writing and stuffed it into the shredder next to him.

Buzz buzz.
brush!
The supervisor flung open the lid of the collection box, snatched up the shredded paper, and held it before Inoue Marie:
"How many times have I told you? There's no written record of the conversation. Is your memory this bad? Do you want me to give you a note to go get checked for brain damage?"

"Yes, sorry, sir."

Inoue Marie took the note and put it in her mouth. After chewing and coughing several times, she swallowed the entire wet and pulpy paper ball into her stomach.

The supervisor waved his hand calmly:
"Alright, no apologies between superiors and subordinates. I know you have a terrible memory, but I just wanted to help you remember this oversight."

"Also—even though I think you know this, I still want to emphasize: conversations in this office must not be leaked—don't get too close to your brother-in-law during New Year's Eve dinner or the Mid-Autumn Festival, remember? The people in the Intelligence Department are different from us. Those bastards there are too troublesome."

Inoue Marie covered her mouth with her hand, feeling a fishbone stuck in her throat. But she still moved her head up and down vigorously, almost dizzy.

The supervisor stuck his index finger into his nostril and scratched it vigorously, then looked thoughtfully at the slimy contents on his fingertip:

"Let's go. Oh! Call all the field officers in the department who have nothing to do, and call back those on leave: it's time to get to work. Before the Analysis Department and the Intelligence Department start, I need to get a personality profile of the target, a family background check, a medical diagnosis, and a suspected crime--"

He pointed to the whiteboard behind his desk. It was covered with dense handwriting, photos, maps, and documents, all pinned together with thumbtacks. All of this material centered around a young man:
"Hey, are there really parents who give their children a name like Dou Dou?"

(End of this chapter)