Double evil in the business district

"Hello, is this Secretary Li? Please help me check the schedule of Director Ma of Shen Enterprise." Xiao Yue's voice was low, with a hint of barely perceptible nervousness.

After hanging up the phone, Xiao Yue rubbed her brows. The hope of obtaining clues from within Xiao's company was slim. Ever since she'd caught Accountant Chen destroying documents, he'd been wary of her at every turn. He'd even replaced the lock on the archives door with a more advanced one, and Security Guard Wu, like a dog-skin plaster, followed her everywhere. She had to find another way, and Shen's company was her only chance to break through.

She recalled the casual conversation she'd overheard in Xiao's tea room. Shen's company was full of factions, and Director Ma's group was the most active and mysterious. If she could infiltrate that group, perhaps she could find a key clue.

Secretary Li was very efficient and sent Director Ma's schedule to Xiao Yue's email in less than an hour. Xiao Yue carefully studied the schedule and found that Director Ma went to a private club called "Ye Lan Shan" every Wednesday night.

On Wednesday evening, Xiao Yue changed into a modest black dress and arrived at the "Ye Lan Shan" club. The club was luxuriously decorated, the atmosphere tranquil, and the air thick with the aura of money and power. She took a deep breath and tried to appear calm and composed.

She didn't approach Director Ma rashly, choosing instead to sit at the bar and observe her surroundings. She noticed a young man sitting alone in a corner, looking forlorn, sipping one drink after another. Judging by his ID, he was a junior employee at Shen's.

Xiao Yue walked up to him and asked softly, "Sir, are you okay?"

The man raised his head, his eyes a little blurry. "It's okay, just... I ran into some trouble at work."

Xiao Yue sat down beside him and handed him a glass of warm water. "Perhaps, I can listen to your troubles?"

The man hesitated for a moment, but eventually opened up. His name was Lin Feng, and he was an ordinary employee in Shen's marketing department. He had recently been in charge of a project that had gone wrong, and he had been scolded by his boss, which had left him feeling depressed.

Xiao Yue listened patiently, offering words of comfort from time to time. Lin Feng gradually relaxed his guard and began to talk more about work.

He mentioned some details about the project, as well as some conflicts and frictions between departments. Although these were trivial matters, Xiao Yue keenly detected some clues. Lin Feng mentioned that Director Ma seemed particularly concerned about the project and frequently inquired about its progress.

Xiao Yue continued to guide the topic calmly, and finally, Lin Feng inadvertently revealed a key piece of information: "...I heard that Director Ma seemed to be privately talking to the partner of this project..." He suddenly stopped, his eyes flickering, as if he realized that he had let the cat out of the bag.

"What happened with the partner?" Xiao Yue asked, his heart beating faster involuntarily.

Lin Feng's eyes dodged, "No...nothing, just some gossip, not credible." He picked up the wine glass, drank it all in one gulp, stood up and said, "I...I'm leaving first."

Xiao Yue watched him hurriedly leave, thinking to herself: It seems that I am getting closer and closer to the truth...

She picked up her phone and typed a text message: "Lin Feng, I know you still have something to say..."

After sending the text message, it was like a stone sinking into the sea, with no response. Xiao Yue's heart gradually sank. She knew that Lin Feng must have received some kind of warning.

The next day, Xiao Yue went to Shen's marketing department, hoping to find Lin Feng again, but learned he was on sick leave. Standing in the empty marketing office, Xiao Yue felt a surge of helplessness. The clues had been lost once again.

But she didn't give up. Since starting with internal personnel didn't work, she decided to look for a breakthrough from the outside. Xiao Yue thought of the "project" Lin Feng mentioned. Perhaps the answer lay there.

After some investigation, Xiao Yue learned that Shen's company was developing a large commercial complex project in the suburbs. She drove to the construction site to inspect it.

After arriving at the construction site, Xiao Yue changed into ordinary work clothes and put on a hard hat, pretending to be an engineer who came to inspect. The construction site was a busy scene, with various machines roaring and workers coming and going, transporting construction materials.

Xiao Yue carefully observed the construction process. Drawing on her experience working on smaller projects at Xiao's, she keenly noticed some anomalies. For example, the steel bar tying method in certain key areas seemed to be substandard, and the concrete pouring speed was too fast, which could easily lead to quality problems.

She walked over to a worker who was tying rebar and asked casually, "Master, isn't the spacing between these rebars a little small?"

The worker looked up and glanced at her impatiently. "What do you know? This is according to the blueprint!"

Xiao Yue didn't ask any further questions, but silently noted the location. She continued to walk around the construction site, observing every detail. She found that similar problems existed elsewhere, which made her more convinced that there must be something wrong with the project.

In a corner, she saw several workers carrying a batch of cement. The label on the cement bag caught her attention. She recognized it as the mark for inferior cement, whose strength fell far below standard requirements. If used in construction, it would pose a serious safety hazard.

Xiao Yue's heartbeat quickened. It seemed her guess was correct. This project indeed had serious quality issues! This might be the key to the breakdown of the cooperation between Xiao and Shen's.

She pulled out her phone and secretly snapped a few photos, preparing to return to examine them more closely. Then, she noticed a simple construction shed not far away with a sign reading "Construction Records" hanging on the door. If she could see the construction records, she might be able to find more definitive evidence.

Xiao Yue walked quickly towards the shed and reached out to push the door. Just then, a familiar voice sounded behind her: "Miss Xiao, what are you doing?"

Xiao Yue turned around suddenly and saw Wu Baoan standing behind her with a gloomy face. Behind him were several burly security guards, staring at her with unfriendly eyes.

Wu Baoan grabbed Xiao Yue's arm and said in a cold tone, "This is not the place for you. Please leave immediately!"

Xiao Yue struggled to break free from his grip, "Let me go! I have the right to investigate here!"

"Investigate?" Wu Baoan sneered. "What qualifications do you have to investigate? You're just a small employee of Xiao's!" He dragged Xiao Yue out of the construction site without explanation. "I'm warning you, don't come near here again, otherwise..." He paused, a warning flashing in his eyes, "You will bear the consequences at your own risk."

Xiao Yue was forcibly taken away from the construction site, feeling resentful and angry. But she knew now was not the time for a head-on confrontation. She had to find a way to sneak back into the construction site and get the construction records. She looked up at the brightly lit Shen's Building in the distance, her eyes determined.

"Shen Ting..." she murmured softly, "I will definitely find out the truth..."

At this moment, a black car stopped silently in front of her, the window slowly lowered, revealing a familiar face.

"Get in the car." Shen Ting's voice was low and cold.

A suffocating low pressure filled Shen Ting's car. Xiao Yue sat in the passenger seat, silent, staring straight ahead. She knew that Shen Ting's appearance was no accident.

"Why do you want to go to the construction site?" Shen Ting's voice was cold and emotionless.

Xiao Yue took a deep breath and tried to keep his tone calm. "I just want to go and take a look."

"Let's take a look?" Shen Ting sneered, "Miss Xiao is really curious."

"Mr. Shen, there is a problem in our cooperation. I want to find out the reason. Is there anything wrong with that?" Xiao Yue turned her head and looked directly into Shen Ting's eyes.

Shen Ting didn't answer, but just stepped on the brakes suddenly. The car stopped abruptly and Xiao Yue's body leaned forward suddenly.

"There are some things you'd better not know too much about." Shen Ting's voice was low and dangerous.

Xiao Yue bit her lip and said nothing. She knew that Shen Ting was warning her.

The car started up again, sped along, and finally stopped in front of the Xiao Enterprise building. Xiao Yue pushed open the door and walked in without looking back.

As soon as Xiao Yue entered the office, she sensed something was amiss. Her colleagues looked flustered and whispered among themselves. She walked to her desk, only to find the drawer had been pried open, the papers scattered across the floor.

"What's going on?" Xiao Yue grabbed a passing colleague and asked anxiously.

"Accountant Chen... Accountant Chen..." the colleague stammered, "He... He took away a lot of documents..."

Xiao Yue's heart sank, and she immediately rushed to the finance office. She saw Accountant Chen hurriedly walking out with a large box in his arms.

"Accountant Chen! What are you doing?!" Xiao Yue shouted.

When Accountant Chen saw Xiao Yue, his face turned pale. He quickened his pace, wanting to rush out.

"Stop him!" Xiao Yue shouted to his colleagues around him.

However, no one dared to step forward to stop them. They just looked at each other with flickering eyes. Xiao Yue then realized that these people might have been bribed.

Accountant Chen took advantage of this opportunity to rush out of the finance office and disappeared at the end of the corridor. Xiao Yue wanted to chase him, but was stopped by several colleagues.

"Ms. Xiao, you'd better not get involved." A colleague whispered, "This is the board's decision."

The board of directors? Xiao Yue was shocked. Could there be a bigger conspiracy behind this?

She pushed aside the colleague who was blocking her way and rushed out of the office, only to see the elevator door slowly close. Accountant Chen had already left.

Xiao Yue leaned weakly against the wall, her heart filled with despair. Once again, her clues were broken, and this time, she had lost important financial documents. She knew she was getting further and further away from the truth, and time was running out: only three days left.

Just then, her cell phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number.

Xiao Yue hesitated for a moment, but still answered the phone.

"Ms. Xiao," a deep voice came from the other end of the phone, "I know what you want to know. See you at the usual place at ten o'clock tonight."

The call ended. Xiao Yue held the phone, her heart filled with doubt and uneasiness. The old place? Who was it? What did he know?

She raised her head and looked out the window at the brightly lit Shen's Building.

"Shen Ting..." she murmured in a low voice, "Is it you..." Then she turned around and walked quickly towards the elevator.

Xiao Yue turned on her phone. The time read nine o'clock in the evening. She still had an hour until that mysterious phone call. She paced back and forth in her office, her heart aching.

"The old place..." She chewed on these three words over and over again, trying to search for clues from her memory. Suddenly, she remembered a place - a small cafe on the outskirts of the city, where she and her college classmates occasionally met, and where she and Shen Ting had met by chance.

Could it be... Shen Ting? This thought made her nervous and excited.

The waiting time was extremely long, and every minute and every second seemed like torture. Xiao Yue forced himself to calm down and carefully think about the whole process.

From the initial problems with the cooperative project, to the accident on the construction site, to the sudden departure of Accountant Chen, everything seems to be controlled by an invisible hand. But who is the owner of this hand?

At ten o'clock, Xiao Yue appeared at the door of the cafe on time. Night enveloped the entire city, and the lights of the cafe seemed particularly warm in the darkness. She took a deep breath, pushed the door open and walked in.

There were not many people in the cafe, and Xiao Yue saw the familiar figure sitting in the corner at a glance - Shen Ting.

He was wearing a black windbreaker, his face gloomy, as if he was thinking about something. When he saw Xiao Yue coming in, he raised his head, and a hint of subtle surprise flashed in his eyes.

Xiao Yue walked over to sit down across from Shen Ting, her heart pounding. "Is that you?" she whispered. "You called me?"

Shen Ting didn't answer, but just looked at her quietly, his eyes deep and complicated. After a long while, he finally said, "Miss Xiao, it's so late, what do you want to talk to me about?"

His tone was cold and distant, making Xiao Yue's heart sink. Could it not be him? A flash of disappointment flashed through her mind, but she quickly regained her resolve. Now was not the time to dwell on this issue; she had to seize this opportunity to find out the truth.

"Mr. Shen, I need your help." Xiao Yue said straight to the point, "I know you must know something."

Shen Ting raised his eyebrows and looked at her with a half-smile. "Miss Xiao, what do you mean by that?"

"A lot of strange things have happened since we started working together." Xiao Yue took a deep breath and told Shen Ting about the obstacles she encountered during the investigation and the suspicious points she found. She even mentioned Accountant Chen's sudden departure and her suspicion that someone was manipulating everything behind the scenes.

She spoke in a hurried tone, with a hint of pleading, hoping that Shen Ting could understand her situation and give her some help. However, Shen Ting's reaction was beyond her expectations.

He didn't show any surprise or sympathy. Instead, he looked at her with indifference, his tone tinged with sarcasm. "Miss Xiao, are you doubting me?"

Xiao Yue was stunned. She didn't expect Shen Ting to react like this. "I didn't..." She wanted to explain, but was interrupted by Shen Ting.

"That's enough," Shen Ting's tone became even colder. "Ms. Xiao, I hope you won't make any more random guesses. I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."

He stood up and turned to leave the cafe, leaving Xiao Yue sitting there alone, feeling lost and helpless. She looked at Shen Ting's departing back, and suddenly a sense of unease welled up in her heart.

She stood up suddenly and rushed out of the cafe, trying to catch up with Shen Ting. However, she saw that Shen Ting's car had already started and quickly disappeared into the night. Xiao Yue stood there, looking at the empty street, her heart cold.

"Shen Ting..." she murmured in a low voice, "What are you hiding..."

At this moment, a black car stopped silently beside her, the window slowly lowered, revealing a familiar face.

"Miss Xiao," the man said, "get in the car."