Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

The intelligent Boss Pei quickly conjured up an entire drama in his head.

Over the weekend, Tang Yishu came to the office to clean up Glabella's poop as she was meant to. Logically, the office should have been empty; nobody should have been there.

However, Tang Yishu noticed someone sneakily working on something at his desk. She began to feel worried that this person was stealing business secrets.

Although Pei Qian knew for a fact that there were no business secrets worth stealing in the office, Tang Yishu had purely thought that way because she had no working experience. However, this proved that somebody had been sneakily working overtime over the weekend!

Who was it?!

Boss Pei had instructed everybody time and time again that they had to formally apply for permission to work overtime. They could only work overtime if Boss Pei approved it; otherwise, working overtime was strictly prohibited.

They could work overtime from home by editing documents in secret. If they handed it in on Monday, Boss Pei would have no way of finding out. He could turn a blind eye to the entire situation.

However, coming to the office to work overtime without permission was more than Boss Pei could tolerate. He could not let this slide!

After all, hardly anyone could be efficient or productive while working overtime from home. For all Boss Pei knew, they would get distracted by other things after only working for a short while. The amount of harm that could be done was limited.

However, working overtime in the office could improve one's productivity in many ways. It could also breed a bad culture. The potential harm caused was incomparable to the former.

At first, Pei Qian thought about asking Tang Yishu about this. However, he soon realized that Tang Yishu had only started work a while ago. She probably did not even know many colleagues. It would be difficult for her to identify who it was she had seen over the weekend.

"That's easy. I can just check the platform."

Pei Qian immediately accessed the platform to check the access log for the main door and the upload log for the design file.

Only two people accessed the office on Saturday: Tang Yishu and a man from the administrative department.

Four submissions were also made on Saturday, and they were all done by Li Yada.

After some thought, Pei Qian sent a message to Little Zhou from the administrative department and Li Yada, asking them to meet him in his office.

When both of them arrived at the office, they exchanged a look as if realizing something.

They were not even from the same department. They hardly met during work. What else could Boss Pei be summoning them for?

Although both felt slightly apprehensive, they tried to remain calm.

Pei Qian looked at Little Zhou first. "It shows on the records that you worked overtime on Saturday. Did you come to the office to work?"

Little Zhou quickly nodded. "That's right, Boss Pei. I wasn't done with some work for the recruitment drive, and so I came to work overtime."

Pei Qian fell silent. That was a pretty good reason.

Part of the administrative department had been working closely with the HR department to organize the recruitment drive, and Little Zhou had been a part of that group.

Furthermore, the administrative department normally did not have much to do during working hours. Thus, Pei Qian trusted them a bit more. He had never attempted to oversee their working habits and had never requested for them to ask for permission before working overtime.

Pei Qian turned to face Li Yada. "You worked overtime, too?"

Li Yada quickly replied, "I didn't. I only made minor edits to a few documents while I was at home."

The upload and editing records for various documents only revealed who edited the documents and when. They did not reveal which computer the edits were made on.

Pei Qian nodded slightly.

Maybe I'm overthinking.

Someone had come into the office on Saturday, but it was only Little Zhou from the administrative department. There was no problem with that. After all, he had not been placed in charge of any huge, profit-generating projects.

The upload log could be explained by Li Yada making edits from home. This did not seem like a huge problem either.

Pei Qian nodded. "Alright, there's nothing else. You can go back to work. Remember to take note of your overtime hours so that the finance department can remunerate you accordingly."

Both of them heaved a sigh of relief, turned around, and left the office.

Pei Qian went back to watching his shows.

All of a sudden, he realized something else was wrong. There was an obvious gap in his current management model!

What if someone used the access card of someone from the administrative department to enter the office on weekends?

He could not rule out this possibility!

At that thought, Pei Qian sent a message to Tang Yishu. "I'm giving you a task."

Tang Yishu answered, "Alright, Senior."

Pei Qian said, "When you come into the office over the weekend, count the number of people in the office. Record the number down and report to me on Monday."

Tang Yishu asked, "Senior, I can't remember everyone's name. Should I ask around?"

Pei Qian answered, "No, no, no! You mustn't do that. I'm just trying to reward those who work overtime with a small gift. It's supposed to be a surprise. If you let them know, it would be spoiled.

"You don't have to remember their names. Just note down any special characteristics. For example, you could write 'male, short, and skinny', 'male, receding hairline', 'female, huge-frame spectacles', or something similar."

Tang Yishu responded, "Alright, I understand, Senior."

Once again, Pei Qian asked, "Can you try to describe the person you saw last weekend first?"

Pei Qian did not receive a reply, even after half a minute.

Tang Yishu was struggling on the other side.

She glanced at Bao Xu, who was nonchalantly playing games, and then looked in the direction of Pei Qian's office.

The situation was getting confusing.

"This big brother with a receding hairline did tell me not to inform Senior that he had worked overtime. Yet, Senior is asking me about it now…"

Tang Yishu felt very conflicted. After a few more seconds of consideration, she finally answered. "Senior, you're going to reward this person, right? You're not going to punish him, right?"

Pei Qian said, "That's right!"

Tang Yishu pondered a bit more and said, "Can I ask him if he wants to be rewarded first?"

Pei Qian, "?"

Ask him if he wants to be rewarded? Won't you be revealing my intentions then?

He quickly said, "There's no need for that. Just tell me his special characteristic."

Tang Yishu answered, "I can't do that, Senior. I promised I wouldn't tell you."

Pei Qian, "?"

Something was indeed up! He had almost been kept in the dark!

All of a sudden, Pei Qian became Sherlock Holmes and ran over the facts that he could confirm.

Tang Yishu had indeed someone else when she came back to work over the weekend. What's more, the person was probably not Little Zhou from the administrative department.

That was because Little Zhou was permitted to work overtime. There would have been no need for him to emphasize to Tang Yishu not to inform Boss Pei about it.

Someone must have taken Little Zhou's access card to come to the office and work overtime. What's more, Little Zhou had covered up for the person!

However, Pei Qian probably would not be able to learn anything else about the person from Tang Yishu.

He could only say that this child was too honest. If Pei Qian had made the problem sound extremely serious from the beginning and told her that someone might have been stealing business secrets, perhaps Tang Yishu would have told him the truth.

However, Tang Yishu already knew that the person she saw had been working overtime as per usual. He had not been stealing business secrets. Thus, she had decided to keep her promise to the person and not reveal his identity.

After some thought, Pei Qian replied, "Forget it.

"If you catch someone working overtime again, you must take down a name or special characteristic silently and then inform me in private. You're alright with this task, right?"

Tang Yishu answered, "Alright, Senior. I'll do it for sure."

Pei Qian pondered for a moment and then decided not to draw attention to this matter. He could not alert the perpetrator beforehand.

He would catch the mole sooner or later; there was no need to rush things. If the mole kept up his bad habit and continued to break the rules, it was only a matter of time before Boss Pei would catch him.

Pei Qian decided not to disclose this situation in order to keep Tang Yishu covered.

The mole had to think that Tang Yishu was kind and obedient and that she would not reveal his secret to Boss Pei. Only then would he slowly let his guard down.

It was then that Pei Qian would be able to use Tang Yishu to catch those working overtime during the weekend!

When that time came, those dogs working overtime would not have a clue who exposed them or that everything was actually in the palm of Boss Pei's hand…

The mole would think his plan was flawless, but Boss Pei would be observing every single move of his from the very beginning.

"Hmph, you want to fight me? You need to know your place!" Pei Qian leaned back in his chair, pleased with himself. He would wait for the mole's identity to be revealed.

…

…

December 1st, Wednesday…

Little Sun was prepared to drive to the airport to pick Ruan Guangjian up.

As Boss Pei's designated driver, Little Sun's driving skills were incomparable. Furthermore, he was quick-witted and efficient and deeply trusted by Boss Pei. Any time business partners like Teacher Qiao and Zhang Zuting came to Jingzhou, Little Sun would be put in charge of driving them around. This time was no exception.

Before Little Sun left, Pei Qian pulled him aside and gave him brief instructions.

"When you meet Ruan Guangjian, send him to the hotel first. Allow him to put his things down and get some rest.

"After that, send him to the amusement park! Buy him a ticket for all the roller coasters and rides.

"When he's done at the amusement park, send him to Swan Lake Restaurant for a meal at night.

"Remember this: you have to let him play as much as possible at the amusement park. Otherwise, I will hold you responsible, understand?"

Pei Qian instructed yet again.

It was a Wednesday. Pei Qian would only be able to host guests at Ming Yun Private Kitchen on Sunday. Thus, he had no choice but to feed Ruan Guangjian the slightly inferior food at Swan Lake Restaurant first.

By sending Ruan Guangjian to the amusement park immediately after he landed, Pei Qian hoped to take him a notch down and dampen his spirits!

You plotted against me first! I must take revenge!

Pei Qian had it all planned out. Little Sun had always been efficient and reliable. Pei Qian would nurture him for a while more and allow him to lead others in the future.

Of course, Pei Qian had to allow Little Sun to bring the 'important guests' listed on his notebook to enjoy the roller coasters and rides when they visited Jingzhou.

Little Sun nodded profusely. "Rest assured, Boss Pei. I'll make sure everything is done well!"

Although he was not sure why Boss Pei loved extreme activities like roller coasters and bungee-jumping so much, Boss Pei had personally left this task to him. Of course, Little Sun had to try his best to accomplish it well.

He arrived at the airport and met Ruan Guangjian.

Ruan Guangjian did not bring much luggage with him to Jingzhou this time. He only had one suitcase and a backpack. His backpack contained his drawing tablet and his laptop while his suitcase contained his clothes which he was prepared to wash.

Little Sun sent Ruan Guangjian to the hotel to settle down and rest for a while. Then, they set off once again.

"Are we going to Tengda now?" Ruan Guangjian asked.

Little Sun smiled and said, "We're not going there yet. Boss Pei said that you must have had a long trip. He instructed me to let you experience Jingzhou's local culture first."

Ruan Guangjian rubbed his forehead. "What local culture is there to experience? Are we going to famous historical sites or something?"

Little Sun shook his head. "We're not going to a famous historical site; we're going to an amusement park. I'll let you experience the rollercoasters, the drop towers, the pendulum rides, and the haunted house."

Ruan Guangjian looked confused as he fell into silence.

After a while, he asked curiously, "How did Boss Pei know I like those?"