A Guilty Response and the System's Warning

Lin Chen rushed out of the company building in one breath. Only after he had blended into the crowd leaving work did he dare slow down, his heart still pounding.

I'm dead! Yan Iceberg definitely did that on purpose!

She must have noticed something!

My pocket money isn't a small amount?

Did she check my account?!

Wait, no. She shouldn't have access to my private account, right?

And in the elevator... she definitely caught me sneaking peeks at her!

That look was like a knife!

I'm done for, done for! Social death!

He raked a hand through his hair in frustration. In front of that sharp-witted female CEO, he felt practically transparent, at risk of being exposed at any moment.

Just then, his phone's special notification sounded—it was Little Moon.

Lin Chen hurried to open it. The moment he saw the message, his face flushed red, and his heart pounded even harder.

[Something a little funny happened when I got off work just now [/snicker]. A clumsy fool almost knocked me out... Tell me, don't some people look perfectly honest on the outside, but actually spend all day thinking about all sorts of improper things?]

That description... that timing...

Wasn't she talking about what had just happened in the elevator?!

That "clumsy fool" was obviously him!

President Yan had just sliced him to pieces with her eyes, and Little Moon had sent him a message complaining about it?!

The coincidence made his scalp tingle!

No way, sir! What a coincidence!

Little Moon ran into a clumsy fool after work today too? Or could it be...

An absurd thought popped into his head unbidden, but he immediately snuffed it out.

What am I thinking?! How could President Yan possibly be Little Moon?!

An iceberg workaholic like her—where would she find the time for an online romance with me?

And pretend to be gentle and cute? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

It has to be a coincidence!

Right, it must be a coincidence! I'm not the only clumsy fool in the world!

He forced himself to take comfort in that, but the sliver of doubt in his heart quietly began to grow like a vine.

After all, Little Moon's voice... did sound just a tiny bit familiar to him sometimes, didn't it?

And they were both workplace elites...

He shook his head and hurried to reply. He had to distance himself from the incident while maintaining his wonderful image in Little Moon's eyes:

"Huh? Are you okay? Did it hurt when he bumped into you? [/worried]"

"Clumsy fools like that really are annoying!

They don't even watch where they're going! But..."

His fingers paused, and he continued typing, feeling a little guilty:

"Actually, sometimes you can't blame them entirely. What if... what if you were so pretty that he was stunned just looking at you?

[/snicker] (I'm not that kind of person! I'm just giving an example!)"

After sending it, he stared at the screen, waiting nervously for her reply.

He was afraid she would keep questioning him, yet he also looked forward to her response a little.

In the CEO's private car, Yan Qingyue looked at Lin Chen's messages, especially the final "giving an example" he had tacked on as an explanation, and finally couldn't help laughing softly.

This guy... really knew how to cover for himself.

He was clearly panicking inside, yet he insisted on pretending to be calm, and even remembered to sneak in a "compliment" for her.

She could almost picture him scratching his head and ears, his face bright red.

For some reason, her mood lifted.

She replied:

"Hmph, at least you know what to say~ [/shy]"

"But that guy is nowhere near as good as you. He's so clumsy. Our Chenxing is much better, both gentle and steady~ [/cute]"

When Lin Chen saw her reply, especially the words "both gentle and steady," his face immediately reddened, and he felt both ashamed and a little pleased with himself.

Ah, Little Moon is so wonderful! She actually trusts me this much!

I must never let her trust down!

As for President Yan... from now on, I'd better avoid her whenever I can and keep as low a profile as possible!

Having made up his mind, he put that absurd suspicion out of his head for the time being. After chatting with Little Moon for a few more messages, he gradually calmed down.

Over the next two days, Lin Chen indeed carried out his "avoid President Yan" plan to the letter.

His work reports were brief and to the point, he never went near the CEO's office unless he had to, he slipped away early for lunch breaks, and he ran off faster than anyone when work ended.

Yan Qingyue saw all his little maneuvers but did not call him out. She merely found them somewhat amusing.

Most of her energy was occupied by a new merger and acquisition deal. It was the company's current strategic priority, and there was no room for error.

That afternoon, Yan Qingyue gathered the core team for a project progress meeting, with Lin Chen attending as her assistant to take notes.

The atmosphere was tense, and the two sides had reached an impasse over the valuation and acquisition terms.

Yan Qingyue sat at the head of the table, her face cold as frost, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the tabletop. Her powerful presence bore down on everyone so heavily that none of them dared breathe too loudly.

As Lin Chen took notes at top speed, he muttered inwardly:

Tsk, their terms are far too harsh. They're clearly looting a burning house!

President Yan definitely won't agree to them.

But I heard there might be something wrong with that company's chief financial officer. At the last golf social,

Zhang Weiming seemed to mention it in passing. He said the man had a serious gambling addiction and owed a lot of money out there... Could the accounts at a company with someone like that really be clean?

It was only a passing thought, and once he had finished taking notes, he put the gossip out of his mind.

But just then—

[Ding—potential investment risk information detected!]

[Side mission triggered: dig into the hidden danger.]

[Mission requirement: investigate and verify the personal financial situation of Xinghai Technology's chief financial officer, Wang Kun, and its potential impact on Xinghai Technology's accounts.]

[Mission hint: the information may serve as important leverage in merger and acquisition negotiations, or even prevent major losses.]

[Mission reward: 50 system points, Information Insight skill fragment ×1.]

The system's notification sounded in Lin Chen's mind without warning, startling him so badly that his pen stopped and drew a long line across his notebook.

Holy shit?! System, why the sneak attack?! Xinghai Technology?

Isn't that the company President Yan is negotiating to acquire? Wang Kun? The chief financial officer?

This mission... wants me to investigate one of their executives?

I'm just a little assistant. How am I supposed to investigate him? Isn't this asking me to be a corporate spy?!

But... the reward seems pretty good? And I could help the company avoid losses?

Lin Chen's heart sped up again, this time not from fear, but from excitement and the tension of taking part in a major event.

He secretly raised his eyes toward Yan Qingyue at the head of the table.

She was gazing intently at the financial data on the projection screen, the lines of her profile taut. She had clearly run into a problem.

Should I tell her?

What would I say? That I think there might be something wrong with their chief financial officer?

What's my evidence? That I heard it from Zhang Weiming? Can anything that guy says be trusted?

And I absolutely can't let the system be exposed!

He was torn.

If he said nothing, he might miss important intelligence and cause the company's interests to suffer; if he spoke up, he wouldn't be able to explain where the information came from, and he would arouse Yan Qingyue's suspicions again.

The meeting ended with the two sides still at an impasse. Yan Qingyue dismissed everyone, her expression less than pleasant.

The others filed out while Lin Chen dawdled over packing up his things, a battle raging within him.

Seeing Yan Qingyue pick up her documents and prepare to leave as well, Lin Chen steeled himself and decided to warn her in the clumsiest but also the safest way.

He hurried a few steps to catch up with Yan Qingyue, lowered his voice, and said with an air of feigned mystery and a little hesitation:

"President Yan, about the Xinghai Technology acquisition... I... I seem to have overheard a rumor these past couple of days, but I don't know whether it's true..."

Yan Qingyue stopped in her tracks, her sharp gaze falling on his face at once.

"What rumor?"

"It's... it's about their chief financial officer, Wang Kun..."

Lin Chen tried to make his expression look as though he had happened to hear some gossip but couldn't be sure of it. "Apparently there are some... not-so-good rumors about his personal finances?

"For example... gambling? I only heard other people chatting about it, so it might not be true!

"I just thought... at a critical juncture like this, shouldn't we... pay a little attention to any rumors?"

He spoke haltingly, his eyes darting about, looking for all the world like someone saying, "I'm just speaking out of turn, please don't take it seriously, but what if?"

Yan Qingyue's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly.

Wang Kun?

A gambling addiction?

Financial problems?

It wasn't that she had never heard any vague rumors before, but she hadn't paid them much attention.

Now Lin Chen had brought them up again in this manner, especially when the acquisition negotiations had reached an impasse and there were subtle, hard-to-explain points in the other side's financial data...

She gave Lin Chen a long look. Her gaze was complex and difficult to read, holding scrutiny, inquiry, and an even sharper, indescribable gleam.

"I see."

She didn't ask where the information had come from. She merely gave that detached reply, then turned and strode toward her office, giving the secretary at the door an order in a tone that brooked no argument:

"Have Secretary Li and the head of the risk control department come to my office immediately!"

Lin Chen watched her brisk, decisive retreating figure and let out a long breath, his palms slick with sweat.

The warning's delivered! Whether she believes it is up to her! The system mission... does this count as half done?

He had a vague feeling that a war of investigation without gunsmoke was about to begin.

And he himself seemed to have been drawn, unwittingly, into the center of the storm once again.