Walking Among Men
Most of the time, everyone knew that they should not observe things only from the surface of their affairs. After all, this world did contain something called "miracles."
But more often than not, people still trusted their first impressions and whatever they saw at first glance.
Turning a company with only a hundred yuan in registered capital into a Group Company... Such a thing was not impossible, but it seemed unlikely to happen to a small enterprise with only a hundred yuan in registered capital.
Vera felt somewhat displeased by her husband's lack of concern. After all, this was where she was about to work. However, she did not show it, appearing to accept her husband's mocking remarks.
Some women shouted for equality and took to the streets bare-chested, while other women still remained at home, obedient to their husbands.
A little later, after the family had eaten and the children had been coaxed to sleep, Vera washed up and returned to the bedroom wearing silk pajamas.
She did not know whether it was because of that young man, but her mood today and the chemical reactions in her body seemed somewhat abnormal. Her temperature was about half a degree higher than usual.
Her face flushed red as she leaned against the headboard and looked sideways at her husband. Her cheeks felt hot. Just as she extended an arm to greet him, her husband placed the book in his hand on the bedside table, gave her a sidelong glance, and lay down on the bed. "I'm tired. Let's go to sleep."
The anticipation and fire in her heart were instantly doused with a bucket of cold water. Her expression stiffened, and her burning cheeks quickly cooled.
After a few seconds of silence, she nodded and lay down, pulling the thin blanket over herself. After a long sigh, she gradually drifted into sleep.
Early the next morning, her husband drove to the company for work. After watching him leave, she felt somewhat forlorn. These past few years...
Her knowledge of her husband's work was limited to his workplace and a vague idea of what he did. She knew nothing else. The man was unwilling to tell her, and she had not pressed him.
After seeing the children off to school with the servants, she hurried to the firm. After discussing the matter with its management, they called Lin Qi and hoped to discuss it with him face-to-face so they could finalize everything.
Lin Qi arrived quickly. When Vera saw him, a smile unconsciously appeared on her face. She thought again of the compliments the young man had given her yesterday.
In fact, this situation occurred often. Without accountants, companies had no way to effectively reduce operating costs—for example, through tax avoidance. Lawyers could not handle that sort of thing; only accountants could.
Thus, business owners usually flattered accountants who came to work for them, praising them for being young and handsome or beautiful. Lin Qi's praise, however, seemed different from other people's. It made her feel a little happier.
After the agreement was signed, the firm's General Manager looked over the contract with satisfaction and then had his secretary file it away for safekeeping.
"Mr. Lin Qi, do you have anyone specific in mind?" The General Manager proactively offered him a solid-color Kolef—a pure-blue, spindle-shaped cone that was slightly thinner at both ends.
This was an alternative consumable distinct from tobacco. It was not meant to be smoked. Most of the time, people experienced its special flavor through the movement of their taste buds, obtaining satisfaction far beyond that of cigarettes.
Some people did smoke it, though, which came with certain risks, such as a short-term rise in blood pressure and an accelerated heart rate. Yet despite its many problems, people still smoked it, and Kolef consequently split into two factions.
One was the mixed-type Mixed Color Kolef, blended with tobacco. Its colored and brown portions represented the concentration of its ingredients. This type could be smoked and was relatively inexpensive.
The other was the solid-color Kolef in Lin Qi's hand. It could not be inhaled into the body and could only be savored in the mouth for its unique fragrance and a kind of pleasure ordinary people could not enjoy.
A pure-blue Kolef cost about twenty yuan per piece. It was not the best, but it was not the worst either.
Curious, Lin Qi snipped open both ends, then used the female-shaped blowtorch holding a ceramic jar on the table to take a few puffs. He nodded.
A rich fragrance, accompanied by a feeling he could not quite describe, burst through his mouth. It was as if the smoke he inhaled contained one astonishing little sphere after another. As he "tasted" it, those spheres began to burst, releasing their fragrance and even more flavors. It was magical.
He narrowed his eyes slightly. That faint sense of pleasure made him sigh inwardly. This is why people make money. You need money to enjoy these wonderful things.
"Ms. Vera, I've met Ms. Vera once before, and she's the person here I'm most familiar with. If her work record doesn't contain too many mistakes..." Lin Qi slowly exhaled smoke and shrugged. "Then why choose someone I don't know?"
No accounting firm would admit that an accountant affiliated with it had made a major auditing error. That would be tantamount to smashing its own signboard. Besides, Ms. Vera had never made any such mistakes.
If a tax declaration was off by a dozen yuan or someone reported a dozen yuan too much or too little, those were minor issues. In the eyes of professional accountants, they could not even be called problems. They had plenty of ways to smooth them over during the next accounting cycle.
In other words, Ms. Vera had no problems at all.
The General Manager nodded. He pressed one of the speed-dial buttons on the telephone on his desk. A blue light came on. "Have Ms. Vera come to my office. Now."
Less than a minute later, after two brief knocks and the General Manager's permission, Vera walked in.
She instinctively glanced at Lin Qi, and coincidentally, Lin Qi was looking at her too. Their gazes met for an extremely brief moment before quickly separating.
The General Manager had no ability to imagine that the two of them had expressions somewhat different from ordinary people's. Even if he had noticed, he could never have known what they meant.
"Mr. Lin Qi has signed a three-year agreement with us, and he specifically hopes that you can become the accountant for Great Empire Company. If you personally have no objections..." The General Manager looked at Vera, signaling with his eyes that she should agree.
The job was very easy. No one would think that a company with only a hundred yuan in registered capital could be very busy. Even if it was merely a shell company being used by a more deeply hidden enterprise to process certain accounts, there could not be many of them.
The Revenue Service and the banks were not fools. All the accounts had to remain within reasonable and legal bounds. This meant that Vera would have a long stretch of free time. There was no job more suitable for women than this.
That was what most men thought. Women were suited to simple, leisurely, non-busy work that involved neither physical labor nor excessive mental effort—as if the only work they could do well was having children, or preparing to have children.
Vera still felt somewhat conflicted. She looked at Lin Qi again. Lin Qi was still looking at her, and his gaze caused strange changes in her emotions.
It was not a fiery gaze, nor was it cold. It held no strong fluctuations, and was gentle like the lukewarm water people found irritating—neither hot enough nor cold enough.
Most people probably would not like such a gaze, but there were always some who did. For example, housewives with stable lives who did not want to prove themselves.
She hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded. "I'm willing."