The hotpot restaurant was deafeningly noisy, everyone seeming to speak at the top of their lungs.
The red-oil hotpot bubbled furiously, the ingredients inside appearing and disappearing beneath the surface. A pair of chopsticks dipped into the pot and lifted out a huge mouthful of beef.
The beef was swirled three times through the seasoning in the oil dish, dripping with broth as it was delivered into his mouth. Wang Yan chased it with two cloves of pickled garlic, crunching away as rich flavors bloomed across his tongue.
"It's not a possibility. It's a certainty. As long as you come up with a qualified audit plan, the chairman will definitely use you."
"But what about Xu Zhiping? He's the chief economist. He's handled the group's audits for years."
Wang Yan neither confirmed nor denied it. "You said he's been doing them for years. So what problems has he ever uncovered?"
"He's famously a nice guy. He never offends anyone, and the issues his audits have found over the years were all insignificant." Xu Feng shook his head thoughtfully, then added, "But no matter what, we can't just go around him, can we?"
"You said it yourself—he doesn't offend anyone. Does that mean he'd dare offend the chairman? Once the chairman brings it up, I bet Xu Zhiping will get the message and find an excuse to bow out on his own."
Xu Feng's face had turned red, though it was hard to say whether it was from the spice or his excitement.
He celebrated for a moment before finally realizing it was too soon to be happy. He looked again at Wang Yan, who was eating and drinking heartily.
"Wang Yan, if they really let me oversee the audit, would you be willing to come help me? You work in