Neil Mo was sitting behind the table with his focus on his computer when Assistant Shawn entered his office. On the sofa, Little Miss Hazel was napping with a thick blanket covering her body. Papers and crayons scattered on the coffee table.
This has become a familiar sight for Assistant Shawn every Saturday.
President Mo and Hazel will be visiting the cemetery in the morning before they came over to the office where the little miss would accompany her uncle while he settled with a few work.
Assistant Shawn walked over to the table and spoke in a low voice, "President Mo."
The man lifted his head for a few seconds before he continued working on the files. "Have you brought those documents for me?"
Assistant Shawn nodded once before he placed thick documents on the table. "I have re-investigated the dismissal of the past employees and just as you have suspected, there are a few suspicious things regarding their dismissal. More than half of them were dismissed because of tax evasion and fraud."
Neil stretched his hand to grab the documents and browsed through it. The crease on the space between his brow deepened as he browsed through more of them. He really was not expecting that a lot of his good employee has been a victim to those greedy directors and shareholders.
A few minutes passed and Neil finally looked up at his assistant with a heavy look on his face. "Arrange for a meeting with these people. I need to find out more about their dismissal."
"Yes, President Mo."
"Remember to be discreet." He tapped his fingers on the table and paused as a thought came to his mind. "I heard that they were going to conduct an interview to fill in Manager Edward Xiao's place. Tell the HR that I wanted to be a part of the interviewer."
Assistant Shawn nodded again before he retrieved the files and stayed to listen to his boss's further instruction.
The phone on the desk beeped and the secretary announced that Henry Wu was had arrived to meet him. A while later, the door pushed open and Henry walked in with languid steps. His mouth opened to speak, but once he saw the sleeping figure on the sofa, Henry stopped himself. His gaze turned soft and his gaze set on the little girl for a few seconds longer before he strode towards the table.
Henry glanced at Assistant Shawn who stood beside his boss and his lips tilted into a lopsided smile.
"Mister Wu," Assistant Shawn greeted.
"Assistant Shawn, can you help and bring a cup of coffee for Henry?" Neil spoke. His hand moved to pick up his pen, signed on the paper, and pushed aside the documents on a side of the table.
Assistant Shawn grabbed the documents on the table and retreat from the room, leaving the two friends.
Neil's expression turned serious as soon as the door shut after the assistant. He clasped his hand and leaned forward to the table as he motioned Henry to sit down.
"How was your trip?" Neil asked. "Did you find out anything?"
Henry let out a long, heavy sigh and rolled his eyes. "I thought we finally had some clues on Jennifer Jiang's whereabouts, but we ran into another dead end. But," Henry paused, placed his bag on his laps, and pulled out a paper bag. "I bought some souvenirs."
Neil narrowed his eyes. "I don't need a souvenir."
"This is not for you." Henry stretched his hand to place it on the table. "This is for Hazel."
Neil eyed the paper bag and did not make a move to take it. Instead, he bent down to pull a folder from his drawer and slid it on the table.
"What is it?" Henry put his bag on the empty chair beside him and reached for the documents. He raised a brow at his friend and flipped at the documents when it doesn't seem like Neil was going to tell him anything.
Henry's expression changed as he browsed through the documents. A few minutes later, he lifted his head with a disbelief look on his face.
"I need your help in a few matters," Neil said.
"You want me to investigate this?"
Neil lowered his gaze. "This is a matter of MH Group. I will investigate the matter myself. What I need you to do is to help me find someone good enough to work in the accounting department."
"What are you going to do?"
"I am planning to plant someone in the department and keep my eyes on a few people in there," Neil said.
Henry knocked his knuckles on the table and looked up again. "I thought you were planning on lying low."
"I am," Neil said. "But I have to make my move. You've seen the list of people who might be involved. It's not wise for us to take any action at the moment. We can only work slowly and discreetly and collect concrete evidence against them."
Henry nodded. "Then, I will help you to find someone."
The two friends stayed to discuss a few matters for hours.
"It's almost lunch hour, how about we go and grab something to eat together?" Henry said as he lifted his left arm to check on the time.
"I can't. I promised Hazel that we are will be visiting the mall later." He shifted his gaze towards the little girl on the sofa and continued, "She's growing up so much in the past few months. We're going to get her some new clothes."
Henry cocked his head to the sides. "We?"
The pen in Neil's hand paused but decided not to comment on it.
"Can I come along?" The smile on Henry's face stretched up when he thought of the woman he met at Neil's condo not too long ago.
"You have to ask Hazel."
As if the girl had heard someone called out her name, Hazel began to stir in her sleep. She sat up at the sofa and looked at the two men with her eyes squinted. "Uncle Henry?"
"Hello Hazel," Henry turned around and waved.
"Hazel, you're awake," Neil spoke as he raised his head. "Did we disturb your sleep?"
The little girl shook her head. "Uncle, is it time? Has Teacher Qian come?"
A helpless sigh escaped him. The moment the little girl woke up, the first person she looked for was her teacher. How can he not get jealous?
"She should have finished her class by now," Neil said. "I will let you know when she texts me."
"Oh," Hazel nodded.
"Hazel," Henry called. He raised the paper bag he brought earlier and waved it to the girl. "I bought you some souvenirs."
The little girl pushed the blanket on her body away and walked over to Henry to take the paper bag. Her eyes widened upon seeing a cute, fluffy teddy bear in a ballerina dress inside. "Uncle Henry, thank you."
A laugh escaped him and Henry patted the girl on her head. "Hazel, can I come along with you and have lunch together?"
"Of course." Hazel smiled brightly.