"Our entire family, young and old, seven of us, rely on my bowl of rice to eat. Now Hu Zong says production is temporarily suspended. What are the seven of us going to eat and drink from now on?"
"You didn't listen carefully. Hu Zong means that production can continue on lines one, two, and three, but lines four and five will be paused for now. It doesn't mean you won't be working anymore, just that you'll have to go home and wait for a while."
"How long do we have to wait? There are seven mouths to feed in my family. I can't wait even for a day!"
"Xiao Wang, you're the team leader for line four. How can you confront me like this? Whether you agree or not, this is how it has to be done! There's no room for negotiation!"
"Manager Chen, didn't Hu Zong promise us before that he would give each of us a hopeful future? Maybe not soaring success, but at least a worry-free life!"
"Has Hu Zong mistreated you all this past year? Can't you see it? Now we have Qing Zong overseeing everything, big and small matters. Lines four and five must stop. The inventory in the warehouse must be cleared in the next two days. Otherwise, not only you and me, even Hu Zong will be in trouble!"
Qing Yan finally understood. So, it turns out that the products produced by lines four and five at night are something they don't want to see the light of day?
The people speaking should be Manager Chen from the production department and the team leader of line four. Thinking back to their statement that the inventory in the warehouse must be cleared in the next two days, it's obvious that these goods are problematic...
Qing Yan quietly left the corridor and arrived at the warehouse on the ground floor.
At night, the warehouse was unattended. Qing Yan tried using her fingerprint, but surprisingly, it didn't open the warehouse door. Logically, her fingerprint should have been registered in the company's system, allowing her access to any area of the company...
She entered the password, but the warehouse door remained motionless. Normally, this password would grant her unrestricted access throughout the entire company.
Unless someone deliberately erased her data, intentionally preventing her from entering through this door.
A glimmer of interest flashed in Qing Yan's eyes. She suddenly wanted to know if Hu Linquan was indeed pulling some strings behind her back, just as she had suspected.
The door of the warehouse had a three-layer password lock, which Qingyan effortlessly cracked. Not only did she crack it, but she also took the opportunity to tamper with the upcoming surveillance recording.
The warehouse was neatly organized with various types of clothing. There were finished products processed by other companies as well as old and new items from their own company.
As Qingyan made her way through her own warehouse, she noticed two batches of identical new goods, but the quality and fabric were vastly different. She logged into the computer used by the warehouse administrator and discovered that the poor-quality batch of goods had not been entered into the company's data.
She copied everything from the computer and sent it to her own email before erasing all traces. Just then, she suddenly heard footsteps coming from outside the warehouse.
Qingyan leaped onto the top beam and looked down at everything below. It was Manager Chen and a few employees who had entered. All the employees were unfamiliar faces. Qingyan suddenly understood that the daytime and nighttime production workers were not the same group of people! These individuals were probably Hu Linquan's trusted aides, each holding a wooden stick.
The warehouse lights were switched on, and the employees searched around but found no one.
"Manager Chen, could it be that the new girl who recently joined has intimidated you and left a deep psychological impact?"
"There are no signs of anyone else entering the warehouse!"
Manager Chen scanned the entire area and had a sense that there was an unfamiliar presence lingering. "Check the surveillance footage."
The surveillance had been tampered with by Qingyan, so although it was still recording every minute, there were no traces of Qingyan entering. The employees checked the surveillance and immediately reported, "Manager Chen, there really was no one entering the warehouse."
"That's strange... someone clearly saw Qingyan entering the company just now. Could that person have been mistaken?" Manager Chen wondered.
A while ago, an employee went downstairs to pick up takeout and saw a figure resembling Qingyan entering the exclusive elevator. That silhouette must have been Qingyan...
Manager Chen felt uneasy and asked someone to retrieve the surveillance footage of the company's main entrance. If Qingyan had truly come, the cameras would have captured it!
One of the employees hurriedly went to retrieve the footage. Meanwhile, Qingyan took out her phone, erased all the surveillance footage of her entering the company, and then activated the audio and video recording function to capture their actions.
"Manager Chen, if Qingyan really came to the company and knows that we are producing those goods, what should we do?" One of the employees worriedly expressed concern, fearing that Qingyan would uncover their involvement.
"With the way Qingyan investigates, it won't be long before she exposes all our secrets!"
"Could we lose our jobs because of this?"
"If Mr. Qing catches hold of the little loophole, not only will we lose our jobs, but we might even end up behind bars!"
Manager Chen listened to their chatter and sneered, "On the way to and from work, if someone happens to have a car accident or any other unfortunate incident, we can't be blamed... It's just their bad luck."
Upon hearing this, the employees were immediately frightened. Manager Chen's implication was that if Mr. Qing really visited the company and saw something he shouldn't have, he would resort to murder to keep it quiet?!
But Mr. Qing was sent by the headquarters. Could there be some background information about him that they were unaware of?
After a while, the person who went to check the surveillance footage returned. "Manager Chen, Mr. Qing did not come to the company tonight. It seems that person made a mistake."
"Well, it was a false alarm. What are we waiting for then? Let's get back to our workstations quickly!"
"Scared me to death! I thought Mr. Qing actually came, I was even worried that she would come to the warehouse!"
Five or six people turned off the lights and prepared to leave the warehouse.
Just then, Qing Yan's phone suddenly vibrated a few times. It was a call from Si Yechen.
The recording on her phone was interrupted.
Manager Chen, as if he heard something, asked sensitively, "Whose phone is vibrating?"
"It's not mine..."
Several employees took out their phones, but there was no movement or sound.
Qing Yan hung up Si Yechen's call, put her phone on silent mode, and sent him a WeChat message, "Something came up, see you later."
"Okay." Si Yechen thought she encountered some trouble, but now it seemed he was just overthinking.
Manager Chen listened carefully, but there was no more sound. Could it be that he misheard earlier?
"Manager Chen, you're too sensitive! I tell you, that girl has made you all paranoid! Hahaha..."
"This warehouse is not that big. If someone were hiding here, we would have found them already."
The group of people laughed and pulled Manager Chen away.
The warehouse door was closed by someone.
A hint of darkness flashed in Qing Yan's eyes. It seemed that their secrets were even more numerous than she had imagined.
Inside the warehouse, it was pitch black.
Instead of going downstairs immediately, Qing Yan continued to wait on the beam.
Outside, the lights were as bright as day. Several figures stood at the entrance of the warehouse, and a few distinct shadows were cast on the ground through the gap in the door.