After Xia Jing left, Old Master Zhang returned to the company.
After returning, Old Master Zhang had his secretary find the finance department manager, Xiao Ling.
"Chairman, may I know why you are looking for me?" Xiao Ling began to ask.
Old Master Zhang asked the financial manager Xiao Ling, "Tell me, you have always been in charge of the company's finances, haven't you?"
"Yes, that's right, I am responsible for all the company's accounts. May I know what you mean, Chairman?" Xiao Ling asked Old Master Zhang.
It was no wonder that Old Master Zhang, after seeing Xia Jing and returning to the company, immediately had his secretary summon Xiao Ling. Following the withdrawal of investors Shen Yang and Deng Chao, he had conducted an investigation into the company's financial statements. It turned out that the company's finances had issues after Shen Yang and Deng Chao's investments came in, including falsified accounts, tax evasion, and embezzlement of public funds... All these issues emerged after Shen Yang and Deng Chao made their investments. This made Old Master Zhang extremely angry. He had originally thought that Shen Yang and Deng Chao were simply investing in the company, not realizing that they were spies planted by that old fox Li Haixiao. He also had not expected that his unintended investigation would lead to the discovery of financial problems within the company.
When Xiao Ling heard Old Master Zhang questioning her this way, she was a bit confused. She countered, "Chairman, although I have always been responsible for the company's financial statements, including other accounts of the company, which are organized by my subordinates before being submitted to me for verification, there shouldn't be any problems with them!" Xiao Ling was clever, but she made a mistake in her reply to Old Master Zhang by using the word "should." Her answer made Old Master Zhang very dissatisfied.
"Bang..." Old Master Zhang became furious: "Should? As a financial manager, you're not asked to do anything else but manage the company's finances, and you've managed to create such a mess, with tax evasion, embezzlement of public funds, false accounting... With all these serious problems, when asked if you know there are issues, you actually tell me there should be no problems? Is this your attitude towards work?" Old Master Zhang was truly furious. The finance manager he had employed through a hefty salary was so irresponsible that it was a huge disappointment for him.
"Chairman, I really did verify those accounts carefully before submitting them. I really didn't know there were any problems, Chairman." Xiao Ling started crying as she spoke, and just then, Old Master Zhang's secretary came in and whispered something in his ear, causing him to change his attitude towards Xiao Ling.
"Xiao Ling, perhaps you truly didn't know about this. It's possible that your subordinate made fraudulent accounts and then gave them to you, also altering the ledgers, which is why you didn't notice any problem when you checked them. However, it's also possible that you were the one who falsified the company's books, thinking I wouldn't find out or investigate. If it's the former, you can be forgiven, but if it's the latter, then you must take full responsibility. Tax evasion, false accounting, embezzlement of public funds... These are all illegal acts, and you should know what to do," Old Master Zhang said vaguely, but Xiao Ling understood the underlying message. Basically, he meant that if she was responsible, she should step forward and take the blame, and the consequences wouldn't be too severe. But if she was responsible and failed to confess, she would have to bear the consequences, no matter how serious they were.
"Chairman, I truly didn't know anything, and even if you question me endlessly, I will never admit to something I didn't do. Similarly, if I were aware of the matter, I would have informed you, Chairman. But I truly have no knowledge of it. Even if you gave me a hundred and twenty guts, I wouldn't dare to commit a crime," Xiao Ling was on the verge of kneeling before Old Master Zhang.
Seeing Xiao Ling like this, Old Master Zhang knew he wouldn't get any more information from her. It was possible that Xiao Ling genuinely had no knowledge of the issue. He had just been testing Xiao Ling to see if she would admit to it if she were guilty; the fact proved that if Xiao Ling had done it, she would have confessed.
Old Master Zhang called Zhentian to come to Zhang Corporation the moment he returned to his office. Old Master Zhang had previously wanted to pass the control of Zhang Corporation to Zhentian, but Zhentian staunchly refused to take over. Old Master Zhang knew that Zhentian refused because he had opposed Zhentian's relationship with Xia Jing, which had caused Zhentian to rebel against him. Old Master Zhang wondered whether Zhentian would take over the company if he accepted Xia Jing and Zhentian's relationship.
"Knock, knock, knock." Zhentian arrived at the chairman's office.
"Come in," said Old Master Zhang without lifting his head.
"Dad, you wanted to see me? Go ahead, I'm very busy," Zhentian spoke to Old Master Zhang without any courtesy.
"I have something I'd like to ask your opinion on, sit down and we'll talk!" Old Master Zhang not only didn't get angry at Zhentian's attitude toward him but instead calmly gestured for Zhentian to sit down and talk.
"Just tell me what it is," Zhentian said impatiently to Old Master Zhang.
"Zhentian, do you know about the company's finance manager Xiao Ling?" Old Master Zhang went straight to the point instead of beating around the bush.
"Yes, I know her. Xiao Ling is a good person, very dedicated at work and never makes mistakes. She has a good personality and knows how to interact well with others. As long as you give her the ledger, she is able to calculate it with great accuracy and without a single error." Zhentian, unaware of the company's financial issues, confidently praised Xiao Ling's work ethic to his father...
"Do you really think that Xiao Ling wouldn't make any mistakes at work?" Old Master Zhang was somewhat incredulous that his son would praise another girl so highly besides Xia Jing.
"Of course, who in the company doesn't know about Xiao Ling's character?"
"Then do you know that the company has run into trouble again?" Old Master Zhang asked Zhentian.
Zhentian was startled. No way, the company had just overcome a crisis, how could there be another problem so soon?
"Dad, what's wrong with the company again? Didn't Xia Jing solve the issue with Shen Yang and Deng Chao withdrawing their investments by putting her own money into the company? How could there be another problem?" Zhentian asked eagerly.
"The problem that arose this time is with the finance department, under the management of the same Xiao Ling you spoke of. My investigation revealed that shortly after Shen Yang and Deng Chao's investments, the company experienced tax evasion, false accounting, and a substantial amount of public funds were embezzled—all under the watch of Xiao Ling alone," Old Master Zhang laid out the company's newest troubles to Zhentian. Upon hearing this, Zhentian understood that his father suspected the issues were related to Xiao Ling, that she might be involved.
"Dad, I'll get to the bottom of this matter. I believe that the finance manager Xiao Ling has nothing to do with it." After saying this, Zhentian left the company to start an in-depth investigation into who was behind the company's recurring problems.