"I... I..." Zhang Jiaming lowered his head, squeezing his eyes shut, his whole body trembling. "Manager, if I talk, can you protect me?"
"Hmm..." Lin Qiang leaned back in his chair again, resting his chin on his hand in thought.
After all, Zhang Jiaming was just a front man, a small fry doing Hao Wei's bidding. If they could use him to catch Hao Wei and obtain direct evidence, letting him off wasn't out of the question.
"I can protect your position at the bank."
"Okay, I trust you," Zhang Jiaming finally made up his mind, slamming his fist on the table. "If a man doesn't look out for himself, heaven and earth will destroy him! Hao Xing, I'm sorry..."
Then, Zhang Jiaming grabbed the bottled water on the table, twisted off the cap forcefully, and drank it all in one go. Only then did he calm down, wiping his lips with his sleeve.
"Actually, starting six months ago, Hao Wei forced me to..."
Just as Zhang Jiaming began speaking, his phone suddenly rang. He stopped his confession and reached for his phone.
"Don't answer it! Keep talking!" Lin Qiang shouted sternly.
But he spoke too late. Zhang Jiaming had already taken out his phone and seen who was calling.
His mood instantly changed again, cycling through several emotions. The human heart is fickle.
"Manager, wait a moment. I need to take this call."
Lin Qiang had already guessed who it was, and just waved his arm: "It's up to you whether you trust him or me. Think carefully."
Zhang Jiaming gave an apologetic smile and walked to the corner of the room.
"Manager Hao..."
"Mm... I've heard."
"I see..."
"...Alright."
"Don't worry!"
"No problem."
The conversation was brief, lasting less than a minute. Zhang Jiaming hung up and stood in front of Lin Qiang again.
This time, it was his turn to smile.
"Manager," Zhang Jiaming said with a slight smirk, pointing at the photocopied documents on the desk. "These are all normal financial expenditures for Jiaxin Renovations. Our bank is just conducting business as usual. I think you're reading too much into it."
Looking at Zhang Jiaming's suddenly transformed petty expression, Lin Qiang didn't even have the heart to scold him anymore.
"You can go. I'll just do my job too," Lin Qiang waved his arm, dismissing him.
"Oh, and one more thing," Zhang Jiaming became more arrogant. "I advise you not to make promises you can't keep. The tellers are so enthusiastic about marketing now. When Manager Hao returns and those accounts come back to me, it'll be embarrassing for you."
"You've got guts," Lin Qiang laughed instead of getting angry, pointing at Zhang Jiaming. "Just wait until he comes back. I'll remember your expression. In 15 days, let's see how it changes."
"Don't worry, Manager. I'll be going now," Zhang Jiaming turned to leave, wiping sweat from his brow one last time.
Bang!!
Zhang Jiaming slammed the door hard as he left.
Lin Qiang clenched his fists, making them crack, but his face didn't show much anger. What should have been an easy task now required some effort.
At this moment, Zheng Shuai also pushed open the door and entered, looking back at Zhang Jiaming striding away down the corridor: "Is he crazy? What's wrong with him, slamming the door like that?"
"Never mind him," Lin Qiang jerked his chin at Zheng Shuai. "Any progress?"
"Yeah," Zheng Shuai closed the door and sat down opposite Lin Qiang with a mysterious air, though his face also showed some embarrassment. "I found Hao Wei's connection in the bank..."
"Who?"
"It's her..." Zheng Shuai scratched his head, hemming and hawing.
"Who?"
"She..." Zheng Shuai struggled for a while before finally saying, "The one who touched my leg... they call her the Goblin..."
"Oh, damn," Lin Qiang exclaimed. "Rosa? The one who wanted to sleep with you?"
Zheng Shuai nodded weakly: "Damn it, they're all in cahoots."
"What's their relationship?" Lin Qiang asked next.
"Rosa is Hao Wei's sister-in-law," Zheng Shuai said angrily. "They've kept it pretty secret. I had to ask a lot of people to confirm this. Look, Hao Wei's wife's surname is also Luo."
"Rosa... Rosa... what a waste of such a beautiful name," Lin Qiang slammed his fist on the table. Things weren't going as smoothly as imagined.
Rosa, the Human Resources Director of the Jijing Office. In a bank, two things were most important: money and people. A person in different positions can get vastly different benefits, which makes the power of the HR department unprecedentedly huge, almost the most tyrannical department internally apart from the board of directors.
For every employee, their transfer and promotion is a matter that affects their entire life, and Rosa holds all this power. This is why she could easily demote Zheng Shuai here when she was dissatisfied with him. It was also why Qian Cai had been flattering Rosa in the past, trying to find a way to transfer Lin Qiang away.
"How's Rosa's relationship with Xia Xin?" Lin Qiang suddenly asked out of the blue.
"Your train of thought is too jumpy," Zheng Shuai was startled by the question, then recalled, "Those two seem to mind their own business. Although they're both leaders in the same department, they rarely interact."
"That means they don't get along," Lin Qiang picked up a pen from the desk and played with it. "Although they look down on each other, they seem to deliberately maintain relative peace. I wonder if this incident is enough to make them fall out..."
"What? You mean... use Xia Xin to pressure Rosa?" Zheng Shuai immediately advised, "Boss Lin, let's not play such a big game. We can't interfere with the Human Resources Department!"
"You're wrong," Lin Qiang stared at Zheng Shuai, showing a long-absent smile. "We're talking about our future here."
He pointed his index finger upwards, saying firmly, "If we want to go back, we have to step over her, and if necessary, step on her."
Zheng Shuai drew in a sharp breath.
This was Lin Qiang.
He finally understood why he had always trusted this big brother so much, why he had always followed him.
He possessed things that Zheng Shuai didn't have, like ambition, imagination, and courage.
That Rosa was an enemy Zheng Shuai didn't even dare to imagine.
"Zheng Shuai, don't you feel this is a script given to us by heaven?" Far from being intimidated by a strong enemy, Lin Qiang seemed even more motivated by the challenge. He stood up and looked out the window, declaring, "You and I, because of Rosa, reunited here; Hao Wei, because of Rosa, has the capital to break rules and embezzle; and now, for us to survive, we have to oppose Rosa again."
Zheng Shuai always felt that he lacked some courage - the courage to rebel and to strive. At this moment, he felt infected by Lin Qiang's silhouette. In his script, there might not necessarily be a Hao Wei or a Rosa, but one thing was certain: Lin Qiang would definitely be the protagonist.
Zheng Shuai took a deep breath, then stood up and walked to Lin Qiang's side, gripping his shoulder tightly.
"This time, we're in it together."
"Yes, together."
Creak...
The door opened, and Lin Xiaozhao stared blankly at the two men, seeing them full of bromance as they gazed out the window. She suddenly felt something...
"I forgot... to knock... I didn't see anything..." Lin Xiao Zao woodenly closed the door again and fled.
Lin Qiang and Zheng Shuai looked at each other, then burst out laughing together.