Weiwei was having a bad week.
The announcement of Qi's departure had shocked her, and she couldn't make up her mind whether she should message him about it.
He must be hurt. If he wanted to let me know, he would have. Would it wound his pride if I asked him about it? He hasn't contacted me since the reception. There must be a reason for it.
Those considerations made some sense. But on the other hand, Qi had done so much for her - she owed it to him to check if everything was alright.
Am I overthinking it? Am I becoming a selfish person?
She didn't want to be that type: one of the ungrateful people who are your best friends when things are going well, and disappear as soon as you're in need and they need to give something back.
While Weiwei struggled to decide, rumors had started spreading around the office.
"There are rumors that a corporate takeover is coming," Yihan told Weiwei during one of their short breaks outside. "That vice-president must've been in a way. It's just strange that they didn't remove him after the merger."
"You know what people are saying?" whispered Ruxuan to Weiwei later in the break room. "They say that the vice-president was dismissed because he had an inappropriate relationship."
"A what?" Weiwei exclaimed.
"You know, slept with someone at work," Ruxuan clearly enjoyed the topic. "I don't really know the details, these are just bits and pieces I've picked up. But I wouldn't be surprised at all." Ruxuan looked serious, for once. "These high flyers think they can do anything they want. That's why I don't want to work anywhere near the Third Tower," she scornfully shook her head. "People with money are evil. Others are simply toys for them."
You don't know him. That's not what he's like at all. Unless I have been totally blind…
Ruxuan kept going, her eyes lighting up. "I hope bad karma awaits him. I'll pray for that. At least one of those entitled men had better learn a lesson."
Weiwei wondered if she had stumbled into an alternative reality. Everything she heard about Qi's departure sounded bizarre and outlandish to her.
Is it even the same person that everyone's talking about? Or did I misunderstand it all, and it's about someone else?
"Weiwei, I was looking for you," Yihan's voice interrupted her musings. "Director Zhang told me to review a summary of the report with you. Did you have some questions?"
"Oh, yes, thanks."
The report Yihan was referring to was another reason Weiwei was having a bad week. Preparing the summary for Lántiān Group, Weiwei came across asset estimates that for some reason worried her. Weiwei wasn't experienced in complex corporate accounting, and Director Zhang told her that the estimates were in line with last year's, but Weiwei didn't feel comfortable submitting the assessment she didn't fully understand.
"What did you want me to look at?"
"Here's an example," Weiwei opened up a document on her screen. "Do you see this line?"
"Yes."
"Most of the underlying assets for this line come from a land sale. Two transactions."
Yihan nodded. "I see. Okay."
"Two sales made to the same companies they sold some land to last year as well."
"So?"
"Those companies later leased or sold the land back to Lántiān Group."
"Nothing unusual," Yihan shrugged. "Land value fluctuates and those developers re-sell the land all the time."
"And you think there is nothing strange that the sales happened just several weeks before the fiscal quarter end?"
Yihan looked at Weiwei closely. "What are you saying, sister?"
Weiwei felt uncomfortable under Yihan's stare. Weiwei didn't know what she was really getting at –something just didn't feel right to her about these sales and purchases that conveniently happened to occur every time toward the end of a reporting period and made Lántiān Group's books look really profitable.
"I don't know," admitted Weiwei, "that's why I'm asking you for advice."
Yihan sighed heavily. "Have you found anything that isn't in compliance?"
Well, if you put it like that…
Weiwei looked at her hands. "No."
"Then my advice is to do what Director Zhang told you to do," said Yihan calmly and slowly. "I've heard that Lántiān Group brings the most revenue to our division. So if there's nothing wrong with the quarterly report, I'd sign off on it and submit it for partner review. At the end of the day, it's the partners' responsibility, and they know what they're doing. That's all I can say."
"Don't you think–"
"I don't," Yihan hurled back at Weiwei, walking away.
Weiwei looked back at the monitor and sighed. Why were so many of the things she attempted more difficult than she expected them to be?