On her way home from work, Chu Yiran looked up the meaning of “external audit” in a corporate context on her phone.
External audits are typically conducted by independent, third-party auditing firms to review a company’s financial and operational activities.
For a company the size of the Shen Group, regular external audits are standard practice. However, the note specifically reminding her to prepare suggested this wasn’t routine.
Combined with the earlier procurement irregularities, Chu Yiran had a rough idea of what the note implied.
When the external audit team arrived, if they reviewed the procurement records from the administrative department, she, as the current administrative affairs specialist, would be the direct point of contact.
The auditors would ask her for documents, inquire about procedures, and verify data.
Although those three problematic procurement records had been classified as reporting errors by the finance department, the original documentation still existed.
If the external audit team investigated thoroughly, they would definitely uncover the irregularities.
Caught in the middle, she would have Sun Wanqing above her and the black-and-white data below.
Telling the truth would offend Sun Wanqing and could even cost her her job.
Lying and covering it up would make her an accomplice if the truth ever came to light.
Standing outside the convenience store at the foot of her apartment building, holding two rice balls, Chu Yiran froze.
She felt like she was standing on the fulcrum of a seesaw—if either side added even a little weight, she would fall.
After returning home, she didn’t rush to eat. Instead, she washed her face to clear her mind.
Her phone rang.
It was a message from Song Qingwan.
“Are you there?”
She hadn’t been in touch with Song Qingwan much lately, using poor health and recovery as an excuse.
But this excuse couldn’t last forever. Song Qingwan wasn’t foolish, and the longer she dragged it out, the more suspicious it would seem.
She replied, “I’m here, Wanwan. What’s up?”
Song Qingwan sent a voice message.
Chu Yiran tapped to listen. Song Qingwan’s voice sounded lazy but tinged with irritation.
“So annoying. Recently, the Song Group is involved in some bidding for the new port area. My dad keeps dragging me to all these dinners and social events—I’m sick of it.”
Chu Yiran replied with a text: “Hang in there, Wanwan. Your dad just wants you to gain more experience.”
Song Qingwan sent another voice message: “Experience, my foot. Those old men look at me like I’m prey, and my dad still tells me to dress up nicely and play hostess.”
Listening to this, Chu Yiran felt uneasy.
To outsiders, Song Qingwan was the heiress of one of Hecheng’s four major families—glamorous and untouchable.
But privately, she too was sometimes treated as a tool, albeit one wrapped in finer packaging.
Just as she was about to reply, Song Qingwan sent another message.
“By the way, when are you actually going to recover? I need you to accompany me to an event.”
“What event?”
“Next Wednesday, the Hecheng Chamber of Commerce dinner.”
“My dad wants me to represent the Song family, and it’ll be too boring to go alone.”
Chu Yiran stared at the message, her fingers hovering over the keyboard without typing.
The Hecheng Chamber of Commerce dinner.
An event of this caliber would be attended by the heads or representatives of Hecheng’s major enterprises.
Would Shen Yu be there?
As the top-ranked company in Hecheng’s business world, the Shen Group would have to attend the Chamber of Commerce dinner, whether Shen Yu wanted to or not.
And if she appeared there as Song Qingwan’s companion, she would be exposed to the two people she least wanted to see.
Shen Yu would see her standing beside Song Qingwan.
And in Shen Yu’s mind, Song Qingwan’s face was the face of Moli Hua.
Just thinking about this image made Chu Yiran’s scalp tingle.
She had to refuse, but she couldn’t do it too abruptly.
“Wanwan, I’d love to go too, but the doctor said my immune system hasn’t fully recovered yet, so I can’t go to crowded places.”
“Besides, I just started a new job recently, and it’s not a good time to ask for leave.”
Song Qingwan replied quickly.
“A new job? What kind of job?”
Chu Yiran hesitated for a moment.
“An administrative position at a company.”
“Which company?”
Chu Yiran didn’t want to say, but Song Qingwan’s questioning didn’t seem casual—it felt more like an instinctive need for control.
She made up a name: “A small import-export trading company called Hengfeng Commerce. You probably haven’t heard of it.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted it.
Hengfeng, Hengyuan, Hengyuan—these names were already jumbled up in her mind like a mess of paste. If she slipped up one day, it would be over.
Song Qingwan sent a single “Oh.”
“An administrative position? What’s the monthly salary?”
“A little over ten thousand.”
“You were making twenty thousand a month with me, and now you’re doing a ten-thousand-yuan job?” Song Qingwan sent a question mark emoji.
Chu Yiran thought to herself, That twenty thousand of yours required me to carry your bags, drink on your behalf, act as a background prop, and constantly risk being exposed by both Shen Yu and you. In terms of value for money, it was actually negative.
But she couldn’t say that, so she had to come up with an excuse.
“I want to try working independently. I can’t always rely on you to take care of me.”
Song Qingwan went quiet for a while.
Then she sent a voice message.
Chu Yiran clicked to play it. Song Qingwan’s tone had changed—less of her usual laziness, with a hint of seriousness.
“Have you been hiding something from me lately?”
Chu Yiran’s fingers twitched.
“How could that be? What would I have to hide?”
“I feel like you’re different from before,” Song Qingwan said.
“You used to come to me all the time, but now you keep making excuses, and you won’t even come to the chamber of commerce dinner.”
“You used to love events like that the most—you could meet so many wealthy people. Doesn’t that tempt you anymore?”
The last sentence made Chu Yiran sense another layer of meaning.
Song Qingwan knew the original host’s true nature.
Greedy for vanity, eager to climb the social ladder, thriving in the world of fame and fortune.
That was why the original host had been able to stay by Song Qingwan’s side for so long.
Song Qingwan needed an obedient follower who was willing to play a supporting role, while the original host needed a stepping stone to access high society.
Both of them got what they wanted—it was essentially a transaction.
Now, Chu Yiran’s unusual behavior, in Song Qingwan’s eyes, wasn’t about wanting independence but about having found another path.
Song Qingwan wasn’t concerned about her; she was wary.
“Wanwan, I really don’t have anything going on. It’s just that I haven’t been feeling well lately, and with the new job, I’m a bit overwhelmed.”
She sent another voice message, trying to sound as natural as possible: “Once I pass the probation period and settle in, I’ll definitely come see you, okay?”
After a while, Song Qingwan replied with a “Suit yourself.”
Chu Yiran put down her phone, leaned back on the sofa, and let out a long sigh.
Song Qingwan’s instincts were too sharp.
If she continued to distance herself like this, it wouldn’t be long before Song Qingwan sent someone to investigate what she was really up to.
If they found out she was actually working at Shen Corporation, the consequences were too terrifying to imagine.
The Song and Shen families were mortal enemies. For her to jump from being the Song family heiress’s follower to becoming an employee at Shen Corporation wasn’t just slapping Song Qingwan in the face—it was grinding Song Qingwan’s face into the dirt.
Chu Yiran added another line to her self-rescue plan in her memo.
“Establish a new trust relationship with Song Qingwan as soon as possible to divert her attention. Must not let her find out I’m at Shen Corporation.”
She took a bite of the rice ball that had long gone cold; it tasted just like her mood.
Her phone lit up again, this time from S.
“Discharged tomorrow?”
Chu Yiran stared at her phone, suddenly feeling as if everything was closing in on her at once.
Shen Yu at the company might have caught a faint impression of her voice, Song Qingwan was starting to suspect her unusual behavior, the external audit team was set to arrive next week, and the relationship between Sun Wanqing’s ex-husband and procurement remained a tangled mystery.
And she, a debt-ridden worker owing fourteen million, could only dismantle the fuses of these ticking time bombs one by one.
Provided she didn’t blow herself up first.
She picked up her phone and sent a voice message back to S.
“Probably need one more day of observation. The doctor said one of the indicators hasn’t fully recovered yet.”
There was a long silence on the other end.
Then a text message came through, brief.
“I checked. Recent hospitalization records at all top-tier hospitals in Hecheng.”