“Chu Yiran, you will be responsible for handling the data requests from the external audit team.”
Chu Yiran stood up.
“Understood.”
The three members of the external audit team were assigned to work in the small conference room next to the administrative department. Chu Yiran was tasked with delivering the requested materials to them in batches.
The first batch of data requests arrived in her email inbox at 2 p.m.
It included a summary of supplier contracts from the past six months, records of procurement approval processes, detailed payment vouchers, and quotation comparison tables.
The workload was substantial, but Chu Yiran had prepared in advance over the weekend. She had already organized most of the documents by category, so retrieving and printing them in order was all that remained.
She spent an hour and a half printing, sorting, and binding four thick volumes of materials, delivering them to the conference room on time.
The female team leader of the external audit team took the materials, flipped through them, and glanced up at her.
“Well-organized and standardized.”
“Thank you,” Chu Yiran replied politely.
The team leader’s name was Chen Zhi, a senior partner at the auditing firm.
Before delivering the materials, Chu Yiran had glanced at her business card and memorized the name.
Chen Zhi flipped through the documents quickly, marking them with a pencil and occasionally jotting down notes on sticky notes.
The other two auditors were quietly cross-checking numbers on their computers, creating an atmosphere of quiet efficiency.
Chu Yiran returned to her workstation.
She noticed that Sun Wanqing’s office door was closed, and the blinds were drawn, making it impossible to see inside.
At four o’clock, the conference room door opened, and Chen Zhi walked out, heading straight for Chu Yiran’s workstation.
“Chu Yiran, a few additional documents are needed.”
She handed over a handwritten list with five items.
Chu Yiran read through them one by one, pausing slightly at the third item.
“Supplier qualification review form and historical cooperation evaluation records for Hengyuan Trading Co., Ltd.”
Chu Yiran looked up at Chen Zhi.
Chen Zhi’s expression remained calm, with no particular hint of anything.
“If these documents are archived in the administrative department, please provide them as soon as possible.”
“If they are not archived, please confirm with the relevant person in charge.”
“Understood, I’ll retrieve them now.”
Chu Yiran stood up and walked toward the filing cabinets.
The administrative department’s filing cabinets were located in a small storage room at the end of the office area. The metal cabinets were arranged by year and category, not particularly dusty but far from clean.
Following the numbering system, she found the folder for supplier qualifications and flipped through it.
Hengyuan Trading’s qualification review form was inside, handled by the former administrative specialist and dated four months ago.
But there were no historical cooperation evaluation records.
According to Shen Corporation’s procedures, each long-term supplier was required to undergo a quarterly cooperation evaluation, with the results archived for review.
Hengyuan Trading had collaborated with Shen Corporation for at least two quarters, meaning there should be two evaluation records.
Yet, there were none in the filing cabinet.
Chu Yiran crouched in front of the cabinet, thinking for a few seconds.
If these records had never been created, it would indicate a significant procedural oversight in the administrative department.
If they had been created but were missing, it meant someone had removed them.
In either case, as the point of contact for the external audit team, she had to provide an answer when questioned.
She could not cover for Sun Wanqing, nor could she proactively expose the issue.
Chu Yiran stood up, gathered the documents she had found, and returned to her workstation.
She attached a note to the materials she handed over to Chen Zhi.
“The supplier qualification review form for Hengyuan Trading is attached.”
“Historical cooperation evaluation records were not retrieved from existing archives. Confirmation has been requested via email from the Deputy Director of the Administration Department.”
The wording was extremely cautious.
“Not retrieved” did not mean they didn’t exist—it meant she had searched but couldn’t find them. As for whether they actually existed or not, that required confirmation from higher-ups.
This way of phrasing it neither lied, overstepped authority, nor took the blame for anyone.
She printed out the note and delivered it along with the materials to the meeting room.
When Chen Zhi saw the note, her gaze lingered on it for a few seconds.
Then she looked up and glanced at Chu Yiran.
“Thank you, I understand.”
Chu Yiran nodded and stepped out.
Just as she returned to her desk and sat down, a new email notification popped up in the lower right corner of her computer.
The sender was Sun Wanqing.
The body of the email contained only one sentence: “Come to my office.”
Chu Yiran stared at these five words, her heartbeat beginning to quicken.
She stood up and walked to the door of Sun Wanqing’s office.
Knocked.
“Come in.”
Sun Wanqing was sitting behind her desk, holding her phone as if she had just ended a call.
Her fingernails tapped lightly on the desktop twice.
“You attached a note to the materials you gave to the external audit team?”
“Yes, President Sun.”
“I couldn’t find the cooperation evaluation records for Hengyuan Trading in the filing cabinet, so I noted that in the explanation.”
“At the same time, I also sent you a confirmation email to ask whether these records are archived elsewhere.”
Something flickered in Sun Wanqing’s eyes.
She was sizing up Chu Yiran.
“I’ll handle the evaluation records. You can go back for now.”
Chu Yiran acknowledged and turned to leave.
As she walked back to her desk, she felt a gaze fixed tightly on her back, only disappearing once she sat down.
What was Sun Wanqing afraid of?
Chu Yiran already had an answer in her mind.
If the cooperation evaluation for Hengyuan Trading had never been conducted, it meant that when Sun Wanqing introduced this supplier, she bypassed the normal screening process and directly inserted it into the list of partners.
A deputy director using her authority to push her ex-husband’s company into the supplier list and inflating costs in procurement.
This was no small matter.
But Chu Yiran didn’t want to be the whistleblower.
The external audit team would investigate on their own. She only needed to provide the materials truthfully—neither exaggerating nor helping to cover anything up.
The rest of the afternoon passed without incident.
The external audit team buried themselves in reviewing the materials. Sun Wanqing kept her office door closed and didn’t come out again. Everyone else in the Administration Department carefully went about their work, and the entire floor was so quiet it felt oppressive.
At 6:30, Chu Yiran turned off her computer and prepared to leave work.
As she stepped into the elevator, her phone rang.
It was a call from an unfamiliar number.
She hesitated for a moment before answering.
“Hello, Ms. Chu. This is Wang Yan, Assistant to President Shen.”
Chu Yiran nearly dropped her phone.
“Hello, Assistant Wang.”
“There’s something I’d like to confirm with you.”
Wang Yan’s voice was as gentle as ever. “President Shen would like to understand the status of the Administration Department’s material handover during this external audit and requires a brief report.”
“Since you are the point of contact for the Administration Department, we would like to invite you to come to the 62nd floor tomorrow morning to give a brief oral report directly to President Shen.”
Chu Yiran stood motionless in the elevator, gripping her phone.
The elevator doors opened and closed, yet she still hadn’t stepped out.
Shen Yu wanted her to report in person.
Last time she was on the sixty-second floor, she had only stayed for five minutes before nearly being exposed.
This time it was an oral report.
She would have to speak at length.
Using her voice—the same vocal cords she shared with Moli Hua.
The elevator doors opened once more, and Chu Yiran finally walked out.
The revolving door on the first floor of the building slowly turned behind her, her stiff reflection visible in the glass.
Her phone screen was still lit, the call interface with Wang Yan still active.
“Miss Chu, are you there?”
“Yes, I am.” Her voice sounded a bit dry. “May I ask, what time tomorrow?”
“Ten in the morning.”
“Alright, I’ll be there on time.”
After hanging up, Chu Yiran stood in the night breeze, gazing at the lights on the sixty-second floor of the Shen Group building.
Behind that illuminated window sat the man who had transferred fourteen million to her.
She was now working in his company, using the salary he paid her to repay the money she owed him.
Tomorrow, she would walk into his office and, with the same voice that had once called him “brother,” deliver a serious report on procurement audits.
Chu Yiran tugged at the corner of her mouth.
Was there some misunderstanding about her in this world?