Return: My Hell and Heaven
Chapter 25: The Substitute (1)
At noon, Song Shu and Yao Yiqin returned together from the Vio employee cafeteria. On the way, Yao Yiqin once again subtly advised Song Shu not to go to the HR department with Lisa, but Song Shu brushed it off with a few simple words.
When they got back to the 12th floor legal compliance department, Lisa was already waiting by Song Shu’s desk, looking like she’d been there for a while.
As soon as she saw Song Shu, Lisa’s eyes lit up. “Qin Qing, I think it’s best to get the archive retrieval proof done sooner rather than later. If you’re free now, let’s head down to HR.”
“Sure,” Song Shu nodded and smiled, “Thank you, Lisa.”
Under Yao Yiqin’s somewhat helpless and disapproving gaze, Lisa quickly grabbed Song Shu’s arm, “Helping new colleagues is what Sister Qin taught us. Sister Qin, we’ll be off then.”
With Yao Yiqin still showing her disapproval, Song Shu picked up the prepared documents and headed to the elevator with Lisa.
While waiting for the elevator, Lisa’s eyes darted around before she asked curiously, “I’ve heard people in the company mention Director Luan. They say she’s straightforward but a good person. You’ve just returned to the country, right? How did you manage to offend Director Luan so soon?”
“I don’t know either.” Song Shu looked down slightly, appearing a bit helpless. “From my first day at the company, when I went to the HR department to complete the onboarding procedures, Director Luan didn’t like me from the moment she saw me.”
Hearing this, Lisa turned her head and sized up Song Shu. Then she nodded seriously, “It must be because you’re too beautiful.”
Song Shu hadn’t expected Lisa to say that and paused before continuing, “There are many beautiful colleagues in the company. I’m nothing special. Besides, I don’t think Director Luan would dislike me just for that reason. I must have done something wrong.”
“On the day you joined the company, I heard from Dennis in the HR department that you were there for less than three minutes before Director Luan said you couldn’t complete the onboarding. That definitely wasn’t because of some minor issue—” Lisa suddenly stopped talking. A second or two later, she realized and turned her head to smile at Song Shu, feeling a bit guilty. “I overheard it while in the cafeteria when the HR people were chatting… Qin Qing, you don’t mind me being nosy, do you?”
“Of course not.”
Lisa looked around, seeing no one else, and leaned closer to Song Shu, whispering, “Actually, I have a guess. I think this has a lot to do with President Qin.”
“Hmm?”
“You might not have heard yet since you’re new, but the relationship between President Qin and Director Luan has always been a mystery in our company and even in the venture capital industry. President Qin is known for being unattached despite being surrounded by many admirers, but he has a special regard for Director Luan in the HR department. When Director Luan joined the company, it was the first time President Qin made an exception to promote someone connected to him—so, there have always been rumors about their ambiguous relationship.”
Song Shu pretended not to understand, “What does that have to do with me?”
“…” Lisa looked at her with a hint of scrutiny and uncertainty. “Although you said you don’t know President Qin, he does seem to treat you differently. Not to mention, what happened in the cafeteria last week was quite odd.”
Song Shu smiled helplessly.
Just then, the elevator arrived on their floor. Seeing that Lisa was intrigued by why Luan Qiao held a grudge against her, Song Shu decided not to say more. She reminded Lisa, “The elevator is here, let’s get in.”
“Oh, right.”
The two stepped into the elevator. The doors closed, and the elevator began its descent. Almost simultaneously, the adjacent elevator also stopped on the 12th floor.
As the doors opened, under the nervous gazes of the full elevator, the man at the front stepped out and walked towards the cubicles of the legal compliance department.
Before the doors closed, whispers could be heard from inside the elevator:
“Why is President Qin on the 12th floor?”
“Which project’s legal documents are stuck?”
“No project could be so important that President Qin has to personally come down here. Isn’t there a phone, an assistant, or a project leader?” New chapters come out on novelping.com first.
“Could it be that new employee who annoyed Director Luan and went to the legal compliance department?”
“I bet it is 80% certain.”
“President Qin really lives up to his reputation in the industry.”
“…”
In the legal compliance department, Yao Yiqin, who had just returned with water, was stunned when she looked up.
“President Qin?”
Yao Yiqin almost wanted to check if she had accidentally walked into the general manager’s office on the 22nd floor after getting water.
Qin Lou nodded and was about to walk over but then stopped.
“Have you seen Song… Qin Qing?”
Yao Yiqin was momentarily taken aback, her expression becoming nuanced.
~
From the moment Song Shu appeared in the HR department’s workspace, the entire area fell into an eerie silence.
Lisa stood awkwardly with Song Shu at the entrance of the floor for four or five seconds, with no one coming forward to greet them.
She smiled awkwardly and tilted her head towards Song Shu, whispering through gritted teeth, “Qin Qing, are you sure we have to go to the archive room?”
Song Shu was also feeling a bit of a headache: at this rate, she would soon become the HR department’s public enemy.
As they stood there awkwardly, the HR department finally reacted. After some back-and-forth pushing, Dennis, who knew Song Shu, was reluctantly pushed forward.
“Miss Qin,” Dennis’s smile looked a bit strained, “why are you here in the HR department? Is there some employee paperwork that hasn’t been completed?”
Song Shu seemed oblivious to his discomfort and maintained her gentle smile, “No, I just got assigned a project last week that’s undergoing due diligence and feasibility reports. I need some past legal files, so I came to ask Director Luan for approval to access the archive room.”
Dennis’s expression immediately twisted. “You’re looking for Director Luan?”
“Yes, is something wrong? Is Director Luan not here?”
“She is here, but…”
“Is Director Luan in a meeting or with a visitor? If so, I can wait.”
“Well, not exactly.” Dennis hesitated for a few seconds before finally waving his hand dejectedly.
“Fine, come with me. But I can’t guarantee that Director Luan will approve your request.”
“Alright, thank you.”
Dennis led Song Shu and Lisa to the outside of the HR director’s office and stopped in front of the frosted glass door. He knocked carefully on the glass.
“Come in.” Director Luan’s voice came from inside.
Dennis retracted his head, turned around, and whispered, “Miss Qin, you can go in yourself.”
Lisa, who was an old friend of Dennis, immediately gestured to Song Shu that she would wait outside.
Song Shu nodded and pushed the door open to enter the office.
Lisa and Dennis were both gossip enthusiasts and familiar with the goings-on in various departments. Over the years, their frequent chats had made them quite close. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
So, standing outside the door, they didn’t need to say anything. Their eyes met, and their ears perked up.
As expected, a few seconds later, Director Luan’s angry voice echoed from inside the office:
“Why are you here?!”
“Director Luan, I need your approval for a project I’m handling. I came specifically to ask for an archive retrieval request—here is the supporting documentation.”
“… Archive retrieval request?” Director Luan sneered, “You just joined the company and are already working on a project. Now that the project has barely started, you want to access old legal files? You’re quite proactive, aren’t you?”
“This is part of my job.”
“Since it’s your job, you should handle it yourself. I haven’t heard of any archive retrieval request and don’t know anything about it.”
“Director Luan, the archive room is a department under HR.” The woman’s voice seemed somewhat troubled. “This week, Vice President Lin is on field duty. If you don’t agree, I’ll have to go to President Qin.”
“You—are you threatening me?”
“Director Luan?”
“Don’t think that just because you look like my sister, my brother will really consider you as his lover! Dream on! Even if he was momentarily deceived by your looks, he will eventually see that you’re not the person he thinks you are! When that day comes, have you thought about how badly you’ll end up?”
“Director Luan, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“Stop pretending to be innocent! I’ll tell you, you may think you’ve learned to mimic well, but in my eyes, you don’t even compare to a single strand of Song Shu’s hair!”
“…”
Inside the office, the noise abruptly ceased, leaving only Director Luan’s angry breathing. The other person remained silent—seemingly choked up.
Outside the door, Lisa and Dennis exchanged glances. Just as they were about to speak, a hand suddenly reached over and pushed open the glass door between them.
“Hey!” Dennis was startled, turning around to scold the intruder, but all his anger was stuck in his throat—
“President Qin?!”
Qin Lou ignored him and walked straight in.
He stopped next to the surprised Song Shu.
Qin Lou looked at Song Shu, and after a few seconds, a smile appeared on his face.
“Is looking alike not enough? After all these years, she’s the closest resemblance I’ve ever seen.”
“Brother?!” Luan Qiao Qing stared at the man in disbelief. “What are you saying! What do you even think of my sister now?!”
Qin Lou looked up, “Approve her request.”
Sansukini: When the Boss allows you to spy, he’ll just give you all the authority you need.
The reason why Luan Qing Qing didn’t think of the possibility that Qin Qing is Song Shu is because she personally witnessed her death.
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