Water and Fire~Chapter 41.1: You're Awesome Today

 

Chapter 41.1: You're Awesome Today

The next day, Chu Qianmiao arrived at Hanhai Home Textiles and headed straight for the R&D department. Last night, Ren Yan had told her on the way home to talk to everyone in the R&D department.

She asked Ren Yan if he suspected the "rat" was in the R&D department.

Ren Yan told her that he wasn't completely sure, but that the R&D department, which directly handles patented technology, was the most likely candidate.

Chu Qianmiao patted her chest and said, "Don't worry, Senior, I'll help you with the rear-line work. Leave the 'rat' to me. I'll take the pressure off you!"

Ren Yan was driving at the time, and he took a moment to glance back at her. He asked, almost teasing her, "What if you can't complete the task after boasting so much?"

Chu Qianmiao said with a grin, "Then you'll have me kicked out of your house!"

She saw Ren Yan's lips curl up again.

Not bad, she thought. She could still boast and make him laugh, relieve his stress. It was definitely a job skill.

When they got out of the car at the apartment building, Ren Yan called her.

He rolled down the window, waved at her, and called, "Come here."

She trotted over and bent down. Her long hair fell from her shoulders, cascading to the ground. Her face, framed by strands of black hair, was delicate and fair. She asked with a smile, "Senior, any other instructions?"

Ren Yan leaned slightly to the side, resting his left arm on the car door. With a slight glare, he said, "Go ahead and live up to your boasts, because I don't want to kick you out."

He then raised his hand and gently tapped the car door. "Go ahead, upstairs." He then rolled up the window, blew out two exhaust pipes, and sped away.

Chu Qianmiao watched his black Mercedes disappear at the end of the road. She felt her heart skip a beat.

"I don't want to kick you out," she thought, a fairly commonplace statement, and his tone was quite calm, but somehow it sounded... a little suave.

Upon arriving at Hanhai, Chu Qianmiao headed straight for the R&D department. There, Du Ran and Zeng Qiang, having dealt with her before, were particularly enthusiastic about her. Under the subtle influence of the two of them, the other technicians also became very friendly towards her, not treating her as if she were there for an investigation.

She easily blended in and started chatting with everyone.

Knowing that being at her most relaxed was the least defensive, she engaged in casual conversation with each technician.

After starting the conversation, she briefly discussed patents and technology, but then things veered off topic, naturally drifting into topics like a technician's wife who always bought things when there were sales and felt like she was wasting money if she didn't; or a technician whose child in elementary school was a constant struggle with homework, where the parents were loving and the children were filial when they didn't do their homework, but when they did, the whole family was in chaos; or a technician whose family had recently moved house and was under immense pressure to pay off their mortgage, so they needed to work even harder.

After all this time, the technicians felt they were discussing trivial family matters, but Chu Qianmiao had already learned what they wanted to know.

Besides going over the patent technology upgrade details in detail, she also meticulously and meticulously ascertained the technicians' family situations, incomes, financial burdens, whether their children attended public or private schools, and whether their families were struggling financially.

After a long conversation, Chu Qianmiao remarked that she felt a bit bored. Someone immediately ran to the window and opened it, letting in a fresh spring breeze. Chu Qianmiao sneezed.

A technician named Hu Yuelong immediately pulled out a tissue and held it out to her, asking her to wipe her nose.

Chu Qianmiao stared at the outstretched hand, startled for a moment, then quickly took it and thanked him.

She blew her nose and looked around. Hu Yuelong immediately kicked the trash can at his feet toward Chu Qianmiao and said, "Lawyer Chu, please throw it here!"

Chu Qianmiao quickly thanked him again, then glanced down and threw the paper ball.

But it didn't go in.

She laughed and said she was being clumsy as she squatted down, picked up the paper ball, and dropped it into the trash can before standing up.

After standing up, she asked Hu Yuelong the time.

Hu Yuelong glanced at his watch. Chu Qianmiao followed his watch, her eyes falling on the dial. She exclaimed, "Wow!" and remarked, "It's already this late! This morning has flown by so quickly."

On Hu Yuelong's watch, the hour and minute hands were about to coincide with twelve o'clock.

Chu Qianmiao withdrew her gaze and smiled at the technicians, saying, "I'll be leaving now. We've been talking all morning. Don't delay lunch!"

After leaving the R&D department, she headed straight for the Finance department. After finalizing a few things, she rushed back to the due diligence office. She was alone in the office; Qin Qianyu, the other four, and Yu Yue had all gone out with Ren Yan to conduct market research.

She closed the door and called Ren Yan.

As soon as the call went through, she said, "Senior, I think I know who 'rat' is!"

She hadn't noticed, in her excitement and nervousness, that she had forgotten to call out "Mr. Ren."

Ren Yan told Chu Qianmiao that he and Yu Yue would have lunch outside and then rush back to Hanhai Home Textiles. Chu Qianmiao overheard a few whispers from Ren Yan's leaking phone: Qin Qianyu and Yu Yue were chatting. Qin Qianyu said, "I'm starving!" Yu Yue replied with a lament that was irrelevant to his article about starvation: "At first, when Mr. Ren mentioned doing market research, I was a little confused. I had no idea what he was looking for, but now it seems this trip has been quite fruitful."

Suddenly, a loud voice rang out again, drowning out the two whispers.

"Wait until we get back, and you can talk slowly." After a pause, Ren Yan added, "You're so busy, haven't you had lunch yet? Go eat first."

Chu Qianmiao was startled, realizing that she, like Qin Qianyu, was "starving." She couldn't help but say, "Thank you, Senior!"

After hanging up the phone, she ran to the cafeteria to grab a bite. As she ate, she thought, Ren Yan seems to have become much more humane lately, so mosquitoes will probably be able to bite him this summer.