Transmigrating Into the Beautiful CEO’s Doomed Substitute - Chapter 23

Qi Zheng originally thought she could go home a little earlier today, but since she hadn’t left, Dong Xiao also felt awkward leaving first. He reached out and pulled a document from the stack of files Qi Zheng had already reviewed on the left. Opening it, he saw it was Yongfeng Company’s financial statements from the past three years.

“You finished reading this, too?”

“Yes, just finished.”

Dong Xiao took a deep breath, pulled a chair from the side, and sat down next to Qi Zheng. Holding the document, he pointed to a few numbers on the statement and asked, “Can you understand the meaning behind these figures?”

He knew Qi Zheng’s major was finance-related, but what was learned in textbooks was different from practical application. Furthermore, the significance of financial indicators wasn’t entirely the same across different industries.

Qi Zheng nodded again. “I understand.”

“Then tell me, where did Yongfeng’s business first start to deteriorate?”

Only looking at three years of statements couldn’t fully reveal Yongfeng’s problems, but the current crisis at Yongfeng had indeed begun to show signs three years ago.

Qi Zheng pointed to several figures. “It was in sales.”

Dong Xiao asked again, “And what else?”

“The slow speed of accounts receivable collection. I believe this is related to their sales strategy at the time.”

Dong Xiao raised an eyebrow, surprised that Qi Zheng could actually point out something significant. Then he watched Qi Zheng take out another document from the stack on the left and said, “This is Yongfeng’s promotional plan from that time. I think the problem should lie right here.”

Dong Xiao gasped and had to take a few serious looks at her.

“Have you studied Yongfeng before?”

Qi Zheng shook her head. She hadn’t known anything about Yongfeng before.

“So, you came to this conclusion just by looking at these materials today?”

“Yes, but I still need to see more materials to make a more comprehensive judgment.”

Dong Xiao put the statement into her hands and stood up. “It’s getting late. You can go off work now. You can look at the rest tomorrow. At your speed, you’ll be able to finish everything before leaving work tomorrow, and then we can discuss any issues.”

The team needed to have a meeting with Shen Zhibing at the headquarters tomorrow morning. There shouldn’t be much going on in the afternoon, so Dong Xiao decided to give Qi Zheng proper guidance then.

“Can I take these back to look at?”

The materials Dong Xiao gave her were actually basic information. Although they contained commercial secrets, they weren’t so crucial that they couldn’t be taken out of the company.

“It’s good for young people to be hardworking, but don’t push yourself too hard. It’s only the first day, take it easy.” He pulled out a few documents that contained core data, allowing Qi Zheng to take the rest.

Old Yu was waiting a street corner away from the real estate company. Qi Zheng didn’t want him to drive the car right up to the building, as it would be too conspicuous. Fortunately, most people had already left, but Dong Xiao still saw the car.

As their cars passed each other, Dong Xiao saw Qi Zheng still focused on reading the materials inside the Bentley. His mood was a little complicated.

It seemed this ‘connected’ intern wasn’t entirely here just to pass the time.

When Qi Zheng returned to the suburban villa, Shen Zhibing hadn’t come back yet.

“The third miss went back to the old house for dinner tonight and said there’s no need to wait for her.”

Qi Zheng went upstairs to put away her things, quickly washed up, and returned to the dining room. Aunt Xin had basically figured out her preferences, and the dishes on the table were almost all her favorites.

“Thank you, Aunt Xin.” Qi Zheng knew Aunt Xin had done this intentionally.

“Don’t mention it, Miss Qi, it’s our job.” Although Aunt Xin still called her Miss Qi, she was clearly not as distant as she was initially.

When Shen Zhibing returned to the villa, Qi Zheng was already in her room looking at materials. She knew it was Qi Zheng’s first day of the internship and wanted to ask her how she felt, but then thought it was unnecessary to specifically ask.

“No need to notify her, I’m going back to my room too.”

She went back to the old house today mainly to have dinner with her grandfather. However, her Second Uncle’s provocation at the dinner table made her quite upset. The matter of Yongfeng being intervened by Shiqun was already circulating in the industry. Although Grandpa hadn’t said anything, her Second Uncle’s snide remarks made Shen Zhibing quite annoyed.

Out of respect for her grandfather, she couldn’t argue with her Second Uncle in person, nor did she want to mention the competition with Shiqun too much. The two families already had a grudge. Remembering Lian Ao’s silence, Shen Zhibing’s heart sank again.

No matter what her relationship with Lian Ao was, it couldn’t change her determination to win the Yongfeng project. This wasn’t her personal wish, but something she had to do as the Vice President of the Shen Group.

Reading documents late into the night, Shen Zhibing felt a bit tired but couldn’t sleep yet. She went downstairs to make a cup of coffee to keep herself awake, and unexpectedly heard a sound in the kitchen.

She initially thought it was the maid tidying up. Shen Zhibing barely lifted her eyelids and gave an instruction as soon as she entered the kitchen: “Make me a cup of coffee.”

The person didn’t answer quickly, remaining silent for a moment before someone spoke: “Does CEO Shen need sugar and milk?”

Only then did Shen Zhibing open her tired eyes and see Qi Zheng standing in front of the coffee machine, with a cup of coffee already sitting by her hand.

“No sugar, just a little milk.”

Qi Zheng made a cup of coffee for Shen Zhibing based on her own experience and placed it on the bar counter.

“Why are you still up so late?”

Shen Zhibing looked at the coffee; it looked good.

“You are too.”

Qi Zheng took a sip of her coffee, the aroma lingering on her palate. “I’m still studying the materials.”

Shen Zhibing took the opportunity to ask her, “How did your internship go today?”

“It was great. Thanks to you, everyone was very polite to me and even specifically arranged a mentor.”

Shen Zhibing didn’t miss the implication in Qi Zheng’s words, but she didn’t respond.

“If you have anything you don’t understand, you can ask them directly. If they can’t answer, you can also ask me.”

Qi Zheng was stunned. Was busy CEO Shen going to give her special tutoring?

However, she did have a few questions she didn’t quite understand, which was why she was up so late.

“Then, can I just ask one simple question?”

Shen Zhibing took another sip of coffee and said flatly, “Don’t ask me simple questions. Try to solve them yourself or ask your mentor at the company tomorrow.”

Qi Zheng was speechless, pushing down the slight feeling of gratitude she had just felt.

She knew Shen Zhibing didn’t have that kind of patience; it was just a formality.

The two stopped talking, silently finished their coffee, and returned to their rooms.

Shen Zhibing wasn’t entirely sure about Shiqun’s tactics, but based on Lian Ao’s previous attitude, he seemed determined to get Yongfeng. If Shiqun really decided to fight hard, the Shen Group wouldn’t lose, but the price would definitely be considerable.

This was what Shen Zhibing didn’t want to see. If the acquisition proceeded according to normal budgets, the profit return would indeed be considerable. If Shiqun held on and forced up the acquisition cost, for the Shen Group, it might be a matter of saving face but ending up with nothing substantial to show for it.

It wasn’t until three in the morning that Shen Zhibing finally managed to lie down to rest. She vaguely heard a noise outside, but fortunately, it didn’t last long.

The next day, Shen Zhibing didn’t see Qi Zheng come down for breakfast, so she asked Aunt Xin to go up and call her.

“Being late for work isn’t good. Remind her.”

“Miss Qi has already left.”

“Left?”

“Yes, she said she needed to go to the company early for something, so she took a sandwich and went out.”

Shen Zhibing was taken aback for a moment, then continued to eat breakfast.

Qi Zheng rushed back to the company to look for the few documents that Dong Xiao had kept there yesterday. She had finished reading the remaining parts yesterday, but a few areas were still unclear, and she needed other materials to verify her conjectures.

Very few people arrived at the company at this time; only the cleaning staff was working. Qi Zheng was a new face. When she first appeared in the office area, the cleaning staff stared at her several times.

It wasn’t until she swiped her card to enter and sat down at her desk that she avoided being mistaken for a stranger.

Dong Xiao arrived at the company half an hour early to prepare the materials for today’s meeting at the headquarters. He always hoped to use this opportunity to perform well and effectively resolve his mid-life career crisis at thirty-five. After all, not making it to management by thirty-five put a considerable psychological pressure on him.

“Xiao Qi, you’re here so early?”

Qi Zheng looked up and greeted Dong Xiao. “There are a few figures I’m unsure about, so I came early to take a look.”

A look of shock appeared on Dong Xiao’s face. He mechanically turned on his computer, but his attention remained on Qi Zheng. This intern was really working too hard, almost catching up to him, an old employee hoping for a promotion.

“What parts are unclear?”

Qi Zheng took out a few documents and placed them together. “I believe Yongfeng made several unreasonable acquisitions five years ago, which directly led to increased financial pressure in the following years.”

Oh, Dong Xiao knew about this, but Qi Zheng figured it out just by looking at the materials for one day and one night?

“Any other discoveries?” A bold idea came to Dong Xiao’s mind. Perhaps he should take Qi Zheng to the meeting, even if just to audit, there might be unexpected gains.

“Not for now. I can only see this from the literal information. But it’s very strange; I just feel that a mature big company like Yongfeng shouldn’t have made such an irrational move.”

Indeed, CEO Shen had said the same thing.

That’s why Shen Zhibing asked them to carefully research all of Yongfeng’s transactions over the past few years, no matter the scale.

Dong Xiao’s eyes deepened. He asked Qi Zheng, “Do you want to come with me to the headquarters meeting today?”

“Go to the headquarters?” Wouldn’t that mean seeing Shen Zhibing?

Qi Zheng hesitated. She wasn’t ready to run into CEO Shen at the company so soon.

“Don’t be nervous. It won’t be your turn to speak or perform. You just sit and listen. I see you’re very sensitive to data and have insight. Following along to listen will help you progress faster.”

Dong Xiao had his own considerations. Since this person was instructed by CEO Shen to intern and was placed under his supervision, results would naturally be expected later. Qi Zheng’s ability was indeed beyond his expectation. He thought it might be better to let her learn directly from CEO Shen. That way, he could easily report back and show CEO Shen that he was taking Qi Zheng seriously.

Since Dong Xiao put it that way, Qi Zheng couldn’t find a reasonable excuse not to go, so she just followed along to the headquarters.

The project team members all knew about Qi Zheng’s presence, but they also knew she wouldn’t affect the team’s presentation, so no one raised any objections. Before the meeting, the team leader mentioned the matter to Yun Fei, and Yun Fei then told Shen Zhibing.

“She’s coming too?” Shen Zhibing clearly hadn’t expected Qi Zheng to come to the reporting meeting with the project team so soon.

Yun Fei thought she disagreed. “If CEO Shen thinks it’s inappropriate, I’ll make arrangements.”

“No need, just let her audit.” Shen Zhibing actually wanted to see what Qi Zheng could pick up on.

The meeting proceeded as usual, first reporting the latest revised plan, then raising new issues based on the latest progress, and discussing solutions.

Shen Zhibing maintained a serious expression throughout, barely looking directly at Qi Zheng from start to finish. In contrast, Yun Fei smiled at her a few times when their eyes met.

Author’s Note:

Red envelopes will continue to be dropped randomly in this chapter. Love you all.