Transmigrating Into the Beautiful CEO’s Doomed Substitute - Chapter 24

Today’s meeting lasted a long time. Everyone was fully focused, and Qi Zheng gained a lot of information that she hadn’t been able to find in the documents before.

She also witnessed Shen Zhibing’s work state firsthand. She had originally thought that CEO Shen only listened to reports and offered opinions, but she hadn’t expected her to have a comprehensive grasp of the project team’s progress. And this was just one of the many projects she was handling. Qi Zheng couldn’t help but admire Shen Zhibing’s capability.

Besides Shen Zhibing, her chief secretary, Yun Fei, and the second secretary were also very professional. Qi Zheng secretly tried to answer some of the questions Shen Zhibing raised in her mind, but she always fell a bit short. Watching the project team members sweat nervously under CEO Shen’s questioning, Qi Zheng suddenly felt she wasn’t the one suffering the most.

She lowered her head and smiled faintly a few times, then suddenly sensed a gaze sweeping over her. It came from the direction of CEO Shen, but when she looked up, Shen Zhibing was still focused on listening to the project team’s report and hadn’t been distracted.

**

It was Yun Fei’s first time seeing Qi Zheng in person. Although she didn’t know the exact nature of Qi Zheng’s relationship with CEO Shen, she remained cautious.

CEO Shen had just rejected Shen Qixing’s recommendation yesterday and kept the vacant position in the secretarial office open. Although she hadn’t said anything, Yun Fei instinctively felt it was related to Qi Zheng. During the meeting, Qi Zheng sat in the corner, listening quietly, taking notes occasionally, and had minimal presence.

Yun Fei observed her a few times during breaks. At first, she didn’t find anything special until she unexpectedly spotted the bracelet hidden under Qi Zheng’s suit jacket.

So, the person CEO Shen wanted to give it to, was her.

Qi Zheng didn’t know Yun Fei was secretly watching her. She only knew that today’s meeting had been incredibly beneficial. After the meeting, Shen Zhibing asked the team leader and two senior managers to stay, while the others could return to the real estate company first.

Dong Xiao drove Qi Zheng back. Seeing her not saying much, he thought she had been intimidated.

“You haven’t been in such a high-level meeting before, have you? Actually, everyone gets a little nervous the first time. You’ll get used to it,” Dong Xiao said. Since CEO Shen hadn’t objected to Qi Zheng observing, he tacitly assumed he could continue bringing her along in the future.

“I wasn’t nervous.”

Qi Zheng thought to herself, I’m not nervous living in the same house as her, so why would I be nervous about a meeting? However, she also realized through today’s meeting that both Shen Zhibing and the project team were constrained by some inexplicable transactions that Yongfeng had made over the past few years.

“Then why were you spacing out the whole time? Tell me about your takeaways from today.” The road back was a bit congested, so Dong Xiao slowed down and chatted with Qi Zheng.

Speaking of which, this was their first formal conversation; things had been too rushed before.

Qi Zheng collected her thoughts and opened her notebook: “Firstly, some of Yongfeng’s transactions are indeed questionable; secondly, the timing of this sale is also not particularly reasonable.”

Dong Xiao nodded: “Not bad, you’re clearly a smart person. Anything else?”

Those two points were quite obvious. As for the rest, Qi Zheng wasn’t certain; she just had a feeling.

Seeing her hesitate, Dong Xiao encouraged her: “We’re just casually talking, it’s not a formal report to the boss. Don’t feel pressured, just say whatever comes to mind.”

“I think the project team’s direction is a bit off track.”

“Oh? How so?” Dong Xiao was surprised by this statement.

Qi Zheng stared at her notebook for a moment: “I can’t pinpoint exactly what’s wrong, but I always feel that just focusing on cost budgets and exchange conditions might not be enough to genuinely move Yongfeng.”

“That’s true, but we haven’t found a better breakthrough point yet. I heard that President Le over there hasn’t been very willing to meet with CEO Shen lately. If he won’t even grant CEO Shen an audience, it’s even harder for the rest of us to analyze things. We can only focus on the most practical aspects.”

Qi Zheng was thoughtful. Yongfeng wanted to sell the land, and what they naturally wanted was money. But if they weren’t truly serious about selling, then money might not be the most effective leverage. She didn’t share this with Dong Xiao. After all, she was new and hadn’t been with the project team long; saying something like that would likely be ignored.

**

Shen Zhibing didn’t return until dinner time, and Qi Zheng was surprisingly waiting for her.

“CEO Shen, you’re back?”

Shen Zhibing glanced at the person who actively greeted her and curved her lips in response. At the company today, if she didn’t look at Qi Zheng, Qi Zheng wouldn’t look at her either.

Qi Zheng virtually avoided her gaze everywhere, wishing she could vanish into thin air, afraid that others might realize they knew each other. However, almost everyone present knew she had been arranged by CEO Shen for the internship. Shen Zhibing found Qi Zheng’s attempt to hide the truth rather childish.

The two didn’t talk much during dinner, only exchanging a few words at the start.

After finishing the meal, Qi Zheng proactively called out to Shen Zhibing.

“CEO Shen, do you have time tonight?”

“What is it?”

“I have some questions about Yongfeng that I’d like to ask your advice on.”

Shen Zhibing recalled that during today’s meeting, Qi Zheng spent most of the time scribbling in her notebook with her head down, she wasn’t sure if she was genuinely taking notes or just wasting time.

“Didn’t I tell you to ask the people in the team if you have questions?” The implication was, I’m very busy.

“But I feel that communicating with you is more efficient.”

Shen Zhibing was intrigued by Qi Zheng’s statement. She stopped her steps towards the stairs, turned around, and leaned against the staircase with her arms crossed: “You want to communicate directly with me?”

CEO Shen’s tone was slightly different from when she was at the company, especially the rising inflection at the end. But Qi Zheng didn’t detect any tenderness, instead, it was mostly teasing.

She suppressed her discomfort and explained: “Based on the documents I’ve reviewed over the past two days and observing the meeting today, I’ve come up with some conclusions that I hope can be helpful to the company.”

Qi Zheng spoke very seriously and sincerely. Seeing this, Shen Zhibing also set aside her joking attitude. She thought for a moment, then allowed Qi Zheng to follow her upstairs.

Shen Zhibing’s room hadn’t changed much from before; it was still a combination of spaciousness and luxury. Her large desk was cluttered with a laptop and many documents, suggesting she was preparing for another late night of work.

“Sit down and tell me slowly.”

Shen Zhibing tidied up the documents slightly, clearing a small space for Qi Zheng to put her laptop.

“CEO Shen, please take a look at this first.” Qi Zheng opened a data spreadsheet on her computer.

Shen Zhibing looked at it carefully for a while and asked, “Where did this come from?”

“I made it.”

“You made it?” Shen Zhibing didn’t look pleased.

Qi Zheng knew what she was worried about: “I organized and compiled it myself based on the public internal data available in the company’s documents.”

Only then did Shen Zhibing relax and continue to seriously examine the contents of the spreadsheet.

“So, what conclusion did you draw?”

Qi Zheng pointed to the line graph on the screen: “I suspect there is other capital behind Yongfeng.”

Shen Zhibing actually had the same suspicion, but she wasn’t sure where Qi Zheng had gotten this idea.

“You have you been exposed to similar cases before?”

Qi Zheng had no work experience and hadn’t even interned. The only possibility was a simulated case from a classroom.

Qi Zheng couldn’t explain her past real-world work experience, when she was fortunate enough to work on several projects with a few industry veterans after graduation, which greatly honed her abilities.

“I learned a bit from my advisor.”

Qi Zheng’s advisor was quite well-known, so Shen Zhibing believed her.

Other than that, she couldn’t find a reason for Qi Zheng to understand these things.

“And this.” Qi Zheng opened another file, which was a summary of the companies Yongfeng had traded with over the past few years. By setting different filter parameters, a few company names consistently appeared.

“These companies are not related to the real estate industry. Although the transaction amounts are not large, the stickiness is very high.”

Qi Zheng continued with her analysis. Shen Zhibing’s gaze shifted from the screen to her face and lingered for a moment.

Qi Zheng was very focused and didn’t notice the brief scrutiny. She had been pondering Yongfeng’s data for the past two days, and listening to the meeting today seemed to have given her inspiration.

“I’ve already noticed all of what you’re saying. It is indeed abnormal, just as you described.”

“So…”

“So, I have already asked people to investigate it thoroughly.”

Qi Zheng breathed a sigh of relief but also felt a little disappointed, a complicated feeling.

Shen Zhibing, however, did not ignore her as before, but instead acknowledged her.

“For having just started at the real estate company, to have this level of thought and summary is very good.”

Shen Zhibing was evaluating a new employee purely from the perspective of a company boss. Qi Zheng’s ability and performance were excellent and even made her feel pleasantly surprised.

But because there was another special layer to their relationship, Shen Zhibing constantly reminded herself to maintain control over Qi Zheng. Therefore, she couldn’t show too much appreciation or praise; the evaluation Qi Zheng received from her was much colder than what other employees would get.

“But this alone is not enough. It’s only a good start. There is more work and challenge awaiting you. I hope you can maintain this state. The company will not mistreat any employee who genuinely contributes.”

However, Shen Zhibing didn’t limit Qi Zheng’s potential. The next day, she signaled the project team to let Qi Zheng participate in the business discussions. Many people thought that letting Qi Zheng observe yesterday had displeased CEO Shen, but only Dong Xiao knew that Qi Zheng must have sent those spreadsheets to CEO Shen.

He had seen those documents too, but he hadn’t dared to send them directly. Since Qi Zheng had created them, he let Qi Zheng send them herself. If CEO Shen approved, he would share the credit. If CEO Shen felt Qi Zheng had overstepped, the worst he would get was being told off for not teaching workplace etiquette properly.

From then on, Qi Zheng gained access to more core data, but she still couldn’t interject much in the team discussions. Everyone was very polite to her, but she could sense that their politeness did not equate to recognition of her abilities.

During this time, Shen Zhibing returned to the suburban villa almost every night. Qi Zheng and she began discussing the latest data and reports after dinner, which gradually became a habit.

That day, Shen Zhibing ate very little dinner, barely touching her chopsticks. Qi Zheng asked her what was wrong, but didn’t get a clear answer. During their discussion that night, Shen Zhibing’s face turned completely pale, which startled Qi Zheng.

“CEO Shen, what’s wrong?”

Shen Zhibing was hunched over, her body leaning against the edge of the desk, biting her lip, and said, “It’s nothing. Get me a cup of hot water.”

Qi Zheng placed the water in front of her, but Shen Zhibing was in discomfort and had her eyes closed.

Qi Zheng had no choice but to pick up the cup, test the temperature, and hold it to Shen Zhibing’s lips.

“It’s not hot. Drink slowly.”

Shen Zhibing opened her eyes. They lacked their usual sharpness and professionalism, showing vulnerability and helplessness, but the stubbornness in her gaze remained.

Qi Zheng sometimes felt that Shen Zhibing was too intent on enduring everything. But after attending a few meetings at the headquarters with her, she gradually understood that managing a massive corporation requires more than just gentleness and kindness.

Sometimes, Shen Zhibing might be soft, but CEO Shen must be tough.