Chapter 190
Chapter 190
King watched the group leave, arched her alluring brows, and lazily ate two more bites.
Because of Qi Jiajia, Lin Zhu, and Qiudong, Cheng Miao refused when Qin Xi approached her about promotion to key employee.
She said she wanted more experience.
So the opening went to Linda.
Cheng Miao was quite happy. Linda might only be a temporary friend within an instance, but Cheng Miao sincerely hoped she could see the outside world and, ideally, never return.
“Miao, did you hear? Someone in Research and Development apparently went crazy.” Linda bit the straw of her yogurt and rolled her chair over to gossip.
Research and Development…
Cheng Miao’s heart jumped. A player named Liu Chi was still assigned there.
Cheng Miao met the faint sorrow in Linda’s eyes. “That rather handsome young man. His name had Chi in it…”
Cheng Miao pressed her lips together. It really was that player.
“I heard he entered the laboratory without following the procedures properly and acted like a complete newcomer. A machine leaked electricity, and they probably can’t save him.”
Cheng Miao said nothing, her fingers digging into her palm.
For the players, this was essentially transmigration without the host’s memories. How could they possibly perform research and development?
Cheng Miao remembered that Liu Chi had a teammate assigned with Qin Musong, a man named Song Lei.
Fewer and fewer people remained alive, and the pressure on everyone gradually increased.
“By the way, thank you for giving me the opening.” Linda winked playfully at Cheng Miao and rolled away again.
Cheng Miao did not sleep well that night. She still had not found a way to break the deadlock.
Only Qin Musong had a key employee opening. What would everyone else do?
As a result, the shadows beneath Cheng Miao’s eyes were even darker when she woke the next day.
The players ate listlessly. Only the few certain they could leave the next day looked more energetic.
When King came for Lin Zhu, Qiudong had obtained a cup of red-date tea from somewhere and was handing it to Cheng Miao.
“The chairman wants to see me?” Lin Zhu’s eyelid twitched. King nodded and summoned Yun Su as well.
Watching the three leave, Cheng Miao and the others paced anxiously in circles. Qiudong alone steadied Cheng Miao with one sentence.
“Don’t worry. If necessary, we’ll clear it with force. If Lin Zhu can’t do it, I will.”
Cheng Miao looked up at Qiudong. With his cold face, his mere presence created a striking scene that made passing female employees glance back repeatedly.
But the paper cup of red-date tea in his hand made him look somewhat more down-to-earth.
“How do you know?” Cheng Miao accepted the tea and took a sip, warmth spreading through her chest.
Qiudong shrugged indifferently. “I killed one.”
Cheng Miao fell silent.
No wonder Qiudong had grown increasingly reckless. He had simply destroyed the ghost.
In the chairman’s office, apart from the chairman, King, Yun Su, and Lin Zhu, there was Brother Li, the person Lin Zhu had been avoiding.
Brother Li’s forehead was drenched in sweat. He kept his head lowered and did not dare look at the chairman, as though the slightest disturbance would make him drop to his knees.
The chairman looked kind at close range, but the players knew it was a facade.
This was the man who had used unknown means and brainwashing to force countless people to labor for him without compensation for most of their lives.
The chairman told everyone to sit and nodded to King, infatuation in his gaze.
As though she did not feel the sticky gaze on her, King swept back her wavy hair and tapped a bill on the desk with a bright red fingernail.
“Li Qiang, you submitted this reimbursement, correct?”
Brother Li raised his suit sleeve to wipe his sweat and stammered, “Y-yes.”
King smiled. “For such a large amount of money, it should have passed through your section chief’s hands.”
Brother Li lowered his head nearly to his chest. “The s-section chief was busy. It wasn’t anything important, so I submitted it myself.”
King nodded. Her tone suddenly grew even gentler, yet every word of her question was a blade. “But the Corporate Audit Section has discovered that this account is fraudulent. What do you have to say?”
Brother Li’s face reddened. He looked up at the smiling chairman, then the beautiful King, before his gaze shifted to the silent Lin Zhu.
A vicious gleam entered his eyes. Just as he raised a finger to point at Lin Zhu, King produced a document she had obtained from somewhere bearing Lin Zhu’s signature.
“Here, take a look. Did you forge the witness’s signature too?”
Brother Li was dumbfounded. He picked up the bill in disbelief and compared it with the document. When he saw the painstaking, childlike signature for Lin Zhu on the bill, he finally realized he had been tricked.
Smack!
The document slammed onto the desk. Brother Li lost both his composure and his last hope. He pointed viciously at Lin Zhu as if he wanted to lunge over and bite him. “You set me up!”
Still smiling, the chairman tapped the desk. Two burly men entered and stood beside Brother Li.
The bodyguards frightened Brother Li back to something resembling normal. The chairman stopped looking at him and turned to Lin Zhu, who had remained silent, his tone amiable.
“Xiao Lin, tell me. Did you sign this?”
“No.” Lin Zhu raised his head and met the chairman’s gaze. His manner was serious and his tone sincere, startling even Brother Li.
“Then you’re saying you didn’t participate in this illegal activity either?”
“I didn’t.” Lin Zhu answered without blushing or missing a beat.
He truly had not done it… the previous version of him had.
The chairman nodded, then looked at Yun Su. “What about you? Did you simply release the payment?”
Only then did Lin Zhu’s heart rise into his throat. He did not know what Yun Su would say.
He appeared perfectly calm, but his heartbeat thundered loudly in his ears.
“Yes. I asked Brother Li if there was any problem with such a large order. He said the leadership knew, so I released the payment.”
Lin Zhu froze. He did not dare turn to look at Yun Su.
He maintained his original posture as his heartbeat slowly calmed.
Yun Su was scheduled for promotion to key employee the next day, so the chairman trusted her. He nodded. “You may go back.”
Yun Su rose, pushed in her chair, then quietly opened the door and left.
The chairman pondered for a moment before looking at the still-unruffled Lin Zhu. “Research and Development has created a drug that makes people tell the truth. Since you say you didn’t do it, would you mind taking one to prove yourself?”
“Of course not.” Lin Zhu held out his hand without hesitation.
He was completely certain of his own logic. He had never done it, so no matter what he took, he would never confess.
Seeing how readily he agreed, the chairman finally laughed. “That’s enough. I’m teasing you. No such drug exists. You may go.”
Lin Zhu was covered in cold sweat but forced himself to remain composed.
Only after Lin Zhu left did the chairman turn to King with a kindly smile. “That young man is good. He can be promoted to key employee.”
After King recorded the decision, he looked at the ashen Brother Li, every trace of his false smile gone. “Take him to Research and Development. They’re short a few test subjects lately.”