Chapter 15: Acting Half of “Wall Street”

Chapter 15: Acting Out Half of "Wall Street"

The golf ball traced a graceful arc across the green, landing just a step from the hole. Gu Hansheng watched it from a distance and smiled, "Mr. Wan, you haven't lost your touch."

The man who'd struck the ball was nearly sixty but still full of energy. He waved a hand and said, "Sometimes a miss is as good as a mile. See, I didn't sink it—didn't that just hand you the opportunity? Go on, it's the young folks' time now."

Gu Hansheng's ball landed farther from the hole, but it was still just a gentle tap away. Yet his putt happened to graze the edge of the cup. He said with a shrug, "Just my luck, Mr. Wan. You go first."

"Haha, excellent!"

The caddie set the ball down at the marker, and Wan Shaohui walked over and sank his putt.

Gu Hansheng had let him win on purpose, and they both knew it.

Wan Shaohui was satisfied and finally got down to business: "Hansheng, I'm confident leaving that shipment in your hands. You're one of the best of your generation."

Gu Hansheng replied, "You're too kind, Mr. Wan. Not getting the goods out on time was on me. I'll cover any losses from each day of delay to your business."

"Oh, that little bit of money is nothing. Did you think I dragged you here to chew you out?" Wan Shaohui laughed heartily. "Haha, you're still wet behind the ears! Ever thought about coming to work for me? Tuotu's big, but without someone solid in your corner, it's rough, right? Come here—I'll give you free rein to do things your way."

Gu Hansheng smiled: "Thanks for the offer, Mr. Wan. No matter how tough Tuotu gets, I'll chip away at it. Watching those old-timers squirm is fun enough."

"Is it fun fighting with those old guys?"

"I just like a good fight. Maybe I was born with a chip on my shoulder—came out swinging. Can't change it."

"Hahaha... good, you've got guts." Wan Shaohui squinted at the flagpole in the distance. The brighter the flag, the harder it is to miss. He said meaningfully, "I've been working with Tuotu for years—I'm one of your biggest clients. You've never messed up once before. Ever wonder why things only started going wrong after you took over? People hold grudges—how can they watch something they want get snatched away and not hate it?"

With that, he patted Gu Hansheng on the shoulder and headed to the tee box.

Gu Hansheng thought for a moment, then took out his phone and called his secretary: "Send me Wang Xiaochen's file, will you?"

...

Zhao Yu arrived at the Tuotu building with the insulated lunchbox. As soon as he entered the lobby, the receptionist greeted him with a beaming smile: "Mr. Chen, right? Come on in—I'll swipe you up."

Zhao Yu asked, "Can I head straight up?"

"Yeah, Mr. Gu said you can go up whenever. This elevator goes straight to the 42nd floor."

Zhao Yu eyed the cramped elevator and hesitated. "Forget it, I'll skip going up. Can you take this up for me? I'm worried my brother... I mean, Mr. Gu, might be too busy to eat."

The receptionist glanced at the lunchbox and gave a knowing smile: "That's not really my place. Don't worry—this elevator was checked two days ago, and it goes straight up."

Zhao Yu didn't want to put the receptionist on the spot. If she was right, the ride up would be quick. He gripped the lunchbox tighter and stepped in.

The receptionist watched him get in, and another one craned her neck to whisper, "Is this the guy who's tight with Mr. Gu?"

"Friend? He's checking if Mr. Gu ate lunch." She whispered, "You have no idea how pissed Mr. Gu was after that last elevator thing. Now they check the elevator twice a month. I'm not taking that lunch up—Mr. Gu probably wants to see him anyway."

"But Mr. Gu's not even here—he went out."

"Oh! Why didn't you tell me sooner!"

The elevator shot up to the 42nd floor. The second the doors opened, Zhao Yu stepped out, stomach churning, instantly regretting coming up.

Zhao Yu paused to steady himself and was about to head to the GM's office when he heard a sharp voice.

"You keep screwing up the basics and still clock out on time?! What the hell goes through your head all day? When I hand you something, can you actually try?! If you don't want the job, pack your bags!" A man was berating someone harshly.

A woman's voice came back with a sob: "I asked you, and you said a typhoon was coming, to wait until the weather improved, that there was no rush..."

"I said no rush and you just do nothing? Is your head full of water? If I told you to eat shit, would you do that too? You stay right here and wait for Mr. Gu to come back! You never work hard, you just chat in groups all day—you're definitely involved in this mess!"

With that, the man stormed off angrily, brushing past Zhao Yu.

The woman stood by the GM's office door, sobbing quietly. Zhao Yu walked over awkwardly, saw that Gu Hansheng wasn't there, and went to the secretary's office next door.

The secretary said, "Mr. Gu has a lunch meeting and will be back this afternoon. Would you like to wait? Should I call him?"

"Forget it—if he has a lunch meeting, I won't disturb him." Zhao Yu said, then turned and walked out with the lunchbox.

The female employee was still standing there as punishment, her sleeve soaked through from wiping her tears. She looked utterly pitiful.

A minor supervisor could freely berate his subordinates, using his position to bully those beneath him—it gave Zhao Yu an uneasy feeling. He too had been bullied for being Asian, and he'd thrown punches at those people, successfully punching away his high school diploma in the process.

While waiting for the elevator, Zhao Yu watched her pitiful reflection in the glass and couldn't help but turn back toward her: "Aren't you going to eat? Your Mr. Gu won't be back for a while."

The female employee shook her head and wiped her tears again: "The supervisor told me to wait."

The softer the persimmon, the easier it is to squeeze. Zhao Yu sighed and handed her the lunchbox: "I came to deliver lunch to a friend, but he's not here. You can have it."

She was stunned and took the lunchbox in a daze.

Zhao Yu looked around and pointed to the break room: "Want to eat in there? I'll need to take the container back later."

The two walked into the break room one after another. The female employee gradually calmed down and said after sitting down, "Thank you. Which department are you from?"

"I'm not an employee—I'm Mr. Gu's friend." Zhao Yu said, "That guy left you here to take the fall, didn't he?"

Hearing that he had a connection to Gu Hansheng, a glimmer of hope rose in her heart. She explained, "There was a shipment that should have been cleared through customs long ago. I followed up several times, but the supervisor always said there was no rush, and with the typhoon, it kept getting delayed. Then when we finally went to clear it two days ago, it was rejected. The paperwork was a mess, and only today did we discover the customs declaration form was filled out wrong. But I checked it so many times, and my colleague double-checked it too—I really don't know how this mistake happened."

Just then, the secretary came to the break room to make coffee and remarked casually, "You're really unlucky. You run into trouble and Wang Xiaochen catches you—he's famous for never taking responsibility."

Zhao Yu perked up his ears. The name Wang Xiaochen sounded familiar. Thinking harder, he remembered it was the man Gu Hansheng had been yelling at on the phone last night.

The female employee looked at Zhao Yu: "Brother, could you put in a good word for me with Mr. Gu? I promise I won't make mistakes next time. Can you ask him not to fire me?"

"Sorry, I don't know much about your company's affairs, and I shouldn't interfere casually." Zhao Yu declined.

The female employee's eyes dimmed. "Alright then. Thank you for the meal."

Zhao Yu felt conflicted, but he had no intention of meddling in Gu Hansheng's work. Gu Hansheng was already stressed about this matter, and he didn't want to add to the trouble.

Half an hour later, Zhao Yu went downstairs to head home and suddenly saw the man who had berated the female employee walking out with a briefcase under his arm, head down and steps hurried. This man was Wang Xiaochen.

Zhao Yu grew suspicious. Judging from Gu Hansheng's attitude on the phone yesterday, he would definitely hold someone accountable when he returned in the afternoon. The female employee was still waiting outside the office door—how could Wang Xiaochen, the supervisor, just walk away like that?

Since dropping out of high school, Zhao Yu had often helped out at Guo Lin's restaurant, spending his remaining time on the streets rather than going home. He'd seen all kinds of people—white-collar workers, laborers, students, teachers, and thieves and addicts dodging police searches. It was easy to tell who was above board and who had a guilty conscience.

Wang Xiaochen's steps were very hurried, and the way he clutched his briefcase was odd, as if he were hiding something. That was classic guilty behavior.

Having caused major trouble for Gu Hansheng and now sneaking around—could he be a corporate spy?

Zhao Yu automatically conjured up half of a "Wall Street" script in his head. With a "what if I hit the jackpot" mentality, he couldn't help but follow Wang Xiaochen.

Wang Xiaochen crossed an intersection and entered a coffee shop on the corner, sitting in the most secluded spot in the back. Ten minutes later, a man walked in and approached him. He excitedly picked up his briefcase and pulled out a USB drive, but the man waved his hand, signaling him to put it away first.

This man was extremely cautious. He looked around before asking, "Does anyone know you came out?"

Wang Xiaochen said, "Nobody noticed—I slipped out quietly."

The man nodded and gestured for him to follow.

The two left and walked toward a car parked on the roadside. Zhao Yu watched from a distance and immediately flagged down a taxi too.

Now he was sure Wang Xiaochen was up to something.

"Driver, follow that car up ahead." Zhao Yu took out his phone and photographed the license plate of the car in front, about to send it to Gu Hansheng, but then hesitated. He didn't know much about Tuotu's affairs, and if he guessed wrong, it would just make things messier.

In the end, he didn't send it. The taxi followed the car ahead for more than half an hour before stopping in front of the Rongchuang Center.

After getting out of the car, Wang Xiaochen trailed the man into the building, saying, "Vice President Zhang, Director Gu pulled my file today. He's getting suspicious. What should we do next? If he finds out I messed with the customs declaration, he won't go easy on me."

Zhang Pan said, "Don't worry. Gu Hansheng is just a nobody compared to the boss. Even if he finds out, what can he do? The boss is his uncle, after all."

Wang Xiaochen wiped his sweat and asked again, "What about my matter? What did the boss say?"

"The boss is out of the country recently. Everything has been handed over to me." The two walked into the tea lounge on the first floor and sat down. Zhang Pan said, "Where's the stuff?"

Wang Xiaochen quickly took out the documents and USB drive and handed them to him. Zhang Pan opened the documents and flipped through them unhurriedly: "Well done. You stay at Tuotu and don't worry."

"But..."

"What are you afraid of? Even if he pulled your file, so what? The file is clean. Without evidence, he can't do anything to you."

At that moment, Zhang Pan's assistant hurried over and whispered to him, "Vice President, someone is taking photos from behind the flower rack."

Zhang Pan's face went pale: "Take the security guards and grab him."