Chapter 27 Working with him. We just met a while ago, and now we've run into each other again...

Zhu Liushuang quickly lowered her head to gather her emotions, and when she looked up again, she almost bumped into the person who came.

"Senior? What brings you to our company?" Her delicate face was filled with surprise, and her round eyes met He Ming's gaze. Apart from surprise, she did not show any other emotions.

She hid it very well, and her sense of propriety was just right.

"Zhu Liushuang?" A look of disbelief flashed across He Ming's face. "You work at Ruixin?" During the last training, he only knew that her job was related to finance, but he didn't pay attention to which company she worked for.

"Yes, I'm from Ruixin's finance department. I was just about to come out to pick up the audit teacher from Zhonghe..." She was halfway through her sentence when she suddenly realized something. "Senior, you're also from Zhonghe. Could it be that the teacher I'm supposed to pick up is you?"

As she asked this question, a delighted smile appeared on Zhu Liushuang's face, her eyes shining brightly. It was as if she was desperately trying to tell He Ming: My God, what a coincidence!

"Yes, what a coincidence. We just met a while ago, and now we've run into each other again." He Ming, who is much more talkative now that he's working, is much more so than he was in high school. He nodded slightly. "Lin Hui has already contacted you, right?"

"Yes, he's looking at some documents in the conference room. I'll take you there now..."

After a short conversation, the two walked into the company side by side. The meeting room was at the very back, and to get there, they had to pass the technology department, the human resources department, and the sales department.

The doors to all departments were wide open, making it easy to see what was happening outside. As handsome men and beautiful women passed by, the crowd began to murmur amongst themselves.

"Who was that guy who just walked by? He's really handsome. And he's tall too... Look at his legs in those dress pants, they're so enviable!" Li Jingjia was sitting in a chair touching up her makeup in front of the mirror when her colleague suddenly asked her a question, and she couldn't help but look towards the door.

I didn't see anything.

However, the whispers of her female colleagues piqued her interest, and she planned to take the opportunity to go to the conference room to see what was going on.

Unlike the HR department, the technical department is mostly male. A group of young men were all focused on Zhu Liushuang.

"If you ask me... Accountant Zhu's figure is really good. Although she's not very tall, she's got all the curves in the right places. Her petite and delicate appearance really makes you want to protect her..."

"You've got some nerve, daring to covet Accountant Zhu... Our Brother Wang is right here!"

Wang Yi remained silent with a gloomy face, his gaze fixed on the figures walking away side by side.

"Brother Wang, I saw Accountant Zhu walking and chatting with that guy, she was quite attentive. Could it be that she likes handsome pretty boys?"

The breeze that brushed past his ear only fueled the fire burning within Wang Yi. Seeing his silence, everyone felt an awkward unease. The atmosphere in the technical department instantly plummeted to freezing point.

Wang Yi shooed the onlookers back to their seats: "Is this ever going to end? Instead of wasting time gossiping, you should spend more time fixing program bugs. If today's task isn't finished, none of us are going home..."

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Unaware of the conversation, the two at the center of the discussion continued their pleasant chat as they arrived at the conference room.

As soon as the door was pushed open, the people working inside quickly looked up, their eyes filled with fear as they stared at the doorway.

"Teacher He, you're here!"

Zhu Liushuang's gaze shifted to Lin Hui's face, and she couldn't help but chuckle: the scene before her resembled a student meeting their homeroom teacher. Lin Hui, who had been so relaxed while talking to her just moments before, was now sitting upright, his expression stiff and unnatural.

She couldn't help but turn to look at He Ming's face. It was calm and expressionless, perfectly normal! Did the assistant think of her senior as some kind of monster?

Seeing Zhu Liushuang suddenly scrutinizing him, He Ming was puzzled. A hint of doubt appeared in his usually calm eyes: "What's wrong?"

Zhu Liushuang shook her head, concealing her smile, and then couldn't help but mutter softly, "Senior, why do I feel like Lin Hui is a little afraid of you?"

The soft, gentle sound tickled his ear, and He Ming couldn't help but chuckle to himself. He didn't reply, but instead walked ahead of her to the long table and found an empty seat next to Lin Hui.

"How's the review of the materials going?"

"That's about it... Just read these two documents and you're good to go. There shouldn't be any problems with the earlier ones."

With the person in charge present, Zhu Liushuang had no reason to stand idly in the conference room. She first went around to the other end of the table to get a cup of tea, then walked over to the two men and carefully placed the teacup on the table in front of He Ming.

"Teacher He... here's your tea."

"Thank you." He Ming's gaze was still fixed on the laptop screen. Hearing Zhu Liushuang call him "Teacher He" made him feel a little uncomfortable. From the moment they started interacting, she had warmly addressed him as "Senior." Suddenly hearing a different form of address, his fingers paused briefly as he clicked the mouse.

But in reality, whenever he goes out to work, anyone younger than him basically calls him "Teacher He." He went from being embarrassed at first to now readily agreeing, so he should be immune to it now.

"What do you need me to do later?" Zhu Liushuang asked again while the two people next to her were looking at the documents.

"I need to check your company's invoice issuance history for the past two years. The invoicing process for high-tech enterprises is different from that of ordinary enterprises..." He Ming suddenly turned to Zhu Liushuang and said this.

"I've prepared all the invoices, I'll go to the finance office to pick them up now..." Zhu Liushuang said softly as she walked out.

Seeing that only his own people were left in the conference room, Lin Hui suddenly spoke up: "Teacher He, don't you think Miss Zhu looks a little familiar?"

Just as He Ming was about to stop him from gossiping about others behind their backs, Lin Hui excitedly said, "I remember now... Do you remember that blind date the other day? It seems like the female lead was her!"

"She's beautiful and quick-witted... but when I talked to her just now, she spoke very gently and was very easygoing, quite different from that day..." Lin Hui was still making his own comments when He Ming tapped the table twice, slightly displeased.

He reminded his assistant at the right moment: "Are you here to gossip about other people's privacy or to work? Don't casually discuss the clients' private lives..."

"Yes, yes, I was wrong, Teacher He!" Lin Hui almost bit his tongue. Realizing he had misspoke, he immediately shut his mouth.

Therefore, when Zhu Liushuang walked into the meeting room carrying a thick stack of accounting vouchers, she sensed something unusual: why was the atmosphere inside more tense than before?

Lin Hui and He Ming switched places. He Ming was now browsing her computer files with a serious expression. Lin Hui, on the other hand, remained silent, waiting for He Ming's instructions with a droopy smile.

Zhu Liushuang placed the accounting voucher on the table, then picked up a piece of mung bean cake from the tray and handed it to Lin Hui.

She tried to ease the tension: "Lin Hui, have you had breakfast? Would you like to try Tong Zhen's mung bean cake? It tastes good."

Tongzhen is a century-old brand in Gucheng that specializes in making pastries. You have to place an order in advance if you want to buy them.

Lin Hui was truly hungry. His home was in the suburbs, and his commute was long. This morning, he had taken a long detour to Ruixin for a field trip, driving for over fifty minutes. At this point, his stomach was churning.

He politely accepted the mung bean cake Zhu Liushuang offered, thanked her, and casually unwrapped it, stuffing the whole thing into his mouth. He thought to himself: Miss Zhu is truly understanding; she's much easier to get along with than their teacher, Mr. He.

Zhu Liushuang couldn't hear Lin Hui's thoughts; she only saw him chewing on mung bean cake and smiling foolishly at her. Thinking he wasn't full, she handed him another piece.

The two's back-and-forth little movements did not disturb He Ming in the slightest.

"Teacher He, have you had breakfast? Would you like a piece of mung bean cake?" Zhu Liushuang asked politely.

He Ming closed his laptop and refused outright: "No need, I'll check your invoicing now." As he spoke, he began to look through the invoices, carefully examining each one to ensure they were compliant.

At first his brows were relaxed, but gradually his lips pressed into a straight line. Zhu Liushuang saw him bend his fingers and tap the table rhythmically.

Something must have gone wrong; she had a bad feeling.

"Teacher He, is the invoice incorrect?" She moved to He Ming's side, bent down, and looked in the direction he was pointing.

He Ming's expression was serious, and he raised his voice slightly as he asked, "Why did you combine the software and hardware invoices when you were issuing them?"

Zhu Liushuang was puzzled and asked doubtfully, "Can't we drive it like this?"

The previous year's invoices were all issued by her master. Later, her master changed jobs, and Zhu Liushuang simply copied his methods to issue invoices.

“There are clear requirements for applying for high-tech enterprise status. Hardware and software must be invoiced separately. What you are doing is not compliant.” He Ming felt that this should be common sense. If a company doesn’t even pay attention to such a basic operation as invoicing, then what’s the point of filling out the application form!

"Is this serious? How can we remedy this?" No one had told her about the precautions for issuing invoices, and the declaration was only decided on the spot in the second quarter of this year. Zhu Liushuang swallowed her grievances and asked.

Perhaps realizing that his tone had been a bit harsh, He Ming readjusted his words: "It might cause some obstacles to the declaration. However... you don't need to blame yourself too much or be too anxious. I'll talk to General Manager Guo about this later, and then report it to the tax bureau. You can come with me to the tax bureau to negotiate then."

If there's a remedy, then it's not serious. Zhu Liushuang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you, Teacher He."

Thankfully, her wish for a raise was not in vain.

Having just experienced that ordeal, Zhu Liushuang became extremely attentive, answering He Ming's various questions earnestly. She would log into Kingdee to provide He Ming with data, and then lead them to the showroom to see the products.

After a busy half-day, she finally finished handing over all her work. Apart from the invoicing issue, everything else went smoothly.

Having been so busy, Zhu Liushuang can now consider herself ready to "retire successfully".

It was nearing noon, lunchtime. Li Jingjia, wearing high heels, walked gracefully into the exhibition hall: "This must be Teacher He from Zhonghe? Hello."

Her eyes swept over He Ming, but she spoke to Zhu Liushuang: "I saw you were all busy, so I didn't want to bother you by coming into the meeting room, afraid of affecting the work progress. Liushuang, the lunch I ordered for Teacher He and the others has arrived. Why don't you go and get it?"

"Okay, thank you, Jingjia." Zhu Liushuang then turned to He Ming and asked, "Are we having lunch in the conference room, Professor He?"

He Ming nodded slightly: "The meeting room is fine, thank you for your hard work." Then he pulled Lin Hui to his side, separating Li Jingjia from himself, "Lin Hui, let's go back to the meeting room."

Lin Hui quickly responded and followed He Ming's steps. As he walked, he was still pondering: how come Zhu Liushuang was so close to Teacher He just now, and Teacher He didn't seem to mind at all? But this girl named Jingjia, as soon as she came over, started using him as a human wall.

It must be that "Jingjia" girl's perfume is too strong! Teacher He usually hates strong perfume. The intern who came in with him before was transferred out of their group because Teacher He sneezed all the time because he wore perfume every day... Lin Hui found a reasonable explanation and followed into the meeting room with a chuckle.

No sooner had Zhu Liushuang left than Li Jingjia caught up with her, asking mysteriously, "How was it working with that handsome guy? But... he seemed so cold, was he fierce?"

"Cough...cough..." Zhu Liushuang was suddenly choked and coughed twice. "It's just a job, there's no difference."

Li Jiajing didn't believe Zhu Liushuang's high-sounding but perfunctory words, and bluntly asked, "You're dressed so beautifully today, did you already know the other person was good-looking?"

If she was asked any further, Zhu Liushuang's smile would falter. She quickened her pace to the front desk, reminding them, "Jingjia, have you had lunch yet? Go eat quickly... Oh, by the way! Sister Zhuang is coming back this afternoon. Have you finished preparing the payroll? Don't get rushed again."

She brought up Zhuang Xiaoqian only to discourage Li Jingjia from continuing to pester her with questions. As she expected, upon hearing the words "Sister Zhuang," Li Jingjia pouted and turned to walk away.

After dealing with her scheming colleague, Zhu Liushuang went to the front desk, picked up two beautifully packaged insulated boxes, and returned to the meeting room in a good mood.

Meanwhile, in the company restroom not far from her, a unique "show" was unfolding.

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The author's note: Senior He's unconscious "favoritism" towards Shuangshuang is something he probably didn't even realize himself.

It's so sweet! We're finally starting to have some real interaction!

I'm begging for your likes and comments... Your support is my motivation to keep writing.