Chapter 48 Excessive Care
The next day, Zhou Feng called Pei Song to his office.
"The executive training program in Country D has been finalized," Zhou Feng said. "It will last for one month. Would you like to consider participating?"
Pei Song was startled: "So sudden?"
"It's not sudden actually." Zhou Feng smiled, "I might go to Country D to develop, and I want to take a few capable young people with me."
"Have you really decided to go to Country D?" Pei Song was a little surprised.
"I'm still considering it." Zhou Feng gave him a meaningful look, "But this is a rare opportunity, so think about it carefully."
Pei Song returned to the office and unexpectedly found Li Ming secretly sorting out a stack of documents.
"What is this?" he asked casually.
Li Ming tried to hide the documents in a panic, but Pei Song still caught a glimpse of a few key numbers.
It was a quotation from a supplier, with various traces of modifications densely recorded on it.
"Li Ming." Pei Song lowered his voice, "Are you helping Liu Yan to cook the books?"
Li Ming's face turned pale: "I...I was also forced."
"He threatened you?"
Li Ming nodded: "He said if I didn't cooperate, he would expose some of my past deeds."
Pei Song was silent for a moment: "Do you keep all these accounts as evidence?"
"Yeah." Li Ming whispered, "I secretly took photos and recorded the audio."
"Very good." Pei Song patted his shoulder, "Continue to cooperate with him, but remember one thing."
"What?"
"Leave a complete chain of evidence."
That night, Pei Song told Shi Yanchen about his findings.
"I found the key loophole." Pei Song said excitedly, "Liu Yan made a lot of changes to the budget. If we can get solid evidence..."
"Don't rush it." Shi Yanchen interrupted him, "This kind of thing requires timing."
"What's the meaning?"
"Since they dare to do this, they must have something to rely on." Shi Yanchen analyzed, "If we expose them now, it may not shake their foundation."
Shi Yanchen took a sip of red tea and continued, "Besides, the real problem may not be the budget itself."
"You mean... there's a bigger problem?"
Shi Yanchen did not answer directly, but taught him some financial analysis skills: "Look at the essence of the problem. Why did they tamper with the budget? Where did the funds eventually flow to? These are the key points."
Pei Song thought for a moment: "So what is your suggestion?"
"Hold still for now." Shi Yanchen's voice was calm. "Collect more evidence and wait until they reveal their flaws before taking action."
"After returning to the room, Pei Song lay on the bed, thinking back to what Zhou Feng had said during the day.
This training opportunity is truly rare. Not only can I learn advanced experience, but I can also broaden my horizons.
What's more, Shi Yanchen should be returning to Country D soon. If I go to attend the training, wouldn't I be able to stay in Country D with him for another month?
He shook his head, trying to clear his mind of these chaotic thoughts.
The most important thing now is to find out the tricks in the "Starlight Plaza" project.
The next morning, Pei Song plunged into his busy work.
While working with Liu Yan on project planning, he was secretly collecting evidence.
Gradually, he discovered that the problems in this project were far more complicated than he had imagined.
Not only is there something fishy about the budget, but even the backgrounds of some suppliers are suspicious.
The evidence provided by Li Ming made the whole incident even more confusing.
"These suppliers are all shell companies," Li Ming said, pointing to the computer screen, "and their funds eventually flowed to the same offshore account."
Pei Song was shocked: "Are you sure?"
"I checked secretly." Li Ming lowered his voice, "The legal representatives of these companies are all relatives of the same person."
Pei Song silently wrote down this information. He knew that he had found an important breakthrough.
But as Shi Yanchen said, now is not the best time to expose it.
That afternoon, Liu Yan sent the revised budget plan to everyone.
Pei Song opened the file and found that the data inside had been fine-tuned a lot, but the essential problems still existed.
He looked at the embellished numbers with a sneer on his face.
Since they have planned it so carefully, let them continue to perform.
The real fun is yet to come.
In the evening, Pei Song and Shi Yanchen analyzed these findings again.
"They were too eager to succeed," Shi Yanchen said. "Although this method of operation is covert, it leaves a lot of traces."
"So what should we do?"
"Continue to collect evidence." Shi Yanchen's eyes were sharp. "When they feel that everything is foolproof, that will be the best time for us to take action.
Pei Song nodded, he believed in Shi Yanchen's judgment.
In business, timing is often more important than action itself.
That morning, SNK Asia Pacific held a quarterly high-level video conference.
Dozens of dialog boxes were neatly arranged on the screen, and the participants were all senior managers from various regions and departments.
Halfway through the meeting, Zhou Feng glanced at the list of participants and noticed an unfamiliar ID: Leon
Schneider.
This user has been online since the meeting started, but has remained muted.
Hans, the vice president of Country D, was making a project presentation. He was always self-willed in meetings, but today he was particularly cautious and even his tone was much more restrained: "Regarding the investment strategy for the Asia-Pacific region, we need a more robust plan..."
Zhou Feng was keenly aware of the subtle change in the atmosphere.
This Leon
Although Schneider did not show up, he seemed to cast a subtle pressure over the entire meeting.
When it was Zhou Feng's turn to report on the "Starlight Plaza" project, he subconsciously slowed down his speech: "For this project, we have made a lot of innovations in business planning..."
He specifically mentioned several highlights, especially emphasizing the contribution of young project manager Pei Song.
Representing Leon
The microphone icon in the lower right corner of Schneider's dialog box suddenly flashed and then quickly returned to silence.
"Wait a minute." The Asia Pacific CFO interrupted Zhou Feng. "The investment budget and planning for this project seem too radical. Isn't it too risky to let a young person who has just joined the company take charge of such an important project?"
Zhou Feng was well prepared: "Although Pei Song is young, he has demonstrated strong professionalism in both the 'Jin Shang Xuan' and 'Future Hotel' projects. I have carefully reviewed the business plan of 'Starlight Plaza', and every detail is very solid." He paused, "If the top management has concerns, I, as the direct person in charge, am willing to take full responsibility."
Shi Yanchen sat in the study of the hotel suite, staring at the screen silently.
When he heard Zhou Feng's strong support for Pei Song, his brows unconsciously frowned.
Considering Zhou Feng's position, publicly endorsing an ordinary project manager on such an occasion was a bit too much of a "concern".