Plunder-Chapter 166 Feeding the Dog

An Jinhua arrived at Nanchen.

He sat on Zhou Jin’an’s guest sofa with his legs cocked up, exuding arrogance.

"Director Zhou, since your Nanchen is responsible for drafting the plan, can you please show some professionalism? Look at this—what kind of work is this?"

As soon as his words fell, Xu Mei handed a document over to Zhou Jin’an.

Qiao En went in to report on the day’s work schedule and happened to witness this scene.

That document was the initial draft she had submitted.

But somehow, it had ended up in An Jinhua’s hands.

Zhou Jin’an took it, glanced at it for a moment, and his face immediately changed.

"This document has not been approved by Director An yet."

Qiao En couldn’t help but add a comment.

"Secretary Xu, this wouldn’t be your handiwork, would it?"

Xu Mei let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Could it be your handiwork then?" Qiao En retorted.

In front of everyone, Xu Mei turned dark with embarrassment.

She was good at socializing, but certainly not skilled in paperwork.

"Take a look."

Zhou Jin’an tossed the document onto the office desk with a muted voice.

He was a bit annoyed and slightly loosened his tie.

Qiao En picked up the document and quickly skimmed it.

She had revised yesterday’s document three or four times; the final version had changed significantly from the initial draft.

Moreover, all changes were made according to the requirements from An Jinrong’s side—although he hadn’t approved it finally, it was very close to completion.

However, when Qiao En quickly read through the document, she instantly understood.

The project had just started, and the An brothers were already setting up a double act.

"Secretary Xu, professionals should handle professional matters. I’m afraid this is beyond your abilities, and I suggest you not overreach."

"Director Zhou, if there are any mishaps in this project, neither you nor I can afford the responsibility. Even though Director An has let Nanchen lead, our An Corporation is also involved, and I certainly don’t want to end up as cannon fodder after just tagging along."

"You are free to withdraw."

Zhou Jin’an sharply retorted.

"Withdrawing is an option. But now, all staff involved in the project have stopped. We’re losing millions every day. Director Zhou, you need to give some direction. What do you propose we do?"

He spread his hands in a helpless gesture, passing the difficult question to Zhou Jin’an.

"President An, since this issue arose because of me, let me handle it."

Qiao En volunteered to take on this hot potato.

"Secretary Xu, I advise you not to overestimate yourself."

An Jinhua scoffed coldly.

Xu Mei followed suit, kicking Qiao En when she was down, "President An, some people just can’t help showing off, and you can’t stop them."

"I’ll arrange for someone to follow up on this. You should go and take care of other matters."

Zhou Jin’an rejected her as well.

However, Qiao En insisted; she grabbed the document and walked out, "I’ll first check to see what went wrong in the process."

Wasn’t An Jinrong setting up this trap just waiting for her to fall into it?

Qiao En was no fool; she understood their intentions.

After walking out of Zhou Jin’an’s office, Qiao En immediately contacted Secretary Huang.

The phone rang for a while before the other party picked up.

"Secretary Xu, what is it?"

Secretary Huang’s tone was not very friendly, rather indifferent.

Qiao En, being astute, naturally understood why Secretary Huang’s demeanor had turned cold overnight.

Secretary Huang was An Jinrong’s person, representing An Jinrong’s stance.

"I’m really sorry about last night. There was an emergency at home, and I had to leave early. I don’t know if Director An is free tonight? I’d like to invite him to dinner to apologize."

Qiao En explained and made her invitation.

"Director An has been very busy lately; he may not be free."

Secretary Huang made an excuse to decline but left some room for possibility.

Not necessarily free meant that there might be a chance.

"Secretary Huang, you’re Director An’s most trusted person. Please speak on my behalf; I truly want to apologize to Director An. Besides, for the Jinghuan renovation project, we’ll need to work together often in the future, won’t we?"

Qiao En flattered, and Secretary Huang fell silent for a moment.

"Secretary Huang, would you please do me this favor? I definitely won’t forget your kindness; we have many more opportunities for cooperation ahead!"

Seeing the other party hesitate, Qiao En pleaded cutely.

"Alright, alright. Director An is in a meeting right now. I’ll message you once he’s done," said Secretary Huang before hanging up Qiao En’s call.

After the call ended, Qiao En immediately sent a message to Detective Wu.

"Help me find a girl."

"What kind of girl?"

"Pretty, sweet-talking, and open-minded, the pay is negotiable."

"What do you want to do?" Detective Wu asked suspiciously.

"Feed the dog!"

Isn’t that right? Feeding an aroused wolfhound.

As expected, an hour later, Qiao En received a response from Secretary Huang.

"I spoke with Director An for quite a while, and he’s agreed to have dinner with you tonight. However, he has other engagements, so it might not be until ten o’clock."

"No problem."

Qiao En readily agreed.

It wasn’t until nearly noon that An Jinhua left Zhou Jin’an’s office, satisfied.

Before he left, he didn’t forget to stop by Qiao En’s office to say hello.

"Secretary Xu, the last thing you want in the workplace is to overreach. Nanchen is full of hidden talent; what you can’t do, let someone else handle. Now everyone has stopped because of you, and you definitely can’t afford this loss."

"If Secretary Xu can’t afford it, Director Zhou will pick up the tab for her; President An is overthinking it," Xu Mei retorted sarcastically.

"Thanks for the reminder, President An, no need to see you out," Qiao En said without getting up or being polite.

Once they were gone, Qiao En immediately went to Zhou Jin’an’s office.

"What did you offer them?"

It must be quite a benefit for An Jinhua to waste a whole morning with Zhou Jin’an and not relent.

Zhou Jin’an leaned back in his chair, his slender fingers massaging his brow.

"Don’t worry about this. I’ll handle it," he said.

Qiao En stood at the doorway, silent for a long while.

"What benefit?" she repeated.

"One percent of the profits," Zhou Jin’an looked up. "It’s nothing. Just give it to him."

The Jinghuan renovation project involved funds amounting to several hundred billion; one percent was definitely not a small amount.

An Jinhua was insatiable; once he tasted the sweetness, he would surely keep making unreasonable demands to profit.

"Just a verbal agreement, right?"

Zhou Jin’an nodded.

Qiao En instantly breathed a sigh of relief, "He won’t get it, and he doesn’t have the right. I can handle this."

She started to leave as she spoke.

"Qiao En,"

Zhou Jin’an suddenly called out to her.

His brows furrowed with a hint of worry in his eyes, "Don’t get involved in this."

Qiao En smiled lightly, "There will definitely be good news tomorrow."

As soon as it was time to get off work, Qiao En didn’t delay a second before leaving.

After Zhou Jin’an finished his business, he dialed Qiao En’s office phone, and surprisingly, the person who answered was an intern from the secretarial department.

"Director Zhou, Secretary Qiao has already left."

Zhou Jin’an was a bit surprised; this was not Qiao En’s style.

Like him, she was a typical workaholic, usually leaving after him.

Suddenly, Zhou Jin’an thought of something.

He immediately went downstairs and drove straight to Chengnan Apartment.

Qiao En said there would be good news tomorrow, and that news must be related to the Jinghuan renovation project.

He knew better than anyone that the problem wasn’t with Qiao En, but that someone had already marked Qiao En as their prey.

On the way, Zhou Jin’an kept calling Qiao En.

At first, she didn’t answer, and later, she outright blocked him.

"Find out where An Jinrong is entertaining tonight," Zhou Jin’an ordered Cheng Lu.

As soon as the car arrived at Chengnan Apartment, the information from Cheng Lu came through.

It was Ronghua Hotel, as usual.

Zhou Jin’an went upstairs and as expected, Qiao En was not at home.

He drove to Ronghua Hotel, and when he arrived, he happened to see An Jinrong entering the hotel.

Many people surrounded An Jinrong; they exchanged pleasantries while he basked in their attention.

A call from Cheng Lu came in.

"Director Zhou, Secretary Qiao hasn’t been to Ronghua Hotel."

But if she didn’t go there, where could she have gone?