Zhang Haibin reached for the bottle of wine, and just when everyone was expecting him to make a fool of himself, Xu Chunliang said, "Dean Zhang, I was just joking with you. The drinking was between and Zhang Haitao, it’s got nothing to do with you. You brothers sure have a great relationship, ganging up on like this."
He patted Zhang Haibin on the shoulder, "Thanks for the warm hospitality, Dean Zhang. I’m feeling a bit tipsy. Dean Yan, shall we make a move?"
All good things must co to an end, not to ntion the atmosphere wasn’t very harmonious. Yan Huaiyi had long wanted to wrap things up. Zhang Haibin didn’t want to continue drinking either; he originally intended to show the outsiders who’s boss but ended up getting outmaneuvered.
After Xu Chunliang and his group left, Zhang Haitao cursed, "That Xu guy is so damn arrogant. This is Weishan Island, who dares ss with us!"
Xu Daqing sighed, "That kid can really drink, over two pounds like it’s nothing."
Zhang Haibin said, "You guys should hurry ho and rest." In his heart, he cursed the two as incompetents, unable to handle even one Xu Chunliang together.
Jin Yonghao escorted Yan Huaiyi back to his room and didn’t leave imdiately, choosing to talk with Yan Huaiyi.
Jin Yonghao thought Xu Chunliang perford excellently overall tonight, but he shouldn’t have shown rcy at the end; he should have made Zhang Haibin finish the bottle.
Yan Huaiyi didn’t agree with this; one catty of liquor down the gut would surely elicit a reaction. If Zhang Haibin got drunk and acted up like the other two, tonight’s dinner would have ended poorly. Although he found these people annoying, there was no need to fall out with them as there were still so female colleagues at the table, and they still had to stay here for three weeks; starting with a fight on the first day wouldn’t benefit anyone.
"Leave a line of retreat to et again in better tis," despite Xu Chunliang being young, he understood the ways of the world well. His actions tonight should have served as a warning. If Zhang Haibin still doesn’t behave, Xu Chunliang’s next move will likely be more ruthless and leave no rcy.
Yan Huaiyi was quietly relieved, glad that he had the foresight to bring Xu Chunliang on board, otherwise, it’d be hard to handle the chaotic situation.
The events of tonight made Jin Yonghao quite excited, and he developed a strong interest in Xu Chunliang, asking Yan Huaiyi about him.
Yan Huaiyi rarely spoke about others behind their backs, whether good or bad, especially since he was about to be transferred from Changxing, he didn’t want to comnt on anyone. He saw through the people in the administrative departnt—today they call you Dean, but who knows what they’ll say about you tomorrow in front of soone else.
Yan Huaiyi was more concerned about how to proceed with the upcoming quality control work. From tonight’s situation, the local faction led by Zhang Haibin probably wouldn’t cooperate, and might even create many obstacles for them.
Jin Yonghao, having worked here for a year, had a good understanding of the subdivision’s situation; he saw Zhang Haibin as a rotten apple. Since Changxing Hospital took over Weishan Island Hospital, Zhang Haibin was the one whose interests were most hard.
After all, Zhang Haibin was the top dog here before, regardless of the hospital’s operating conditions or losses; in his domain, he was the boss.
When he was in charge, he handled both procurent and personnel, such as the dozen storefronts along the street on either side of the hospital gates that were built during his tenure. They didn’t have property deeds, but they still collected rent every year.
Though rent on the island was low, it still added up to hundreds of thousands annually.
Since Changxing took over, none of the rental inco showed up in the financials. Zhang Haibin completely denied involvent, claiming he couldn’t collect it and suggested Jin Yonghao figure it out.
Jin Yonghao rembered vividly how during his first attempt at collecting the rent, he was chased away by tenants wielding kitchen knives and others threatened to unleash dogs on him. They were locals who were untouchable, and though he reported it to the local police, they called it a historical issue and hoped he’d first clarify property rights.
How could there be property rights when those storefronts didn’t even have deeds?
Jin Yonghao was most troubled by the payroll issue; salaries had been delayed for two months in a row, stirring public resentnt with so even sowing discord and stirring trouble against them.
Though Jin Yonghao didn’t na nas, Yan Huaiyi could guess it was Zhang Haibin, and realized that the focus of this quality control effort might not be quality itself, a storm was brewing, waiting for him. This deepened his grievance against Zhao Feiyang, suspecting Zhao dug a pit for him to jump into. Fortunately, he’d already decided to leave Changxing, and just needed to get through the remaining ti.
Just then, both heard a scream from the end of the hallway, seeming to be a woman’s voice, originating from the east end, and they hurried out of the room.
Xu Chunliang ca out too; the three exchanged glances, and Xu Chunliang gestured towards the direction of the won’s bath.
Soon, they saw Tang Mingi rushing out in a panic, and Yan Huaiyi asked on behalf of everyone, "What happened?"
Tang Mingi, still a bit shaken and embarrassed by the commotion she caused, cald down and expressed that it was nothing, she thought she saw a weasel.
Jin Yonghao reassured her not to be alard; the island’s ecosystem was quite good, and weasels were often seen in the courtyard.
Tang Mingi nodded, apologizing to everyone for the trouble.
Since it was nothing serious, everyone returned to their rooms.
Not long after Xu Chunliang returned, Tang Mingi called him, asking if he was asleep, as she wanted to discuss sothing that wasn’t convenient earlier due to the crowd.
Xu Chunliang told her to go ahead and speak, as it was too late to et up anyway.
Tang Mingi lowered her voice, saying that soone was peeping from outside the won’s bathhouse window and taking photos with a phone. She noticed it because they forgot to turn off the flash. When she chased to the window, she only saw a back, and she thought it looked a bit like Xu Daqing from the security departnt.
Xu Chunliang asked why she didn’t call the police. Tang Mingi said she wasn’t sure, and if she was mistaken, it would be embarrassing. Besides, this wasn’t Dongzhou, and Xu Daqing was a local from Weishan Island. She worried that calling the police might not solve the problem and could cause unnecessary trouble. Knowing that Xu Chunliang was resourceful, she called to ask his opinion.
Xu Chunliang told Tang Mingi to act as if nothing had happened, and he would help her find out the truth.
Tang Mingi, though not having much contact with Xu Chunliang, trusted his abilities greatly. She just hoped to find the peeper and find a way to make him hand over the photos.
Xu Chunliang hung up the phone, got up, and went out. They were staying on the second floor, with the won’s and n’s bathhouses located at opposite ends of the floor. If what Tang Mingi said was true, then the peeper must have climbed up to the exterior of the second floor, peeping through the small north window.
Xu Chunliang went around to the back of the building, where the ground was overgrown with weeds. There was a rusty drainpipe on the outside of the building, which the peeper likely climbed up. The drainpipe wasn’t far from the window, and there was a concrete trim running between the first and second floors, which the peeper probably stood on to look inside.
Xu Chunliang cursed that the guy was truly bold, daring to peep into the won’s bathhouse. Not only that, he even took photos.
Xu Chunliang turned on his phone’s flashlight and shone it on the underbrush below the window, easily spotting broken grass blades. Tang Mingi hadn’t been mistaken; soone definitely escaped through here. The peeper planned to quietly take photos and leave, but the flash accidentally went off, revealing his actions, causing him to flee in haste.
Based on the traces in the grass, Xu Chunliang determined the direction the peeper fled, but then noticed a white light flash under his foot. Bending down to pick it up, he found a white jade Pi Xiu pendant, and rembered seeing the sa kind of pendant on Xu Daqing’s phone earlier today when he was drinking.
It must have been dropped in the hurry to escape after being discovered. Xu Chunliang also found a half-smoked cigarette butt, which he picked up and saw it was a Tai Shan Confucian Wind, the sa brand Xu Daqing was smoking that night. With these two pieces of evidence, it was nearly certain that the peeper was Xu Daqing.
As Xu Chunliang was about to leave, a flashlight beam shone in his direction, and it was Xu Daqing, the head of security, on patrol.
Xu Daqing directed the flashlight beam straight at Xu Chunliang’s face. "Who’s there?"
Xu Chunliang replied, "It’s !"
Xu Daqing walked over, eyeing him warily. "Director Xu, what are you doing here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"
As he spoke, he glanced up towards the second floor where the female bathhouse was.
Xu Chunliang thought to himself that this scoundrel was pretending to catch the thief while being the thief himself.
"Is it wrong to take a walk?"
Xu Daqing said, "This backyard is full of wild grasses, what’s there to see? Be careful of running into snakes."
"Why are you up so late?" Xu Chunliang scrutinized Xu Daqing, noticing a patch of white dust on his knee that hadn’t been completely brushed off, strengthening his suspicion that he was the peeper.
"I’m on administrative duty tonight."
"Administrative duty and still went out drinking? Don’t you know the hospital regulations?" Xu Chunliang turned hostile as he spoke.
Xu Daqing was montarily stunned, thinking that going out for drinks while being on administrative duty at the hospital was normal, and that Xu Chunliang had also been drinking with him. Who does this kid think he is to lecture ? He was about to retort, but then rembered that Xu Chunliang was part of the quality control team and they were here for inspection.
Xu Daqing laughed, "It’s just to welco the leaders for visiting guidance. It won’t happen again, it won’t happen again."
"You write a report and hand it to tomorrow."
Xu Daqing was bewildered. What’s with this kid? Asking to write a report? It’s like using a chicken feather as a token of authority. Disinterested in arguing with Xu Chunliang, he turned and left, expressing his disdain and contempt with his back.
After walking a few steps, Xu Chunliang called, "You dropped sothing!"
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