Still with some uneasiness, Shen Qi asked awkwardly after walking into the shop, “How’s the business going lately?”
The salesperson nodded before saying, “It’s going fine. Miss Shen, you are our boss now. As you’ve never been here ever since the ownership of the mall has changed, the issuance of our salaries has been stalled.”
Shen Qi was stunned when she heard her. Because of the change of ownership, they have not been getting their salaries?
The salesperson said with teary eyes, “The issuance of our salaries has been delayed for a week already. Miss Shen, I’m still waiting for my salary, as I need to pay rent.”
Shen Qi cleared her throat before asking, “How should I go about that? Should I just give it to you directly?”
“No, no! You have to head to the top floor of the mall.”
The top floor of the mall? Shen Qi nodded before saying, “In that case, I’ll go there and check it out.”
She made her way directly to the top floor by elevator. In stark contrast to the lower levels, the top floor was exceptionally quiet and it gave off a feeling akin to a hidden paradise.
When she was in there, she saw quite a few staff who were busy at work. Everyone shot her a bizarre look before withdrawing their gaze. Not knowing what to do or say, she could only throw her inquiries at a random employee. After listening to her explain the situation, the person led her to a room. “You may walk in directly and look for the person-in-charge.”
Shen Qi knocked on the door and a lady’s voice which sounded familiar to her was heard. “Come in.”
Shen Qi pushed the door open and popped her head into the room as she greeted, “Hello?”
When her gaze met the eyes of the lady inside, she looked somewhat shocked. Before Shen Qi could utter a word, the lady who sat behind her desk asked with a smile, “Are you Ye Moxuan’s assistant?”
Indeed, the lady in front of her was Ms. Jing who had once helped her with her makeup before. She rose from her seat and walked from her desk toward her. With both of her arms crossed in front of her chest, she leaned against the door and commented, “I’ve been waiting for you to come here for a long time and alas, you’re finally here.”
Shen Qi echoed, “Waiting for me?”
“That’s right. For some reason, the ownership of this mall was changed. As an employee, it goes without saying that I’m eager to meet our new boss; it surprises me that it’s you.”
Shen Qi questioned, “How did you know?”
“It’s a secret.” Then, Ms. Jing turned around and walked toward the inside of her room. “Are you here to check on the accounts? I’ve sorted out the latest ones. Should I send it to your email address?”
“N-No, it’s not necessary,” Shen Qi stuttered a little. “I’m just here to inform you on behalf of the retail staff that the issuance of their salaries has been delayed for a week and all of them seem rather anxious.”
“Tsk, they are not the only ones who are anxious. I feel the same, alright? The issuance of my salary has been delayed for a week too.”
“W-Why is that so?”
“I’m waiting for your signature, new boss.”
Ms. Jing placed the paysheet in front of her. “Please have a look. If there is no problem, you may sign on it.”
Dazedly, Shen Qi took the paysheet over but she was slightly confused. “Hmm…”
“By the way, this is the bank card for disbursements, new boss. The password is the date of your birthday.”
Shen Qi was speechless. Taking the bank card, she blinked in bewilderment. What was going on? Why was she given a bank card out of the blue?
“The monthly profit of the mall is inside this bank account.”
Shen Qi went to the nearest bank to check the balance of the bank account and found that tens of millions of profit were kept inside. She was so shaken that she almost threw the card away. Because of that, she went to Ms. Jing again.
“Ms. Jing, did you give me the wrong card? There are tens of millions inside this bank account…”
Ms. Jing threw her a dubious look before asking, “How could it be? This is such a huge mall and what’s more, it’s owned by the Ye Group. Tens of millions as profit… that’s considered comparatively little for this month.”
Shen Qi found it hard to breath all of a sudden and she quickly placed the bank card back onto the table. She felt as though the bank card which contained tens of millions was a steaming potato which she could not hold well at all.
“What’s wrong?”
“There is too much money inside. I can’t take it.”
“You’re the boss of the mall right now. Who else could keep it other than you?”
Shen Qi countered, “But…”
“Although I have no idea why Ye Moxuan transferred the ownership of this mall to you, I trust he has his reasons. The profit of the mall this month has gone down slightly compared to the last month. Do you have any idea on how we can revive the business? After all, managing such a huge mall is not a walk in the park.”
What?! Shen Qi widened her eyes as she heard her. Reviving the business of the mall? As she had never learned about business management before, she didn’t know anything much. At that thought, Shen Qi pursed her lips, took the bank card again and held it in her hands. “I’ll give you a reply regarding this issue.”
After leaving the mall, Shen Qi made her way straight back to the Ye residence. As she did not find Ye Moxuan in the bedroom, she went directly to the study to look for him after the housemaids told her that he was in there.
She walked inside and placed the bank card on the desk. Beneath the bank card was an agreement which was white in color. “This is the agreement of the ownership transfer of the mall together with the profit for this month.”
Ye Moxuan paid no regard to her and remained silent. Seeing that there was no reaction from him even after standing there for more than ten seconds, Shen Qi turned around and was about to leave the study.
“Once I’ve given something as a gift, I won’t take it back even if it’s returned to me untouched.”
Shen Qi’s pace came to a halt. It seemed like there was an underlying meaning in what he said.
She turned around at once and bit her lip as she confronted him, “Did you ask for my consent before giving it to me? Did I ever say I wanted it? It’s such a huge mall with so much profit, so how could I take it? Ye Moxuan, do you really think I can be bribed with money?”
Ye Moxuan looked up at her with his icy eyes. “If you can’t be bribed with money, why did you bring all these to my study today? Aren’t you just putting on a show of how innocent you are even though you’re actually dying to take the money deep down inside?”
Shen Qi snapped, “I am surprised you actually think of me in this way!”
What he said made her so angry that her body started trembling. However, she soon realized that he must have said it deliberately. Because of the hurtful comments she had made about him earlier, he must have purposefully said it in order to irritate her.
“Forget it! Just think of me however you want. Anyway, I won’t take these things.” With that, she turned around and left.
However, when she reached the threshold, she heard a thump; Ye Moxuan had actually thrown the agreement and the bank card into the dustbin.
Shen Qi widened her eyes in disbelief.
“Are you crazy? You just threw the agreement of the mall and the bank card which contains tens of millions into the bin!”
“Does your heart ache at that sight?” Ye Moxuan glanced at her icily as a cruel smile formed at the corner of his lips. “You could just take them back.”
She clenched her fists at the side of her body silently, her fingernails digging deeply into her flesh. Staring at the wicked man in front of her, the despair in her heart grew more intense. “Do you really have to humiliate others like this in order to be happy?”
“That is the best way to deal with women like you.”
“Fine, just throw it away if you don’t want it! Who cares?” Shen Qi really could not stand him anymore as she yelled at him at the top of her lungs, her pretty eyes becoming red-rimmed without her realizing. After that, she turned around and walked briskly away without giving Ye Moxuan another look.
Watching the small figure disappearing out of his sight, Ye Moxuan slowly averted his gaze to the dustbin as he balled his fists in silence.
