“I did say that if Hongtu Liquor repaid the remaining 800,000 during the contract period, I would find a way to apply to headquarters for a one-month extension,” Lu Nan said as she poured out Manager Liu’s original tea and brewed a fresh cup, slowly sliding it in front of him. “But the future boss of Hongtu Liquor may not be President Han — and may not be Ms. Tian either.” 

Manager Liu wanted to say: Aren’t you just trying to get something for nothing? Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell Han Jianxin? 

But Lu Nan seemed to anticipate his thoughts and continued, “Manager Liu, I think it’s better for you not to concern yourself with Hua’an City’s affairs anymore. This applies to both Hongtu Liquor and Sifang Construction. I’d rather not have a repeat of what happened — someone acting loyal to one side while being aligned with another — when I meet with the person in charge of Sifang Construction tonight.” 

Manager Liu blinked, took the tea cup, and took a sip. “Sss—” 

Lu Nan smiled. “I forgot to mention — the tea’s hot.” 

She then asked a waiter to bring some ice water. This small interruption eased the tension between the two of them. 

After holding the ice water in his mouth for a while, Manager Liu couldn’t help but ask, “So what exactly do you want?” 

Lu Nan thought the line was a bit cliché — it made her sound like a villain. 

“Manager Liu, relax. All of this happened before I took office; it doesn’t directly involve me. If expenses were overspent, then so be it. Like you said, Sifang Construction isn’t expecting any payments before April or May, so we don’t need to report any expenses for them for the next few months. As for the remaining minor gaps in the books, we can make it up through other means. Especially — if Sifang Construction agrees to renew their contract early and actively plans repayments, then even if the headquarters audits us, they’ll go easy on some overspending in the first year.” Lu Nan smiled. “You’ve been at Yuan Chuan longer than I have, so you know how this works. As long as we can ship product and collect payments, everything else is manageable.” 

That’s exactly right. Yuan Chuan had always followed an extensive growth model in recent years, where payment collection was the top priority. 

Old Liu was well aware of how inspections and penalties worked from headquarters. 

He was just caught off guard today by being exposed by a newcomer. 

But unspoken rules are still unspoken rules — they’re not meant to be stated outright. 

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Old Liu said, “Manager Lu, feel free to speak your mind.” 

Lu Nan kept her polite smile. “Actually, I just want you to organize a customer file for me.” 

“That’s part of the handover process anyway. I would’ve given it to you even if you hadn’t asked. Besides, Zheng Jing already has all the customer records — it’s easy to pull them.” Manager Liu didn’t really believe Lu Nan went to all this trouble just for that. 

But he was wrong. 

First, the account review hadn’t taken much effort for Lu Nan. 

Second, that really was all she wanted. 

She turned her teacup slowly and patiently explained, “That’s exactly what I need. There’s a big difference between casually compiled outdated info and carefully prepared, detailed records. Manager Liu, let’s not beat around the bush. You’ve been in Hua’an City for… two years, right?” 

Manager Liu nodded. 

Lu Nan said, “Then you should know the business staff here better than I do. You know what their usual work habits are like. Saying they fish for three days and dry their nets for two is probably giving them too much credit, right? I hope Sister Liu Yang, as a member of the city office, doesn’t mind—I’m just someone who likes to speak honestly.” As she said this, she turned and nodded slightly at Liu Yang, who had been silent the whole time. 

Hearing this, Manager Liu forced himself to stay composed—because not only were the sales staff like that, he as city manager wasn’t much better. 

“Honestly, I don’t have high hopes for the report they’re supposed to hand in this Friday. After all, I gave it to them as an extra task and asked them to share their own client leads — who would be willing to do that? If even half the data turns out usable, I’ll count it as a win.” Lu Nan picked up the teapot and refilled Manager Liu’s cup. “As for purchase/sales/inventory and expenses, I can get those from Zheng Jing’s reports. But for potential local clients, only people with on-the-ground experience can provide a reliable list.” 

“I see. So Manager Lu, you’re planning to restructure the distributor network in Hua’an City, aren’t you?” Old Liu thought: So much for calling Ms. Tian “sister” at dinner earlier — clearly, you don’t trust her much. He wondered if all newcomers were this calculating these days. Pretty face, sharp mind… 

Lu Nan neither confirmed nor denied it. She simply said calmly, “I’m just preparing for both possibilities.” 

… 

Manager Liu drank so much tea at the teahouse that he had to use the restroom multiple times. After about an hour, he felt completely sober. 

Of course, he would never admit it was Lu Nan who sobered him up with her pressure. 

Now fully alert, Manager Liu didn’t dare play games anymore. Instead, he poured tea for Lu Nan and, after a glance at Liu Yang, started to honestly share everything he knew about Sifang Construction. 

Sifang Construction was one of the larger local construction companies. Due to ongoing old-town renovation in Hua’an City in recent years, Sifang had benefited greatly from the policy and kept expanding. The company wanted to land more projects, which inevitably required networking, banquets, and gift-giving. After some accounting, they realized that their liquor-related expenses were growing rapidly. When the bill reached the boss, he figured it’d be better to just become a liquor distributor and buy at factory price. 

Initially, they wanted to work with Guojiu (National Liquor), but Guojiu already had a long-standing distributor in Hua’an City, and Sifang, being in a different industry, stood no chance of getting a license. So they turned to Yuan Chuan Liquor as a second choice. 

Lu Nan couldn’t help thinking: So this “new” distributor from last year came to us themselves. Just goes to show how useless the local office was — relying on just one client, Hongtu Liquor, with no initiative. And now, because of changes in the distributor’s family situation, the manufacturer — us — is caught in a bind. Ridiculous. 

Since she’d already given Manager Liu a stern warning today, Lu Nan kept her complaints to herself to avoid making him lash out in embarrassment. 

Unaware that Lu Nan had just judged him again, Manager Liu continued explaining. 

Sifang Construction’s owner was surnamed Zhang — Zhang Qi. His main focus was still on construction business operations. 

His younger brother, Zhang Li, was in charge of the liquor business. To differentiate between them, people usually referred to him as “Young President Zhang.” 

Manager Liu added, “Zhang Li is about 27 or 28, studied abroad, and has a bit of a rebellious personality. B-but Manager Lu, with your drinking ability, I’m sure you’ll handle him just fine.” 

Compared to Hongtu Liquor, Lu Nan really didn’t know as much about Sifang Construction — so Manager Liu’s input actually contained some useful information. 

She looked at Manager Liu. “Anything else?” 

That was all. Old Liu had shared everything he knew and was allowed to say. 

Lu Nan nodded and checked the time—it was 3:00 PM. She turned to Manager Liu and Liu Yang and said, “I’m heading out to take care of something. I’ll be back in an hour. I’ve paid the bill, so feel free to stay a while longer.” 

She planned to use this time to take a taxi home and change the lock. Technically, she could have driven, since with her “golden finger” it wouldn’t have counted as driving under the influence. But to avoid making the two Lius think she was breaking the law, she chose to take a taxi instead. 

After Lu Nan left, Manager Liu slumped back into his chair and let out a sigh of relief, looking rather disheveled. “She doesn’t seem like a newcomer at all—more like the King of Hell. You worked with Manager Lu back when she was at the municipal office in Hailin, didn’t you? Why didn’t you warn me? If I had known she was like this…” 

Liu Yang cut in mockingly, “Even if you had known what she was like, it wouldn’t have changed anything. Aside from trying to speak up for Han Jianxin today, which was a spur-of-the-moment thing, you already did all the shady stuff last year.” 

That was true. 

People die for money, just as birds die for food. Old Liu didn’t feel he had done anything wrong—he just thought he hadn’t covered his tracks well enough with the fake accounting. 

Still… “Sis, the more I think about it, the more I find Lu Nan scary—she’s way too sharp. You’d better be careful working under her from now on,” Manager Liu said with serious concern. 

Liu Yang glanced at her cousin. “I don’t need your reminder. I can already see that.” 

Yes, they were paternal cousins, from different branches of the same extended family. 

It was precisely because of this connection that Manager Liu dared to come up with the scheme to skim off expenses after Liu Yang got somewhat “close” to the people at Sifang Construction. 

Old Liu had never felt any respect from his cousin, and now, bitterly, he said, “With eyes and insight like Lu Nan’s, do you think she’ll notice your relationship with Zhang Li at dinner tonight? Won’t she have an issue with that? Our company doesn’t ban workplace relationships, but emotional entanglements between business staff and distributors are strictly forbidden.” 

“You think I need your reminder? Lu Nan probably already figured out I’ve gotten too close with someone from Sifang Construction. 

Old Liu was stunned. “No way!” 

“Then why do you think she brought me along first thing this morning? For a free meal?” 

“I really don’t think so. She hasn’t even met the people from Sifang Construction yet—how could she have guessed? No way, no way.” 

Liu Yang sneered. “She worked in group purchasing for six months. She knows exactly how the cost reimbursement process works through that channel. If you want to dig into the manufacturer’s expenses, you have to work with someone on the distributor’s side—because all reimbursements need the distributor’s stamp. Don’t tell me you thought that just because she only mentioned you faking the books without exposing the tricks in your reimbursement process, it means she doesn’t know someone from Sifang Construction is working with you?” 

“Then-then-then what should I do?” In his panic, Old Liu even forgot that it was Liu Yang who had been the one stamping the documents every time—not him. 

“What do you mean, what should you do? It’s not like she’s planning to tear things open with you. Just hand over a customer file honestly.” Liu Yang clearly wasn’t in a good mood. She slammed her cup on the table and turned her head away from Manager Liu.