It was an unused reception room. Unlike the refurbished lounge from before, this little room wasn’t big; a single round table plus a dozen or so chairs already stuffed it full.

As Bai Xiaosheng and the others walked in, the person sitting inside immediately stood up, looking over with a trace of nervousness.

It was that female secretary, Matilda.

Lin Weiwei walked over at once, gave Matilda a smile, "We’re here."

Matilda nodded repeatedly, her big, pitifully appealing eyes, however, were fixed on Bai Xiaosheng.

After all, among the three, Bai Xiaosheng was the one in charge.

"Hello, Miss Matilda." Bai Xiaosheng smiled and greeted her.

Lin Weiwei had of course already told him the woman’s name.

Seeing that Bai Xiaosheng’s smile was broad and his voice gentle, Matilda also eased her somewhat tense nerves a little.

"You’re the one who can help me?" Matilda glanced at Lin Weiwei, and only after getting confirmation did she say, "I—I can give you that file, it’s just... what do you need it for..."

Matilda still seemed hesitant.

That was human nature, a perfectly normal reaction. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

At first glance, that document was just an investigation into several past business cooperations. The target companies, like Yorko Company, all belonged to Zhenbei Group. Since it was a past investigation, there didn’t seem to be much risk of leaking secrets.

But the Fiewood general manager clearly attached great importance to it. At the meeting, when she put up the wrong content, her fury didn’t look like it was just about a minor blunder in front of so many guests.

So Matilda hesitated, suspicious.

She only looked a bit delicate, but she wasn’t stupid.

"Miss Matilda, the reason I want to take a look is that I once took part in some of the cooperations mentioned in that file." Bai Xiaosheng’s expression didn’t change as he "explained" to Matilda, "But recently, those companies, they’re all wholly-owned subsidiaries under Zhenbei Group and are currently under investigation. They’re saying there were problems with past cooperations. Zhenbei Group has also contacted us former partners and is allowing us to file appeals. I just want to re‑understand some of the situation back then from another angle, so when I saw your document, I wanted to take a look. If there’s an issue, I can communicate with Zhenbei Group in time."

After he spoke, Bai Xiaosheng added, "You may be wondering why I don’t go directly to the Fiewood general manager for it. You saw it yourself—he cares a lot about that file. He probably wants to avoid suspicion and not get dragged into it. After all, this Yorko Company and those problematic enterprises all belong to the same group. If he can get involved with those problem companies less, he’ll avoid it as much as possible. You can understand that, right?"

Bai Xiaosheng’s words seemed reasonable enough.

Even so, Matilda was still hesitating, feeling that if she handed over the stuff, she might get herself into trouble.

Her hands twisted together, her expression conflicted, even showing a hint of regret.

Seeing this, Lin Weiwei immediately wanted to go over and persuade her.

Bai Xiaosheng stopped Lin Weiwei, smiled at Matilda and said, "How about this: that file is in your phone. I’ll just flip through it, have a look, and I won’t copy anything. And I’ll still help you with your issue. How does that sound?"

This proposal made Matilda raise her head at once, a clear stir of interest in her eyes.

As long as she didn’t leave anything in someone else’s hands, it didn’t seem impossible...

Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying knew Bai Xiaosheng’s memory was freakishly good; one look and he could remember all the key content. The two of them had nothing to say about this proposal.

Eventually, Matilda nodded, pulled up the content on her phone, and then handed the phone to Bai Xiaosheng.

Bai Xiaosheng took it with a smile and began flipping through the document page by page, occasionally enlarging some of the images.

He wasn’t fast or slow, his pace even and very focused. In five minutes he had finished reading.

Bai Xiaosheng smiled and handed the phone back to Matilda.

She took it, pressed the phone to her chest, still seemingly nervous.

"Miss Matilda, this Miss Lin Weiwei will give you a phone number. If you formally leave here and want to find a job on this level, you can call her." Bai Xiaosheng smiled. "This little favor, I will definitely do for you."

Bai Xiaosheng said it was a "little favor" for him, implying that he wouldn’t go back on his word.

Lin Weiwei immediately did as told, took out a sticky note, wrote down a number, and handed it to Matilda.

Matilda hurriedly took it.

Strictly speaking, Matilda hadn’t actually provided anything to Bai Xiaosheng and his group, yet she’d received the "reward" she wanted. She’d come out ahead.

"The event over on our side should be starting soon, so we won’t stay here any longer." Bai Xiaosheng gave Matilda a smile.

Matilda nodded quickly.

Bai Xiaosheng turned and left, with Lei Ying following behind.

Lin Weiwei gave Matilda a reassuring smile and followed as well.

Matilda watched the three of them leave the room, then took out the number Lin Weiwei had given her, looked at the digits one by one, and then broke into a bright smile.

...

Bai Xiaosheng walked back with Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying.

"Xiaosheng, why did you only look and not ask for a copy? How much did you remember?" Lin Weiwei couldn’t help asking.

"You still don’t know how good his memory is? He must have it seven or eight tenths down." Lei Ying chimed in from the side.

Inside Bai Xiaosheng’s mind, everything was complete, as if it had been scanned in.

"In a bit I’ll sort out several key leads and send them to you on your phones. You get the people from before to start checking." Bai Xiaosheng said, combining it with the analysis Red Lotus had done in his head, "A lot of the lines we’d lost before now have clues. We can pick them up again this time!"