Chapter 854: Chapter 727: Mismatched Accounts

After leaving the arena, Zhou followed them out, but instead of heading to the gate, she planned to go to her father Zhou Xiaozheng’s office to wait for him and return home together.

On the other side, Shi Dashen and his companion walked out shoulder to shoulder, and upon seeing her, their eyes lit up: "Zhou, come here, come here, your dad is busy working, let’s chat for a bit."

Zhou Xiaozheng glanced sideways at him: "That’s enough."

"Old Zhou, how about I move over for you?"

"I still have to inspect the troops, no time." Zhou Xiaozheng promptly refused but gestured for Zhou to go to the other party.

Zhou understood instantly and smiled, "Uncle Shi, if you have any orders, just instruct me. If I’m capable, I’ll definitely get it done for you properly."

Shi Dashen smiled proudly at Zhou Xiaozheng and turned around with his hands behind his back, "Come on, let me borrow your brain."

"Dad, I’ll head over first."

Zhou Xiaozheng nodded with a smile, "After work, let’s go home together."

Shi Dashen secretly clicked his tongue: This guy really knows how to take advantage. Go home together? Fine! I’ll just rush your girl a little faster.

Halfway down the hall, he casually called over his guard and instructed in a low voice to bring several more report forms.

In the office, Shi Dashen pointed maliciously at a pile of books on the table: "Girl, help me verify these reports, and once finished, you’re done."

Zhou glanced over, hesitated and asked, "Is this compliant? Could some of the data involve confidentiality?"

"Don’t worry, do you think your little notebook is so easy to come by?"

Zhou suppressed a laugh: she had just used it once in the South through borrowed authority, and had forgotten. Even though she’s not a formal employee, she still belongs to a unit.

"By the way, let me ask, when can I get my salary? Uncle Shi, you see, I’m supporting my elders and juniors, it’s not a light burden."

"You cheeky girl, whatever is due to you will not be shorted." Shi Dashen laughed and scolded, pointing at the table, "Quickly get to work; if you’re late, you won’t be able to go home with your dad."

"Yes, sir!" said Zhou playfully, saluting him. She moved things onto the coffee table, took her seat, and upon looking, found a lot of account books.

Isn’t there a finance department? What is this nonsense again? But given these confidentiality issues, she didn’t ask further. It’s the year-end, and surely there’s more than just these.

As she expected.

While Zhou concentrated fully, processing the abacus and verifying one report after another, a considerable pile accumulated not far from her position.

Shi Dashen sat at his desk working, occasionally looking up at her. Seeing her quickly get into work mode, his usually rare-to-see smiling face cracked into a smile.

Time gradually passed, and work hours were over. Shi Dashen initially thought of reminding her. But seeing Zhou Xiaozheng hadn’t arrived to pick her up and looking at the child already tidying up towards the end, he held back and swallowed his words.

After finishing the last account book in her hands, Zhou moved another stack to the desk: "Uncle Shi, aside from these, all others matched."

Shi Dashen pointed at the account books on the desk: "Are these all problematic?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Zhou nodded, thought for a moment, and added: "You might want to have someone double-check; in here some discrepancies may be due to my errors."

"Alright, you quickly go find your dad. Keep these accounts under wraps."

Zhou quickly nodded: "Aside from the figures, I didn’t look at the unit names. I’ll head out now, but just in case, have someone double-check."

"Okay."

Watching as Zhou closed the door to leave, Shi Dashen lightly patted the books, sighing. He didn’t doubt the conclusions Zhou had reached.

That child could mentally compute complex import-export details, and now using an abacus, could she possibly make mistakes? He forgot that what others needed two working days to complete, Zhou settled in more than two hours. Should he be more prudent and conduct a verification?

In a rush without eating, he packed them into a box, sealed it, and called the guards to move them out. He had to go report to higher-ups.

Meanwhile, Zhou felt slightly uneasy as she walked out.

"Done? Let’s go home."

"Huh? Oh, sure. Dad, why didn’t you head back first? You must be starving. Next time you’re in such a situation, don’t wait for me. If I haven’t settled the work in my hands, I feel uneasy."

Zhou Xiaozheng pulled her along, laughing: "Yes, I know. Didn’t that Yi family kid call you ’Desperate Third Lady’ last time?"

"Don’t listen to his nonsense."

Zhou Xiaozheng doesn’t think that kid is lying.

Like her, his daughter isn’t settled until the work at hand is finished. It has nothing to do with loving the country or the work. People chasing perfectionism often live harder than average folks.

Seated in the car, Zhou Xiaozheng asked: "Did you encounter a problem earlier?"

Zhou glanced at Xiao Wang driving and Secretary Chen in the passenger seat; after a pause, she shifted the subject: "Dad, starting tomorrow, I can’t accompany you."

Zhou Xiaozheng immediately noticed his daughter veering off-topic and followed her lead: "We can still see each other at home in the evenings. This time when you go, learn as much as you can with Grandpa Zhou."

"Okay."

"Encountering problems on the spot, don’t panic..."

Zhou worried her dad might say it without thinking, and come next with, if encountering danger, avoid it—nothing is as important as your safety. So she quickly interrupted: "Ah, I know that."

Zhou Xiaozheng covered the corner of his lips with a fist, cleared his throat at her reaction.

At the gate, Zhou followed him into the courtyard and couldn’t help but whisper: "Dad, I seem to have been impulsive, or overly serious earlier. The result I gave to Uncle Shi might affect some people..."

Zhou Xiaozheng couldn’t admit guilt to his daughter: "You do what’s expected in your position. What’s wrong with that? Those who pocketed money are at fault."

"That may be so, but if others haven’t noticed, and I’m the one to point it out?"

"Anything brought here had issues requiring thorough investigation. If not you, someone else would reconcile the accounts." Zhou Xiaozheng patted his daughter’s head, "Silly child! Those who dare to harm national interests should bear the consequences. If not for weeding out such black sheep, what’s the use of national law?"

Zhou smiled wryly and shook her head: "I’m being somewhat kind-hearted."

"Exactly. In life and work, you must maintain integrity. Those who reach out have long understood they might one day get their hands metaphorically cut off, yet they proceed, showing the flaw lies in their thinking, not being upright.

Plus, they’re dumb; of all things, why greed for what’s so overt, putting themselves in the spotlight, naturally they’ll get noticed. There are accomplices involved; it’s complex, you’ll understand soon."

Zhou sighed inwardly. Why didn’t these people think of their wives and children at home before taking action? Playing with fire, valuing money over their lives!

"Dad, you’re back. We’re having a hotpot, hurry and eat, been waiting for you."

"Why didn’t you eat first?"

Zhang Guoqing observed his wife’s relaxed expression and smiling reply, promptly abandoning the topic, taking her hand and sharing what he did today, who he met, and who got into antics.

Zhou Xiaozheng shot a contemptuous glance at his son-in-law. His work report is like this every time, where does he get all this nonsense from? He couldn’t stand it anymore and quickly quickened his pace into the house.